I am an Elf!

I am a gamer. I haven't always been...though had I been given an opportunity earlier in life (thanks Mike) I might have become one back in my formidable years. To be fair to my brother, it wasn't really his fault. I was always interested in what he and his friends were doing when they got together and played D&D. (Our mother would say the name of the game and roll her eyes at the same time.) I was so interested in fact, that I would often break into his room when he wasn't home and mess with his dice and look through whatever books were in his room at the time. Sorry about that Mike...*grins*. But in truth...I never asked to play. I am not sure what the conversation would have gone like back then. But there was always this unwritten, unspoken rule that little sisters didn't bug older brothers. So I never asked and he never had to tell me to go stick it in my ear.

I like to play all sorts of games...video games, board games and RPGs. While I like all of these, I tend to favor any game I can play with other people. Video games tend to eat up a lot of time...and I play them by myself. Board game have been around forever, and I will play any kind placed in front of me. John has introduced me to all sorts of new styles and concepts and they are all so much fun. I learned to play RPGs before John and I started dating...or even speaking to each other. I was getting together with some friends playing the RPG that was built around the movie "Serenity". John was there...he was dating a friend of mine at the time...but he didn't speak enough to really teach me a whole lot. He helped where he could, but he didn't know me very well and others in the group were more dominant...or at least vocal. That was a fun, if flawed, game and I was hooked on this role playing concept. After we started speaking, and then dating, then subseqently getting married, he has pulled me completely into the Dungeons and Dragons world.

Role playing is like interactive story telling. It is a whole different type of game, because the characters (different people playing) work cooperatively to solve a puzzle, or rescue a town, or just kill things and take there stuff. It can be anything you want it to be. I am still learning to actually play my character, but I enjoy every session I sit in. We have even gotten our kids to play with us. It is important to be careful about who you play with and how the game is played. Since it is an interactive story...and since the story can go in really any direction the group takes it...there could be the possibility for the story to go in bad or even naughty directions. That is why picking a good group, and having a Dungeon Master who will wreak havoc, death, dismemberment, or gender change on anyone who attempts to hyjack the story to a bad place helps.

We were sitting in Hastur's games yesterday, looking for a new game to play. I was surrounded, but board games, and RPG books, miniature figures, dice, and gaming tables...and I smiled. Being a geek is fun! I have a very large bag of dice...that are all mine. I have my own gaming books. I don't have to sit on the sidelines anymore. If I wanna pretend I am an Elf...I can pretend I am an Elf...and these people completely understand!