This is Jenny, one of our crack team of Games Masters, who’s been running roleplaying events for customers at Treehouse for more than two years now. Starting on February 27th, Jenny will be running a new six-session roleplaying season: Ms Havelock’s School for Girls, based in the Call of Cthulu system.
We caught up with Jenny to talk about why roleplaying is awesome, to explore her decision to make the season for self-identifying women and non-binary players only, and find out what players can expect from Ms Havelock.
How did you get started in roleplaying?
“I started the same way most people do: with one very enthusiastic friend begging us all to give it a go! A more distressing number of years ago than I like to think about, a good friend in our board-gaming group convinced us all to join in with something he had written. It was Dungeons and Dragons 4th edition, and I had absolutely no clue what was going on. I just turned up, drank mead and hit things when I got told to. One particular member of the group insisted I was doing things wrong, and I stepped away from it for sometime after having my confidence knocked back significantly.
Luckily, that very enthusiastic friend became a very enthusiastic partner and it was harder to get away from his campaign planning. After several years of thinking I didn’t enjoy roleplaying and it was something I just would never get in to he convinced me to try it again with a smaller group and an updated edition; I had a completely different experience. Everyone around the table had a brilliant time, and though we never finished the campaign it opened whole new horizons for something I thought I would never be able to enjoy. “
Why do you love it?
“Getting to mess about with lovely people, do silly voices and build a story together? What’s not to love?!
I’ve always loved stories. I’ve been an obsessive reader since I was little, and roleplaying games are basically just stories that you get a say in. Being able to bond with people over telling the same story is a really wonderful experience. The Game Master may be the one who is in charge, but everyone around the table can affect the world and is working to tell the same story, just coming from different angles. If I’m running a game, I love watching the group figure out what each other is about, getting to know the world we are in and being able to build up an adventure that feels right. I may plan out a whole campaign, but the party could choose to follow a completely different thread that they find interesting. There aren’t many feelings which match the adrenaline from having to fly by the seat of your pants, it’s almost better than having everything play out just as you planned.
Unlike board games or video games where you have specific options you have to take, roleplaying games allow complete freedom of choice for your reaction, and everyone will tackle things differently. If I’m writing a big nasty wolf attacking a village, my players might choose to fight it outright, or they might cast a spell and talk to it, or they might do something I would never have thought of.
Everyone gets something different from roleplaying. For me, it has massively built my confidence and helped me work through social anxiety, and it’s much more exciting than sitting at a desk and writing a book all by yourself.”