Tales from the Tavern with Daddy Rolled a 1 - Shadomain

NOTE: the opinions expressed in interviews are those of the guests, not necessarily those of shadomain.com

Welcome to another Tales From the Tavern mini interview. Today we hear from Daddy Rolled a 1! Let’s see what he has to say:

I’ve been blogging around TTRPGs and other hobby stuff (comics, Star Wars, Star Trek, fantasy and science-fiction) since February 2011. I began playing D&D in 1981 with the Moldvay Basic Set. Back in 2014, I was asked to be a judge of the annual One Page Dungeon Contest, and I’ve been judging it ever since. On my blog, I create a lot of content for D&D, mainly in an “old-school” style, and I also chat a lot about the D&D campaign I run for my 13 year-old daughter and her friends, including tips, suggestions, and my challenges of running a game for tweens/teens.

You can find him around the internet at:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DaddyRolleda1
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DaddyRolledA1
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/daddyrolleda1/
Blog: https://daddyrolleda1.blogspot.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@daddyrolleda1
Shop: https://daddy-rolled-a-1.creator-spring.com/

What Game System have you not played that you really want to try?
I’ve never had a chance to play the original 1977 Traveller game. There are a few other old-school games that I own and have borrowed ideas from but never played “as is” such as Metamorphosis Alpha. For newer games, I’m intrigued by “Blades in the Dark” and “Worlds Without Number.”

What artwork or piece of literature has inspired your TTRPG work?
So many… it’s a theme of my blog to chat about inspirations for my game. A few that might be a bit unexpected: “History of the World in 6 Glasses,” “The Encyclopedia of Christmas,” “Liavek,” comics like “Isola” and “Lucy Dreaming,” the TV Show “Tales of the Gold Monkey”… That’s just a few. You’ll see a ton more on my blog if you just click on the “Inspirations” label.

What advice do you give to players looking to try TTRPGs?
Don’t try to learn by reading the rules, but also, don’t get too fixated on professionally produced “actual play” streams. The best way to learn more about TTRPGs is to see if any of your friends or acquaintances are already into them. If not, try seeing if your local game store has a meet-up or open game night where you can observe and maybe play. If you’d rather dip your toe in electronically before committing to an in-person game, check out Twitter and search for the hashtag #TTRPGSolidarity and #TTRPGParents. Even if you’re not a parent, these folks are super friendly and welcoming and can direct you to resources for finding more about TTRPGs. There’s really too much to put into a short paragraph, and everybody has a different background, so a one-size-fits-all answer isn’t easy to write. But I am always open to chatting with people so folks can engage with me on any of the social media platforms I mentioned to ask questions.

What celebrity would you like to GM or play an RPG with?
I have been fortunate enough to have gamed with a celebrity a few times, even helping him out when he was trying out game systems to feature in a streaming show about tabletop role-playing games. That said, I’m very shy and introverted by nature and prefer to game only with my friends whom I already know really well. If I had a group of players that were all my friends, I would love to play in a game refereed by Dave “Zeb” Cook (co-creator of the 1981 D&D Expert Set and lead designer on Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition).

What do you think is absolutely essential in creating a safe space for all in a TTRPG game?
Session 0 is key, and I’m so glad the idea of doing it has been talked about and made more mainstream. We didn’t do these when we were kids because we didn’t have the tools, but running a game for my daughter and her friends really helped me to understand that what *I* think is acceptable is not always true for my players. I also think it comes down to understanding that peoples’ experiences are different from our own. It’s very easy to think, “I’m not bothered by this, why are other people?” without really understanding what transpired to make that person have an issue with something. My daughter has some very specific fears that are related to a life-threatening accident she suffered when she was younger. She’s gone to therapy for PTSD because of this, so I already knew “I can’t include XYZ in this game” but it also gave me the tools to understand that other players might have similar issues. That helped me engage with the players to ask them all what were things they didn’t want me to include in the game, and I also gave them a chance to communicate with me separately or even chat with their parents about it if they didn’t feel comfortable. Being empathetic and also open to listening and understanding what triggers your players so you don’t include those elements in your game is all it takes, and it doesn’t “ruin” anything to do so.

Anything else you’d like us to know:
I really like to chat with folks about their games, or answer questions, and welcome all chatting on any of my social media channels. Please feel free to chat with me about anything game related, or also about other topics like vinyl records, jazz music, cocktails, or wine!