I Have Soul(s)

As I mentioned before, I've been playing the latest MMORPG - Rift. Don't ask me if it's a WoW killer, I have no idea. I do like it tho. I has the usual 4 man class branches - warrior, cleric, rogue and mage, but strangely enough, the sub classes (referred to in game as "souls") don't necessarily mean that your warrior is a tank, or that your mage can't be a healer. As each character can have 3 souls active from its main class (and swap out others at later levels), you can truly customize your character.

When it comes to Tabletop RPGs, much of that customization comes from the actual roleplaying, which is generally not at the forefront of a MMORPG, even on servers that are Role Play tagged.

Even if every Fighting Man in 0e is pretty damn close on paper, they play different due to player interactions. It is the very nature of the game. 3e gave us feats and skills, and allowed us to further customize our PCs, but it is still the role-play that defines the memories and highlights.

All that being said, I am enjoying Rift. I've found 2 character combinations that work well both solo and in group, so I should be able to keep on around my son's level (and that of my gaming group).

Now I am left wondering if anyone ever tried to convert a MMORPG class pet using class like Necromancer to Tunnels & Trolls, or some other RPG. Damn, I may need to dig out the Everquest RPG (that was OGL based if I recall) and borrow some ideas from there. If only I knew where I stored it.

Coming Distractions

As my vacation runs towards its end, I am looking at my upcoming time sinks.

The most immediate time sink is going to be Rift, the latest MMORPG.  The main reason this is going to steal away a nice sized chunk of time is the pure joy in jawing with my circle of friends on a fairly regular basis.  Would that I could coral them for some real RPGing via a VTT, but it's hard to get everyone on a set schedule.  The easy of dropping into and out of a MMORPG session with Teamspeak running does an end run around most needs to set a time / day.

Of course, work is a damn time sink - I need to win lotto or something.  Then I could take over the world!  Heh, or buy an RPG Company for a real money sink ;)

As an aside, just received my set of Tunnel & Trolls UK 1e, Buffalo Castle (UK) and Uncle Ugly's Underground (UK).  I was surprised to see the layout of the T&T UK1e and it's reprint are slightly different, as is the size.  The whole set is in great condition.  Nice addition to the collection.