After a long month of RPG a Day we can close this edition with a list of every question and every answer!
It was a great experience for our team and we’ll be happy to take part to the next edition with our friends and gamers, have fun reading it!
August 1: Do you prefer to use real dice, a dice application or program, or use a diceless system?
Matt: I prefer real dice and i have quite a collection of different set for different games
Alex: analogic dice
Manuel: Real dice. Possibly made by myself.
August 2: What is the best game session you have had since August 2015?
Matt: A final fight aboard of the Orient Express, I was the narrator and half of the party died, the other half, well…
Alex: I performed my first GM session in english…#UH of course!
Manuel: An epic superhero session. I can’t tell which system…
August 3: What is something you have done with your game character that you are the proudest of?
Matt: Saved the day at least a dozen of time, killed/exiled something huge, horrible and without a name and saved several civilizations from extinction.
Alex: I once got my character naked in front of everybody and covered him in dirt in order to perform a sex ritual; I was playing Aleister Crowley.
August 4: What is the most impressive thing that you can remember another player’s character doing in a session?
Matt: In the last year I’ve seen my group of players lose sanity in a never ending search of artifact across Europe and Middle East: when one of the character died in a fight against one of their archenemy the entire group collapsed and, after a couple of tears and a series of “I’m sorry, I’m really sorry for your loss” they started to gather his things, send it to family and be sure that he will be remembered as a hero. The group play together from 3 years, and still counting. What I admire the most in these kind of player is the ability to create real empathy with their character and to evolve the personality of their character. This evolution of bidimensional character to (almost) real person is the real essence of RPG.
Alex: A player of one of the biggest campaign I GMed for D&D commited a genocide of the entire population of minotaurs of his dimension when he was lvl 22 in order to become one Mephistopheles’ soul harvester (also because his party had been merely killed by minotaurs tribes when he was lvl 5 !!!!)
Manuel: I do not remember… I can mention that session when a friend of mine (that was playing a cleric of fire god) was able to kill my character three times due to serious burns…
August 5: What story does your group of players tell about your character?
Matt: I’m a master so basically I don’t play with the others but AGAINST them 
My players always chat about my NPC and the possibility to kill all of them in a cold, dark, night, they basically hate all of them and I’m really proud of their paranoia.
Alex: I larped a wild elf when I was 14 I had no beard and long blonde hair…evryone used to think I was a girl!
Manuel: Too many stories, too many characters…
August 6: What is the most amazing thing that you know a game group has done for their community?
Matt: Thanks to #UrbanHeroes we met a great number of really cool person: from the backers of our project on Kickstarter to a group of international friends (David, Jared, David Rodriguez etc…) to our Italian fans and players. Our community is an ever-growing group of passionate players, supporters and writers, with a small group of them we created ItaliaZ, a shared project of a single reality written by every participant. We’re very proud of this free and open source project and we hope to share our passion with other players and creatives!
Alex: I want to remember a backer during our Kickstarter campaign who believed in #UH and supported us a lot even though he knew he was shortly going to die. Gaming people can be very good people. Thank you Joshua.
August 7: What aspect of Roleplaying Games has had the biggest effect on you?
Matt: Passion for reading, socialize, putting me in other’ shoes , be part of something, fight for what I believe in.
Alex: Lateral thinking, social awareness.
Manuel: I was a terribly shy kid. The role-playing game has helped me to manage this problem and change radically.
August 8: Do you prefer hardcover, softcover, or electronic books? What are the benefits of your preference?
Matt: Hardcover for sure! Softcovers crumble after a few years of massive use and electronic book are really useful but I’m an old fashioned guy so I’m going with the old school.
Alex: Hardcover; they last better and make a vary good library complement. I usually don’t care, I just want a phisical copy.
Manuel: For a simple matter of personal love for the “book” object I much prefer the hardcovers.
August 9: What things are a part of your ideal session, other than the actual game?
Matt: Friends, some snacks, fruits, something to drink in a silent place (maybe with a fireplace) where we can roleplay in peace.
Alex: Good friends, quiet well-known place, snacks, “funny cigarettes”, bystanders (friends only).
Manuel: Atmosphere, want to have fun and a minimum of recitation.
August 10: What was the largest in-game surprise you have experienced?
Matt: The latest as a player was when our group of bounty hunters / adventures / underdogs were all linked by the insane action of our parents and the last two or three session were a mess like a Mexican soap opera!
Alex: Probably when the capital city of the empire my character were living in literally rose from the earth itself showing that it was built on the shoulder of a colossal mithril construct drove by angelic entities ruled by the gods of law.
Manuel: Finding out that the mentor of one of my mage characters (Mage: The Awakening) was Vivienne Westwood.
August 11: Which gamer that you have played with has most affected the way that you play?
Matt: For sure one of the most influent person in my city: Antonino Galimi, which taught me the charisma and how to describe an adventure like a movie.
