Roleplay and Metal???

[sinsofman]

Hey ppl....I was just wondering if Roleplay (I can hear my mum now...You'll burn in hell! ) and metal go hand in hand?
As far back as I recall my friends and I have been roleplaying and there was always metal playing in the background...as if we weren't already damned by our parents we thought the music would help as well
Fondest memories of Metal/roleplay montage

1. Late primary school/early high school...Master of Puppets, south of heaven and reign in blood with D&D 1st edition
2. Late high school/uni....Chaos AD, Demanufacture, Colony, Diabolus in musica and almighty display etc with Warhammer Roleplay and 40K
3. Now...Devin Townsend,Dark Tranq, Moonspell, Opeth, Krisiun, Bathory etc with Earthdawn, D&D 3rd edit. and more and more Online roleplaying

My mum still says....'you still play those evil games?'
I say 'yes mum but listen to this....'

 

[Drexle]

The two don't go hand in hand, because I know plenty of RPers who think metal is dumb and nothing but noise, and a number of metalheads who don't get into RPing because they just don't get into that sort of thing.

The stereotype of the metalhead RPer is the guy who plays all evil characters, and plays mostly hack&slash/monty haul games where all the characters end up ruling worlds with items that make them invincible... and I've met a good number of them who live up to the stereotype. Then again, I also know a couple (myself included) who don't fit that mold.

 

[WarHead]

.,.,.maybe its b/cuz im american.,.,but wuts a Rper?.,.,.,like Jack the Rper?.,.,.,.,am i supposed to feel dumb now?.,.,.

 

[Drexle]

Ummm... nope, it's not because you're American.

RP= Role Play
RPG = Role Playing Game

Probably the most well known examples of RPGs would be:

-Dungeons & Dragons
-Vampire: the Masqerade (Or any of White Wolf's "Supernatural Creature: the Dramatic Descriptor" games)
-Shadowrun
-Call of Cthulhu

There are, however, loads of other games out there. I'll leave the lecture about "What is role playing" to someone who has the time and inclination to give it.

 

[WarHead]

ohhh.,.,.,lol.,.,i do feel stupid though.,.,.,does diablo count.,.,or is this a real life thing.,.,like u dress up and stuff?

 

[TexasFriedCriminal]

hm.. for it went hand in hand, my interest in fantasy led me to metal (manowar started it all ) and RPG. and indeed in the beginning I almost always played very high powered games, but as this did not satisfy me I got into "real" role playing.

same in metal, both paths developed indipendently from each other.

in fact most of my metal buddies don't even know what an rpg is, while some at least are avid computer rpg players

In the RPG scene I've noticed that almost everybody likes Blind Guardian and Nightwish .... while I had to lead a glorious crusade for metal to get my co-players into it now they all want to borrow cds from me... strange... hehe..

all in all I think that most Gamers are into metal, if only for the fantasy stuff.

ON the contrary we got the gothic/black metal- listening, vampire/CoF-shirt-wearing Vampire players. Not my type of crowd all in all, but most were quite cool, and fit the stereotype perfectly (with the sole brave exception of one lady who's into german liedermacher and early punk music )

but I have had the expercience that the older they get, the less they fit the stereotypes (youth is so predictable ).

anyway, right now I'm GMing Shadowrun to the tunes of Devin Townsend, In Flames, Nevermore and Priest's Jugulator, amongst others...

 

[Drexle]

Diablo is a computer version of a really hack&slash heavy RPG.

The thing where the people get all dressed up is called LARP (Live Action Role Playing.)

The kind that sinsofman and I were talking about is where a small group of people bring a bunch of dice, some pencils, some paper, and sit around a table. One player is the guy who presents the world to the others, and they're called the "Game Master." They basically describe everything that goes on, and they play the part of every creature who is not one of the other player's characters.

The other players all play a character who... you know... do things in the GM's world. There's no dressing up, and there's not a whole lot of acting besides trying to make sure you keep your character's actions "in character." All the action goes on in your head, not in real life.

