Name: Dennis Drobeck
Rank: Corporal (E-4)
Serving Since: 05/28/2005
Hi Everyone ....Dennis Drobeck here,
I have been putting off taking the time to write, letting you know a little about myself. Well enough months have gone by. So to start,
“I think therefore I am” ...... some wise guy philosopher said that ...... probably got rich off the idea ..... to me its like duhhh.......
However, I am more than a thinking person. It’s what I think that counts, and what I will tell you that I think about, that tells you even
more.
Since I haven’t warped through space and time I guess my chronological age of 51 is accurate. I have two sons and a step-daughter.
One son now lives in Montana fighting forest fires for the US BLM, shooting guns, and chasing women. I also have another married
son in Ohio and a married stepdaughter in Illinois. I recently learned that my stepdaughter is pregnant, so I am going to be a
grandfather. It gives me the creeps...... the grandfather thing makes me seem reallllly old. I kind of look at myself as to young to have
grandkids. I have also unfortunately, been divorced for about four years.
I own a business called Wonderama (see www.wonderama.org). I started the business in 1990 to fill the gap between jobs and now
after 15 years of success and adventure I am leaving the business behind and fishing around for something else to do. Wonderama
has been a wonderful business, teaching science education to kids of all ages, but 9/11 took a toll on revenues ..... everyone became
paranoid of outsiders and stop scheduling programs. The educational system is also incredibly tightfisted and requires lots of
prodding, pushing and arm twisting to pay reasonable fees for a program. On top of that businesses like mine are considered
competition to Universities and other non-profits. Rising costs (like gas) and too many 7 day workweeks are additionally difficult. I love
working with the kids and developing new cool activities, but I hate the scramble for dollars from the money tree, and the battle for
respect.
I have moved around a lot lately, and am currently in a house I bought last December in Ypsilanti. My business is set up out of
Lansing where I lived for many years.
I enjoy many things. I guess highest on my list is church, dancing, computers, home remodeling, people (nothing like a good party),
cooking, kids, science...... and ..... and the number one thing I like to do is roleplaying.
OK roleplaying ... what the heck is that anyhow. I noticed my session at the Region 13 Summit was only attended by those who had
prior knowledge about roleplaying, so here is my chance for some recruitment. I would like to get a game going with individuals from
this group. I feel participants would have a blast.
I admit its hard to describe what roleplaying is, better to try playing once, but I will try.
Imagine that you are in a movie theater watching the latest edition of Star Wars. Now I am sure there were places where you wanted
the characters to take some other action....... right. How about when the Jedi butchering was going on, surely you wanted to scream
out to the Jedi victims “look behind you” .... but all you could do was grip the person next to you in terror (melodramatic). Roleplaying
is a storyline just like in Star Wars or any movie, however, YOU” are the onscreen character making all the decisions. Instead of
following a script, you get to make all the decisions for your character. Your decisions modify the plot line, the pathway through the
script. Basically roleplaying is an interactive movie. Now of course you can’t use sets and fly in space so all of this is done in an
imaginary way. I use small tabletop props for villages and scenes whenever possible to help players envision the scene. What’s great
about all this is that you get to make all the decisions ...... good bad and ugly you make em and you live with the consequences. You
wanna get drunk, take drugs, play Russian Roulette ...... that’s OK with me, just remember your character suffers the consequences.
Of course that is the great part you can do things in life ..... take risks ....... that you would never do in the real world. What fun. If you
die we simply create another character for you. I am known in the D&D world for killing off my characters..... I take a lot of risk..... it
creates more excitement.
The other really important part of roleplaying are the dice. Dice are used to create the randomness that we see in the world. There
are many different dice ranging from 4 sided to 30 sided. The dice used in most games are 6 sided. So probability is a factor in the
game, although any math is very basic.
