Interviewing Erudi, Dungeon Master of Geeks + Gamers

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I recently sat down with Erudi, Lead Dungeon Master (DM) and Geeks + Gamers Tabletop runner and pestered him with questions.

Blabbering Collector: When and how did you get into Tabletop?

Erudi: Back in middle school… it’s kind of a mean story – a little bit. A friend of mine had gotten the Game Master Book for the Star Wars RPG, second edition, revised. He kept trying to get us to play it. But no one wanted to play with him as the Game Master. Then he moved and left the books, and all of my friends voluntold me to run the game. And I was like, “Really? Okay.” And that was it; I was forever the Game Master. I mostly played sci-fi at first, like Star Wars, then I picked up Vampire, BattleTech, and then went into Dungeons and Dragons.

BC: How did you get into Geeks + Gamers? Were you previously on YouTube?

E: Yes, I was previously on YouTube, with a professional Dungeon Master company. I still run that; it’s a service where people are looking for someone to run a game for them, either because they don’t have friends and they want to join a group, or they don’t know how to run a game for them. About six months in, I was thinking about a clever way to advertise it. So I started to stream it so people could see what we did for our games. I had a streaming channel for that; however, it wasn’t quite as big as Geeks + Gamers. But I had a lot of fun. I’ve been watching G+G for about the last four or five years now. And I ran that company for about four years.

The crowd that I was streaming for wasn’t really my style. I wanted to do things that were more “un-woke.” It’s a tough crowd; that community is really full of SJWs right now. They are quite vicious. They would go after you and excommunicate you from your own community. And I thought, “Well I’m kinda getting out of this anyways.” I didn’t want to be in this crowd and in this scene anymore. I was watching Jeremy for such a long time, and I thought, “I’ll take my shot; I’ll reach out to him.” And I did. I was very persistent about it, as he’s a very busy person. I showed that I really wanted it, and I came out of the gate with a game plan and a vision, and I made it about his brand. Eventually, he saw my messages and was like, “Hey, man, this is really cool. Sit tight; I got a few things going on, but we will set up a meeting and talk.” And, well, here we are!

BC: Do you like Abba?

E: Hmm, the music group? Yeah; I mean I don’t not like them.

BC: What are your goals for the Advanced G+G Tabletop YouTube channel?

E: I have a lot of ambition for that channel. Right now, it’s the crawl before you walk, walk before you run kind of thing. If I was able to do everything I wanted to do with it, I would want the channel to cover multiple systems and have more faces than just my own. The thing about Tabletop is that it’s such a big arena, it would be incredibly hard for just one person to cover it. I could cover just D&D alone, and have enough material to fill my plate forever. And just a secondary medium system… you have a bunch! Each product has it’s own lore, rules, history, product line, and history of a product line, even! It would just be a lot. And that’s just the RPG element. Then there is the tabletop board game element, the card game element, etc. It’s a lot! Ideally, I hope to have a team of people be specific experts in each of those things that is passionate about it and believes in the primary goal of G+G Tabletop, which is guilt-free gaming, to not be judged by the choices you make. For example, there was a big controversy for a magical wheelchair, for representation’s sake. If you think that’s cool, great; if you don’t think that’s great, that’s fine too. It should be a personal decision, and no one should be shamed for it.

I would like to do content on the channel in regards to news, rule systems, lore, streams… and eventually where we even create our own G+G product! Dungeons & Dragons has an open license agreement. So long as you don’t use their IPs and you follow certain rules, you can make your own thing! You can brand it and then sell it! I think we can make a product that people will enjoy.

BC: That would be so cool! You could base them off of G+G characters like Jeremina and Ryan’s character!

E: Yes, you could!

BC: Random question; did you ever play the Harry Potter Trading Card Game (TCG) by Wizards of the Coast?

E: I did not.

BC: Favorite thing about your experience thus far in G+G?

E: I would have to say it’s a community of people who aren’t judging you as long as you aren’t judging them, and who will always have your back. I don’t happen to be of the “left” persuasion, but if I were, and I was being respectful towards what they believe, they would still accept me just the same. And I genuinely feel that way. I don’t think they would ever oust me, you know?

BC: Yeah, we have Uche!

E: Exactly! Anytime you need an example, Uche is perfect! As a community, we are not judged; you get to be yourself and share your opinions. We have so many people with different perspectives, and nobody is a carbon copy of anyone else. If you step out of line within their beliefs, no one is going to come at you, or kick you out, or publicly shame you. It’s really cool; I like that a lot.

As for the channel itself, getting the stream going and playing with the lovely players at my table has been a lot of fun! Seeing the reception has been lovely… I am shocked how quickly the channel has grown and overwhelmed with all the positive feedback.

BC: Least favorite thing about your experience so far?

