Breakfast Topic: Have WoW and your tabletop gaming influenced each other?
by Seumas Irving 
Nov 26th 2011 at 8:00AM
A lot of us come from a pen-and-paper background when it comes to roleplaying games. Many of us have even tried our hands at running a game back in the day when gaming meant crowding around a table with books, dice, pencils and paper. We pretended to be someone else from another world, swinging swords and flinging fireballs using the world's most powerful graphics chip, the imagination.
Not everyone is a great storyteller, and many of us that took up that role may have ended up with less than spectacular results. Then, after having played computer roleplaying games like Final Fantasy, EverQuest, or even World of Warcraft, you may have been introduced to a style of storytelling that may or may not have been completely different from anything you've experienced in the past.
After partaking of this new experience, has your own personal storytelling in your pen-and-paper games changed much? Are there game mechanics that you've altered in your game because you think it works better the way World of Warcraft does it? What elements from World of Warcraft (or other games) have inspired your creative bug to tell your epic and not-so-epic stories? Do you find yourself more inspired by the storytelling in single-player or massively multiplayer types of roleplaying games?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Guest Posts
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
abysmal Nov 26th 2011 8:13AM
I didn't even read this, just a 5 second skim .. are you kidding? WoW is a video game, it's insulting to compare PnP games to WoW (except maybe from a maths/conflict resolution point of view).
sillyxander Dec 20th 2011 12:11PM
I really hope they bring out another WOW table top game, I love being able to tell my own stories and I know this is not going to be liked by other, I can't really role play within the mmo. I'm on a RP server but I still can't get into it, because you have no really affect on the world but to answer your question. WOW inspires what I do on pnp games and I wish I could truly roleplay in WOW and I was fine with not being able to when there was a official game. Now that the game has been put down and the board games I feel like there's something missing, it was those things that brought me to play the online game.
razion Nov 26th 2011 8:14AM
I'd like to say it's the other way around for me. Playing single-player RPGs tends to open my mind up for character development in Warcraft. I get a broader view of people from different cuts of life who deal with different experiences. It helps for character creation when melding personalities and biographies.
Warcraft roleplay is great--but I find when I leave it to do so in other areas, it feels almost restricted because I've become so accustomed to it. Maybe it's just me, but I feel like the vastness of the Warcraft universe makes it hard to drag anything out of it, while easier to pull in.
Mortenebra Nov 26th 2011 9:11AM
I know this sounds silly but... I have *always* had a specific look in mind for my characters. It goes with the idea that when someone or something sees me, my appearance will be the first impression before I even utter a word or fire an arrow. I actually used to take time while rolling characters for D&D and RIFTS to draw my character out, usually on the back of my character sheet. And it's helped many a campaign out! My party members often get a better idea of my personality (e.g. subtle and understated versus showy and flashy); plus, my DMs have fun adding environment quips like, "Your once-trusty worn down boots fall apart as you run, tripping you up as you try to dash into battle," if I failed my initiative/combat rolls... Which is, embarrassingly, quite often. lol We've also had a "NO CAPES!" (a la "The Incredibles") moment before where the DM said, "The ogre picks you up by your gaudy silk cape and handily catapults you over the trees. Sit out the next turn as you run back toward your party. You now know better and recall the wisdom of your master, 'NO CAPES!!'" It was a bard-like character who had a knack for foppish fashions and he certainly learned the hard way.
That's why I'm so psyched for transmogrification in 4.3. My hunter can finally look like an actual hunter instead of a walking trophy hall that is FAR from conducive when it comes to stalking prey or, you know, hunting. By the way, if anyone has an ideal pair of mail shoulders, I'd be most appreciative... I'm still having a hard time finding a balance between "impressive" (like I'm not a beginner) and "functional" (e.g. not glowing orbs or dragon heads or roving eyes).
saliira Nov 26th 2011 9:23AM
Names and personalities, mostly. My WoW main is named after my first D&D character, and my hunter's pet is named after said D&D character's pet.