Manuel Strali taught me the presence and other players (they’re too much to make a complete list) taught me other things like the importance of research, the setting, the NPCs’ secret life…
Alex: two old school italian national champions: Antonino Galimi and Manuel Strali.
Manuel: My ex best friend. Better move to another topic…
August 12: What game is your group most likely to play next? Why?
Matt: In this hot summer I’ll try with my usual group of Call of Cthulhu NEXT (who will be the NEXT H.E.R.O.?), an adventure for #UrbanHeroes. After that we’ll be back on the final part of Terror on the Orient Express campaign and who could tell what will come next? With the Tin Hat Games team we’ll surely try some new RPG and boardgames because making games it’s a serious business!
Alex: #UrbanHeroes again and again or maybe some other TinHat Games project; because playtest.
Manuel: #URBANHEROES (I hope).
August 13: What makes a successful campaign?
Matt: In my personal experience the players are the best ingredient in a successful campaign. I, as a DM, start very slow, trying to make players (and their character) confortable with the reality I created, after a couple of intro session I put something strange in their routine and then… Everything starts! The final is obviously open and I don’t like railroad (but in some case they’re necessary) so I put everything in players’ hands hoping they don’t screw everything up!
Alex: I think a long term campaign should start as railroad and then slowly become more and more a sandbox game; anyway always remember to keep the main track vivid and coherent. Also a good GM should have in mind the end of the saga since the beginning, even though many changes could happen during the game (they will likely help filling the story with details rather than hinder it).
Manuel: Many things, maybe elasticity in the plot and NPC’s who return after long time.
August 14: Who would be on your dream team of people you used to game with?
Matt: I really really miss my early twenty where my group was traveling the country for RPG tournament! We won something and lost a lot of competition but these days were golden and I really miss that sense of clan between us! Now I play with a person who was on that group and we still laugh thinking about those years. So, yeah, nostalgia apart I really hope to play once again with my old and first party
Alex: Most of all two of my best friends who passed away; Gorro and Genna, I miss you boys.
Manuel: I have not a dream team. Everyone is good.
August 15: What types or source of inspiration do you turn to most often for RPGs?
Matt: Most of all books and reading but it depends on the game. For example in #UrbanHeroes I use the news, urban legend and journalism, mixed together with some futuristic short story and a couple of anarchist publication online. With other historical games I read something on the period and try to know everything useful on the setting or location. Everything I’ve listed plus a pinch of movie reference would do the trick!
Alex: Comics and books; tv and cinema usually hinder my imagination by filling it with recycled and commercial ideas no one really wants in a rpg game…
Manuel: Obviously everything: books, comics, movies, cartoons, but also world news events and personal facts.
August 16: What historical character would you like in your group? For what game?
Matt: Just once? Damn! So let’s get back to the basic: Howard Philiph Lovecraft in The Call Of Cthulhu, of course!
Alex: Friedrich Nietzsche – Paranoia
Manuel: Leonardo Da Vinci , in any game with non-futuristic setting .
August 17: What fictional character would best fit in your group? Why?
Matt: Don’t ask me why but I’ll go with Zeno Cosini, from Italo Svevo’s novel “La conscienza di Zeno”. A deep psychological and introvert character with a lot of complex and a normal life will suit perfectly around a RPG table!
Alex: The Dude from The Big Lebowski
Manuel: Akemi Homura , from the Puella Magi Madoka Magica anime. Because unespectedly she is the most powerful human character that I ever known.
August 18: What innovation could RPG groups gain the most benefit from?
Matt: In the past years I’ve seen a wider and wider diffusion of the hobby thanks to the opening of the nerd world to the real world, so “nerd is the new sexy” now and playing is not only social acceptable but is cool! I hope that this trend goes on and on: with a larger audience of player more games will come and with games we’ll get original ideal, great new edition and a more active community!
Alex: Getting a good online sheets control system for mobiles so that the GM could manage some datas directly. We are working on it and Jared Sanford from MetaGameInc has developped one for his RemainCalm rpg that I suggest you all to try out.
Manuel: I suppose the advent of internet and the possibility to play remotely.
August 19: What is the best way to learn a new game?
Matt: Read it, try it with your friends and, if anything sounds you odd read it again!
Alex: Get an explaination and try it what else?
Manuel: Just playing.
August 20: What is the most challenging but rewarding system have you learned?
Matt: It’s a little bit rusty but I still remember the first day I read the World of Darkness system those possibilities: an open world before me and tons and tons of dice to roll on the table!
Alex: Alternity by TSR; it was a great inspiration for #UH game system years later.
Manuel: Mage the awakening.
August 21: What was the funniest misinterpretation of a game rule in your group?
