Jody Harkavy has one of the most prestigious RPG editorial positions on the Internet. As the About.com category guide for roleplaying Jody’s RPG articles are read by thousands and her roleplaying reviews are highly influential. This week’s article is about Roleplaying Religion. GameWyrd’s questions appear in strange blue, Jody’s answers are in typical black.
1) This e-View is the first specifically targeted at a famous roleplayer who isn’t known as an author too. You’re the category guide of the widely popular About Roleplaying section? Type roleplaying into many search engines and the pages you manage come up near the top. Do you consider yourself a famous roleplayer?
Never had until your email. I guess more people know my name because of the site, but I consider myself a gamer, nothing more, nothing less.
2) A nose around the Internet shows that you’ve done the course as a busy, and popular, play by email GM. You must be tempted to put your RPG knowledge and writing skills to use as an author? Are you? Have you?
I’ve thought about it a lot and was seriously considering it. But the current climate combined with my new responsibility (I have a 5-month old boy named Ethan) has led me to postpone this attempt. But I will do so. I am actually looking at what is out there, and seeing what sort of material might find a welcome niche.
3) A subject close to the heart of many Game Wyrdlings; RPG reviews! What sort of pressure do you face from publishers and authors over the roleplaying reviews in your prominent corner of the web? Do you think it’s fair to say that a favourable review could make a product and a negative review break it?
I actually don’t face any pressure. I told them from the beginning if I like it, they get a good review, but if they send it and I don’t like it, they get a negative review. Most of what I have gotten has been surprisingly good. And, I get a lot more than I can possibly review alone. I think a favorable review will help the product more than a negative review will hurt it. I have talked to publishers who appreciate my honesty both ways and have sent me products even when they have gotten a negative review from me. They trust that when I do like a product I will say so.
4) You’ve noted that there are many different types of roleplaying. Are there any types of roleplaying that you feel are poorly catered too by the industry or any that are too dominant?
Obviously fantasy is the most dominant. I am not sure that you can say too dominant, although you can find people who say that about D20 games. There is not a lot of good horror (especially since White Wolf is now defunct.) The Weird War series is good but it’s a small niche within that genre. Call of C’thulu is my favorite within the genre, but it never really caught on and besides your character is ALWAYS going to end up insane. There is not a lot of good spy or war RPGs. There are some but it is very limited. From my checkered past I remember Top Secret and James Bond, neither of which really did it for me. D20 Modern might fill this niche, but I haven’t looked at it closely enough yet to see if it does.
5) Do you have a favourite genre to roleplay in? Are there any genres you feel are inappropriate for RPGs?
My favorite genre has always been superhero gaming. There is something to being the one to “save the day.” As far as inappropriate for RPGs? Well, unless you have age restrictions that are followed (and that is hard to enforce) topics can get a bit too sexual or graphic for kids. But other than that, nothing should be so horrible that you can’t imagine it.
6) Do you prefer GMing to playing in games? Why?
That’s a tough question. GMing is wonderful. It gives you a chance to create an entire world where people interact and change things by their actions. It’s an awesome responsibility as well as an awful lot of fun. It’s in essence being able to play god (although without the groveling and bowing and scraping — most of the time anyway <G). But there is still something exciting about being a PC. I find it more challenging to be able to change the GMs world (and find ways to do something he/she hadn’t thought of) and learn to work together with your group of adventurers, superheroes, etc. So I guess that would be a depends on my mood answer.
7) How do you think the Internet has affected roleplaying as a hobby?
It has completely changed it. You can have a roleplaying session in a chat room with people from all over the world. You don’t have to live near your gaming group. Or you can (albeit a lot slower) have a game by email, bulletin board and such. I find that very few of the email groups last because the pace can make it hard to keep interest alive. However, some of the roleplaying is incredible because people have a little extra time to figure out how their characters would respond.
8) Is roleplaying still a hobby for you or have your responsibilities made it something similar to work?
I love roleplaying. I still go to conventions to get my fill. Unfortunately, doing the site takes a lot of time and Ethan takes up the remaining time. So sometimes it can be a chore. I mean even when I go to a convention, I end up trying to figure out how I can put what happened onto my site. But the love of the game is what caused me to start this site and I will build it up to make it better. :)
9) If you could give one piece of advice to a GM, what would it be?
Be flexible. Too many GMs write the entire scenario in their heads only to have their players really screw it up by doing something completely unexpected. My husband LOVES to do this to me (or any other GM for that matter) and I have learned that I can have an idea of what will happen but I need to be ready to go to plan E when the players avoided the other 4 choices I gave them.
10) If you could give one piece of advice to a roleplaying group or club as a whole, what would it be?
Have fun. It’s a game. That is what the whole idea is. If something happens you don’t like, 4d6, take the highest three. Seriously if you are getting upset or not enjoying the game because of something that happened to an imaginary character than it’s time to take a break. Roleplaying should not be played if there is no fun. Period.
(GameWyrd notes – We’re in the Out of the Box section now. A couple of unusual questions for which we expect unusual answers!)
11) You’re trying to cross a bridge when some crotchety old guy with a messy beard leaps out in front of you, waves his umbrella around and states, “You shall not pass!” What do you do?
I ask the air speed velocity of an unladen swallow.
12) You just happen to find and open an old bottle. A genie pops out and reassures you that it’s an entirely honest genie and won’t pervert your wishes, of which you have three, at all. What do you dare wish for first?
The ability to foresee the consequences of the other two wishes. (I have been a GM, aint no such thing as an honest Genie)
