L02: Questions for Interview

Interview with Tabletop Role Play Game Expert (Elijah Mangnall):

1) How did you get into TTRPGs?

Over the internet, consequence of what he read growing up, he always liked fantasy books, the idea of being in another world where you can be anyone/ do anything. The Disc World (about 40 books). Introduced this idea to his friends, they played tyranny of dragons. 

"The Discworld in particular stood out to me, it follows separate characters who all undergo a lot of growth as people, over these books and years in-universe. In hindsight, I see how similar this is to a campaign."

He always fancied himself as a bit of a writer, and liked the idea of creating his own worlds and stories.

2) How long have you been playing TTRPGs for?

Since he was about 11 (5 years). before buying any equipment, one of his friends ran a game. After this, he decided to learn the D&D system (5e). He bought himself the PHB and DMG to do so. With this he began running tyranny of dragons and introduced his friends to this as well.

"We had quite a few teething troubles as I taught them (and myself) the system. In particular, spell slots gave us trouble."

3) What made you start playing TTRPGs?

The idea that it is a way to play games with his friends. He was an awkward child and struggled to make friends, D&D allowed him to spend more time with his friends. He had to DM for a while as none of his friends knew how to DM as he introduced them to it. That shared experience was quite precious memories.

"I fondly remember the time they convinced me to let them kill another PC and stuff him in a box."

4) What about TTRPGs make them interesting and fun to you?

TTRPG's allow you to connect with the characters and NPCs and to have an impact on the world you are in (negative and positivity). The flexibility of the system in TTRPGs allows you to bring the fun into so many different settings (whether this is the world it is in or the scenario you are in). The idea of agency is incredibly important to me as it makes the story so much  more engaging.

5) As an expert, what would you want people who are thinking about getting into TTRPGs to know?

It is a good way to spend time with your friends, it doesnt require much. Depending on which TTRPG you are going into, it can cost a lot of money. It is good to be able to sit down and share an experience.

Don't rely solely on the books, it can be fun to make up a lot of stuff as you go along. Anyone who loves any type of story will have a TTRPG that works for them.

6) What are your future plans/ expectations of your TTRPG journey?

I would like to finish a campaign due to the length of campaigns. I have never been able to complete a full campaign. (Tell a full story around a character). More long term, I would like to get back into DMing, I have been doing it for my family, and I want to do it more. 

DMing is more of an art form.

I am quite excited to see what is going to happen with OneD&D. It seems like it would be worth a read to expand my horizons and see how different systems are run.

7) With the new edition of D&D around the corner, what new features are you excited for, and are there any features/ changes that you hope will be made?

As the lead designers of the materials have acknowledged that the PHB and The MM had a lot more money thrown at them, they were designed to be more user friendly. They are better formatted than the DMs guide as more people use them. Jeremy Crawford (source him on this) did an interview where he said that less money was being put into the DMs guide as it is difficult to give someone a guide onto how to run your own world. They never feel like they bring it together into one cohesive whole, they never give you those synaptic links that help you run it.

It will be interesting to see how the changes are made. Some of the classes need rebalancing. I want to see how the community interact with the changes made and how exploitable the changes are, and see how they are balanced. I like to take the changes and 'snap them in two.' 

It is possible to have infinite spell slots if you build a Warlock in the right way (in 5e) if you know how to exploit the system correctly. This is known as a coffee lock. By going 3 levels into the warlock class and at least 2 levels into sorcerer, someone can convert their warlock spell slots into sorcerer points then using a sorcerer feature, you can convert these into temporary spell slots which reset on a long rest. As long as you never take a long rest, you can continue building these up by reseting your warlock spell slots with short rests.

It will also be interesting to see how the feel of the system changes, but in the way that things are run, you can get a feel of how it works. I want to see if they tilt it into any different scenarios. "swords and sorcery"

"It's a great feeling, to make an absolutely broken character that only just works. Technically correct is the best kind of correct."

8) TTRPGs can cost a lot of money to get into and to buy all of the equipment for, how should a new player start if they are on a budget?

When I started playing with my group, we only had the books. While it is nice to have all the fancier equipment, making your own equipment is a lot cheaper and more fun. 'Theatre of the mind.' you can get by with some pieces of paper. As nice as it is to have a figurine of having your wizard character in the midst of casting a spell, a piece of paper with a rough sketch drawn on them. 

The internet is always your friend as people will have released beginner guides in order to help newer people. There are a lot of free resources.

"It did mean a lot of bodging distances on my end as a DM, but I believe it can be more fun that way."