10 Questions - Ben "Rohde" Grant

Ben "Rohde" Grant

How long have you been playing?

Photo by Angela Earle Gray

That depends, if we are talking about hitting people with foam bats then I have been doing that since 2001, but prior to being safe I was a crazy young kid who used metal golf clubs to hit the neighbor kids (Chris Marques-Jaha.) He used a stick. My first realms event was Champion of Rathkeale in April of 2002. There was supposed to be a war or something. I was offered a suit of chainmail to fight for the Empire, or the Barony, I don't remember. The event sucked, mainly cause nothing happened and it was cold and rainy. I wasn't gonna let that be the end of my fun in The Realms though. My first amazing time was my next event which was ToC and I was hooked after that. 

How has the game changed since you've been playing?

I remember a more laid back community, people used to look at the weekends as an escape and not as a second job. Gotta have fun and not get up in arms so much. I feel like events had more attendance years ago, maybe because as a newer player the community seemed larger and now I know most people so it seems small. Combat and weaponry has changed a whole lot and certainly for the better. Lighter weapons have evened out the playing field and allowed decent fighters more chances of winning over the top tier fighters and that is always a good thing. There may have been a spell or 2 that has changed but I don't really pay attention to that stuff. 

Who have you learned the most from?

So this is an odd one, I'd have to say I learned how to start fighting well by Tom Johnson (Blade) but really just watching EVERYONE is how I developed my own fighting style and how to beat all of my opponents. Mostly I learned all the other stuff like being "nice" and "not ruining other peoples fun" by trial and error and getting yelled at in back rooms. 

What was your best moment IC?

Oh man, there are sooooooooo many. I could list accomplishes like being Squired/Knighted or winning Champion titles 4 times, but the things that always stand out are epic fights. Here are 2 of mine that I will never forget...
1.) "Syruss screws the team over" 
    QoH, Syruss is a caster and during "Fetch" he raises an opponent. That person raised his ENTIRE team and they had the item we were fetching. I was dead very far away and Jaha came and raised me and we were both crazily mad at Syruss and needed to win the only way we knew how. So we start sprinting towards the other team that was about to turn in for the tourney to end, we are slaughtering people left and right and dodging blows like mad. Once the dust settles there was me and Jaha and about 30 dead people, some were marshals. Apparently they had turned it in right before we got there so the tourney was over and we were just on a murderous rampage, it was epic. This was the year that the team Grimloch was on lost QoH and we all blame Syruss.
2.) "I swear we were possessed" 
    I forget what event this was at but there was about 60 PC's on a quest in Bedford NH at Camp Allen. We were young and got bored easily on quests but then we found a Basketball hoop and ball so we started shooting around and then even had Dave Dolph play some 2 on 2 for a few minutes. The quest went down the path and we decided we should head back to it and play the game we paid to play. As we were walking down the path we noticed we were behind the NPC line. We had this great idea to get our blood pumping again, pretend we were possessed! So we start walking down the trail towards the back side of the NPC line and Gryff waves and shouts to all the PCs "Oh good, Grimloch's behind flanking them and gonna kill them all" or something like that. we walked right through the NPC's and began slaughtering all of the players. Biggs broke off to the right, Jaha center and I took left. we killed EVERYONE!!! Like 60 or so people! I remember the last person I killed, it was a very fast running and screaming Rel. He made it pretty deep into the forest in thick shrubs, but I got em. Slowly they all got up and we told them we were possessed and they bought it.

Oh and there was also that time I scalped King Cecil the first event after he was crowned, but we wont get into detail on that one :P 

Photo by Angela Earle Gray

What was your best moment as a NPC/EH/Player?

I often times get drafted to play the "big bad guy" but I much prefer to play a smaller role and one that I can have fun with and make people laugh. I also really enjoy playing a Zombie in Grimloch Plot. I get really into screaming out crazy shit and charging into the PC's sometimes without a weapon just to frighten them. It reminds me of what I did to get into the realms in the first place which was running a Haunted House in Chelmsford Ma. I love scaring people in the dark and was very good at it. 

What would you like to see changed or developed more in game?

I would like to see less events, but more epic events. I would like to see more opportunity to use real life skill in game. 

What advice would you give new players?

If you like fighting, watch people fight, study their moves and their entire body's form. Find a stance that feels the most comfortable but dont get used to it, subtle changes in you stance can improve your abilities alot more than drastic changes. 

What do you love most about the game?

I loved combat the most but now I really only go to hang out with people that I have met and become friends with.

OOOOOOOHHHHH AND HECKLING!!! I LOVE ME SOME HECKLING!! 

Who would you like to see the next interview be with?

John Berini (Tallon of Neden) 

Anything else you'd like to take the opportunity to put into print?

Its spelled R O H D E not Rhode... more than half of my trophies don't belong to me.

Rohde and Syruss's Hump House is having a bi-weekly half off Tuesday day crowd sale.

Everything is half off!!!

You get to pick which half of the girl you want!

Even half off the Buffet! (cause the dogs ate the other half)