There are dozens of game systems out there. Every sci-fi or fantasy movie releases their own roleplaying game. The most popular
gaming system is still Dungeons and Dragons. Of course that is fantasy and not sci-fi. One game system that I like is “Men in Black”
based on the movies. It is a funny roleplaying game with outrageous monsters, weapons, etc. However, neither of these are what
I call starter games. So ..... I developed my own gaming system. I simplified it way down keeping all the main elements of the more
advanced games. One can learn to play in 30 minutes. My game system is placed in the period right after WWII .... 1948. The Nazi’s
are still around and the investigations into radiation has created some weird stuff. This period is actually cool because in truth there
were some Nazi scientists, doing some really bizarre experiments, that got away and disappeared ..... really ..... The players take on
roles they are familiar with ..... almost anything really, from Marine, scientist, priest, doctor, adventurer, etc.. However, the twist is that
each character has a “skill” unique to them. The group or party comes together and “must” work as a team. There is little room in
roleplaying for the “grandstander” everyone wants to participate in the game and grandstanders who go off on their own without help
almost always die or ........ worse ..... imagine being captured and used for an evil scientists bizarre experiments ....... what will the
group do !!!!!
OH, I nearly forgot to mention there is always one person who runs the game and plays all the evil or neutral people. That person is
called a GM (Game Master) or in D&D a DM (Dungeon Master).
If you are interested in my educational research on roleplaying (for more details) got to my website at http://www.wonderama.org , click
on “Improving America’s Education” and then from the menu on the left select “Wonderama Research”. From there you can browse
the roleplaying part of the site.
The best roleplaying games take place over a number of weeks. The longer you play the more you can develop the personality of
your character. You can put in fun twists and explore how your character would react under different circumstances. Time flies really
fast when playing. Most games take four hours per session. There is one game I played once a week for 2 years.
If you are intrigued by this adventure send me an email expressing your interest. I live in Ypsilanti and will probably have a starting
game at my house, where all my props are located.
I also run teen games. Teen games have less violence .... more like a PG-13, whereas adults can do whatever they want.
There are two types of approaches to situations in roleplaying. Some people like to think themselves out of potentially dangerous
situations, while others like to start shooting. Neither way is the best route all the time, which is why I love to have mixed games.
Well that is who I am ...... up in the head anyhow. Be sure to let me know if you are interested in playing.
To infinity and beyond ....
Dennis Drobeck
Rank: Corporal (E-4)
Serving Since: 05/28/2005
Hi Everyone ....Dennis Drobeck here,
I have been putting off taking the time to write, letting you know a little about myself. Well enough months have gone by. So to start,
“I think therefore I am” ...... some wise guy philosopher said that ...... probably got rich off the idea ..... to me its like duhhh.......
However, I am more than a thinking person. It’s what I think that counts, and what I will tell you that I think about, that tells you even
more.
Since I haven’t warped through space and time I guess my chronological age of 51 is accurate. I have two sons and a step-daughter.
One son now lives in Montana fighting forest fires for the US BLM, shooting guns, and chasing women. I also have another married
son in Ohio and a married stepdaughter in Illinois. I recently learned that my stepdaughter is pregnant, so I am going to be a
grandfather. It gives me the creeps...... the grandfather thing makes me seem reallllly old. I kind of look at myself as to young to have
grandkids. I have also unfortunately, been divorced for about four years.
I own a business called Wonderama (see www.wonderama.org). I started the business in 1990 to fill the gap between jobs and now
after 15 years of success and adventure I am leaving the business behind and fishing around for something else to do. Wonderama
has been a wonderful business, teaching science education to kids of all ages, but 9/11 took a toll on revenues ..... everyone became
paranoid of outsiders and stop scheduling programs. The educational system is also incredibly tightfisted and requires lots of
prodding, pushing and arm twisting to pay reasonable fees for a program. On top of that businesses like mine are considered
competition to Universities and other non-profits. Rising costs (like gas) and too many 7 day workweeks are additionally difficult. I love
working with the kids and developing new cool activities, but I hate the scramble for dollars from the money tree, and the battle for
respect.
I have moved around a lot lately, and am currently in a house I bought last December in Ypsilanti. My business is set up out of
Lansing where I lived for many years.
I enjoy many things. I guess highest on my list is church, dancing, computers, home remodeling, people (nothing like a good party),
cooking, kids, science...... and ..... and the number one thing I like to do is roleplaying.
