When the term “role playing game” is used, most people thinking of video games. That term is usually associated with video games like “Final Fantasy,” “Dragon Warriors” and “Chrono Trigger”.
It is a term that over the last 5 to 10 years has lost its true meaning. Role-playing game (or RPG for short) at first had nothing to do with video games. It had a deeper meaning. It meant actually becoming a character and playing that character through a series of events with a board and a sheet of paper.
A perfect example of this type of real RPG was the RPG game, “Dungeons and Dragons.”
The Gaming Society, a new society at ETSU, plans to bring the term RPG back home.
Aaron Littleton, one of three co-founders and president of the gaming society, had only one thing in mind when thinking up of the society. “I wanted to meet other gamers who were like me,” he said. “[At the time] there was no society around. So we decided to start one.”
Along with Littleton, Jodi Crabtree, Tania Rutherford and Ryan McLain jumped on board for the idea. “Last semester we went to the student body for approval [to be a club],” Littleton said. “The start of this fall semester we have become a society.”
For the society’s first two meetings, which are held on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Meeting Room 3 in the Culp Center, they were met with 30 members.
Laura Byler, at the second meeting, recalled some of the earlier times before they society was developed. “We were tired of getting kicked out [of the Culp Center],” she said. “We thought ‘if we got approval for a club, they couldn’t kick us out anymore.’ “
Each meeting the society is going to try something new. This past Wednesday was demo night for a new game titled “Chrononauts.” “Chrononauts” is a card game that deals with time travel.
You are a time traveler who has a mission to change time to his or her liking. There are three ways to win. One way is to complete your personal mission. The second way is to complete a mission using a mission card. And the final way to win is to collect certain artifacts to complete an artifact mission.
“Chrononauts,” however, was not the only event happening on Wednesday, even though three games were being played at once. “Samurai,” a board game, and “Loco!,” a card game, were being played on one side of the room.
On the other side was talk of a “Dungeons and Dragons” game set up for next week. After that was done, there was talk of how George Lucas has screwed up the original Star Wars series – and can you blame them?
The gaming society is a place were people who love RPG board games, card games and regular board games can sit down, enjoy themselves, and have personal contact with others who may or may not share your opinions; something you can’t do with video games.
“We try not to have video games here because it would take away from the personal contact with other,” Littleton said.
Card and board games are not the only thing the society has planned.
Right now Littleton and the society are in plans to get a game going called “Assassins.” At the beginning of the game, a person will receive a number. Then, they must go out and find someone with that number. Once they find the other person they must “kill” them (in the sense that they are out of the game).
There is also a masquerade ball being planned. Littleton and Byler are in talks about combining the two together.
The future looks bright for the gaming society. That’s all the president is looking for, “I hope that the society continues to grow and I hope it continues for years,” Littleton said.

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