Have Dice, Will Travel: Sofia

[Keith Baker]

Have Dice, Will Travel: Sofia

Keith travels to Sofia and learns of a time when roleplayers were rare and dice were rarer.

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[cerebus23]

Cool article thanks for it, oddly i get the same feeling anymore today in general being older, people with families, kids, lives, all "grown" up etc, after college lugging around a bunch of AD&D and shadowrun books just seemed dead weight, since if you mentioned it to most people they would look at your funny and the younger ones were all about magic the gathering.

But cool to see things from over there, and what they went through to try and play.

 

[Rorschach_pln]

At first I though I had read it wrong - Sofia? My Sofia? Well, apparently my eyes did not lie, you did come to Bulgaria
I'm from another city, but I study there now and I have been amazed at the geek levels here. In my city there is no RPG community, maybe a few friends here and there trying to play. I tried D&D with a couple of friends, but the DM wasn't serious about it and kept slacking off so that died off. About the necessary materials - we downloaded the D&D books from the internet ( guess if it was legal ), we printed out character sheets and we used a dice program ( so we had to play indoors ).
I tried Endyval ( I think it had a second edition, we used that ) too, but we were too lame for all the rules, so we played on "easy". It was quite fun, but half the other players didn't enjoy it as much it would seem, so we never played again :[.
And here in Sofia, there is just such diversity. I went to a book festival last year, and there was a whole stand with RPGs - Magic, Pokemon, The Witcher (obvious cash-in) and all sorts of board games. I've heard stories of people gathering to play these games, but it remains a mystery to this day. Well, to be fair, I haven't exactly been searching for RPG players, but after reading your article maybe I should look this up...
I'm looking forward to your future articles :]

 

[Kavachi]

I have never played D&D because there is noone in my neighbourhood who was busy with it, but I still love reading these articles. For people who have never played D&D, you can still create a very fun story to read, and I look forward to your next article

 

[standokan]

I have never played D&D because there is noone in my neighbourhood who was busy with it, but I still love reading these articles. For people who have never played D&D, you can still create a very fun story to read, and I look forward to your next article

I have the same thing, it's nice that even though I can't actually play it, I still get my monthly amount of D&D

 

[Galad]

Have Dice, Will Travel: Sofia

Keith travels to Sofia and learns of a time when roleplayers were rare and dice were rarer.

Read Full Article

Dear Mr. Baker,

I've been a fantasy fan, speaking in a most general sense, for a while, starting way back uh..10 years ago or so..I'm currently mostly playing Magic: the Gathering with other people's said d20s and d6s. While I've only participated in a D&D session once, I'd love to get involved with a regular group, assuming I manage to find the time for it. I live in Sofia at the time. Did any of your hosts perhaps mention ways for fellow young men (and women) to find D&D groups?

 

[Sandytimeman]

Wow man every time I read your articles I am amazed at how awesome your life and job is. I look forward to these articles more and more, please keep them coming!

 

[Vesamne]

Sofia? Sofia!!!

The town I live in, the town I teach in. Coincidentally, I happen to come from the very same town that Rorschach_pln hails from - Pleven.

Small world, indeed.

To be honest, I never did play D&D...but I grew up reading the game-books mentioned in the article. Some of them were heavy on the literary side and now that I no longer look at them through teenager's eyes, I still think some of them are quality literature. The rising popularity of computer games in Bulgaria, as well as the difficult financial situation of the country, saw to the demise of the beloved genre of book-games, which a whole generation grew up with.


A correction is in order, I believe. The dice sculpture mentioned in the article is actually the symbol of the Earth and Man National Museum - not a corporate logo.

Cheers, Escapists!

 

[eternal-chaplain]

I have never played D&D because there is noone in my neighbourhood who was busy with it, but I still love reading these articles. For people who have never played D&D, you can still create a very fun story to read, and I look forward to your next article

I love playing Dnd, but must have only played 7 games in my whole life! Really things like 'ADnD' and 'Furry' most everywhere I go :3. So I'm pretty much in the same boat as you! I've really considered finding people to play with online over webcams, of course I can't see that going over very well either! XD

 

[Jenx]

Rorschach_pln, Vesamne you at least have an excuse. I knew Keith was coming prior to his visit and I still couldn't go meet him. Couldn't free up my schedule when he was in town.

