Welcome to Roadworthy! This is a chance to show off a Road Crew Judge and allow them to share their experience and wisdom. We provide these profiles to help provide insight into their personality and style, and maybe give up-and-coming Judges some advice on improving their game.
The Road Crew theme for 2018 is Strange New Worlds! Head out and find unique places to run games for willing participants. Do something that makes us take notice! Who knows, maybe we’ll put you up on our website. Jump on into the Road Crew program for your chance!
This time we go to Southern California to meet Judge Erik of Ventura!
Roadworthy: Judge Erik of Ventura
What’s your name, where do you live (and game), and how would you describe yourself?
My name is Erik Peterson and I live and game in Ventura County, CA. I’m an avid role-player and boardgamer. I’m also a dad to a 5 year-old agent of chaos.
How did you first discover DCC?
Due to a quirk in my genetics I’ve never been able to enjoy alcohol, so boardgames and RPGs have been the vice of choice for most of my life. I played AD&D and TMNT and other Strangeness through high school and college and just about everything at one time or another since then. I started getting into the OSR a few years ago and I first discovered Dungeon Crawl Classics via an article in Gygax Magazine (“Hey, the guys that did Broncosaurus Rex made another game!”).
Around the time of the Kickstarter for the 4th printing I decided to go all in after someone evangelized the system to me on reddit’s /r/rpg. Now I own three copies of the rulebook (plus MCC came in the mail today!); a leather-bound autographed copy that is at home on my desk, the paperback that I take everywhere and have tabbed and highlighted like a beloved college textbook, and the black and silver Kickstarter edition with gilded pages that I snuggle with on occasion when the feeling strikes me. It’s my absolute favorite FRPG to date.
As of “right now,” how many Road Crew games have you run in 2017? Or 2018?
None in 2017! It took me a while to find a good venue. So far in 2018, I’ve run 9 games, and it’s been 100% a great experience. I’m having fun, and I’ve been able to meet some great new people. I can almost taste that belt buckle….
What’s your favorite Road Crew game experience so far?
It’s a toss-up. One great experience was when I ran Hole in the Sky for three separate groups during a weekend tournament. Seeing how different groups of players handled the same scenario was very enjoyable for me. It was also my “trial by fire” since I had never run a one-shot with a time limit before.
My other favorite experience was at our last game. My crew and I were discussing how were were going to stage our post-game photo when I jokingly said that I left all of my LARP gear at home. The owner of the shop overheard us and brought out a pile of prop weapons for us to use. Behold the judge’s gavel!
Tell us where you run your Road Crew games.
We play every other Tuesday night at Zander’s Game House in Camarillo, California.
What advice would you give to other Road Crew judges?
Very general: Remember to have fun and let the players drive the action. Celebrate the weird solutions, and give any player idea that is even remotely plausible a chance for success.
Very specific: Have a few pre-made encounters in your back pocket just in case your crew’s wizard unexpectedly invokes Sezrekan to teleport the entire party out of the dungeon and hundreds of miles away in a random direction.