E: No, I would say the negative people who just don’t know or understand what the brand is about or just make assumptions. Just because one person on the channel thinks a certain way doesn’t mean we all think the same! That aspect is kind of the drag, but that is true on the flip side too. You can’t please everybody.

BC: Do you like to collect? If so, do you have a focus and what are you planning to get next?

E: It’s been a while since I collected anything, but I did used to collect Magic cards. I loved Magic The Gathering cards. I had a lot of them, and had a card from every set. It was too expensive to collect entire sets, so I would collect the ones I was really interested in.

BC: Interesting…I have no idea what you’re talking about, but cool! Do you mean the magic card game sets where you’d be like, “Pick a card?”

E: *chuckles* No! It’s like the Harry Potter game, but it’s Magic!

BC: Well that makes a lot more sense! Clarification! If you could bring any character with you on an adventure, who would you bring?

E: *Ponders for about four minutes whilst simultaneously saying “hmm”* So many options!

BC: Only one!

E: It has to be either really fun or really magical – so, like a wizard from the Harry Potter series or a Jedi from Star Wars.

BC: Jedi have all these codes that they have to follow.

E: Let’s go with the Weasley twins from Harry Potter.

BC: They are my absolute favorite in the entire series!

E: They are fun to play with, and they have cool magic and shit.

BC: What goes into designing a good character in a game in D&D?

E: It depends on the purpose of the game and what your goal is. Generally speaking, a character who is relatable. Depends on what you mean by “best.” Skills? Storywise?

BC: Have you experienced any kind of social ostracization because of tabletop gaming, particularly if you played in school?

E: Of course; it wasn’t like it is now. If you had told me that playing RPGs would be mainstream and get followers online, and watching you play live, I would have laughed at your face! You would get bread crusts thrown at you in lunch for playing Magic The Gathering. People were mean; they were horrible about nerd stuff. Now, it’s popular to play D&D, and the very same people who were bullying you are now the ones wanting to make all the rules.

BC: Do different tabletop games appeal to different types of people? For example, do certain ones appeal to women more than men, or vice versa?

E: Yes and no. Some games can really go either way… like Pokémon has a lot of men and women. I see a lot more women now in D&D than before, probably because of the storytelling.

Man, to have a girl play in our group back in the day would have made us all speechless. So, that’s really cool. BattleTech doesn’t really have a lot of women in it.

BC: Which Dungeons and Dragons species do you think would be most beneficial in real life, in a modern setting?

E: If we are talking about humanoid races, probably elves, because they don’t sleep! A new generation of night workers! That’s a handy thing to have!

BC: Have you ever read the “no source material” Star Wars Expanded Universe books?

E: Ooo, you’re being sarcastic with the quotation. Yes, I love the E.U... I was really disappointed when Disney said they wouldn’t be using it and it wouldn’t be canon. I tried to be understanding. I get it; a lot of the actors are older now and going back to the material would be difficult. I was too trusting. Now, I’m just bitter on both ends.

BC: Anything you want to say to the viewers?

E: I hope you are all having a good time! I hope you’re enjoying the current show. I hope you are all looking forward to the other material we are going to be doing. We have a lot of interesting and fun ideas in the works. The more viewership we get on the Advanced Geeks + Gamers show, the more likely those other things in the pipeline come to fruition! Just keep tuning in, and I hope that you are seeing that “unwoke” D&D is fun and it doesn’t matter what the system is! It’s all about who’s running the game and who’s at the table with you. We have every right to play it the way we want to! D&D is an open license. The resource document is free, so you don’t have to worry about spending money on a company you don’t like! Show the woke that we have the better plan.

Speed round! Short answers only.

BC: Favorite film?

E: Classic (original trilogy) Star Wars.

BC: What would be your lightsaber color?

E: Yellow.

BC: J.J.’s Star Trek or J.J.’s Star Wars?

E: J.J.’s Star Wars.

BC: Favorite Harry Potter character?

E: Snape.

BC: Marvel or DC?

E: Marvel overall.

BC: Favorite ice cream?

E: Chocolate chip cookie dough.

BC: Wizard or Jedi?

E: Jedi. I would rather travel with a wizard, but I would rather be a Jedi.

BC: Rose Tico or Rey Skywalker?

E: Rey Skywalker because she’s such a Mary-Sue… she will be badass all the time!

BC: Favorite destination?

E: The beach.

BC: Ever read Percy Jackson?

E: No.

BC: Pineapple on pizza?

E: Sure. It’s not my favorite.

BC: Favorite candy?

E: Hmm… a Whatchamacallit.

BC: I don’t know, I’m asking you!

E: *laughs* No, that’s the candy bar!

BC: Oh. I’ve never heard of it before! I was like, “I’m asking you!”

Thank you, Erudi, for having the patience to sit and chat with me! You can find Erudi on Twitter, and check out Geeks + Gamers Tabletop on Twitch, YouTube, Guilded, and Twitter!