Ever since I was introduced to it back in 2011, I’ve been a fan of tabletop gaming, especially Dungeons & Dragons. The mix of gameplay, roleplay, and collaborative narrative appeals to me, as the sharing of stories brings people together, and you get to build experiences with people who, often times, are pretty much complete strangers at first until they slowly create bonds of friendship by overcoming the challenges they face together.
I was so enamored by the idea that I took it upon myself to start running games for disparate friends of mine, some who, years ago, were hundreds of miles away from one another. We played online, exploring fictional lands, fighting epic battles and saving friends and allies from the dastardly foes who sought to destroy them.
These experiences, it turns out, were extremely useful in maintaining sanity and bonds throughout the turmoil of the 2020 pandemic and the subsequent years since, as despite all of us being so far away from one another, we were still able to connect regularly, relying on our shared stories in the realms of our imaginations to keep us going even in the darkest of times.
While I certainly still enjoy running these games, I’ve been grateful recently that I can attend a few as a player and leave the responsibility to be the GM behind for a while. This has been especially true as I’ve had the to attend the adventuring academy of Osborne as the gold-hearted dum-dum barbarian, Marko.
It was a great game today, and I’m grateful for the chance to play with my new friends. Here’s to the next!
– K