Games

There's so many "Game" themes in my life.. Game of Thrones (which is an AMAZING series) based off even more AMAZING books. - I'm sure I'll blog about this in the future.

Video Games - don't have time to get into this one today

Table Top Games - The topic of today blog

So, having said that.. it shouldn't surprise you that I'm a huge gamer. Not Pictionary or Balderdash, but video games (and old school pen and paper games). They've always been a part of my life.I just read somewhere that the average age of today's gamer is... wait for it... 37 years old.

*Flashback 1982*

3 kids hanging out in a garage with a slightly beat up copy of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Players Handbook, Dungeon Masters Guide, Monster Manual and a bunch of oddly sided dice.

*Back to present*

I have my old table top gaming group that I've known since grade school. (4th and 5th grade to be precise) We use to play constantly growing up and even through most of college. We hung out, let our imaginations run and enjoyed the company. As we got older, people got married, had kids and carried on with their lives. Well.. my friends have continued getting together and I bowed out for the last 6 years or so. That is.. until about 2 months ago.

Once upon a time... it was our bold band of stalwart adventurers journeying forth to either slay the dragon or save the maiden (well.. our stories were usually a lot darker - had nothing to do with maidens and typically involved rescuing all of existence from impending doom, but minor details). If you would've asked me to role play out a scene of flirting with a girl, I would've gotten an "F", but I could tell you the difference between a 2 handed sword, a bastard sword and a long sword. Or the difference between a footman's mace and a horseman's mace and why that is important. Needless to say, the ladies were not lining up to date me.

These last couple months have reminded me that it has never been about the games we played, but about the relationships we build during them.

This last week, we spent our first 1 1/2 hr with character sheets, dice and pencils at the ready. We've since replaced red wine or mixed drinks with bottled water and coffee and just talked and laughed. These are people I've known for nearly 30 years and as much fun as it is to get together and "take on the bad guys", it's even more fun to see how the kids are doing and how are their parents.

Today, my 12 year old me as the geeky gamer guy is a lot different. Even though I can still tell you the difference between swords, maces and pole-arms (although I probably won't ever bring it up on a date) , I realize that I'm just another guy who has friends who share a hobby. And because of this hobby, I have been blessed with the opportunity to have my life enriched by some of the most incredible people I know.