Gaming thoughts

It's been a very long time since I have played Dungeons and Dragons. As I prepare and re-acquaint myself with a game that has seen me through decades of my life and has echoes from before I was even born, I realize that preparing for the adventure stirs up and draws out pieces of a long-buried tapestry – a tapestry woven from countless moments across fantastical landscapes. Reading through the familiar pages of the source books brings back memories of each thread carefully placed with friends during moments worthy of the greatest legendary tales told across the generations.

Nuts and Bolts

I want to live stream my next Adventure so I've been preparing all the technical pieces for having virtual guests participate. Familiarizing myself with the various software packages again, creating ready-to-play characters of many different combinations, and practicing how to paint a picture using words and tools showed me how much of D&D isn't about the tools. Automating mechanics, understanding rules, manipulating virtual objects, setting up technology – all these nuts and bolts are there just to support the true core of what makes D&D what it is. Bringing people together to share and explore pieces of themselves with other doing the same is where the magic truly happens. Magical spells may be cast by imagined characters, but the enduring effects of spending those moments together in a shared space far outweigh any imagined incantations.

Bridging Time and Looking Forward

I believe that all Dungeon Masters give a piece of themselves each time they play. That means that every experience I draw upon from past adventures is me reaching back in time to touch that part of me that I gave in those moments. As I look forward to new adventures again, building a bridge between those past moments and the future makes me feel like an architect whose finished building is something unknowable to even myself.

I am excited to see how it turns out.

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