Taking a Break

My friend Gregory often sends me text messages that simply say, “I’d rather be gaming”. These always make me smile, and often nod in agreement. It is certainly true of our two ongoing games, Warhammer Fantasy and Dark Sun. I game because I love the characters, and playing them allows me to develop them through XP and what they are exposed to. How Zarnian has changed based on what happened in story is too lengthy to list, but Petra would still be working in a swamp, boating people around for coppers if not for the game.

Still, you can’t game all the time. Everyone needs a break, too. This week, with more than one member of our gaming group feeling less than wonderful, we had to cancel our Warhammer game last night. I still had that urge to do some character development, so I poured all that into a short story, Ashes, which I posted yesterday. You can take the time where you would ‘rather be gaming’ and still do something to develop your characters.

But you can’t game all the time. Recently, I have realized just how much two games a week is my limit. Both Gregory and Eric play three a week, and Eleanor is looking forward to an abundance of gaming at GenCon. (I originally wrote ‘orgy of gaming’ but that could be misconstrued). For me, even our once a month ‘Random Game Night’ is best if it is board games. If I have played twice that week, then another game, I have  nothing left to give it. It made me wonder, why does that make me cringe?

I put a lot of work and time into the games I do play. Not as much as Jason, our DM, but a lot. I type up the game notes (1-2 hours per game, per week), act as the planning hub of the group (1-10 hours of phone calls per week, depending on how scary it is), and work on various projects and items to take some of the massive load off Jason’s broad shoulders. For me, the two games I am in is a part time job. Often, I just don’t have it in me for overtime.

Yet, I wouldn’t trade my main games or all the work involved for anything. I love my husband, love my games, and love breathing life into my characters. I am married to those games, and I have no desire to have an affair.