Exploring the RPG Multiverse, One Book at a Time
A new month, a new school year and the perfect time to begin something fresh: this blog. I’ll be writing about my rediscovered hobby of TTRPGs.
It’s been years since I last played, but I remember fondly how, in my formative years, I loved to drain the blood of strangers on the street and hide their bodies. My favorite character was a child Malkavian vampire with a split personality. I liked to think of myself as a little Kirsten Dunst in Interview with the Vampire, but with one extra personality.
Now that I’m diving back in, I keep asking myself: what should I write about? The TTRPG blogosphere is already packed with brilliant voices, funny, insightful, deeply researched, and endlessly creativity. Just last week I discovered Chris McDowall’s blog and almost lost myself in his years of posts. I’m not at that level (maybe one day a few decades from now), so instead I’ll embrace my noob status. I’ll write from the honest perspective of someone rediscovering the hobby and being constantly amazed by it. Hopefully, seeing this space through fresh eyes will make for something interesting to read.
Still, the blog needs a bit more substance. I’ve been reading a lot lately, including TTRPG books. Last year I went through Troyka, Dog Eat Dog, and Thousand Year Old Vampire. More recently I devoured Mythic Bastionland and immediately ran a one-shot with three friends. And while browsing the internet, I stumbled on the Humble Bundle “The Ultimate Guide to Tabletop RPGs, Worldbuilding, and Folklore”, a collection of 27 books. That gave me an idea: I’ll read them and share my impressions here.
Here’s the lineup, divided into categories: Dungeonmeister Series
Dungeonmeister Book of RPG Trivia Dungeonmeister Cookbook Dungeonmeister Ultimate RPG Guides
Ultimate RPG Game Master's Guide Ultimate RPG Game Master's Worldbuilding Guide Ultimate RPG Gameplay Guide Ultimate RPG Character Backstory Guide Ultimate RPG Character Backstory Guide: Expanded Genres Edition Ultimate Fantasy Character Creator Ultimate Micro-RPG Book Ultimate Random Encounters Book Myth and Folklore
Book of Japanese Folklore: An Encyclopedia of the Spirits, Monsters, and Yokai of Japanese Myth Book of Viking Myths Book of Celtic Myths Greek Mythology: The Gods, Goddesses, and Heroes Handbook Norse Mythology: The Gods, Goddesses, and Heroes Handbook Women of Myth Fantasy Creatures
Dragons Unicorns Mermaids Fairies Vampires Wizards Tabletop and Gaming
Civilized Guide to Tabletop Gaming Everything Tabletop Games Book Dragon Walks Into a Bar Dictionary of Made-Up Languages
Some ground rules: the Dungeonmeister books won’t be read cover to cover. I’ll dip into them, try a recipe here and there, maybe flip through the trivia book when the mood strikes. To keep things from feeling like homework, I’ll mix categories instead of plowing through six fantasy creature books in a row. Bigger categories, like the Ultimate RPG guides, will naturally show up more often.
I also plan to look into the authors themselves, because let’s be real, falling into 20 open Wikipedia tabs is half the fun. And in researching the people behind these books, I’ll probably discover even more fascinating material. It’s not like I’m short on reading, anyway.
So, without further ado, let’s roll a d8 to see which Ultimate RPG Guide comes first.
Rolled a 5. Ultimate RPG Character Backstory Guide: Expanded Genres Edition.
But wait… should I read the original edition first? Or just dive into the expanded one? Do I even need to read both? Time for some fun fun research.
I’ll be back with answers and opinions in the next post.