Dungeons and Dragons and Secrecy

[Magdela]

Hello and welcome everyone. Except you prezzy. (you know who you are!:smallwink:)

I was at the beach today and got to thinking, "Man, I'm really secretive about playing DND. I wonder if others are like that." (Only my parents know I play it, even then, I find ways to avoid it in all conversations.)

My DM is pretty open about it, but I'm a bit embarrassed because of the rep D&D has around it. Now I ask you playgrounders, are you as secretive about playing it as me and my group?

[Malfunctioned]

I wouldn't say that I'm secretive about it, I wouldn't bring up that I play it unless someone asks me my hobbies but I'm like that with most things.

I still don't understand the D&D bad rep thing, yes it's a bit/very geeky but the most common response I've had to it was something along the lines of "Cool, how do you play?/can I join?".

[THAC0]

Secretive FTW.

No really, my husband and I both have jobs where we can easily get negative repercussions if stupid people found out and caused a scene. We just don't want to deal with those shenanigans, we have plenty of more important battles to fight. So secret we are.

[DarkSetzer]

I couldn't be less secretive if I tried. I'm pretty much a walking billboard for D&D.

I make a lot of unintentional references to the game in conversation, even if I'm talking to people who I know don't play and have no desire to. I also almost always carry around a notebook labeled "D&D ideas", in which I jot down stuff as I think of it during the day for my various campaigns.

[Cealocanth]

I wouldn't say that I'm secretive about it, I wouldn't bring up that I play it unless someone asks me my hobbies but I'm like that with most things.

I still don't understand the D&D bad rep thing, yes it's a bit/very geeky but the most common response I've had to it was something along the lines of "Cool, how do you play?/can I join?".

I wish it was that easy. Round where I live there's more of "You play D&D? You're the devil's spawn!" than "Cool! How do I play?"

Like Malfunctioned, I don't mention it that often. Not unless someone asks my hobbies or the like.

[arguskos]

I couldn't be less secretive if I tried. I'm pretty much a walking billboard for D&D.

I make a lot of unintentional references to the game in conversation, even if I'm talking to people who I know don't play and have no desire to. I also almost always carry around a notebook labeled "D&D ideas", in which I jot down stuff as I think of it during the day for my various campaigns.
*dingdingding* We have a winner! :smallbiggrin: I do this too, mostly. I'm always working on the game and whatnot, and I freely talk about it and explain away the common myths to anyone who wants to know. :smallwink:

[comicshorse]

Among my friends who Roleplay I talk about it. Among others I only mention it if somebody asks about my hobbies

[AtlanteanTroll]

My friends are, but Im not. Its odd though, since our DM is one of my friends dad and he's open about it. Most people in my (current) group are worried being open about DnD will hurttheir already slim chance with the ladies.

[Raistlin1040]

Secretive FTW.

No really, my husband and I both have jobs where we can easily get negative repercussions if stupid people found out and caused a scene. We just don't want to deal with those shenanigans, we have plenty of more important battles to fight. So secret we are.
Would you mind explaining what line of work you're in? I can't think of any job that would not be accepting of D&D. Individual people, perhaps, but certainly not a job itself.

[wxdruid]

I don't usually say I play D&D when I first meet people, but after a while, they know...because eventually I mention it, or they see my license plate and ask about it. :smalltongue: I don't really care what they think about it. I get some odd looks, but I enjoy playing D&D and I'm not going to quit just because my parents or someone else might disapprove. I live my life, they live theirs. :smalltongue:

[Frozen_Feet]

Secretive? I tell about my hobbies to random passerbys in casual conversation. Just a week ago, I took my RPG books to a scout camp, and all that netted me was new players. :smalltongue:

[Lycan 01]

Semi-secretive. If I'm talking to somebody who seems cool and might be interested, I'll make a few off-hand references or bring it up. Sometimes they're interested, sometimes they're not, sometimes they're RPG veterans who are happy to find another player. I even have a D20 shirt I wear sometimes. Occassionally. Okay, rarely. But its still a cool shirt...


Where I live, in the Deep South, DnD still has a pretty bad rap. Its either the spawn of Satan, or the epitome of being a nerd. There was one time, a few months ago, where my DnD group was randomly photographed for a scavenger hunt. I did not take kindly to being treated like an animal on display.

Its a long story. I'll tell it some other time when its more on topic. But since then, I've been a lot more secretive about my hobbies and interests at college. :smallsigh:


Oddly enough, my professors are quite open-minded, and whenever I bring the topic of RPGs and tabletop games up, they're interested and love hearing my stories. :smallconfused:

[PairO'Dice Lost]

At home, I don't mention it around my parents or people who might conceivably mention it to my parents; my dad doesn't approve (long story), so I'd rather not bring it up. At college or among my friends at home, I'm completely open about it, and in fact I introduced 12 people in my D&D group to 3e at the start of freshman year. I don't make a point of bringing it up in casual conversation, but people tend to figure it out eventually due to things like, say, using a d8 to pick a few random items from a list in Software Design and stuff like that.

[onthetown]

Sort of secretive. Most of my high school friends played it, so we were known throughout the school as "those kinds of nerds". If it comes up with people who I work with or others who don't know, I'll tell them, but it's not something I go on about openly.

[Aroka]

Vin Diesel and Robin Williams play D&D. Between those two, you should be able to shut up most idiots.


My friends are, but Im not. Its odd though, since our DM is one of my friends dad and he's open about it. Most people in my (current) group are worried being open about DnD will hurttheir already slim chance with the ladies.

D&D was one of the first things I found I had in common with my SO of 7 years. (The first was the MUD we met in. Ha!)

It'd be stupid to get in a relationship with someone who doesn't "approve" of your hobbies, anyway.

[Remmirath]

I'm not secretive at all. I'm also not very social at all, so I won't just start talking about it to people, but I certainly will make no attempt at hiding it.

I have been known to carry manuals around and work on campaigns (or drawing my characters, more frequently) in plain view. I'll answer any questions people ask about it.

[Coidzor]

Moderately, I generally don't bring it up as a hobby of mine unless it seems appropriate to do so in the context of the conversation. If someone asks what I was doing on game night I won't lie. And I'll talk about it with my friends in public without going into hushed tones or anything.

[Pyrian]

...Honestly, it's amazing that I ever open my mouth at all. :smallsigh: :smalltongue:

[Xyk]

I wish it was that easy. Round where I live there's more of "You play D&D? You're the devil's spawn!" than "Cool! How do I play?"

Like Malfunctioned, I don't mention it that often. Not unless someone asks my hobbies or the like.

Huh. Cultural differences. I'll mention it to people who would appreciate the merit or at least be uncaring. I know the difference between an ignorant jerk and the alternative.

[THAC0]

Would you mind explaining what line of work you're in? I can't think of any job that would not be accepting of D&D. Individual people, perhaps, but certainly not a job itself.

Individual people yes, but some jobs are more public than others.

I'm a teacher. I can just imagine the reaction some parents would have. I know teachers who have had parents freak out on them for having a glass of wine with dinner at a local restaurant. I'd rather keep up appearances so that I have the "credibility" to make meaningful educational changes for the kids.

[Don Julio Anejo]

I'm very, very secretive about being a nerd. I don't play DnD or have geeky hobbies per se (video games not included), but most of my interests are extremely geeky (seriously, military history?). So... I tend not to say I like things like Dr. Who or fantasy novels or webcomics unless the other person mentions it first.

Mostly it's just that... people I meet are not the kind of people who would care too much about these things. Pretty much all of my friends and many acquaintances know I'm a closet nerd since it does get brought up in conversation eventually. But if you're hitting on a girl at the beach/in a bar, bringing up DnD is not the best way to... well.. you know exactly what I mean.