Eros Nov 26th 2011 9:27AM
I use wow terms when playing DnD, much to the anoyance of my group.
Rob Nov 26th 2011 9:29AM
I began gaming when pen-and-paper was all there was. Back then I tried to model my campaign after events in the Lord of the Rings, and Conan stories because that was all I knew. Now that I've experienced single player RPGs, and WOW, I have a much more advanced idea of what the game story could, and should be. If RL ever lets my friends, and I have time to be together to play pen-and paper games again, I'd make dramatic changes to the narrative. (Maybe we will all end up in the same retirement home, and can start a campaign there.)
The story isn't the only thing I'd change, after experiencing World of Warcraft though. Blizzard has evolved their game away from it's hardcore roots, and towards fun. I would do the same in a pen-and-paper campaign. There were a lot of rules we doted on in our D&D campaigns for "realism's" sake, that just weren't fun. Yeah... realistic wizards, and elves...
zubbiefish Nov 26th 2011 9:31AM
I'm currently running a PnP game, and I can't say that I've borrowed much of anything from WoW. I think that the way in which you build story is so different, that anything beyond the sort of universal aspects of good storytelling stays in its own genre.
Sure WoW tells great stories, but they're the same kinds of stories you find everywhere. There's only so many basic plots after all. Besides, I can't imagine sending my players on the same mission every week until they build a tree, or make them sift through poop.
vortal Nov 27th 2011 5:27AM
Definitely, My first WoW character is made to be a copy of my Wizard in D&D. Although I have only been playing since WotLK. Another point would be the large percentage of my Warcraft characters that have been influenced by my D&D characters. Relatives of my D&D characters, parallels of my D&D characters (a la Order of the Stick) and straight out characters ripped from the pages of my character sheets.
Sometimes I may or may not "DM" my own adventures in WoW. :)
Hal Nov 26th 2011 9:56AM
What? Table top gaming? How's that work?
. . .
Okay, in all seriousness, sort of. I've imagined several "custom" encounters for a D&D game that would be styled after raid encounters in WoW. I thought the Yogg-Saron fight would make an interesting one: Go inside the unnameable horror and destroy its brain while dealing with illusions.
Only problem is, I haven't had a chance to actually run a fantasy game recently. Last game I ran was Dresden Files, and since we have a group full of guys who like to be the GM, it might be a while before I get a crack at the lead chair again.
dougbabb Nov 26th 2011 9:57AM
Interestingly enough it isn't games such as WoW or Elder Scrolls that have influenced my tabletop campaigns, but games like Golden Sun. I am the DM of a small group and when I create puzzles I realize that I have borrowed many elements from the GS series. The way that those games are square based, and every element of a puzzle takes up exactly one space makes are perfect for a DnD grid. Unintentionally I find myself blatantly ripping off puzzles and entire settings from the Golden Sun games.
Amanda A. Nov 26th 2011 10:50AM
My GM once gave us tier sets in a D&D game. I was playing an interesting knight/crusader that was intended to tank despite being in a 3.5 game, so my set gave me additional survivability, raised the success rate of my taunt ability, and gave me a bonus to hit after I took damage. It was fun.
It actually hasn't worked the other way. None of my D&D characters directly fit into a wow setting, although my warrior is loosely based on that knight. I'd actually love to play my DK in a tabletop game, but I don't like the pseudo-blackguard implementation of the official d20 game and my group doesn't like lawful good death knights. (Although in D&D rules he would probably be LN aspiring to be good; he still has to torment and kill someone every so often, as good as he attempts to be otherwise.)
Mordok Nov 26th 2011 10:53AM
Oh no, no, no.
Table top games are boooooorrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiinnnnnnng. Action is not to be had. Even D&D is boring.
The only influence table top games have had on me is making me love my computer and game counsel more and more.
