
Send the Barbarian in First - ductionist
https://thewalrus.ca/send-the-barbarian-in-first/
======
BurritoAlPastor
Everybody who played a lot of RPGs as a (pre)teen and turned out okay can tell
you how it taught them creativity or self-expression or how to understand
other people's ways of life, and that's all good and true. But I'm here to
tell you how D&D changed my life: _nothing_ prepared me for a career of
navigating extensive, poorly-organized, frequently vague and occasionally
contradictory technical documents like the _extensive_ library of D&D
rulebooks that I lugged around throughout high school.

~~~
munificent
Oh, God, this makes me imagine what it would be like to play a corporate-
bureaucracy themed tabletop RPG.

~~~
summerdown2
Brings to mind this cartoon:

[https://www.shopontheborderlands.co.uk/wp-
content/uploads/20...](https://www.shopontheborderlands.co.uk/wp-
content/uploads/2015/04/PP.jpg)

And, of course, the ultimate spirit of a corporate-bureaucracy themed RPG
would probably be Paranoia:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paranoia_(role-
playing_game)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paranoia_\(role-playing_game\))

~~~
mcguire
Who did that cartoon? I recognize the style,....

~~~
thedailymail
It's by Will McLean, who did artwork for early AD&D manuals and Dragon
magazine.

------
scott_s
> Is memorizing football or baseball stats any less obsessive? Those guys are
> huge nerds! They paint their faces on game days and argue in bars over
> obscure rules and regulations.

Yes. Fantasy football is Dungeons & Dragons for jocks - and I mean that in the
most loving way possible, having become "a jock" as an adult, and that's where
much of my current friend pool comes from.

~~~
uremog
Cosplaying as your favorite player is also common and accepted.

~~~
Guillaume86
Accepted is debatable:
[https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=full%20kit%2...](https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=full%20kit%20wanker)

~~~
kbob
Is there any human activity that doesn't have an Urban Dictionary term
disparaging it?

------
duopixel
As I was reading the article I thought about how cool it would have been to
play with dad, but I’d be cautious not be pushy towards playing with my
(future) children. Sons specially are thrilled to share activities with dad
and will surely entertain him until they lose interest.

But kids come with their own personalities and skills, should I have a child
who is into sports, I would rather enjoy that with him or her instead of
passing my old hobbies. I’d be hesitant to share time in front of a screen
though, video games don’t seem to be real interaction.

~~~
icebraining
_I’d be hesitant to share time in front of a screen though, video games don’t
seem to be real interaction._

Maybe it depends on the games? A single player game with elements of
exploration can be fun shared experience; I still remember fondly playing
Super Mario 64 with my father. And for small groups, a session of Worms is
nice - being turn-based, you're never immersed in the screen, it's more like a
digital version of Pétanque and similar games. The sessions with my friends
were a riot.

Not that there's anything wrong with avoiding video games, but they can bring
some variety.

~~~
Pigo
My son just turned six and I got him a Switch for Christmas, it's his first
gaming system. Apparently he's still too young to really be able to play the
games I bought him, but we have had a lot of fun playing Mario together. He
gets extremely excited being the hat and helping out. We've only played 3 or 4
times because I'm not that much of a gamer anymore, but I'd say it has been a
positive experience. I wish there were a few more games that he could enjoy on
his own though.

~~~
cptskippy
I'm not familiar with games for the Switch but the DS had a lot of games that
are easy for younger children to play. The trouble is that they get horrible
reviews because they're targeted at kids but kids aren't the ones reviewing
them. Fortunately the bad reviews mean these games are usually half the price
or less of a AAA game like Mario so you can take a gamble and buy a couple.

I recall Mario Party, Rabbids, and Carnival games being popular games for my
kids because the mini games were usually pretty simple and easy to understand.
The games themselves develop coordination, timing, and problem solving skills
that are helpful for kids.