It may not score you negative points (honestly? most people don't even know what DnD is anymore, now all the nerds play WoW), but it certainly makes for a less interesting conversation than, say, photography.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

Considering there's no non-embarrassingly-socially-awkward people around who would play, I don't actually play that often, but all my friends are like "oh yeah, I used to do that." Well, all my male friends. My female friends, only one plays, and she plays with her parents. Which is odd. Cause otherwise, her parents fit the 'dnd is demon game' stereotype. Well, not so much anymore. They actually let her go to a concert, and stay out till late a while ago.

[Felyndiira]

I work with people who are computer science students, play multiple MMORPGs, can give me entire dissertations on EVE Online, has dabbled in almost every game ever made, plays Dominion, watches anime, enjoys geeky jokes, works with math, debates sci-fi, among many, many other things.

Thus, D&D is the last thing that would need to be kept a secret from anybody =p.

[PallElendro]

I actually asked my girlfriend to sit down and play D&D, and she was quite into it. halfling rogue with a sling and a shortsword, we're gonna go a long way together, making cool new adventures, most likely involving us getting to PARAGON TIER!!!

[_Zoot_]

I don't tend to talk about it unless the other person says something about it first, but then again, that goes for all my 'nerdy' activities, once someone brings it up though, its fair game.

[Moff Chumley]

*hides +1 Shirt*

In old Soviet Russia, D&D not talk about YOU!!

[RabbitHoleLost]

I don't know what you're talking about.
I don't play DnD. Well, I didn't up until three months ago >>

[Skeppio]

I never talk about my hobbies, D&D or otherwise.

[shadow_archmagi]

I'm very, very secretive about being a nerd. I don't play DnD or have geeky hobbies per se (video games not included), but most of my interests are extremely geeky (seriously, military history?). So... I tend not to say I like things like Dr. Who or fantasy novels or webcomics unless the other person mentions it first.

But... everyone watches Doctor Who! It's pretty well known.

[Don Julio Anejo]

But... everyone watches Doctor Who! It's pretty well known.
Around these parts - not really. It's not on TV so pretty much the only people who watch it are people who were told to go watch some Dr. Who on some pirate website. Which tends to be nerds, since non-nerds don't really go around recommending shows they've probably never watched.

[Keld Denar]

Well, I just told the girl I'm dating after about 3 dates that the reason I couldn't hang out with her on Saturday was because I was playing D&D. She laughed, said I'm cute, and that was that. In her defense, I've already succeeded in getting her addicted to Dominion, so there is some degree of geekyness inherant in her. Soon, contact with me will corrupt her to our ways, and she'll be roleplaying with the best of em!

Then again, I'm hardly your stereotypical geek despite being an engineer and a gamer.

[Serpentine]

Now I ask you playgrounders, are you as secretive about playing it as me and my group?Nope, not in the least.

That was easy :smallcool:

[Raistlin1040]

Hell, I already posted, but I go around advertising it, generally. "I play D&D and I need players! Do you like Lord of the Rings? Do you like improv acting? Do you like free pizza and soda? I NEED PLAYERS!"

[nyjastul69]

I was somewhat secretive in 8th and 9th grades (mid 80's). I was a bit concerned about the potential social stigma. It was when I was in 10th grade reading Dragons of Autumn Twilight that I decided not to hide my hobby any longer.

I'm completely open about it and regularly read D&D books on public transportation, at work, etc.. I have some friends from high school who are still secretive about it however.

[The Succubus]

Quiet you fools! They're watching us and taking our names down. The Cool People are watching our every move and they will come for us in the middle of the night. But fear not, for as we know, a thrown dice causes damage. This is why I have a lead weight in my d20s and keep the points of my d4s especially sharp.

[nyjastul69]

Quiet you fools! They're watching us and taking our names down. The Cool People are watching our every move and they will come for us in the middle of the night. But fear not, for as we know, a thrown dice causes damage. This is why I have a lead weight in my d20s and keep the points of my d4s especially sharp.

I have a 2 inch steel d20 for such occasions.

[Ichneumon]

I have the strange tendency of accumulating hobbies and interests that are a no-go area for most casual conversations: politics, ethics and d&d. It becomes really difficult when somebody asks a question like "what do you do".

[Jokasti]

I talk about DnD with my DnD friends. That's about it. And here, I guess. Someone's already said it, but the South is not too nice to us folk. I'm lucky enough to have accepting parents, once I sat them down and had "The (DnD is not satanic) Talk" with them.

[Serpentine]

I think my mum just thinks it's silly... But my dad played it with his high school students including my sister, who regularly hosts/ed Magic: The Gathering tournaments and whose partner DMs heavily homebrewed/houseruled games based roughly on 2nd edition for my oldest nephew who is a crack hand at both D&D and Magic, as well as various roleplaying games including the old Exile.
So I think I'm good :smallcool:

[rakkoon]

I LARPED a lot so if you tell someone you were in an actual armour fighting with a shield and a sword...you need to know people a little bit before you throw that in their faces.
D&D I don't really talk about unless someone brings it up as a conversation topic, but that was mainly during my student years so less recent.

[Fortuna]

I seem to have stumbled across an odd phenomenon at my school: being a nerd is far, far less of a social stigma than I would have thought at first, and I'm completely open about D&D and my other interests. Mostly, no one can understand me anyway. If anything, I think my social status is improved by being open rather than trying (and desperately failing) to keep it secret.

[Form]

I'm fairly open about it. I don't bring it up in conversations when I think people aren't interested in it, but I'll certainly mention it if someone asks me about my hobbies.

The way I figure is that if people see fit to judge me based on the fact that I play D&D their respect is worthless anyway.

[Eldan]

Don't think I've ever told anyone outside my gaming group, except my parents. And their reaction was mostly "Huh, what's that? Oh, well I don't care."

[Lord Loss]

Heck no. My whole grade knows I play. heck, most peopl I know know I play. I think my dentist knows I play.

[Telonius]

Depends on the company. I don't hide it, but I don't advertise it either. It usually comes up somewhere in conversation if I mention I write fantasy novels.

[KuReshtin]

I don't usually talk about gaming with people who aren't into it as well.
I do wear my gaming related T-shirts at work (like the NPC-shirt) and that's only illicited one comment from someone asking what it was about, but that's it.

I tend to not volunteer the information, though. if i have a gaming session scheduled, and someone asks me if I'm free that day, i'll simply say that i'm otherwise engaged.

Actually, there are a few of my friends that i've known for years and years that just figured out that I played RPGs earlier this year, and they expressed interest in it and wanted to try it out as well. So i'll hopefully get things sorted eventually and try to run a scenario for them, even if I really suck at DM-ing.

[Lioness]

It depends on the person really.

And lot of people at my school associate D&D with either completely nerdy (in a bad way), alright, or awesome. I tend to only talk to people who think it's alright or awesome. Unfortunately, some of those in the first category are my closest friends...sort of sucks.

However, I talk about D&D at school all the time with my BF, ex, and other players. Not worried about other people overhearing, we just don't actively involve them in the conversation.

At work, I get a lot of "what are your hobbies" from co-workers. I usually tell them, unless they didn't like me to start with. Most are pretty cool with it.

[Coplantor]

Not at all, most people around here have never heard about role playing games, a few know that they exist but they think that it's a game called "role" and so far, I've only met one person who said something like "but only crazy people plays those games".

I dont go around telling people that I'm a roleplayer in the same way I dont go around telling people I love videogames, like comics, manga, the name of my grand parents, what school I went, what's my favourite ice cream flavour or that platypodes are awesome... ok, that last one was a lie.