OK roleplaying ... what the heck is that anyhow. I noticed my session at the Region 13 Summit was only attended by those who had
prior knowledge about roleplaying, so here is my chance for some recruitment. I would like to get a game going with individuals from
this group. I feel participants would have a blast.
I admit its hard to describe what roleplaying is, better to try playing once, but I will try.
Imagine that you are in a movie theater watching the latest edition of Star Wars. Now I am sure there were places where you wanted
the characters to take some other action....... right. How about when the Jedi butchering was going on, surely you wanted to scream
out to the Jedi victims “look behind you” .... but all you could do was grip the person next to you in terror (melodramatic). Roleplaying
is a storyline just like in Star Wars or any movie, however, YOU” are the onscreen character making all the decisions. Instead of
following a script, you get to make all the decisions for your character. Your decisions modify the plot line, the pathway through the
script. Basically roleplaying is an interactive movie. Now of course you can’t use sets and fly in space so all of this is done in an
imaginary way. I use small tabletop props for villages and scenes whenever possible to help players envision the scene. What’s great
about all this is that you get to make all the decisions ...... good bad and ugly you make em and you live with the consequences. You
wanna get drunk, take drugs, play Russian Roulette ...... that’s OK with me, just remember your character suffers the consequences.
Of course that is the great part you can do things in life ..... take risks ....... that you would never do in the real world. What fun. If you
die we simply create another character for you. I am known in the D&D world for killing off my characters..... I take a lot of risk..... it
creates more excitement.
The other really important part of roleplaying are the dice. Dice are used to create the randomness that we see in the world. There
are many different dice ranging from 4 sided to 30 sided. The dice used in most games are 6 sided. So probability is a factor in the
game, although any math is very basic.
There are dozens of game systems out there. Every sci-fi or fantasy movie releases their own roleplaying game. The most popular
gaming system is still Dungeons and Dragons. Of course that is fantasy and not sci-fi. One game system that I like is “Men in Black”
based on the movies. It is a funny roleplaying game with outrageous monsters, weapons, etc. However, neither of these are what
I call starter games. So ..... I developed my own gaming system. I simplified it way down keeping all the main elements of the more
advanced games. One can learn to play in 30 minutes. My game system is placed in the period right after WWII .... 1948. The Nazi’s
are still around and the investigations into radiation has created some weird stuff. This period is actually cool because in truth there
were some Nazi scientists, doing some really bizarre experiments, that got away and disappeared ..... really ..... The players take on
roles they are familiar with ..... almost anything really, from Marine, scientist, priest, doctor, adventurer, etc.. However, the twist is that
each character has a “skill” unique to them. The group or party comes together and “must” work as a team. There is little room in
roleplaying for the “grandstander” everyone wants to participate in the game and grandstanders who go off on their own without help
almost always die or ........ worse ..... imagine being captured and used for an evil scientists bizarre experiments ....... what will the
group do !!!!!
OH, I nearly forgot to mention there is always one person who runs the game and plays all the evil or neutral people. That person is
called a GM (Game Master) or in D&D a DM (Dungeon Master).
If you are interested in my educational research on roleplaying (for more details) got to my website at http://www.wonderama.org , click
on “Improving America’s Education” and then from the menu on the left select “Wonderama Research”. From there you can browse
the roleplaying part of the site.
The best roleplaying games take place over a number of weeks. The longer you play the more you can develop the personality of
your character. You can put in fun twists and explore how your character would react under different circumstances. Time flies really
fast when playing. Most games take four hours per session. There is one game I played once a week for 2 years.
If you are intrigued by this adventure send me an email expressing your interest. I live in Ypsilanti and will probably have a starting
game at my house, where all my props are located.
I also run teen games. Teen games have less violence .... more like a PG-13, whereas adults can do whatever they want.
There are two types of approaches to situations in roleplaying. Some people like to think themselves out of potentially dangerous
situations, while others like to start shooting. Neither way is the best route all the time, which is why I love to have mixed games.
Well that is who I am ...... up in the head anyhow. Be sure to let me know if you are interested in playing.
To infinity and beyond ....
Dennis Drobeck