TexasFriedCriminal, the RPers I know of aren't generally metalheads. Most of them are the Monty Python/Anime/They Might Be Giants/Weird Al Yankovic super-geeks. There are a few exeptions to this, I'll admit. But that seems to be the general rule.

About Vampire, I only actually know one gothical-type-person, and he manages to defy just about all the goth stereotypes. His favorite games are probably Vampire and Mage, but he has (and will) play a whole lot of other games.

 

[Lutz]

I don't like these live rpgs, but I do like or liked console rpgs (not computer rpgs).

 

[jimbobhickville]

Originally posted by Drexle

TexasFriedCriminal, the RPers I know of aren't generally metalheads. Most of them are the Monty Python/Anime/They Might Be Giants/Weird Al Yankovic super-geeks.

Hey, that's me Well, except for the Anime part; I only like a couple of anime shows.

My friends and I (I'm the only metalhead in the group) play the Star Wars RPG (2nd Edition). D&D rules are just too focused on combat and don't allow for other character development. We actually took the Star Wars rules and created a game in a D&D setting. It was quite fun. Currently we're playing as a group of mercenaries who get hired out to do espionage, smuggling, assassinations, or whatever. I tried to get into the computer RPGs, but most of them just plain suck. Games like Deus Ex and System Shock 2, where they combine RPG and Shooter, are quite fun, if done right.

 

[Ormir]

I think roleplaying and metal are connected for a number of reasons. First, your average metalhead is a fairly intelligent person, it takes some brains to understand the music (unlike the small minded idiots that listen to rap). Roleplayers also tend to be of good intelligence, so you're more likely to find a roleplayer who listens to metal than rap. Second, alot of people that listen to black/death metal enjoy escapism, to have music take them away from everyday life (assuming the majority doesn't dance in the forest with satan and rape angels). This also applys to roleplayers, so metal fans might roleplay because it allows them to escape from real life just like their music or vice versa.

I've been into roleplaying for a few years now, mostly as a GM. For the last year I really haven't played anything but Vampire, and I've been playing black metal in the backround most of the time. Everybody but one guy in my group is a HC metalhead, with the last guy listening to pop (Dimmu and CoF).

 

[sinsofman]

Yeh I think your right...most of my RP friends are very intelligent. It shamed me in school though to know that the only ppl who would RP were considered geeks. Admittedly the guys I played with in primary school and most of high school were geeks and maybe listened to metal because of their subsequent misanthropia, but the guys I now play with are police men, fire men, teachers? Perhaps they were geeks in school? I hated being the butt of ppls jokes about roleplaying...I still hate having to explain the attraction...I usually just say 'nevermind, it's beyond ur comprehension.' That gets them fired up.
And I couldn't agree more with playing Devin Townsend in the background....I think he writes the shit for RPG's.
If your looking for a D&D style game where character development is important and not just combat, check out Earthdawn. This game came out originally by FASA but was dropped...it has now been re released by another co. I don't know who.

 

[Drexle]

Yeah, geek is a fairly common theme when it comes to RP. Really, how often do the kids in HS who "have it all" really want to put themselves in someone else's shoes? Actually, scratch that, I've heard a bunch of ex-popular kids say they hated their lot in HS life. Well wah, I'm crying my heart out for them.

Yeah, there are a lot of intelligent people involved in role playing, but I've also met quite a few who only *think* they are.

 

[TexasFriedCriminal]

on the comp : vintersorg - in my cd player : avernus

both at once ?

doesn't the create some strange effects

anyhow, I only played earthdawn once, but it was cool (even if the game system seemed a bit awkward to me, but then again, it's a fasa game, so what was I expecting )

for those who like it strange : www.talislanta.com

and if you like genre-less games, try downloading fuzion core rules at www.thefuze.com

 

[Drexle]

Originally posted by TexasFriedCriminal


both at once ?

doesn't the create some strange effects

I bet it would! It's more like "I have Vintersorg on my computer at the moment. When I'm away from the comp, I'm listening to Avernus."