Anyway, I talk about when hobbies come up or when people ask me what do I do on saturday's night. (Intresting enough is that some of my fellow players cnsider thatI have no life because I never go out dancing/drinking. I DONT LIKE DANCING and drinks at clubs are expensive and I much prefer to have a drink with people I know while doing something else, like playing DnD:smalltongue:)

Anyway, a lot of people get the "Cool! It sounds like a lot of fun, but it must be hard/take a lot of imagination, right?" reaction when I explain roleplaying games to them.

[CurlyKitGirl]

Nope. Never ever kept my nerdery a secret.
I've wanted to play DnD since I was about twelve or thirteen; and I've been pretty open about it.
Oddly, my parents were hazy about it, but then I said, "You know, Favourite Cousin plays Call of Cthulu.
"CALL OF CTHULU!!"
They didn't know what it was, so I explained the eldritch abominations, the insanity, the general everythingness.
But really they were only worried about the whole "Playing with semi-strangers and friends" thing.

I couldn't be more open about liking and wanting to play DnD with a regular group if I danced a jig on top of a car.

However, there is the weirdness between Trogland's general perception of DnD and Britland's general perception of it.

[Thufir]

It's not something I bring up much, but nor is it something I hide.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

I'm not so much secretive as much as surrounded by uninterested people. I've wanted to find a group to join for years, but every group I've had to play in here in Hastings, Minnesota has been one where I've been the DM, and those groups usually fell apart because everyone had such busy schedules. I don't really like DMing too, so I've wanted a group I can just PLAY with. But I've never been able to find one in my town. I've pondered going up to the Twin Cities to find a group, but I don't get up there that often, and I wouldn't know where to look. :smallsigh:

[Keld Denar]

I used to know quite a few people in the Twin Cities area who gamed back in the Living Greyhawk era (RIP...*tear*), as well as a few in the LaCrosse/LaCressent area and a guy from Rochester. I still have some contact info there. If you are interested, I could make some phone calls and shoot you a PM. Then again, Minneapolis was rated as like, the 2nd or 3rd most liberally minded city in the US, I doubt you'd have to walk too far before you trip over a gamer or 3.

[AslanCross]

I don't go around telling people, but I always carry my geek cred material with me (my dice) and I use them even in my classes. I'm always ready to give my defense of the hobby if it gets questioned. Never really got into trouble because of it. The reaction of people in this country is usually "oh, my uncle/cousin/brother used to play that way back when."

[Cealocanth]

I found out a strange thing today. Apparently there's quite a few people out there that just assume I play D&D because I have paleish skin and wear glasses. Apparently I give off that nerdy vibe or something.

[Xyk]

I have the strange tendency of accumulating hobbies and interests that are a no-go area for most casual conversations: politics, ethics and d&d. It becomes really difficult when somebody asks a question like "what do you do".

Between those things and music, I talk about virtually nothing else. Especially ethics.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

I used to know quite a few people in the Twin Cities area who gamed back in the Living Greyhawk era (RIP...*tear*), as well as a few in the LaCrosse/LaCressent area and a guy from Rochester. I still have some contact info there. If you are interested, I could make some phone calls and shoot you a PM. Then again, Minneapolis was rated as like, the 2nd or 3rd most liberally minded city in the US, I doubt you'd have to walk too far before you trip over a gamer or 3.

I'm not in the La Crosse area anymore. I graduated.

[Drolyt]

Everybody knows I play D&D. They don't seem to care, the only people who've ever made fun of me for it were hardcore FPS and WoW players and anime otakus who really shouldn't be talking, but they seem to think that is less geeky then D&D. Most people respect me for being intelligent though, so maybe my being seen as the smart guy gives me a free pass on geeky hobbies?

[Semidi]

Well it's not one of those things I advertise because it's a hobby I do in my freetime and very few people's business. However, I don't go out of my way to hide it. Now LARPing--that I'm totally James Bond about. No one needs to know that I fake Russian accents and pretend to be a Vampire or a half-fairy.

[Dogmantra]

I seem to have stumbled across an odd phenomenon at my school: being a nerd is far, far less of a social stigma than I would have thought at first, and I'm completely open about D&D and my other interests. Mostly, no one can understand me anyway. If anything, I think my social status is improved by being open rather than trying (and desperately failing) to keep it secret.

People don't listen to me because I'm usually rambling about philosophy that was brought up recently in Dinosaur Comics or occasionally politics or maybe how I dislike advertising. I think everyone by now knows that I know the first 20 decimal places of pi and am fine with that. They've sort of accepted that I like to spend my free time either playing video games, writing songs about those video games or aimlessly browsing the internet. I don't think there's much hope for me if I ever decide this situation is not both terribly convenient and awesome 'cause I can sit there subtly insulting people to their face and they sorta phased out a while ago when I started quoting Bosnian Eurovision entries* or attempting to pass off They Might Be Giants Lyrics as conversation**.

* This is obviously not true. I only know one Bosnian Eurovision entry well enough to quote it
** Harder than it sounds, a particular favourite of mine is Don't Let's Start. That's basically hard mode.

[Zaydos]

Secretive? Not at all. D&D is one of the first ways I made lasting friends, and even before that it was the one thing I could do with my older brother which did not involve getting sat on (the others being Magic the Gathering, Rage: The Werewolf Apocalypse, and playing in the woods pretending we were space marines... did I mention I've been a geek longer than I can remember). At college I play D&D with my friends on a regular basis, and I'm not the biggest D&D geek I know... although I tend to know the rules better (but that has to do with the DM that introduced me to 3.0, munchkin, and munchkins).

Actually the only thing I've ever decorated my dorm room with has been a stuffed chick-fill-a cow and an old D&D poster showing the 10 MM dragons.

[TooManyBadgers]

What is this "Dungeons and Dragons" of which you speak? :smallconfused:
:smalltongue:

[Eldan]

I've tried to explain D&D once, at a Magic: the Gathering Tournament (we had about ten players in our school, out of 4000 or so students).

"You know, it's a game, with dice, but mostly, you just talk."
"So, it's a board game? That's for kids."
"No, not really. See, it's fantasy, and..."
"Fantasy? That's for kids" (Yes, at a M:tG tournament, people were convinced fantasy was for kids.)
"See, it's similar to Baldur's Gate, or Neverwinter Nights and..."
"Never heard of those."

And so on. I've met two opinions about D&D: "That's for kids." or "I don't get it."

[Dogmantra]

And so on. I've met two opinions about D&D: "That's for kids." or "I don't get it."

Interesting... I've had the boardgame opinion, but the only other one I've had is that they'd like to try it if it wasn't so complicated.

[Level8Mudcrab]

I'm open about playing it, but don't usually talk about it becuase people outside my friend group aren't interested. Usually when I say I play it the response is "What is that?"

[Drolyt]

And so on. I've met two opinions about D&D: "That's for kids." or "I don't get it."

I've never got a "That's for kids" reaction. Although I'm not sure why boardgames would be associated with kids anyways, my friends who aren't into Eurogames or at least Settlers still acknowledge that games like Risk and Chess are for adults. Besides that if dice is the first thing I mention most people assume gambling, not kids games. On the other hand "I don't get it" is probably the most common reaction.

[Eldan]

I've always thought it interesting that people call them "eurogames". After all, I'm in Europe and have barely met anyone who has heard of boardgames more complicated than Monopoly (which is american). The general opinion seems to be that all games, with perhaps the exception of, Chess, Poker and a few other card games, are for kids.

As for D&D, it usually goes "Dice? So it's for kids?"

