Living Geek

(Note: This is part three of my retrospective look at D&D)
I remember being terrified of turning 30, but really, it was one of the best years of my life. H and I were in the beginning stages of our relationship, I had some amazing friends from grad school, and things were falling into place. Whenever you hit a landmark age, though, you also re-evaluate your life. You decide what's working, what's not working, what to try next, and maybe what's worth revisiting in your life. On my 30th, I decided to start playing soccer again and to try playing D&D again.  Both have been great decisions for me. However, I'm not sure my D&D resurgence would have taken root except for one factor:  Living Greyhawk.


Living games are games where your character exists independent of the modules. What I mean by that is that I can start off with a first level character playing with four people locally, take it up to 8th and gain a bunch of magic items, then fly across the country to a convention in Chicago, play with 4-5 complete strangers, and I can still use the SAME CHARACTER!  I think this is unbelievably cool.


You see, I'm the type of person who likes the blackjack tables in Vegas not because of the game, but because of the people you meet. Everyone who comes to the table has a story and since none of you are competing against each other, people tend to share. Last time I was there I talked with a dealer who had spent most of his life working at The Sands Hotel until it got torn down and it was a really fascinating life he had led.  Living Greyhawk (LG) was kind of like the D&D blackjack table. Meeting people from all walks of geek life was great. Some became regular faces. Others were one shot partnerships. Sure linear story and character development were sacrificed, but in return you were exposed to a multitude of playing styles, character concepts, and player personalities.

Home Sweet Home

Alas, the only thing constant is change. LG was a grassroots, volunteer run organization only sponsored by Wizards of the Coast. It was divided up into regions that were assigned virtual territories in the world of Grehawk. Washington, Oregon, and the rest of the NW were The Duchy of Urnst.  Adventures were developed on a national level about the world and destiny of Greyhawk, but also at a local level about your region by people in your region. This allowed for a massive amount of flavor, customization, and genuine regional difference. Adventures designed by people in Australia for their region "Perrenland" would feel genuinely different than Oregon adventures. While this created a ton of flavor and details, it did not offer enough control to the people at Hasbro, WOTC's parent company.


LG was killed off and Living Forgotten Realms was launched in its place; a living game that was very vanilla and completely controlled by the corporation. Initially I didn't like 4th edition, but I now realize it wasn't really 4th edition I didn't like, it was Living Forgotten Realms. They had taken away my quirky local coffee shop and replaced it with Starbucks. Yeah, maybe not everyone was a fan of free trade coffee sponsored angry lesbian slam poetry night, but it's better than homogeneity of assembly line coffee any day. Life goes on, the sting fades, and while I may not play living games anymore, I have at least gotten over my issues with 4th edition.