“Read Me”

Hi, I’m Lance, and I am the creator of ‘Stuff For People Who Don’t Like Other People.’ I DO like other people, but I often find that the challenges of modern life interfere with my ability to enjoy my hobbies with my friends. The first iteration of this concept is focused on gaming. The name of the company is intentionally evocative of the feeling you get trying to play table tops socially. We all want to play with those we choose to associate with; laugh, roll, and role. Games For People Who Don’t Like Other People was created for people who love the hobby, but often want to satisfy their imaginations without the sometimes difficult-to-acquire social interaction. We are social creatures, but that interaction takes time and effort.

As a child in the 1980s, I was fascinated by the Dungeons and Dragons Red Box Set. As a nine-year-old, I was constantly trying to wrangle my 5-year old brother into playing with me, even though he could barely read. I found myself creating characters and DMing myself through the Keep of the Borderlands multiple times. I was then introduced to AD&D and hardback books. I consumed them much like my Encyclopedia Britannica, but did not get to play very often. At one elementary school event, I was led through White Plume Mountain, only to find that my party was busy competing rather than cooperating. Again, my joy was often imagining playing, rather than playing.

I was spellbound by the randomness of dice-rolling, and it set my imagination spinning. “Who am I and what is the world I find myself in?” As the years progressed, I found myself enjoying the company of others adventuring, but it wasn’t until joining a living campaign in 2000 that I was able to have a more predictive experience. However, I soon found that playing at conventions or with local groups could be hit or miss: not so infrequently, you would end up with clashing personalities or DM’s would run the game differently than I would want. As often as I hosted the game, I sometimes found the adventures would be difficult to run, no matter the prep time I committed. I finally settled into having enough gaming friends that we could plan a regular monthly session. As much as I enjoy this current stage of my hobby, I still find that I am planning to play way more often than I get to play. It’s the First World adult problem of scheduling a session that often leads me to frustration. What if we could mediate this challenge?

Our idea is not a new one, but maybe some additional formatting and resources could make it not only easier to run solo, but also re-enjoyable. I’ve always liked the “Choose Your Own Adventure” mechanic. The challenge, of course, is keeping it from running a rail. Pragmatically, the optimal situation would be a network of choices to move it toward a sandbox. For instance, the binary decision of “Do you accept the quest? Yes or no?” may be that there are more options, such as: “You accept one of these quests on these conditions, from one of these patrons.” Often, consequences ultimately lead to an end, but they could just as easily lead you back to the beginning, or to a new opportunity not connected to the original quest. Also, randomness through encounter tables that vary could change the scenario every time.

What if you are not so challenged in scheduling your friends, and you have an active group? What could your gamemaster do with the content? You are covered! Mechanics are included for running the adventure traditionally. Everyone is happy, including your DM, who will find running our content easier to prepare for and to execute.

Our pastimes are what we live for, but not how we live. Needs come first. We cannot ignore these needs, but sometimes we can mitigate them with new opportunities. That is our goal: providing quality adventures for various genres and systems, and solo and group play. Look for not only the printed and digital adventures, but also the daily content (encounters, NPCs, hooks, spells) on our subscriber sites (in the header above). We also hope to gather ideas from the community and incorporate them into the stories, including interesting adversaries and fan fiction.

We look forward to helping you fulfill your imagination, individually or collectively.

Best regards, Lance.