[rakkoon]

Hmm, googling Eurogames gives me a LGBT sporting event.
You guys call stuff like Settlers Eurogames then?
Should we call D&D Amerigames then :smallconfused:?

Most people have seen LOTR so I either refer to that world or just general Medieval stuff when we talk about larping.

[Eldan]

Larping would probably be a lot easier to explain... "medieval faires" and similar events can usually be found somewhere every few weeks during the summer, so people know those. And there's usually a few guys sword fighting in front of an audience, so I could use that as an example.

[rakkoon]

I larped for 10 years and have never seen a real sword fight *sigh*

when explaining D&D I would mention D20-ies en D4s and stuff. People usually don't know about them and find them cool.

[Eldan]

Huh. At least during school and early university, people around here where enormously obsessed with not being "childish" and so would often not even touch dice.
Adults (a term used loosely, since the people above are often quite a few years above 18), usually are just disinterested.


And I wouldn't call them "real" sword fights. I mean, I don't know anything about swordfights, but at least those I saw looked very staged. Difficult to describe, but basically: slow, people apparently more intent on striking the enemy's weapon than the enemy himself, showy, extremely wide swings in weird directions... not very real at all.

[rakkoon]

At uni our fraternity (brrr, scary word in English, reminds me way too much of crappy movies, anyway males and females) had our own pub and we had some D&D nights. They were very popular till the DM started having one-night stands with the female players who actually wanted a relationship. It kind of ended after that...

Mind you wearing mickey mouse watches was also popular there so perhaps we were a special kind of people (English lit & linguistics).

[Eldan]

I'm at a university which should be predestined for nerds (engineering, computer science, architecture, mathematics, biology, material sciences, chemistry and physics). But so far, I haven't seen any. Or they are just too good at hiding themselves. The nerdiest thing people around here seem to do is own an XBox.
But then, our university also doesn't have any fraternities or clubs.

[gibbo88]

I'm pretty secretive about it. I talk to my other dnd playing friends about it, but apart from that I don't bring it up. The (fairly recent) gf doesn't know about it...she thinks I'm normal :-P.

[Kris Strife]

I don't bring it up, mostly because I suck at DMing and I'm afraid that if I get new people into it, they'll expect me to run the game. :smalleek:

Also the social stigma.

[Telonius]

I'm pretty secretive about it. I talk to my other dnd playing friends about it, but apart from that I don't bring it up. The (fairly recent) gf doesn't know about it...she thinks I'm normal :-P.

Better tell her soon, or she'll start to wonder where you disappear to every Saturday.

[pendell]

I belong to a very conservative church, where books like Martin's "Kingdom of the occult" -- which equates D&D with witchcraft -- still get a certain amount of play.

I countered this by becoming a more-or-less expert on the real-world occult. D&D isn't the same by a long stretch, and I can hold forth for hours to explain why.

I do play and GM D&D and D&D-like games occasionally. Taking my cue from a previous pastor who was also a GM, I neither advertise my hobbies nor do I go to great lengths to hide them. The second would be dishonest, while the first is just asking for trouble. Although my conscience is clear, not everyone in my circle shares my conscience. I see no reason either why I should allow THEIR conscience to dictate right and wrong to me, nor why I should continually rub my differences -- my freedom -- in their face.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[rakkoon]

After three attempts to comment on this without breaking forum rules all I can say is:
Good for you and be true to yourself.

[KilltheToy]

Semi-secretive. If I'm talking to somebody who seems cool and might be interested, I'll make a few off-hand references or bring it up. Sometimes they're interested, sometimes they're not, sometimes they're RPG veterans who are happy to find another player.....

Where I live, in the Deep South, DnD still has a pretty bad rap. Its either the spawn of Satan, or the epitome of being a nerd.http://www.giantitp.com/forums/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=9111285

Basically, this. I don't openly admit I play D&D, but if someone seems cool I might make a few off-hand refrences and see if they get them. I've met some pretty cool people that way.

[pendell]

After three attempts to comment on this without breaking forum rules all I can say is:
Good for you and be true to yourself.

Thank you. If you absolutely find you need to discuss this further, feel free to PM.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[Adumbration]

It's not something that I bring up in a casual conversation, at least not with casual acquaintences. If I did, I would have to explain about it, and I suck at explaining things.

[Drolyt]

I've always thought it interesting that people call them "eurogames". After all, I'm in Europe and have barely met anyone who has heard of boardgames more complicated than Monopoly (which is american). The general opinion seems to be that all games, with perhaps the exception of, Chess, Poker and a few other card games, are for kids.
They are called eurogames by people over in the states because that is where they all come from. Though to be more specific they mostly come from Germany, and even there are probably a niche market.

As for D&D, it usually goes "Dice? So it's for kids?"
I have never received this reaction. Maybe because at my highschool there was a huge gambling problem, and at my university pretty much everyone was a geek? I just don't get how dice can be associated with kids, but then again I have been to Vegas (didn't actually like it all that much, but still).

[Eldan]

Well, as far as it was explained to me: the "logic" chain went:

Dice are used in games.
Games are for kids.
Therefore, dice are for kids.

[Drolyt]

Well, as far as it was explained to me: the "logic" chain went:

Dice are used in games.
Games are for kids.
Therefore, dice are for kids.
Okay, maybe this is a cultural difference, but everyone I know plays games of some sort. Video Games are everywhere, at least here in the states it isn't uncommon for grandparents to play the Wii. Even if they aren't into video games pretty much everyone I know has played Settlers of Catan at least once and I know a lot of middle aged people that play Monopoly, Risk, or Chess regularly. Baring that everyone at least knows how to play poker and some other gambling games, which very often include dice. At parties the host is always expected to offer games of some sort, even something as simple as charades. I'm sorry, but if games are for kids, what do people where you live do to kill time?

[Don Julio Anejo]

It's cultural. In Europe (outside of UK I'm guessing), all games that include dice (except for craps) are pretty much only for kids. You'd never find an adult playing Monopoly or Risk.

Chess is only considered a board game in North America. In lots of places in Europe, it's niche is more like that of bridge or dominoes - technically a game, but something very cerebral and usually played by older retired people sitting around in parks or coffee shops. These people also happen to take it quite seriously, which usually isn't a case with games like Monopoly.

Video games are a completely different animal from a cultural/demographic standpoint.

[Kris Strife]

Tangent: Has anyone ever actually finished a game of Risk or Monopoly?

[Ranger Mattos]

I really don't mention it, only a couple of people know. A friend I occasion DM for, a couple guys/girls from school who came over for an english project and say my PHB and DMG lying around, and however many hundred people they told.


Tangent: Has anyone ever actually finished a game of Risk or Monopoly?

Risk games I play finish quick. I'll let you decide whether that means I suck horribly or rule epically.

[nihilism]

i have never been secretive about d&d i live in canada so there's very few fundamentalists in fact i am quite open about my atheism. throughout junior high no one thought less of me for my nerdyness, recently however during summer school i was openly mocked as a nerd in a summer school gym coursec of all places.

[Drolyt]

Tangent: Has anyone ever actually finished a game of Risk or Monopoly?

Risk doesn't take that long. As for Monopoly, I've finished maybe 3 games in my life. A few more we quit once it was obvious who would win.

[Coidzor]

Tangent: Has anyone ever actually finished a game of Risk or Monopoly?

Player_Zero has. But only online from what I hear.

[Grogmir]

I'm with others that don't go around advertising it. Our self mocking name for DnD is 'secret shame'. But I don't lie - people at work wondered why I never did OT on a thorsday, eventually they asked and I just said its my 'gaming night'.