The Animal Crossing games are perhaps a little beyond a 6 year old but they're
definitely worth while. The require reading comprehension, resource
management, and a bunch of other skills that require a child to think.

~~~
Pigo
Thanks for the advice. The problem is I haven't bought a nintendo device since
the super, so I had no idea what I was doing. Looking back the DS might have
been better for him. The Switch just looked like so much fun.

------
beams_of_light
My dad was in the US Army when I was a kid. My family is primarily from the
Pacific NW, and not particularly religious. When I was 5, my family moved to
Germany. For me, it was a magical place, but and I fell deeply in love with
it...but Germans aren't very religious, and we weren't while we were there,
either. At the age of 10, my dad was reassigned to Ft. Sill, nearby Lawton,
OK. You can probably imagine the culture shock of dropping into the buckle of
the Bible Belt from agnostic origins. I ended up attending church services
with various friends (which I had trouble making in Pentecostania) around the
neighborhood, which were filled with fire and brimstone teachings, to include
demoninizing D&D, which was lumped in with Quija boards, drugs, and premarital
sex. The Southern pastors did a fine good job warping my young mind.

So, I meet this kid named Teddy at school. I don't recall his last name, and
sorry if you're reading this, Teddy. We have what would probably be called a
"play date" nowadays, because my mom had to drive me over to his house, as it
was too far for preteen cycling. We're having a decent time, mostly talking on
the couch in his living room, when Teddy asks if I would like to play Dungeons
and Dragons. Believing that merely opening the box for the game would have set
loose invisible demons to whisk my soul away to Satan's bottomless HQ, I may
have freaked out a little and asked to leave. The stigma of D&D stayed with me
for a long time, even into my late teens/early 20s, and I regret never having
gotten to play D&D, now that everyone's getting back into it later in life.
Even knowing now that the stigma of D&D isn't real, there's still a vague,
magnetic force present in my mind, pushing me back when I think about sitting
down to play it.

~~~
jbattle
As a kid I played D&D and heard all the stories about how demons would posses
even the game books. There was a small part of me that wanted to burn one of
my books, just to see what would happen (the story I heard is you'd see
screaming demons rising up in the smoke). I saved the books, and don't regret
it.

D&D seemed POWERFUL back then, dangerous, didn't it?

~~~
beams_of_light
Absolutely, Stranger Things might have been considered a cautionary tale in
Anytown, USA during the 80s/90s.

------
toyg
I introduced my kids to roleplaying and they didn't really like it. Then I
tried with Warhammer Quest, and it was a wild success. Being able to focus on
something simple like dice and squares helped my youngest focus. Now he plays
"Warhammer Quest" with his friends at school - without boards, miniatures or
dice, they just roleplay as heroes and villains of the boardgame.

The problem I have now is that these games require a certain amount of
preparation (backstory, maps etc) and I'm very lazy.

My wife is a bit uneasy with it. She fears they will become "losers" and
"shut-ins" like we were. The "hidden shame" that the writer here briefly
touches on, for some of us is a bigger and heavier complex of self-loathing.
Which is stupid: the world has changed, this is the new mainstream, and we
should just enjoy it while it lasts. But I do have some of these worries at
the back of my mind too (in my case mostly about computers, to be honest).

~~~
overcast
I would teach your children the value of not caring what other people think.
Probably a difficult task at such a young age. But the sooner people realize
that grade school is a bunch of social nonsense, the better. Once you've
graduated, the real world forces us all to work together, regardless of what
we do in our free time. Enjoy your life, do whatever you're interested in,
stop worrying about others. Chances are, they actually don't care either.
You'll be happier for it.

~~~
7Z7
>I would teach your children the value of not caring what other people think

That's not a great lesson if taken absolutely. Other people can give valuable
feedback to social interactions. You should be aware of what people think, and
be able to examine it, but not be ruled by it.

~~~
leetcrew
I feel like english does not provide us with effective words for discussing
this topic.

unless you live alone in a cave, what other people think of you _is_
important. it is exceedingly difficult to succeed in the modern world without
cooperation, and people will not help you out as much or at all if they don't
like you. this means you really do need to care what others think.

that said, it is common to conflate this sense of "caring" with the deep
seated need for external validation that many humans have. most people enjoy
being appreciated by their community, and this is fine, but I think it is very
important not to be overly dependent on this. ideally, one's self worth would
come primarily from within.

------
lolive
RPG has become such a part of the pop culture. We are now discussing how it
links people together! My younger self would be amazed! During my youth,
french TV depicted RPG in the most anxiogenic manner (suicide,
desocialization).

------
tshanmu
"Never heard of Dungeons and Dragons? You must not have lived through the
’80s."

no, you might be from the vast area called the rest of the world, where DnD
was not available.

