Historically StormHeathen RPG runs or takes part in table top role-play games ("TTRPG") in professional settings such as gaming stores, conferences or conventions, or alternatively, in more homely environments with friends and family.

Due to the recent pandemic StormHeathen RPG are currently running and taking part in TRPGs through the online resource of Roll20.  

The History of TTRPG

(The main influences for StormHeathen RPG)

So Where to Begin?

At the start, I suppose, where the hobby of tabletop role-playing games ("TTRPG") began. At that time I was only just learning to talk and walk, so I don't become involved for another 11 years, but still, it is a good place to start.

From the late 18th century there have been many recorded tabletop wargames, and through the 1960s historical re-enactments events started to introduce fantasy roleplay elements with the birth of Live Action Role Play ("LARP") that expanded in the 1970s. But something was missing, a longing void that needed to be filled.

If you ask a modern TRP gamer about the origins of their hobby, they will most likely tell the story of a co-written game by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson known as Dungeons and Dragons published by the company Tactical Studies Rules ("TSR"). However, the creation of Dungeons and Dragons in 1974 was by no means produced in the format gamers know and love today. It was birthed in connection to a miniature wargame known as Chainmail and an Avalon Hill Board Game known as Outdoor Survival which you required ownership of both to enable you to play the first Dungeons and Dragons.

But did you know that Dungeons and Dragons wasn't the only TTRPG released in 1974?

In August 1974 another link in the origins of TTRPG was published by M.A.R. Barker's known as the Empire of the Petal Throne and it was this game that introduced the mechanics of Critical Hits simulating a lucky hit on vital organs. A game that inspired Arneson and Gygax so much that they republished the Empire of the Petal Throne under the TSR publishing label in 1975.

Soon other companies were jumping onto the TTRPG bandwagon as it became no longer part of wargaming, but a hobby in its own right.

The birth of the TTRPG space and sci-fi genre was Traveller by Games Design Workshop. Traveller recently saw its 5th edition published by Mongoose Games.

Next was the birth of the TTRPG horror genre in the release of Call of Cthulhu by Chaosium Inc, based on the works of H.P. Lovecraft. Cthulhu has just seen its 7th edition released and is still going strong.

From there the hobby exploded with games for every conceivable genre and even ones you wished didn't exist. Anime TTRPG? no problem, Zombie TTRPG, covered. Ghostbusters TTRPG, yep that too. When I said everything I meant it.

So where do I fit into this?

It was a rainy week during the summer holidays, my friends and I were bored teenagers hanging out at my house. One of my friends spotted the Dungeons and Dragons ("DnD") Basic set (red box with a dragon on the front) gaining dust on the shelf. Upon him asking what it was about, I explained the history of how it came to the house (all in the 'About Us' section) and the gist of the game. Intrigued by what the game was about we proceed to moan at my Mom until she agrees to read the rules and run a game for us. The game was a pre-written adventure in the box and to be honest it wasn't very good. However, one of my friends and I became hooked and although he has since given up the hobby, I am still here playing and running more than 35 years later.

To start with, TRPG was a very small hobby for me spending most of the time as the Dungeon Master (DM) in DnD games or as the Games Master (GM) in other TTRPG genres because no one else would be.

As I got older I came to enjoy crafting worlds and cities for my players to get lost in, and adventure through, or die in. Inspired by the written works of Michael Moorcock and Andre Norton, my campaigns got longer as I became invested in the setting and the worlds I was creating (being a GM is a big job, with lots of work, but also amazing payoffs if you do it right).

How do you do it right?

Easy, if the players enjoy it and keep wanting to play you're getting it right.

So what do I do with all this experience in High Geekdom?

Well, I started running games for strangers who'd never played before, I started a Twitter and a YouTube channel to try to give some advice to new players and DM/GM's alike, and finally, this website, that you are reading.

I hope we (because StormHeathen has become a team and not just me anymore) can help you to enjoy this wonderful hobby that can take you anywhere, but more importantly, allows you to be anything you want to be.

The biggest lesson that the history of TTRPG has taught me is that whilst you explore new worlds, face trials and tribulations even whilst pretending to be someone else for a few hours a week, it will help you understand who you truly are.

Welcome to the Adventure.