So, I recall an article that came across my feed in the spring with a title of “It Just Might Be a Wonderful Summer,” about how the widely-available vaccine and the lower transmission rates of outdoor activities would help Summer 2021 feel almost like Summer 2019. Well, my gaming life is a bit of living proof.
In the past two weeks, I’ve gamed face-to-face with two different sets of friends.
Two weeks ago, we trekked to central Pennsylvania to go to Church Con, a get-together thrown by our friend Andrea. We were stressed by the impedning arrival of our fifth grandchild, so we only were there for a day, but a great day it was.
Bill White ran Mazes for Kat, Andrea, Xander and me. It was a cleverly-put-together game of the Old School dungeon crawling variety. Simple and a pleasant gateway back into face-to-face gaming. Plus, we got to play it in a room in the church’s basement that looked like it could have been in an actual dungeon!
That night, I got to run InSpectres for a half-dozen fun loving people, which is always a good time.
This weekend, Kat put together an IGX Game Days. We were quite clear that it was NOT a convention. There was no admission, no registration, no expectations. It was invitation-only, but we were quite free with invitations so long as everyone affirmed that they had been fully vaccinated. Eighteen(?) of us descended on a dumpy little hotel in Princeton, NJ, chatted, and played games. It was so good to see people. I’m very glad we kept eveyone’s expectations low. I’m not the most social person, but it was helpful to keep social anxiety levels low to realize, “if I’m better company than being cooped up in their apartment, I’ll be doing okay.”
I played four games over the weekend. Friday night, I played Bulldogs with Brennan, Lilith, and Ron. It was a fun, humorous kind of game where the wild abilities and quirks of our alien characters was just as entertaining as the mission to protect a mining colony from nighttime attacks from a strange beast.
Saturday morning, Jeff ran Brindlewood Bay, the Murder She Wrote-esque game of crime-solving mavens. I played with Kat, Bobbi, Zoey, and Ben as we navigated a parody version of the Great British Bake Off coming to town and the murder that followed in its wake. It felt very much like an episode of some ‘80s-era murder mystery show. A jolly good time.
Saturday afternoon, I got to play a game I’ve been hearing good things about for quite a while: Hearts of Wulin. Mark taught the game to Jeff and I, and we had a lovely, complicated, melodramatic setup. I (Unfettered Frost) had a crush on Jeff’s (Tumultuous Stone)’s daughter, Onyx Viper. But years ago, I had humiliated myself in front of her trying to become Tumultuous Stone’s student. So now I wanted to take him down a notch and prove myself to her. Plus there was poison, political assassination, a drinking contest, secret assignations, and a royal wedding. Good stuff.
Saturday night I went to pick up a pizza and ended up driving through downtown Princeton, getting glimpses of ivy-covered buildings illuminated by flashes of the encroaching thunderstorm. Quite a sight (and delicious pizza).
Saturday evening, I got to run one of my favorite games, Swords Without Master, with Mark and Ron. I pitched the game as always doing a magic trick. You always start with nothing and end up with a story that feels like you planned it all along. Mark had a better analogy: “The best car you’ll ever drive, but that needs to get pushed down a hill to get started.” Our tale started out as a quest to steal the fire from the Forge of the Gods, took a trip through the ice crevasses that showed the ways to other places, and ended up capturing a genie in the reflection of a cave in a salt lake and stepping back in time to before the quest began to save a rogue’s mute lover before she died. Good stuff.
This morning was lots of chat and good-byes. Hopefully it won’t be another sixteen months before I see my gaming friends again.