Features > Tell Me About Your Character > Peter Cobcroft
 

Your name: Peter Cobcroft but preferred internet alias is Curufea (good for internet searches)
Location: Canberra, Australia
Age: 39
Sex: Male

Family: One younger brother, two parents, one wife, 2 brothers-in-law

Pets: 3 cats

Political party/affiliation: None - I have a tendency to vote for whichever party a) has the most female members and b) isn't Liberal or Labor parties


Education: Did a year of computers at Uni, gave up and got a job. Currently studying a Masters in Librarianship.

Hobbies/Activities: Designing board, card games, websites

Just to test the stereotype - Have you ever lived, or are you currently living, in your parents' basement? No. I don't even know anyone who has a house with a basement.

What is your favorite way to spend a weekend? Doing not much. Playing computer games, seeing a movie, wandering shops.

What is the most frightening thing you've ever done? Climbed a cliff. Mostly because the choice was - climb it, or fall to your probable death or at least breaking of limb.

Which of your accomplishments are you the most happy with? Possibly the cards and board for the Warpspawn game "Medieval Manor" because others have used it and made versions of them.

What was your first word? I have it on good authority it was probably "Raise" short for raisin, which I apparently used whenever I wanted a sweet.

What is your favorite word? Apparently. It's a Coupling thing :)

What was your favorite toy as a child? Meccano

What is your favorite time of year, and why? Autumn and Winter - I like the cold because it's fairly easy to stay warm, and the summers here are a bit wearing.

What is your most prized physical possession? My iRiver H340 - I've
had it so long and it keeps working so well.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? I'd like to have less migraines.

Did you have any embarassing nicknames as a kid? Not really. The most annoying thing anyone has called me was "Petey" but that was highschool. I have no idea why I found it annoying then.

What makes you cry? Tragedy, if done well. Overly sentimental bits in books and movies if they don't lay it on too thick. Nobility and self sacrifice.

What is your favorite section of the newspaper? Used to be the comics, but they're all tepid and lackluster now. No part, now.

Do you have a useless talent that no one else that you know can do? Fiddling with pens, cards and coins in a contact-juggling kind of way.

What are three things you can't live without? My wife, the internet and sugar.

If you could have one superpower, which power would you pick? It used to be shape shifting for it's utility. But nowadays - immortality. I really want to find out where we are going and how we get there.

What is your favorite mode of transportation? Train - but that could just be because I use them so very rarely compared to any other form Although I do enjoy a trasport method which lets you wander around on board.

If you could pick any other time period to live in - including the future - which would it
be, and why? Definitely the future because of the likely advances in medical technology.

What is one thing that you regret that you would go back and change if you could? Not kissing a girl at a prom who had evidently had a crush on me for ages and I'd been completely oblivious to. I think I really hurt her at the time.

What is the one thing you want to do before you die? Create something significant and memorable.

You've just purchased a small island off the coast of any continent of your choosing, and you are preparing to start your own country there. What does your flag look like? Like my avatar - green inverted triangle on a black field, 7 eyes of horus with blue pupils.

What annoys you the most about the internet? Mostly on fan boards, when fans create "versus" threads and chose two things from different creators, genres or settings and then spend hours arguing pointless details. That and "first post" or "me too".

Tell us about your favorite RPG character that you've ever played. The first version of Masque of the Red Death - where D&D tried its hand at horror by exploiting the
classics of literature. I had a character heavily influenced by the Discworld
series by Terry Pratchett - specifically CMOT (Cut Me Own Throat) Dibbler.
I had a Charlatan, which was like a Magic User but with added levels of
pathetic. He called himself "The Amazing Trevor, Master of the Unseen" and
spoke with a Cockney accent.

In a later PBeM he acquired a Scottish assistent called "The Lovely Doreen" based
on a character in a Billy Connolly routine. Trevor had a wonderful way of bumbling
into and out of trouble, adding little bit of humour to an otherwise try-hard-to-be-horror setting.


His greatest exploit was, after we all recovered from mocking the romance-novel like box text the GM read out ("From across the room, the [evil mastermind]'s eyes fall upon you"
"ewwwww"), was to steal a stuffed crocodile that was hanging from the ceiling in the bad guys magical lab, and be carried out on it into the night. Totally pointless, but fun.

What are your favorite RPGs? Hero for its attempts at simulating everything equally. Amber for being the first to fit the system with the setting and genre. Fudge for being free. My Life With Master for getting it, even if no one wants it or is uncomfortable with the realisation of what it is. Baron von Munchausen for incredible amounts of fun over many, many
years. Universalis for being the PBeM game of the century.

What was your first RPG session like? What game did you play, and where did you play it? Runequest, over the house of some friends of my parents, with their son (who was at least 5 years older than me). Just the two of us, I think we were sparse on roleplayers in those days. I think we did Tegel Manor but am unsure on that. I may have been in primary school at the time. It was fun but confusing.

What was your WORST RPG session like? When playing Vampire: The Masquarade and talking to a friend about something while the GM was trying to talk to all of us. Rather than
telling me to shut up, he kicked me in the back. So I hit him. His utter lack of respect really annoyed me.

Who is your all-time favorite person to game with? Depends - if I'm lazy, then Peter as he does all the work for you :) Stuart because the games are fun and original, even if they tend to be non-dangerous.

Do you have anything gaming-related to plug? Only my services - I like making stuff for games, but prefer attribution and creative commons rather than money.

 


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