Game Day!

This is probably the best representation of my character,
Ahnuld, Barbarian/Fighter/Favored Soul.

Finally, after weeks of having to postpone, we are set to get back to our D&D game tonight. Our intrepid adventurers have found themselves in Norway, on their way to a secret island that appears on no map. Why? To find an ancient and powerful sword that may turn the tide in the war against the powers of darkness.

That’s assuming we don’t get distracted at the mall.

I love my group, but sometimes they get a bit obsessive over buying provisions and spending our copious amounts of gold, all in the name of planning for every possible contingency. So much so that we have had several sessions that were little more than RP’d shopping trips. As the resident barbarian warrior, you can imagine that the extent of my RP during this is “Roll to see if I’m getting drunk!”

And don’t get me started on when they have the Cleric NPC commune with his god in order to ask 10 yes/no questions…

Regardless, I still enjoy the game, and the camaraderie. But this does get me to thinking about how gaming worked in the past. “Old school” if you will. I kind of miss the days when the DM would simply hold up his copy of the module we were going to go through, or read his background text for his homebrew adventure, and then say “Create a 1st level character according to the Player’s Handbook.” Nice, simple and straightforward.

Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy games that are non-traditional, or don’t follow a published module. But sometimes I just want to roll up Ulric, human fighter and former member of the King’s Army, and have him meet his party in the Red Dragon Inn. Only to be dragged into a grand adventure that takes us to points far and wide, and dungeons deep and dark.

I guess I shouldn’t bitch (which, really, I’m not doing right now). Any game is a good game at this stage in life. Oddly enough, this lack of game over the past few weeks has made it abundantly clear to a few of us how much we enjoy the whole experience. And how much we miss it when it doesn’t happen.

In other news, tomorrow is Free Comic Book Day. I am looking forward to my annual Atomic Robo comic, as well as all of the neat stuff other companies put out. In addition, tomorrow is also Star Wars Day (“May the fourth be with you”), so maybe tomorrow afternoon we will celebrate by watching The Empire Strikes Back.