My work friends know that could be board games or DnD, in fact they ask me what I'll be playing. But to my work colleague its just 'gaming night'.

Condensed converstaion normally goes like this.

Them: "Games, like Monopoly?"
Me: "Yes and No, Yes in like monopoly - but those into gaming know better games, such as Settlers of Catan?" (Hoping they've heard of it)
Them: "Never heard of it"

[Eldan]

Okay, maybe this is a cultural difference, but everyone I know plays games of some sort. Video Games are everywhere, at least here in the states it isn't uncommon for grandparents to play the Wii. Even if they aren't into video games pretty much everyone I know has played Settlers of Catan at least once and I know a lot of middle aged people that play Monopoly, Risk, or Chess regularly. Baring that everyone at least knows how to play poker and some other gambling games, which very often include dice. At parties the host is always expected to offer games of some sort, even something as simple as charades. I'm sorry, but if games are for kids, what do people where you live do to kill time?

See, those were school teenagers. I don't know the exact american equivalent, but it was years 10-13, so I suspect high school. Yes, parents and grand parents played games at their parties. Everyone had board games at home. Computer games were everywhere.
But those kids were 16-18 years old and terribly insecure. Whenever someone judged someone as "childish", they avoided it like the plague.

Edit: as for monopoly, when I was a kid, my family (four people) used to play that on weekend evenings once a month or so, and we always finished it.

[Drolyt]

See, those were school teenagers. I don't know the exact american equivalent, but it was years 10-13, so I suspect high school. Yes, parents and grand parents played games at their parties. Everyone had board games at home. Computer games were everywhere.
But those kids were 16-18 years old and terribly insecure. Whenever someone judged someone as "childish", they avoided it like the plague.
Yeah, that's the equivalent of what Americans call "high school" (last four years pre-university) (the British except for Scotland typically use "Secondary School" to mean the same thing, and I think Canadians use "High School" just like Americans. Not sure about other English speaking countries). I guess I can see that, but even when I was in high school no one thought of D&D as kiddy, though some most all of the people I explained it to thought it was incredibly nerdy.

[Eldan]

See, I never really got to explain D&D to anyone outside my gaming group who already knew it all before I did. People started walking away or staring into thin air out of boredom before I finished the first sentence.

[KuReshtin]

I tried to explain it to one of my colleagues once over lunch.
Didn't go too well.

Him: 'So, who wins?'
Me: 'Well, everyone and no one, I guess. it's not about winning per se. it's like an interactive story where you as a group face challenges that you need to overcome.'
Him: 'So what do you need to do to win? How long does a game last?'
Me: 'Like I said, it's an interactive story, so it can last for weeks, months, years, much like a series of books where the same cast faces new challenges all the time."
Him: 'But if you don't win, it can't be any fun.'
Me: '...'

[Serpentine]

Heh. I've had both the "what is it?" and "so how do you win?" queries :smallbiggrin:
Tangent: Has anyone ever actually finished a game of Risk or Monopoly?Yup.

[Telonius]

Risk doesn't take that long. As for Monopoly, I've finished maybe 3 games in my life. A few more we quit once it was obvious who would win.

I've finished one game of RISK in my life. I won, thanks to the crazy defenders of Western Australia.

[Keld Denar]

Yea, after explaining that I would meet up with the girl I'm dating later than planned because I had D&D, she asked me if I had won when we did meet up later. Maybe someday she'll learn...:smallbiggrin:

[Forever Curious]

Tangent: Has anyone ever actually finished a game of Risk or Monopoly?

I've done both...in the same day. :smalleek:

[Castaras]

It's cultural. In Europe (outside of UK I'm guessing), all games that include dice (except for craps) are pretty much only for kids. You'd never find an adult playing Monopoly or Risk.

Deffo outside the UK. We play games allll the time. :smallbiggrin: The "Cool" group of kids I hang out with have before gathered together in a massive group for a Monopoly Marathon and the such like quite a few times before.

Chess isn't a board game. It's a game in its own genre, along with Draughts (Checkers for you Americans). It's a big game among the more intelligent people (it's very popular among my year at school atm - regularly you'll hear people talking about the chess game they played...)

I'm open about D&D. People know I'm a geek, and one of my friends did say "Wow, that sounds really awesome." But I haven't taken her up on learning it, because I am no way a GM. >.>

Altho, I'm more a computer gamer than a paper and pencils gamer, just because it's easier to get people to play with for Computer games rather than pencil paper ones.

[KuReshtin]

I've finished one game of RISK in my life. I won, thanks to the crazy defenders of Western Australia.

There was a group of friends of mine that used to have Risk marathons. Games used to range from 4 -6 players depending on when people showed up and others left, and these sessions usually lasted until about 4 or 5AM on weekends.

Haven't played Monopoly for ages, though. My family was more of a Trivial Pursuit kind of family. Or Scrabble. Or Scattergories.
Scattergories was fun. The only game I can think of outside of RPG that uses a D20 (although with letters instead of numbers).

[Telonius]

Yea, after explaining that I would meet up with the girl I'm dating later than planned because I had D&D, she asked me if I had won when we did meet up later. Maybe someday she'll learn...:smallbiggrin:

Assuming she's still your girlfriend, the answer is, "Yes." :smallcool:

[YPU]

I always thought I was open about it, but during the last year of public school (I do home study these days) I turned out some people I had been in class with for half a year didn't know but wanted to play.
If I think about it I am a huge geek to all my friends, but I don't really show it on the outside. (which apparently has a more metalhead smartguy thing going on, don't ask me, I don't like mirrors)

At times tough I think I sows, in highschool some of the less sharp kids in class were all like "How can you have a 12 sided dice? stick two together?" of course I generally had a dice set in my bag, go go confused looks at polyhedrons.

[Dogmantra]

the British except for Scotland typically use "Secondary School" to mean the same thing,

In some parts of the country, we have a three tier system rather than two tier, and it's called Upper School there.

Also I've had the "how do you win?" question, along with "how far did you get?". Once I explain it though, 's not a bad thing according to the askers.

Oh, and I love getting "angry" at maths questions that say something like "two fair dice are thrown". I happened to have a few d4s in my pocket (that's another story entirely) when one of these turned up, and I promptly proved that I was right that the probability of getting two 6s was 0.

[Drolyt]

I've finished one game of RISK in my life. I won, thanks to the crazy defenders of Western Australia.
Holding Australia is a simple strategy that, if successful, virtually guarantees victory against less experienced Risk players. At least if I remember correctly. Trying to hold Asia on the other hand is not for the faint of heart.

[KenderWizard]

It's cultural. In Europe (outside of UK I'm guessing), all games that include dice (except for craps) are pretty much only for kids. You'd never find an adult playing Monopoly or Risk.

Chess is only considered a board game in North America. In lots of places in Europe, it's niche is more like that of bridge or dominoes - technically a game, but something very cerebral and usually played by older retired people sitting around in parks or coffee shops. These people also happen to take it quite seriously, which usually isn't a case with games like Monopoly.

Video games are a completely different animal from a cultural/demographic standpoint.

Are you serious? Monopoly can end friendships, nay! Families! Monopoly ends hope and brings bitter tears.


I have told strangers on buses what D&D is. Also, strangers on the street, and at least one stranger on a train, on the way to an exam we were both sitting.

