Today we have another Tales From the Tavern mini interview with Busy Wyvern. He reviews things he likes on the blog and posts about random thoughts around gaming that some might find interesting or helpful. He signal boosts interesting stuff on twitter and comments on things from time to time. He “Pokes his snout” into discords now and again, but is not really a “regular” anywhere. He hopefully {will} release some small adventure products this year. And of course, GM and play RPGs when he has the time!
You can find him at
Twitter: @BusyWyvern
Blog: https://busywyvern.com/
Let’s se what they have to say!
What attracted you to TTRPGs?
I liked fantasy and sci fi from an early age, knights and dragons and medieval magic. A friend gave me a Forgotten Realms book and I was hooked – and then he told me that I didn’t just have to read those stories, I could be IN those stories. And not in a tightly scripted and bounded way like a Nintendo RPG. That sounded like a great idea to me – so I started playing D&D, exploring the Ruins of Undermountain. I was hooked pretty quick. I devoured everything I could about the Realms and AD&D 2e and started running games as soon as I could convince enough friends to play.
What is your favorite type of music, or favorite group/artist?
Not a huge music listener these days. I’ve gone through many phases… 80’s new wave, 90’s alternative, 00’s trance/progressive, no memory of anything new in the 10’s, lately getting into some synthwave.
Describe a favorite scenario you ran in a TTRPG
Given that I’ve been running for nearly 30 years… so many it’s hard to choose! I love running for newbies though – when the magic finally clicks for them, it’s a sight to see. The most recent amazing scenario I ran was probably Heist on Miracle IV for Cypher System…it was my first go at a CS game, it was a one-shot, I had players that mostly didn’t know each other…..and the engagement was off the charts. They just jumped in with both feet, bought into the world and the scenario, and even wrote after action emails with some followups on their characters. And then I did it again for a different crew…and it happened again. It was amazing. Never had that happen in D&D.
If your home town was launching a new professional sports team, what D&D monster would you choose as their mascot?
Wyverns, of course. Second choice would be Owlbears.
Have you ever felt like an outsider in the TTRPG space? Describe if you can.
Oh absolutely. I’ve never met anyone who really engages with the hobby the same way I do. I always feel I’m a little bit oblique to whatever’s going on. I’m not really into crunch or character concepts anymore, I really like chatting about the craft of GMing, problem solving, fleshing out adventure hooks, etc. That’s what interests me most these days. I’d love to run an Ask a GM advice column or show, or even just general GM Q&A things, with another GM that loves that stuff too. Maybe someday.
Anything else you’d like us to know:
Just that the goal of this hobby is to have fun, and my goal is to help new GMs and new players have fun. I want everyone to have the chance to experience the magic of RPGs if they want it! I have a 3 year old, so he’s just a little too young for the hobby…. but getting close, and I can’t wait to introduce it to him.
thanks!