Matt: Oh my god, this is the most important question because everyone has THAT player in a group: If it’s in the rulebook then it’s the law: no interpretation, no logic. I have tons of this misunderstood: from the classic D&D jump-off-a-mountain-who-cares-I’m-a-tank mentality to vampire: bullets-has-no-game-oh-wait-better-run state of mind. Now, playing, #UrbanHeroes, everyone thinks to be in a Marvel/DC movie, after a couple of days of coma / mental hospital the entire group suddenly change the way it plays
Alex: Well, the italian translation for Rust Monster has got a very strong assonance to the italian word that stands for “roaring”; so a GM friend of mine had this Rust Monster appear as a casual encounter and it just turned all of our weapons to rust just by….roaring! Pretty overpowered don’t you think?
Manuel: I don’t remember the funniest…
August 22: What are some random events in your games that keep happening?
Matt: Ok, guys and girls, this time we can’t screw everything up so shoot only if the enemy is far away, no friendly fire, ok?
E-V-E-R-Y T-I-M-E. And then…
Alex: In my #UH group they cannot keep an in-game boy/girlfriend alive or sane for more than 4 Episodes…
Manuel: Certainly the unexpected death of my character by the hand of another player.
August 23: Share one of your best ‘Worst Luck’ stories.
Matt:
– I’ll shoot
– Ok, roll
– FUMBLE
– The old weapon explode, you fall on the ground, blind
– Ok, I try to run away from the combact
– Sure, roll
– FUMBLE
– You rumble down a shore, roll to know if you can land safely
– FUMBLE
– A rock hits you, lemme check where…
– Say nothing more…
– Your groin.
Alex: I created a combo character for one of my player who had little experience with D&D and entered a very technical campaign. He used to play it right but when came to combat… wel he had this combo at 13th lvl thet let him shoot something like up to 40 shodow rays in just one round. I saw him roll 40xd20s and have only 6 sucesses on a 10+ roll needed; I also saw him stop playing dice games for a while after that…
Manuel: Simple: my character happened to be in a 4000-5000 people exhibition (a parade). A PC gremlin, momentarily separated from the rest of the group, rises to a high point and to attract our attention throws a stone randomly into the crowd. It affects my character in the head. My character dies.
August 24: What is the game you are most likely to give to others as a gift?
Matt: Dice, dice and more dice. Occasionaly memorabilia.
Alex: Are sex gags permitted here? 😛
Manuel: #URBANHEROES
August 25: What makes for a good character?
Matt: A solid backstory, motivation and everything that makes a person a REAL person.
Alex: Realistic background, special abilities or powers that fits logically or harmonically with the setting.
Manuel: A thorough and articulated background.
August 26: What hobbies go well with RPGs?
Matt: Reading, painting or art in general, do some sports (we don’t want MIN/MAXer, do we?!) and, of course, creative writing.
Alex: Read, do sports or go to the gym, then read again.
Manuel: Reenactment , wargaming , boardgaming , videogaming as well as, of course, a lot of good reading.
August 27: Describe the most unusual circumstance or location in which you have gamed.
Matt: I gamed in public places, even during LARP (a game inside a game inside a game) and in the middle of a summer festival, I played by the beach with some friends: the most nerd things I can imagine.
Alex: Life’s a game: I play everyday.
Manuel: During a train trip.
August 28: What film or novel would you be most surprised that a friend had not seen or read?
Matt: Something Lovecraft related, also a film inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien’s books.
Alex: He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.
Manuel: A friend who has never seen the Jim Henson’s masterpiece Labyrinth.
August 29: If you could host a game anywhere on Earth, where would that be?
Matt: In my grandmother’s house in the hills near Parma, the place where I go every summer since I was a child.
Alex: In the same bar where only me, my friends and a bunch of old people go since we were child.
Manuel: The country house where I spent my childhood summers.
August 30: Describe the ideal game room if your budget were unlimited.
Matt: A tavern in a lonely country house in the middle of a snowy mountain: a long wooden table with those fancy great design you can see online, a fire place, some snacks and a set of metal dice for everyplayer. A giant screen on the back of the GM is there to show to the player the handouts or gaming material, every player has a tablet where they can communicate in PVT with the GM or do some research. Ah, and don’t forget the fierce pugs squad running the house amd the catering 24/7!
Alex: Well, you want me to talk you about the old plan of buying a truck, nail a Sultan Game Table to the cargo floor, pimpi it with some special features (electronic card mixer, customized seats, a flat screen for interactive games and backgrounds for miniatures, etc), apply air conditioning, a bar area (with bartender), get Vin Diesel a salary as driver and game consultant…
Manuel: I have the projects somewhere. Even 3D files. I can show you…
August 31: What is the best piece of advice you were ever given for your game of choice?
Matt: The golden rule: leave the rule on the book and just enjoy the game.
Alex: There is no such thing as a perfectly balanced game.
Manuel: Check the hit points!