Given the slightest excuse, I explain the idea of D&D, and I'm pretty good at it by now. I can get even the coolest of young adults saying "Actually, that sounds like it could be fun." I aim at the social side of it: "sitting around a table with your friends, telling a big story, where the difficult stuff is sorted out by rolling cool dice. How are the dice cool, I hear you ask? Allow me to show you..." I wear a d20 necklace most of the time (one where you can pop the die in and out), so even if I don't have my custom-made dicebag in my handbag on me, or my d20-shaped purse (http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ5k8nOimyjxrO4i-v4T1jaRyj3H_rsLA5LGnV_ZDz3zv2Di50&t=1&usg=__oARmDI4XVgyBFvqzj0wflaa5nkY=), or my (new!) embroidered Bag of Holding (http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:b-E0BDHpptbN2M:b), I can at least still show them a d20.

I don't actually have very many RPG tshirts, but I've no trouble wearing them, or any other nerdy tshirts. I carry around rulebooks, and read them in lecture halls before lectures begin. I play with my dice in restaurants.

I have a pretty good excuse, though, because I'm President of our college gaming society (I'm actually a card-carrying gamer!), and our society suffers greatly from "Do you guys play WoW? How about Halo? No? Yeah, okay, not interested." We're an old-school gaming society: boardgames, RPGs, wargames. No consoles, no computers. So I spend a lot of time trying to convince "normals" that we're fun. The fact that our room looks like a literal dungeon is a mixed blessing at best...

My boyfriend is Secretary of the society, and was President before me. We met at a LARP, got to know one another in the dungeon-society-room, and started going out at a convention. Our big treat to ourselves this summer was going to GenCon. My best friends are all gamers, many of the rest of my friends are nerds: some only self-admitted after I persuaded them it was cool to be nerdy these days. My mother doesn't understand or mind too much, my father thinks it's kinda lame but enjoys buying dice and other nerdy gifts for me, and my brother wants to be like me when he grows up. :smalltongue: That is to say, he's already preparing for his first campaign.

In Ireland, there's no RPGs scene in school, and you have to search for it a bit when you get to college, but once you find it, the gaming scene is a good place to be!

So, to sum up: I'm not very secretive about it, no.

[Knaight]

Depends on the situation and people involved really. I wouldn't think twice about telling someone into LARP, or obscure turn based strategy games, or eurogames, or other similarly geeky things that I play Fudge, people unwilling to reveal any interests outside the norm never get to know.

As for explaining it, I find that linking it to improvisational theater usually works best at getting the point across.

[Drolyt]

As for explaining it, I find that linking it to improvisational theater usually works best at getting the point across.
Really? Most people I know are just as familiar with improvisational theater as they are with LARPing: not at all. (I don't actually know anyone who LARPS to be honest. Is it fun? I do Olympic style fencing, but I'm assuming LARP combat would attempt to be more realistic/historic).

[Keld Denar]

I'm a gamer, and as such, I have a strong stomache. I've been to a lot of gaming conventions over the years across the US and have seen a lot of things. Very little surprises me anymore.

LARPers still scare me...

[YPU]

LARPers still scare me...

mind your talking US larpers here, there are quite a few different breeds around.

[Telonius]

Are you serious? Monopoly can end friendships, nay! Families! Monopoly ends hope and brings bitter tears.



David Morgan-Mar of Irregular Webcomic had a lengthy rant (http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/2623.html) about that recently...

[Eldan]

There have actually been murders over games of Monopoly.

[Keld Denar]

mind your talking US larpers here, there are quite a few different breeds around.

Eh, I've seen that MyBarbarian Unicorns LA (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFhllZ1wTBU) video to be really scared...that on top of the LARPers I've seen at GenCon and other smaller local cons is enough...

[Thufir]

the British except for Scotland typically use "Secondary School" to mean the same thing,

Secondary school is not the same as High School.


In some parts of the country, we have a three tier system rather than two tier, and it's called Upper School there.

WTPF? I've never heard of an Upper School. Just High School in 3-tier, or Secondary in 2-tier.

[Dogmantra]

WTPF? I've never heard of an Upper School. Just High School in 3-tier, or Secondary in 2-tier.
Then you clearly don't live in Suffolk.

Didn't even know any other counties did 3-tier.

[Thufir]

I reiterate my 'You live in a crazy place' hypothesis.

[Commander McCoy]

Secretive FTW.

No really, my husband and I both have jobs where we can easily get negative repercussions if stupid people found out and caused a scene. We just don't want to deal with those shenanigans, we have plenty of more important battles to fight. So secret we are.

Like dragons?

Ba-dum tish.

[Malfunctioned]

Just as an extra note to prove how non-secretive I am about it. My large friend group at my college has around 20 or so people in it on most days. When I started my first campaign there (D&D 3.5) I had two people there who had a played a game of it before, both of them from the group 4-man party I had in high school, at the end of the week I had a party of 11 characters ready to go. 9 new players in a week, by the end of the year I had at least 15 prospective players for any campaign I wanted to try and the head of A-Levels at the college has even brought up starting a official club for gaming at the college, possibly with funding as well. I introduced my ex-girlfriend into gaming and am also doing so with a friend who I may perhaps be a little interested in.

Even the friends who don't actually play and have no interest in doing so have been known to watch and comment of the games, and most of them know the basics of it anyway by osmosis. I've also had several players go from first-time-players to GM/DM/Storytellers/Referees in the space of a year. I think I've done good.

[Drolyt]

Secondary school is not the same as High School.
What's the difference? Is it that secondary school includes what Americans call middle school? I thought only Scotland had high schools across the pond.

[Christopher K.]

Actually, I'm famous for being the "angry nerd" at my high school. After all the bullying I took in middle school, by Freshman year I was bitter, dangerous, and was more than happy to threaten to remove someone's pancreas through their left ear with a rusty fishhook. Then, when Pokemon became cool at my school again, I became more open about my hobbies(Not just D&D. People learned fast that I like to draw(both pencil-and-paper and 3d animation), have some amount of skill with a saw, and even dabble in rocketry.) I still don't like a lot of the people I deal with regularly, but I'm at least recognized as dangerous enough not to mess with anymore.

[Serpentine]

To confuse the school matter even more, I went to Tallangatta Secondary College. It was just a high school, though.
In Australia, we only have Kindergarten/Preschool (depends on the state), Primary School (1-6), and High School (7-12). Sometimes high school is sort of distinguished from HSC/VCE (7-10 and 11-12 respectively), and some individual schools fiddle around with the numbers (e.g. K-8, 9-12), but on the whole, just the two main ones really.

[TooManyBadgers]

To confuse the school matter even more, I went to Tallangatta Secondary College. It was just a high school, though.
In Australia, we only have Kindergarten/Preschool (depends on the state), Primary School (1-6), and High School (7-12). Sometimes high school is sort of distinguished from HSC/VCE (7-10 and 11-12 respectively), and some individual schools fiddle around with the numbers (e.g. K-8, 9-12), but on the whole, just the two main ones really.
:smalleek:
Then how are adolescents prevented from heckling the young 'uns? Or from receiving the hecklings that they so rightly deserve?
:smalltongue:

[Serpentine]

:confused: Different schools.
Or do you mean keeping the year 7s from being heckled by the year... well, not 12s, they're usually over it by then, but say 10s? Dunno, didn't really happen that much. I'm sure it does in other schools, but that's not so much an age difference problem as a bully problem *shrug* Australia's not nearly as bad as a lot of other countries, from what I understand, though.

[Jokasti]

I know of K-12 schools, but I went to a K-5 Elementary School, 6-8 Middle School, and 9-12 High School. 3 separate schools.

[Don Julio Anejo]

Canada is actually not like the US. We have elementary school (grades 1-7) and secondary school (grades 8-12). No middle school/junior high in most places, and a few provinces (like Ontario) also have grade 13.

Also, even though it's technically called secondary school, everyone just calls it high school.

