Wilson Waffling

One of the most difficult things I find to understand within the Shadowrun universe is the Matrix. I spend many hours reading the Core Rule Book over and over again followed my searching and reading multiple posts on the associated Reddit. I actually think that I am started to get my head around the concepts but in order to truly establish this I thought I would try to explain it to someone else, since this is one of the true criteria of mastery over a topic. But rather than just writing a waffle of facts and figures I wanted to engage my creative juices which appear to flow better when I am not at work and write a piece of creative writing. Please remember, I am the least creative person around so accept this as what it is, I know I am am unlikely to win any competitions or coveted awards! As I usually sit in Costa to write my waffles, it seemed to be a suitable place to set this scenario. So imagine. The time, 2076. The place Costa Soya coffee the reality? Shadowrun.

I am quite liking writing about the games I play, although I might not be waffling to the level of the great DMs I do feel like I am reflecting on the games I play and the rules which govern them and, in doing this, hopefully I am becoming a better DM. This week, I wanted to waffle on about skills. There are many skills in both the games I play, but who is actually responsible for providing opportunities for them to be put into action within the game? Well here I go with my views!

Don’t worry, before you start reaching for your wallets, I just used the title of this blog to capture your attention and to provide an indication of where I got the inspiration for this waffle from. Yesterday, while scrolling through my Twitter feed, I came across a post from the infamous ExplodingDice replying to the question – “Should DMs get paid?”. It was after reading this that I started to think about the job of the DM and what I actually do from week to week in order to hopefully keep my campaigns going. So here, for your entertainment, is a sneaky peek into my week as a DM…

I’m really trying to get back into the habit of blogging, rather than just constantly posting videos of the games I am playing. Although I enjoy the latter, I really do enjoy blogging and need to make time in order to achieve this. As for content/topics, well I do like to blog about the games I play, from a newbie perspective of course, but I also like to post blogs about my life in general. These are probably the ones which I enjoy writing the most, but are the least viewed and interacted with. I can accept that since, quoting that famous ABBA song – “I’m nothing special, in fact I’m a bit of a bore!”

I quite like change. When I am enjoying something I often think that I am never ever going to stop doing it, but there always comes a time when things either become too much to keep going or something else tempts me away and I no longer have the time for something. I've written before about my class envy and this often does happen with games as well. The most important thing about any game for me is the concept and rules, rather than its popularity or great reports. Even when I am streaming, I tend not to hop onto new games or 'popular' games just for the sake of playing them since I know that I am not really going to enjoy them or be any good at them. RPGs (Role Playing Games) are the same. I tend to like concepts and rule systems rather than the current popular or new games. With this in mind, you might have noticed that I am no longer streaming D&D 5th edition on a Saturday evening, in favour of Mythras. So, in order to prevent any rumours spreading about the reason behind this, I thought I would let you know in a waffle why I had chosen to play more Mythras.

I remember playing role playing games for some years. Although I have had some attempts at playing I mainly reside on the rule filled side of the DM screen, creating the adventures and spending hours reading and re-reading rule books. I've recognised numerous changes across the years, from games being played round a table on a bank holiday or Friday night, through the use of letters (as in snail mail) to the present day use of Roll20 and/or Skype to bring the players together. Although the game has changed I've also noticed a change in players. When I refer to players I'm not meaning they have grown older, although they probably have, but more of the characters they choose to play and, when considering this in more detail, I started to realise that the characters people play follow some sort of pattern.

If you ever take a glance up to the top right of this webpage you will be aware that I put the book which I am currently listening to up there. Although most of these tend to be action, sci-fi or crime thrillers, the odd autobiography does creep its way into the schedule now and again. Every time I am listening to an autobiography I have this urge to write my own. Not that my life is very exciting - in fact I often think my life is reflected in those starting lyrics of the ABBA classic - "Thank you for the music" - 'I'm nothing special, in fact, I'm a bit of a bore.' What I do wonder about is how I would actually write the events of my life and came up with a title and format for my autobiography. Instead of waiting for a book contract, I thought I would get on with it and start writing it using the same format but as blog posts. So here is one of them. The title of the book would be "My life in Daydreams" and this waffle's topic is my radio career.

Recently, I have started to get involved in Reddits. Some people have a rather negative view about Reddits, although currently I have found the community really helpful and interactive. Now before you start to think I am watching videos of Chinese/Japanese game shows, the Reddits I get involved in are not those types of communities but more related to Shadowrun and Runequest/Mythras. To be honest, I haven’t even searched for a D&D one because I have a feeling that there will be more discussions about the finery of the rules rather than more direct understanding of the them – the latter is what I actually need as I embark on these new games. So am I writing this waffle about Reddit? not at all, I am writing it in response to a Reddit post that I often reply to…

Before anyone mentions it, I understand that a lot of games seem to annoy me and please don’t think I am a regular ‘salter’! (I’ve just learned what this slang means so I am keen to use it and any of its derivatives at every opportunity!). I always need a game that I just log into have a ‘blast’ with when I have got a few minutes to spare. Usually this has been Overwatch but recently I have become ‘salty’ with this game and so I have turned to another – Hearthstone. But I am finding that both games are causing me some ‘salt’….

Before you read or listen any further I would just like to reassure you that I am not dying! When you are young and living life to the full, you never really have time to stop and think, what do I actually wish to do with my life. When I say that, I am not referring to getting a job or settling down in a cottage by the edge of a lake. I'm referring to those adventurous things like throwing yourself off a bridge with an elastic band attached to your ankles - hopefully firmly! Or even sailing around the world in a plastic dinghy with only a blogging camera for technology. Well those examples are maybe slightly extreme - well the second one definitely, but these adventures we could put together in a list that we would like to complete in the future. Well since I over fifty now, I thought it was about time I made a list of the three things I would like to achieve which I would call adventurous. Tagging it as a bucket list would be inappropriate so here is my small pail list for the near future!