Kurash Nov 26th 2011 11:27AM
Game counsel: "We advise you to buy a Wii, my lord."
Came consul: "I am Exboxius, one of two leaders of the Roman state!"
Game console: What you meant. ;)
ravyncat Nov 26th 2011 11:36AM
If they are that boring, you aren't playing them right. XD
Though I expect people who love to RP get more enjoyment out of D&D type games than others.
Noyou Nov 26th 2011 1:52PM
Okay, I will bite.
@Mordok (And the first numbskull)
1. you are totally doing it wrong (and there really is no wrong way).
2. Use your mind more and your mouth (fingers) less.
The beauty of PnP/D&D is that it's all in your head. If you lack that capacity, then you are probably the type of player who plays one toon and raids until you get so burn out you quit and go play some flashy FPS game. So sad for you. These games require imagination. I am very thankful I grew up on games like D&D and Ultima (not Ultima online, the really old version that you played on a C-64). Having played those games it allowed me to build images and stories in my head while playing.
Sinthar Nov 28th 2011 5:11AM
AS someone who doesnt have a PnP group, wow is an acceptable substitute. But its all about what and how you want to play. If you enjoy quick fire reflex twanging action - go for wow. If you have a good imagination, and a good group on RL friends with the same interests, then PnP is imho vastly superior. There is no game mechanics that a good DM doesnt fix on the fly. There is nothing restricting you character from doing LITERALLY anything.
If I had my choice of free wow forever or a good PnP group meeting 1ce or 2ce a week? Tis the PnP group every time. If I want fps gaming - consoles are the way to go. If I want something to fire my imagination - its PnP. Each have their place.
winterhawk Nov 26th 2011 11:07AM
Before WoW, I didn't play computer games much. Sure, I'd try the occasional RPG, but I always went back to my first love: Shadowrun. I played Shadowrun from 1989 when it came out until 2006, when I discovered WoW. They co-existed for awhile, but then I got pulled into raiding and that was the end of my SR game (though I did continue to write fiction in the universe for quite awhile afterward). Many of my WoW characters are named after my Shadowrun fiction characters. I often joke to my guildies that if they even come out with a full-featured SR MMO (Not Shadowrun Online, which looks like it's going to be really cool but it's not an MMO), I would be out of WoW so fast they'd wonder where all the dust came from. :) Is that true? I don't know anymore--I do love WoW a lot. But it would definitely be a very strong temptation.
Goins2754 Nov 26th 2011 11:09AM
I used to be a 3.5e RPGA certified DM. I loved D&D. I even wanted to open a D&D store.
Then, World of Warcraft came out.
I was buying every book from 3.5e core set and Forgotten Realms. I was spending about $60/mo on stuff that I just read for fun (since no one ever had those books other than me). The prices got insane between books, miniatures, dice, battle mats, etc.
Groups were hard to set up. As a military person, I would move every 2-3 years & have to find a new gaming group. The process usually takes a month or two, scouring Craigslist and hobby shops. Going up to at least five awful gaming sessions before you find the group that clicked.
World of Warcraft allows me the interaction at any time. I can pop in, RP with some friends or some entirely new people, go on some quests, then go to bed. It's on-demand D&D. Yeah, you miss out on the customizability. D&D had so many options it was insane. But, that's a tradeoff I'm willing to accept in the sake of ease of use.
I really do miss my dwarven defender, though. Dor the Mighty was unstoppable.
Texicles Nov 26th 2011 11:26AM
While the PnP influences to MMOs is undeniable in terms of storytelling and even just casual tips of the hat (I'm looking at you Lurker Abo... *ahem* Below), it's the PnP mechanical roots that fascinate me most in WoW.
I used to be a class officer in a casual raiding guild, and I found it immensely helpful to draw on people's experiences with PnP games to explain "rolls" on the combat table. Suddenly, newer players could grasp the importance of hit rating when they realized that the game is just tossing imaginary dice behind the "screen" every time you attack.