[Serpentine]

More like Australia, then.
I think there's meant to be some difference between Secondary and High Schools here, but I dunno what it is.

[Drolyt]

Okay, bad Drolyt for making generalizations. Obviously how it works varies immensely not only between countries but within them. My original post still holds fairly well though, I was responding to a comment that another poster thought years 10-12 would be called High School in the States. I responded in the affirmative and noted that Canadians would also call it High School and most Britains would call it Secondary School. This is still correct even if the terms aren't equivalent.

[Eldan]

To confuse the school matter even more, I went to Tallangatta Secondary College. It was just a high school, though.
In Australia, we only have Kindergarten/Preschool (depends on the state), Primary School (1-6), and High School (7-12). Sometimes high school is sort of distinguished from HSC/VCE (7-10 and 11-12 respectively), and some individual schools fiddle around with the numbers (e.g. K-8, 9-12), but on the whole, just the two main ones really.

See... we have:
Kindergarden (2 years)
Primary school (6 years)
Secondary school (3 years), with two or three different levels for kids with different grades, depending on cantons.

After that, it branches out. Half or more of all kids start an apprenticeship and get a job. The other half go to any of a variety of middle schools, which take three or four years. A special case of middle school is the Gymnasium, which takes 4 years and is the only one which allows you to go to university. But there are dozens of business schools, computer schools, language schools and so on, all also called middle schools, all with different lengths, costs and diplomas. Then, of course, there are some cantons which have a six-year gymnasium which people can go to instead of secondary school.

It's complicated, but that's what you get for unifying a country which was basically 13 different countries and their conquered territories for six hundred years before that. At least we only have one currency and army now.

[rakkoon]

Note that over here the term High School is reserved for Colleges, while University is used for Universities.
In France I like the name Big School at lot for something slightly more intellectual than simple universities.
A rose by any...

[Thufir]

What's the difference? Is it that secondary school includes what Americans call middle school? I thought only Scotland had high schools across the pond.

Two tier: Primary (Reception - Year 6), Secondary (Year 7 - Year 13)

Three tier: First (Reception - Year 4), Middle (Year 5 - Year 8), High (Year 9 - Year 13)

Years 12 and 13 also referred to as 6th form. Sometimes done separately at a college.

[Dogmantra]

High (Year 9 - Year 13)

Upper goshdarnit, upper.

[Drolyt]

I think I derailed the thread...

[Dogmantra]

I think I derailed the thread...

Probably best to take the discussion of school to RB.

[KuReshtin]

or maybe that nifty School thread that popped up just today...

[Jalor]

*forcibly drags thread back on topic*

I used to be ridiculously secretive about my geekiness, even to the point of claiming the only video games I played were the Halo and Medal of Honor series. Ever since high school, though, I've been much more open about my interests. I'm now at the point where I freely admit to things like LARPing and cosplaying, and read books about game theory and the Ottoman Empire in public.

I think I've reached the zenith of Geek Pride this past year. A couple weeks ago, I had a date with a girl who first met me while I was cosplaying the Laughing Man from Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. We are planning a second date now that we are both done with band camp. For the record, she had not seen Stand Alone Complex when I met her.

(Ladies: If you attended Megacon 2010 a few months ago and gave your number to a long-haired Laughing Man, that was probably me. The only other Laughing Man had a crew cut.)

[Drolyt]

I'm not sure reading about the Ottoman Empire makes you a geek. Maybe an intellectual, but I digress. History education in the US is abysmal. It probably is everywhere else too, but I can't vouch for that.

[Silly Wizard]

My friends are, but Im not. Its odd though, since our DM is one of my friends dad and he's open about it. Most people in my (current) group are worried being open about DnD will hurttheir already slim chance with the ladies.

Heh, one of the guys in my group has the same idea in his head. He hasn't had a girlfriend before, but he's decidedly secret about it. He said if I ever mention it in mixed company, or write something about it on his Facebook wall, he'll quit the group permanently.

Of course, I've done this plenty of times (on purpose and accidentally) and he just doesn't want to stop playing.

[onasuma]

I know someone whos sucessfully used "Hey, will you roll against my Cha?" Sure, she didnt understand it, but either way, it worked.

[The_Admiral]

I'm not sure reading about the Ottoman Empire makes you a geek. Maybe an intellectual, but I digress. History education in the US is abysmal. It probably is everywhere else too, but I can't vouch for that.

I agree it is abysmal in Malaysia too.

[Don Julio Anejo]

I freely admit to things like LARPing and cosplaying, and read books about game theory and the Ottoman Empire in public.
Eh, considering I have Napoleon's biography, about 3 different books on WWII (two on tactical analysis of different sides and one on the economy of the Third Reich), a copy of Guns, Germs and Steel and three books on ancient warfare on my bookshelf... This would be normal if I had like 200 books, but the thing is that that^ is about 1/3 of my entire book collection, which also includes Tom Clancy (all of his Jack Ryan books, also on my shelf) and my school textbooks (such fun and exciting titles as Cell Biochemistry: 4th Edition).

I'm pretty sure you're very much not a geek for reading about the Ottoman Empire after this.

[RandomNPC]

I'm good, but a friend of mine has parents who think along the D&D is evil path.

He keeps everything in his cars trunk, except a portable harddrive he keeps in one of his coat pockets. He's only got his one key to his car, and always has it on him. His parents snoop around but don't want him to know it, so they don't fuss about not having access to his car, that'd give it away. They did make him burn his first set of the 3rd edition PHB, MM, and DMG, and his dice.

So I'm sneaky about it around them, but thats about it.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

They did make him burn his first set of the 3rd edition PHB, MM, and DMG, and his dice.

They actually made him burn them? :smalleek: Geez. When my parents said they'd burn my books if I ever picked up the game, they really just meant I'd have to give them away...because, y'know, we aren't in the Middle Ages anymore.

[Drolyt]

Wow, yeah. When I first started playing my mom was kind of worried about it, no doubt she heard some stupid stuff, but she never tried to stop me. Of course, she never really set any boundaries for me, and I never got into trouble, so maybe it was a trust thing. Certainly she didn't really know anything about the game, and she probably trusted my judgment over the vague negative things she had heard.

[Jivundus]

Gods no. I make D&D references to just about everything. Hell, I broke my wrist and only complained about losing my dex bonus.

It's taken me a while, but I've coaxed my group into admitting they play...and now conversations about it take up the majority of class time. However, the automatic response when someone asks us what we're talking about is "Snowboarding" (i.e. the codeword we used when we played WoW together..cause we weren't stupid enough to admit to that.)

[Haruki-kun]

As 4chan would put it... I just avoid showing off my power level. I don't really hide it, but I don't go around telling people I'm a geek and they should all get into Anime.

I generally assume that's the best approach.

[Drago]

Holding Australia is a simple strategy that, if successful, virtually guarantees victory against less experienced Risk players. At least if I remember correctly. Trying to hold Asia on the other hand is not for the faint of heart.

More or less yes, personally I always had luck turtleing up in North and South America while everyone else fought over Asia.


Canada is actually not like the US. We have elementary school (grades 1-7) and secondary school (grades 8-12). No middle school/junior high in most places, and a few provinces (like Ontario) also have grade 13.

Also, even though it's technically called secondary school, everyone just calls it high school.

Err no, each province is in charge of schooling, so it varies. Here it's Elementary (1-5) Junior High (6-8) and High School (9-12) remote northern communities not withstanding.

Also Ontario ditched grade 13 a while ago as I hear it.



