The Campaign Builder's Guild

Greybeards & Grognards Installment One
By
JustiN Orion Neal Taylor
This is intended to be my first entry in a series relating my thoughts on RPGs, particularly D&D.  Since so many RPGs themselves have aliterative titles, like Dungeons & Dragons, Tunnels & Trolls, Castles & Crusades, I went with an alliterative title of my own.

So what is a grognard?  That would be most peopleâ,¬,,¢s first question.

Geek:  Traditionally a sideshow attraction of a person biting the heads off live chickens.  Now it has come to mean someone who is in some way outside the norms of society, often by virtue of an unusual hobby or interest.  Examples include comic book fans, Star Trek fans, those who watch a science fiction television program very regularly, and those who play RPGs.

Grognard:  An RPG player who got into a particular game at an earlier generation and is dissatisfied with the current generation, especially one who feels the need to discuss his dissatisfaction regularly.  This can happen very fast in RPGs.  The rather major D&D 3.5 rules revision came out only about three years after the launch D&D 3rd edition.  There are now anti-3.5 grognards who got in at the launch of 3rd edition.

Greybeards:  Mostly the same as a grognard.

Now that Iâ,¬,,¢ve defined my terms, I would like to tackle my main topic: geek pride.  Geeks need to take pride in their geek status.  We need to say Geek is Beautiful.  We need to chant:  Weâ,¬,,¢re here!  Weâ,¬,,¢re Geeks!  Get used to us!

The success of a television show like Heroes shows that geeks are a noticeable and powerful marketing segment that people need to pay attention to.

Stand up and be counted.  The geek shall inherit the Earth.

I am a geek and a grognard and darn proud of it.

Well... fair enough that you are proud of what you are, and I respect you for that, but... why do you feel the need to label yourself with something which the majority of society will most likely see as a derogatory term?

This just seems to be needless pigeonholing.

Personally, I, like you, am proud of who I am, but... well, I don't think of myself as a "geek" or anything like that. POssibly, I suppose, this could be because not only do I have "geeky" interests such as roleplaying games, fantasy literature, ancient history, mythology, et cetera... I also do lots of things that some people might consider "cool" (I play in a band, I have a busy social life, I go out to gigs, bars and clubs, and so on).

I think that by labelling yourself a "geek" you actually end up confining yourself to a certain lifestyle - Or at least confining other people's expectations of you to that certain lifestyle.

Now you may say "well, I like that lifestyle, so what is the problem?" There is none really. It justs seems to me pointless to restrict yourself.

i disagree with that, kindling. i feel that is just assuming the label is the be-all-and-end-all of the one labeled, which is never the case. if you say you're not a geek because you don't fit neatly into the label, then nobody is a geek. nor is anybody a nerd, jock, hippy, prep, punk... the list goes on.

i feel comfortable and confident in calling myself a geek, knowing that "Geek" doesn't dictate my entire life. believe it or not, geeks can enjoy sports just as much as jocks can, and jocks can enjoy Tolkien just as much as a geek can. in fact, one could even be both a jock and a geek, at the very same time.

Quote from: sdragon1984- the S is for penguinin fact, one could even be both a jock and a geek, at the very same time.

so would that be a gock of a jeek? :)

Kidding, kidding. Me, I'm what most people would consider a geek. I'm alright with that. I don't want to be normal. I also agree that one label is never enough; I'm also an art dude, pyro, and drama guy (yes, I have been called all of these.)

Actually, sdragon, that was sort of the point I was trying to make - people see you as your label if you are labelled, but no one will fit neatly into any given label. Therefore why use them?

I think maybe I could have worded the original post better, somehow putting more emphasis on the phrase "Or at least confining other people's expectations of you to that certain lifestyle."

Quote from: Stargate525

Quote from: sdragon1984- the S is for penguinin fact, one could even be both a jock and a geek, at the very same time.

so would that be a gock of a jeek? :)

Kidding, kidding. Me, I'm what most people would consider a geek. I'm alright with that. I don't want to be normal. I also agree that one label is never enough; I'm also an art dude, pyro, and drama guy (yes, I have been called all of these.)

hmm...
art dude = check
pyro = check
drama guy = check
add music nerd to this and it could be me.

are you sure you aren't me, posting under a different name?

Quote from: Team Discovery Channel

Quote from: Stargate525

Quote from: sdragon1984- the S is for penguinin fact, one could even be both a jock and a geek, at the very same time.

so would that be a gock of a jeek? :)

Kidding, kidding. Me, I'm what most people would consider a geek. I'm alright with that. I don't want to be normal. I also agree that one label is never enough; I'm also an art dude, pyro, and drama guy (yes, I have been called all of these.)

hmm...
art dude = check
pyro = check
drama guy = check
add music nerd to this and it could be me.

are you sure you aren't me, posting under a different name?

are you devilishly handsome, nine-fingered, and use three computer screens at once?

Quote from: Stargate525

Quote from: Team Discovery Channelhmm...
art dude = check
pyro = check
drama guy = check
add music nerd to this and it could be me.

are you sure you aren't me, posting under a different name?

are you devilishly handsome, nine-fingered, and use three computer screens at once?

hmm... lesse, devilishly handsome = check, but only two computer screens. Would eleven fingers make up for the one less screen?

Quote from: Team Discovery Channelhmm... lesse, devilishly handsome = check, but only two computer screens. Would eleven fingers make up for the one less screen?

sure. That means we're not the same.

I'm nothing like whoever I described up there.

Quote from: Stargate525

Quote from: Team Discovery Channelhmm... lesse, devilishly handsome = check, but only two computer screens. Would eleven fingers make up for the one less screen?

sure. That means we're not the same.

I'm nothing like whoever I described up there.

Well, i don't actually have 11 fingers (although that'd be cool), but either way i guess we are actually 2 seperate people.

Who would have thought...?

I do embrace the geek label, but I don't feel it restricts me too much.  Besides being a geek I am also by some definition: a punk, a goth, a metalhead (the musical ones, it's more I listen to at least some music from these subcategories of rock than that I actively participate in any subculture or scene or fashion movement associated with them), a pagan, a witch, a liberal, a conservative (I believe in rights and freedoms that put me on the liberal side of the aisle, but I believe the best way to ensure freedom is to get less government), an anarchist, a libertarian-socialist, and probably others.