(edited formatting)

~~~
sampo
> vast area called the rest of the world, where DnD was not available

It was translated into a lot of languages in the 80s. For example: French
1982, German 1983, Swedish 1986.

~~~
simonh
The anime themed Japanese rule books are hilarious.

[http://mystara.thorf.co.uk/jrc.php](http://mystara.thorf.co.uk/jrc.php)

~~~
aidenn0
Also absurdly high production values compared to my rule books that were
stapled together pulp paper.

~~~
sampo
They were published in Japan in 1994, and are based on the Rules Cyclopedia
-version of Dungeons & Dragons, published in 1991.

[http://www.tsrarchive.com/in/jp/jp-
cyc.html](http://www.tsrarchive.com/in/jp/jp-cyc.html)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeons_%26_Dragons_Rules_Cyc...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeons_%26_Dragons_Rules_Cyclopedia)

------
raintrees
My favorite memory was of a session over candle light at my parents' kitchen
table while I DM'd* a raiding party through what they discovered to be the
internals of the NCC-1701-C Enterprise - I had received the space ship's floor
plans (the set in the vinyl snap enclosure) as a Christmas gift some years
back, and decided to introduce a few of my younger friends to the D&D world
spiced up with a bit of Sci-Fi.

Did you know that according to those plans there was a restroom right behind
the main screen? Now I have to go find my set and check my memory...

*DM then meaning Dungeon Master :)

~~~
dragonwriter
> NCC-1701-C Enterprise - I had received the space ship's floor plans

There were Enterprise-C floorplans? While I never had any of them, I think
I've seen them for the original, the -A version (or the similar TWOK refit,
not sure), and the -D, but -C is kind of surprising, given its limited on-
screen time.

~~~
raintrees
Sorry, typo, you are right. 1701-A...

------
MrBingley
> Send the Barbarian in First

As the barbarian in my group, I can confirm. :)

~~~
logfromblammo
The marching order for a known threat where stealth approach is infeasible is
indeed tank -> damager -> healer -> scout.

Most of the time, you can send the _rogue_ in first, to mark the traps with
chalk and then hide in a strategically advantageous position until the
barbarian has everyone distracted with all the shouting, body odor, and flying
droplets of sweat.

Also, when in doubt, use oil. It's slippery, it burns, and it makes salads
edible. Never bring a club. Use a crowbar instead.

Can you tell that I like to be the thief of the party?

------
CurtMonash
Elf = marketing Swordsman = sales Cleric = support

Words © Lee Gold Tune: Walzing Matilda

Once a jolly Cleric, and a magic-using Elf, And a mighty Dwarf with a sword
plus three Left their native village - out to get their share of pelf. You
bash the Balrog, while I climb the tree.

First they met a Goblin - with a fire-breathing Hound. They bashed and they
smashed and they scragged them with glee. Afterwards they searched them - and
a Magic Potion found. You bash the Balrog, while I climb the tree.

The low Wisdom Swordsman picked it up and drank it down, Changed to a Wolf
immediately. No one could Dispell it, so they headed back to town. You bash
the Balrog, while I climb the tree.

Then a loud voice bellowed, "Who has slain the Goblin King?" Round turned our
heroes; what did they see? Swooping down upon them was a Balrog on the wing.
You bash the Balrog, while I climb the tree.

"Help," screamed the Cleric; "Ditto," yelled the Elven Mage. The Wolf
whimpered low - and he tried to flee. The Balrog fell upon them, and his
flames began to rage; You bash the Balrog, while I climb the tree.

They ran through the forest, looking for a place to hide, Pursued by the
Balrog, so fierce to see. "Wait," cried the Elf Mage; "I have got a plan," he
lied. "You bash the Balrog, while I climb the tree."

Once a mighty Balrog slew a Cleric and an Elf And a smallish Wolf who had
teeth plus three, Skinned them and tanned their hides...and kept them on a
closet shelf. You bash the Balrog, while I climb the tree.

------
wazoox
Amusingly, though I played only very little AD&D in my youth, I presented it
to my teen boy and it clicked instantly, and since then for many years he's
been an avid DM, buying all the rule books and building large dungeons to trap
his friends inside :)

------
mooneater
I play with my kids and we love it. We play with almost no rules, tables, or
equipment, so its perfect for a walk in the woods. It's one of the few things
we all enjoy together, aside from video games.

