Ars Mysteriorum

Hometown:

Sioux Falls, SD

Birthday:

October 6, 1982

Website:

http://arsmysteriorum.weebly.com

About Me:

RPG's are my choice of escape from reality. I began at the age of 12 with AD&D 2nd Edition. That was a defining moment for me. I loved RPGs instantly. Unfortunately, disapproving parents would steal the hobby away from me until my junior year of university, when, in a realization of independence, I purchased D&D 3.5 and got back into the hobby.

I grew to loathe the d20 system, as it failed to capture the feeling of characterization the games I had played as a child had evoked due to its cumbersome rules and focus on tactical combat rather than roleplaying situations.

I had heard White Wolf games focused on roleplaying, and so tried the new World of Darkness. I actually liked (and still like) the simplicity of the core rules, but each of the expansions brought cumbersome terminology and abilities that marred the system with Mage being the worst offender.

Unhappy with the two largest RPG creators, I moved decided the best way to experience the gaming I remember was to find games from that age. Call of Cthulhu and Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay became my favorite games, and I studied various others, such as Talislanta, so as to understand how systems could function to support the setting, enhance roleplaying, and manage to be fun all at once.

Recently I've been more a fan of slightly lesser known games, primarily Wayfarers by Ye Olde School Gaming Companye (the rules are free their website until the first of December, 2008), Dread: The Last Book of Pandemonium by Neoplastic Press (Rafael also provides pretty much all you require for play on his site except the demons, but there is a random demon generator), and Desolation by Greymalkin Designs (sorry folks, gotta buy this one).

These games are all wonderful and deserve more than just a look.

Favorite Games:

All Flesh Must Be Eaten, Arkham Horror, Armageddon: The End Times, Basic RolePlaying, Beer Money, C.J. Carella's Witchcraft, Call of Cthulhu, Desolation, Dread: The First Book of Pandemonium, Feng Shui, Lunch Money, Over the Edge, Talislanta, Unknown Armies, Traveller, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay: Dark Heresy, Wayfarers.

Favorite Books:

RPGs are pretty much my constant reads. I no longer read fiction as I find the great lot of it to be one-dimensional, unengaging crap. The works of H.P. Lovecraft, J.R.R. Tolkien, Robin McKinley, and my wife are the exception.

I recently read John Dies at the End by David Wong. This marks the last book I've read since Sunshine, and it was well worth it.

Favorite Comics:

Atomic Robo.

Favorite Movies:

I like movies where one can peer deeply into them and see an encapsulated universe, as opposed to the ham-fisted delivery of the director's/writer's beliefs and values.

Favorite TV Shows:

Fringe, Project: Runway, Psych, and Reaper.

Favorite Music:

I like music I like. I suppose that's the best way of putting it. Unfortunately such music is very hard to find. Anything from Beethoven (I'm a broody sort), to the Beatles (George and John especially), to Underworld (awesome electronica/trance), to Erdenstern (German RPG music). My taste in music is as eclectic as my taste in games.