Supposed RPG Connoisseur sure did play a lot of D&D Last Year
While St. Louis, MO, resident Neil Larson claims to be a discerning RPG reader and collector, a review of his play in the past year reveals a disturbing amount of Dungeons & Dragons. Friends and family say that while Larson frequently references multiple games and systems when he talks about RPGs, he continues to run D&D games exclusively. The Only Edition’s investigation was prompted by a player who got tired of Larson explaining how Pathfinder 2e did things differently before going on to run D&D the same way he has for almost a decade.
Larson’s web of lies extends to his purchasing history as well. His girlfriend Becca Wall was able to provide receipts from DriveThruRPG, Bundle of Holding, and his local game store throughout the year, all meant to provide the illusion of playing diverse systems and genres. “I don’t know who he’s trying to fool,” Wall says. “I don’t care if he plays D&D, he just needs to be honest that it’s all he’s going to play. Something’s gotta give, and it’s either going to be his hard drive, his book shelf, or his sense of shame.”
Our attempts to talk to Larson were met with even more lies. “Oh, I’m definitely going to get the group to play a Numenera campaign. Why else would I have bought the entire collection twice when Bundle of Holding and Humble Bundle had separate sales with slightly different offerings?” As we continued to press him, his façade began to crack. “I just need to wrap up this campaign, ok? Is it hot in here?” After wiping off his sweat, he stared off into space. “Just need to wrap up this campaign. Then we can run a few one-shots, test out some systems I’ve got in my backlog. I won’t get burned out from giving so many explainers in a row. And I definitely won’t decide that a D&D session or two will give me a bit of a breather when it all becomes too much.”
