Tabletop RPGs: Lessons from a Black Nerd

We’ve had some manifestos on here. We at Black Nerd Problems like to manifest. We’ve talked video games, and running, and a whole lot of just plain being Black while nerding. But no one has yet mentioned one of the original nerd hobbies — tabletop Role Playing Games. I’m talking about you and four of your besties, sitting up late at night, surrounded by paper and pencils, eating junk food and using an assortment of dice and books to pretend to defeat the Great Lich King. Yeah, that kind of role-playing. Role-playing gamers have a really bad reputation, and let me tell you, some of them deserve it. I’ve met my share of misogynistic, juvenile gamers. But I’m a role-playing gamer too. And here’s my claim to that title. I buy source books and spend way too much time considering character classes. I have enough dice that I could use them as part of a weight lifting regimen. The hobby has changed in the last 20 years; it is more diverse in every sense of the word and far more interesting. As a player and a Gamemaster, I’ve gleaned a few lessons to share. Lesson #1: Who is running the game matters; check the Gamemaster’s credentials.

I played my first RPG when I was a sophomore in college. I went with my-then-boyfriend and another dorm mate. This was a big deal for me, I was off campus, about to try something none of my geek girl friends had even thought of . The Gamemaster, the guy running/organizing the game, was probably 40. Creepy. He had a table surrounded by 18-year-old whit…