I will occasionally wonder about the phenomenon in my life that has been D&D. I have been running tabletop RPGs now for almost 25 years, with at least one game a week for nearly the entirety of that period. The stories my friends and I have created together have become formative in a way that I could never have predicted when I got into it. Characters and events from years ago will frequently creep into everyday conversation, which is often dominated by current games. Like any good book that my friends or my wife and I have both read, the shared experience is an exciting part of our lives. With gaming, of course, it's more personal... those people and the trials and triumphs and failures of their lives, the people and causes they loved, the magnificent battles they fought, and even the quiet moments between... they are part of our being in a way which brings us together and separates us from the rest of the world.
So at the very least, I would submit that there is a power in stories that can define who we are and how we relate to each other. And whether I'm putting words on a page or gazing out at the table from behind the screen, or even weaving lyrics into my music, I take that responsibility very seriously.
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Date: 2010-10-07 12:13 pm (UTC)I will occasionally wonder about the phenomenon in my life that has been D&D. I have been running tabletop RPGs now for almost 25 years, with at least one game a week for nearly the entirety of that period. The stories my friends and I have created together have become formative in a way that I could never have predicted when I got into it. Characters and events from years ago will frequently creep into everyday conversation, which is often dominated by current games. Like any good book that my friends or my wife and I have both read, the shared experience is an exciting part of our lives. With gaming, of course, it's more personal... those people and the trials and triumphs and failures of their lives, the people and causes they loved, the magnificent battles they fought, and even the quiet moments between... they are part of our being in a way which brings us together and separates us from the rest of the world.
So at the very least, I would submit that there is a power in stories that can define who we are and how we relate to each other. And whether I'm putting words on a page or gazing out at the table from behind the screen, or even weaving lyrics into my music, I take that responsibility very seriously.