This week’s guest post is by Andrew Roberts.
I’ve often joked that one of the reasons I came to university was to play Dungeons & Dragons again. When asked if that’s how I spend my time at university, I say it’s what got me into writing in the first place. Even today, I often wonder how table-top roleplaying games contributed to my writing journey; after all, it’s a form of interactive storytelling.
Most people are familiar with the name Dungeons & Dragons, which is so ubiquitous that it’s often used as a short-hand for most table-top roleplaying games. For those who aren’t familiar, here’s how they work: one person, known as a “Dungeon Master” or “Games-Master”, tells a story and assumes the roles of characters – known as Non-Player Characters (NPCs) – in the world they have created. The other participants are the players, who assume the roles of Player Characters (PCs). Their actions are usually determined by rolling dice, and different PCs often have different abilities. While the Games-Master might have an adventure prepared, the players may not always follow it, so the storytelling often requires some improvisation and quick thinking on the host’s part. Most of these games tend to take place in a Tolkien-style medieval fantasy, but they do explore other genres too.
I was introduced to Dungeons & Dragons around 2003, when I moved to Staffordshire. I was later able to introduce some of my school friends to the game, with my brother hosting the campaigns. When he went to university, I took over as the host, running campaigns using a Star Wars roleplaying game. Things took off when I was 17, and my brother gave me a copy of a roleplaying game called Deadlands. Taking place in the American West, it combines steampunk and horror in a
fascinating alternative history. At that point, my roleplaying group had drifted apart, so I was struggling to find people to run a campaign. But I also loved the world the rulebook painted, and wanted to write a story in it. A lot of my early writing was probably Deadlands fan fiction.
The introduction to Deadlands also introduced me to the Savage Worlds roleplaying system, which accommodates more action-packed games. It was through that system I discovered the medium of “pulp” genre fiction – named after the cheap paper it was printed on – dating back to the early 20th Century. (Characters like Tarzan and Zorro started in pulp magazines, and the Indiana Jones films are heavily influenced by these kinds of stories.) At this stage of my life, I was struggling with A-Levels, so not able to run as many sessions. Looking for an escape, I found solace in writing pulp stories based on the Savage Worlds adventures I’d been reading instead.
Coming into writing via roleplaying has meant that I’ve often focussed more on making characters rather than stories. This includes my two swashbuckler heroes: Kestrel and Scar. It has also meant that I’ve developed a rather cinematic writing style, especially when it comes to action. That’s something I’m trying to improve for prose.
I still play roleplaying games to this day, having joined a university society dedicated to the activity. In fact, I’m trying my hand at writing my own setting which mocks the tropes and conventions used in such games. Perhaps it will open up some new avenues of writing for me.
Andrew Roberts has been writing as a hobby since he was 17, and is influenced by the old pulp magazines of the early 20th Century. While working as an accountant, he began working on a series of swashbuckler stories following the adventures of wandering rogues Kestrel and Scar. His discovery of the Swanwick Writers’ Summer School in 2016 inspired him to take his writing further. He took a hiatus from the accounts profession in 2018 to study for a BA in Creative Writing, and hopes to be able to continue his writing once he finishes his degree.
the isolation book club 