[Previous entry: "Full entry later, but in the meantime, blogwhacking!"] [Main Index] [Next entry: "Making changes"]

01/03/2003 Archived Entry: "All the world's a game, and we are but paper and dice"

Just came in from a night out playing my weekly role-playing game. For those who still live in the 70's and 80's: yes there is magic in the game, no there is no magic in real life, no we don't dress up in costumes, no we are not satan worshippers, no we don't think that some mysterious force will send us to some mysterious fiery place for playing this, yes we are sick of the stupidity that causes me to preface any talk about RPGs because of your closemindedness. RPGing has much more similarity to playing Monopoly or cribbage than it does to anything you might be wondering about.

That out of the way...we had a lot of fun. I play a weak, but gaining, sorceror in a group of a druid, a ranger, a bard, a barbarian and a rogue. It's a game more of politics in some ways than just running around killing imagined creatures by rolling dice and writing on bits of paper. This particular game is only a few months old, but I have been playing since I was about 13 years old. Many of my best friendships came about because of these games, as well as my most interesting conversations. I've voice-acted everything from superheroes and space aliens to futuristic cybernetic punk rockers, none of which I feel is anything but a role I have played in a game. Some left more impression on me than others...my nickname 'Kickstart' that I use online comes from a superhero that I played back in my late teens. When friends of mine and I get together to hang out, an occasional reference to a particular event in a game we played in the past will cause rounds of laughter, even (once explained) to those who were not there at the time.

I wouldn't give it up if I was asked to. It's an intrinsic part of my history and my memories and serves nothing but positive experiences in my life. I hope that when I am 98 years old and sitting in my rocking chair waiting to die, one of the things that will still get a smile out of me is my memories of late night role-playing sessions. Better than that...I hope that I can round up a group of geriatic adventurers to roll a few dice and smack down a few orcs. All the best adventures start from a high level resurrect spell :)