So on topic; I'm not particularly secretive about it though I may not talk about it much. To be fair though I'm not one for striking up conversation with complete strangers anyway. But at the same time I don't hide it if anyone asks. To illustarte:

NPC: "What are you doing this weekend?"
Me: "Hanging out with friends."
NPC: "What do you guys have planned?"
Me: "Playing D&D."

Or if I know them a little better:

NPC2: "What are you doing this weekend?"
Me: "Playing D&D."

The second one happening if I've established that they are okay with gaming in general (or if it's in any of my comp sci classes, you have to be reasonably nerdy to have gotten that far.)

I mean I can't be to concerned about others knowing considering I starting playing in the cafeteria at school during spares.

[Exachix]

I am a member (read: President) of a roleplaying Society at a university. Among other activities we use up the student union on sundays playing RPGs and regularly LARP. Said LARP causes repucussions (some accidental) that include:
> Going to Lectures in Kit
> Wandering around with a 7ft Polearm (Foam+Latex)
> Being unable to resist references to it.

To note: I don't care what they think - I do it and they'll occasionally have to live with me turning up in green.

[Magdela]

I am a member (read: President) of a roleplaying Society at a university. Among other activities we use up the student union on sundays playing RPGs and regularly LARP. Said LARP causes repucussions (some accidental) that include:
> Going to Lectures in Kit
> Wandering around with a 7ft Polearm (Foam+Latex)
> Being unable to resist references to it.

To note: I don't care what they think - I do it and they'll occasionally have to live with me turning up in green.
Man, here you're burned at the social torch for not dressing in a polo or a t shirt.

[RandomNPC]

To note: I don't care what they think - I do it and they'll occasionally have to live with me turning up in green.

Dunno why, but that makes me think of this.

I'm one of those foam fighter people.

When someone asks me about the fresh rugburn i currently have on my noggin, I will go onto detail about the dink who doen't know how to swing a greatsword, and is overcompensationg for low skill with big weapons. But I don't say foam weapons, I talk about it by naming the weapons as if they were real, it's way easier to say, and it gets great reactions.

I think that kid actually gave me a concussion. I feel a bit off.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

Err no, each province is in charge of schooling, so it varies. Here it's Elementary (1-5) Junior High (6-8) and High School (9-12) remote northern communities not withstanding.

Also Ontario ditched grade 13 a while ago as I hear it.



Yeah, we haven't had Grade 13 for yeeaaars.

I assume Donn Hooooliooo lives in BC, no?

In Ontari-airy-o, it's Elementary or Primary (1-6), Doesn't Actually Have A Name, Though Is Most Often Called Middle School (7-8), and High School, or Secondary School (9-12)

[Knaight]

When someone asks me about the fresh rugburn i currently have on my noggin, I will go onto detail about the dink who doen't know how to swing a greatsword, and is overcompensationg for low skill with big weapons. But I don't say foam weapons, I talk about it by naming the weapons as if they were real, it's way easier to say, and it gets great reactions.

So, how was it you got hit when the other person couldn't swing a sword properly? :smallconfused:

[Drolyt]

So, how was it you got hit when the other person couldn't swing a sword properly? :smallconfused:

I'm going to guess that someone swinging a sword properly in a fake fight is one that doesn't leave bruises.

[Quincunx]

No headshots, even with foam weapons, precisely because you're not supposed to hand out concussions!

On topic, yes, there was/is something furtive about pen and paper roleplaying. It doesn't even seem to extend so far as board games, which is just odd. Feel perfectly fine confessing to playing Call of Chthulu the boardgame and would feel quite odd discussing making a character sheet for same. There's just no handy and fun analogy for filling out a form.


Tangent: Has anyone ever actually finished a game of Risk or Monopoly?


I've finished one game of RISK in my life. I won, thanks to the crazy defenders of Western Australia.

One, and I was a crazy defender of Western Australia (curse you, Malaysia! curse your 28 dice! do you know how long it takes to roll a d6 twenty-eight times a turn and obviously we were not at a gamer's ((Malaysia's)) house because no other d6s were forthcoming!).

[Drolyt]

No headshots, even with foam weapons, precisely because you're not supposed to hand out concussions!
Just to elaborate: 1. Although unlikely, anything, regardless of how soft, can cause a concussion or worse with a blow to the head. 2. A concussion is what happens when your brain stops working temporarily. It is not something to mess around with. A lot of people think a concussion is no big deal and don't even go to the hospital afterwords. This is stupid. If the blow caused a concussion, there is a high chance it could have caused more severe brain damage or even internal bleeding. Concussions are bad. See a doctor if you have one.

So yeah. When play fighting, take safety seriously.

[Knaight]

No headshots, even with foam weapons, precisely because you're not supposed to hand out concussions!

Sure, but one should still be able to block them easily enough if the other person is flailing around haplessly.

[Drolyt]

Sure, but one should still be able to block them easily enough if the other person is flailing around haplessly.

Not if the other person is stronger and has a heavier weapon.

[Lord Thurlvin]

I'm not sure reading about the Ottoman Empire makes you a geek. Maybe an intellectual, but I digress. History education in the US is abysmal. It probably is everywhere else too, but I can't vouch for that.

Yeah, I don't know if it was just my school, but I didn't know how Hawaii ended up a state until the tenth grade.
Anyway, returning to the original question, no. I'm not secretive about it. If people ask me what my hobbies are, I include D&D on the list I rattle off. I wouldn't call the area I grew up in "accepting" of D&D, but nobody was all that hostile, either. Being 6'2'' and weighing over 200 pounds helped... discourage that sort of behavior. :smallwink:

[Knaight]

Yeah, I don't know if it was just my school, but I didn't know how Hawaii ended up a state until the tenth grade.

Assuming you are in the U.S., that is one of those things the education system tends to try and avoid. It doesn't make the U.S. look very good, and stuff that doesn't make the U.S. look good tends to be left for high school.

[Exachix]

I would like to note (as I've done it and been on the receiving end of it) - not all headshots are deliberate. For example - I often (attempt to) duck and dodge, and occasionally don't duck far enough. And even then, if you're fighting safely, you shouldn't be swinging that hard enough to cause damage.

but anyway -

Even before university I wasn't *that* secretive about my gaming habits. During College (sixth-form) I believe we got card games banned as we were playing Magic over lunchtimes. Ahh good times.
Prior to that I was playing D&D occasionally with friends. Very occasionally.

[onasuma]

The reason so many people around my way know I LARP is due to headshots - having a bloody scar above an eye for a long time causes people to ask questions. Headshots do happen in most larps, but again, they are discoraged. Of course, if they guy decides to use a tower sheild, and I can only hit his head, thats where Im aiming.

[RandomNPC]

So, how was it you got hit when the other person couldn't swing a sword properly? :smallconfused:

I was already dead, sitting on the ground with my weapons on the ground in front of me, waiting for the fight to move so I could stand up and go line back up.
There was a guy standing next to me still fighting, he was fighting sword and shield, and the guy tried to go for a "red" hit, a shield breaker. You do those by swinging hard enough to make someone say "Hey, that guy's trying to break my shield" He swung low, I'm guessing in hopes of taking the guys leg if he was busy with the shield elsewhere, and there I was.

[Drolyt]

I was already dead, sitting on the ground with my weapons on the ground in front of me, waiting for the fight to move so I could stand up and go line back up.
There was a guy standing next to me still fighting, he was fighting sword and shield, and the guy tried to go for a "red" hit, a shield breaker. You do those by swinging hard enough to make someone say "Hey, that guy's trying to break my shield" He swung low, I'm guessing in hopes of taking the guys leg if he was busy with the shield elsewhere, and there I was.

I'm gonna be honest, if I were you that guy would've been in the hospital for managing such a ridiculous method of smacking me in the head.