 

[twilightling]

That was a bit of a suprise. I am afraid I have been outside of the roleplay enviroment in Sofia for long time.
Just out of curiosity which edition of Endyval did he give to you?

 

[Fetzenfisch]

I have never played D&D because there is noone in my neighbourhood who was busy with it, but I still love reading these articles. For people who have never played D&D, you can still create a very fun story to read, and I look forward to your next article

I have the same thing, it's nice that even though I can't actually play it, I still get my monthly amount of D&D

I never played it before. But its not because a lack of roleplayers in this part of Germany. From the 80's on we got our own poison here.

Spoiler: Das Schwarze Auge (The Dark Eye)You maybe know it from Drakensang

Back then with only 7 attributes and no skills

and now with a 4 paged character sheet(4th edition)

Its famous for its very detailed backround (for some people too detailed, complaining about limited freedom with "every damn tree cartographed") and living history, there are monthly news about political events, battles, intrigues or ongoing wars.The provinces are led by actual players in their own political rpg keeping the world alive.(of course major events are started by the developers) On the other hand you can just ignore the up to date part and play in your own world. My group is about a decade behind current action, just because we want to play an older campagne (the last "big thing", or the second last already?dunno). That gives me at least a lot of material to plan ahead.

D&D is somehow popular too. But the majority of gamers i know at least started with DSA and i still prefer it. I bought the new redbox of d&d though, because i liked the idea of a new simplier restart of D&D. I will try it soon.

 

[Royas]

Great article. I now feel a little petty for complaining in the beginning of the 80's about the difficulty of finding dice in the USA. It never really occurred to me just how much more challenging getting materials would be in other countries. What the gamers in Sofia did to play, now that's dedication to the game!

A tip of the cap from an old school grognard. Gamers like that will keep the hobby alive for a good long time.

 

[Highmoon]

You know what's interesting? I grew up in Puerto Rico, scant 2 hours from the continental USA, and the early days of RPGs in my island mirror somewhat those of Bulgaria. Photocopied manuals, traded dice, rare minis brought by relatives vising the States. Yeah, good times.

 

[Keith Baker]

I live in Sofia at the time. Did any of your hosts perhaps mention ways for fellow young men (and women) to find D&D groups?

I just checked, and they suggested that you go to forums.rpgbg.net. I'm told that this is the forum of the first Bulgarian RPG community and should be a good place to find people.

 

[Keith Baker]

Just out of curiosity which edition of Endyval did he give to you?

I'm not sure. The publication date is 2001.

 

[Keith Baker]

You know what's interesting? I grew up in Puerto Rico, scant 2 hours from the continental USA, and the early days of RPGs in my island mirror somewhat those of Bulgaria. Photocopied manuals, traded dice, rare minis brought by relatives vising the States. Yeah, good times.

I didn't realize that you grew up outside the States! When did you start playing?

 

[Kraj]

Cool article thanks for it, oddly i get the same feeling anymore today in general being older, people with families, kids, lives, all "grown" up etc, after college lugging around a bunch of AD&D and shadowrun books just seemed dead weight, since if you mentioned it to most people they would look at your funny and the younger ones were all about magic the gathering.

But cool to see things from over there, and what they went through to try and play.

I was never into DND though I've read every version that's been released since I was 12. The same goes for most Paper RPG's these days.
I've gotten hooked on an independent one though, havokrpg. it's pretty amazing. I agree a lot with the "hated lugging things around" mentality.

 

[_Nocturnal]

I didn't expect the story about Sofia to come out so quickly. A great read, and the idea for the column is fantastic. What I hadn't thought about when I read your previous installments is how a story like this could be illuminating not just for the people living outside the countries you visit, but inside as well. That certainly was the case with this one.

Pozdravi za iniciativata, hora! Drujte mechtata jiva!

 

[Jenx]

I live in Sofia at the time. Did any of your hosts perhaps mention ways for fellow young men (and women) to find D&D groups?

I just checked, and they suggested that you go to forums.rpgbg.net. I'm told that this is the forum of the first Bulgarian RPG community and should be a good place to find people.

See, one would think that's true, and theoretically it is. In reality, I wouldn't really recommend going there if you want to actually find people to play with. The place is kind of...well, you'll see if you read it.