I used to worry that writing about dragons and wizards and elves is kids stuff. It’s what I love doing, but it seems so disconnected from, well, more IMPORTANT things.
And that FEAR stopped me for a long time from following through on my projects. It kept me always searching for jobs that seemed serious.
But I had a moment during one of my adventures that really changed the way I looked at things.
First, some quick background about the time period around this adventure. Real-life politics were bad. It didn’t matter what side you were on. The news was scary, and you couldn’t stop reading it.
But it was game night, and I had a four hour adventure to improvise and run, and people to entertain. So that was my focus and I had to put all that aside for a while.
Over the next four hours of that adventure, which involved a descent into a mountain lair run by a guy who graffitis the words ‘Me Makes Money’ all over his lair, I watched the players make all sorts of crazy decisions. Watching players solve problems and have a good time humors me to no end. It was one of those adventures that is just hilarious, with lots of laughing and in jokes getting created on the spot.
And then when everyone had left for the night, I was cleaning up, and coming down from that high you have when you know an adventure just worked, and it hit me:
I hadn’t thought about politics once during the last four hours. Not once. And I bet the players hadn’t either. We were all having too much fun together.
Telling a fun story and having fun with friends gave us the opportunity to take our minds off the world for four hours. Gave us a break and a moment of joy. And if that isn’t important, what is?
Basement Whatever 