#RPGADAY2020 10. Want

#Want

I want my players and I to have a good time. That's all. 

I could go into all of the other wants I have in life, but that would be a wordy list of things that would all point back to having a good time. 

"A good time" is a complex thing, at the table or in real life. It doesn't necessarily mean "you had a good time", it means quality.

A flat tire sucks. Having a flat time at exactly the moment you have a young driver in the car, who will need to know how to change a flat, is "a good time" because of the quality of the experience. Spending time with a child, teaching a skill, learning a skill are all quality events. 

That's all I want.  

#RPGADAY2020 9. Light

#Light

I could post about actual light, but I already did that last year under my series on 52 weeks of magic. 

No, I won't rehash that. Instead, I will post on making light. Of play, of games. 

Sometimes, a one-liner or good joke can make or break or possibly both a good session. One of my favorite gags came at the expense of my whole campaign. And I wouldn't change how things played out for the world. 

The PC's got clobbered by my antagonists. Most of them died thrice over. However, a cleric survived through all of the bloodshed. I didn't pick up on the fact that he was leveling like crazy. 

As the rest of the party rolled up new characters for the third time, he was collecting new spells. One of them was Quest. 

Since I didn't expect that the party would would get to 9th level against this particular antagonist, that character was not protected against a 5th level spell. And when the cleric unloaded on him, the effect was spectacular as it was effective. 

"I charge thee with a quest to bring me the most perfect grilled cheese sandwich."

I was really sick of that particular antagonist, so I didn't mind this outcome. But it turned in to brick joke. The guy ran off to find that grilled cheese sandwich which put me on the spot to come up with some other plot line. As this new plot line developed, the poor victim kept returning with grilled cheese sandwiches. 

"Master, here is the most perfect grilled cheese sandwich." 
"How do you know it's perfect?"
"Chomp... It's so good." 
"The perfect cheese sandwich has been defiled by your bite." 
"I know...  I know, but it was so good!" 

The table erupted in laughter each time we landed the joke. Eventually, I had to turn the DM reins over to someone else because the joke was killing my adventures. And that too was "so good". 

While this is a story of making too much light, everyone should try to bring some levity and light to the table. It is play, a game after all.  

#RPGADAY2020 8. Shade

#Shade

Shade is an interesting word. As a line artist and stippler, I generally don't get in to shading. But sometimes, it has a it's uses. When you try something new, it's a good idea to limit the scope of the whatever it is. 

This process is more natural to me than any type of shading.

But it's usage is limiting. Things become exciting with the use of color and shading. 

This is four shades of blue grey. It's still limited but more lively. 

This piece has 5 colors. What a difference one more shade makes. 

And this is my favorite. It has 5 colors, purple, green and blue, plus black and grey. Each color has only 2 shades. But those shades make it dramatic. 

Shade goes along ways towards coloring the world. When applied to characters in a game, shades of this or that make them come to life. Often, it doesn't take much to shift or shade a character from a paper cutout to something more lifelike. 

#RPGADAY2020 7. Couple

Day 7, Couple. 

Well, it's my wife's birthday, so I gonna go with that. 

She prefers games with solid rules, like Risk or Monopoly and with the option to flip a table. So, yeah, Risk or Monopoly. She doesn't like D&D or anything else with fluid rules. But she does love whimsy.

A few years back I forgot to order her a birthday cake. As I went out the door to get her a cake (really, any cake) she said, "I can't wait to see what you had them put on it." 

"Oh, sh---." I found a cake, but there was nothing on it. It was the plainest, white colored cake a cake could be. My kids insisted that we decorate it and shouted out all of these insane ideas that couldn't be done in a day, let along 15 minutes before a party.

I told them, "I got this." The clerk looked at me like I was insane. I asked if she could draw a line, starting and ending two black circles, the size of dimes. The clerk shrugged and drew what I asked for. She had no idea what it meant. 

The kids cheered. The clerk was startled. They told her it was the best cake, ever. She muttered, "Okay?" 

When my wife opened it, she shrieked, "BAYMAX CAKE!" right along with the kids. 

She loves structure, I love chaos. We're a good couple. 

#RPGADAY2020 6. Forest

#Forest

That is a big word, for six tiny letter. When I think of a forest, I think of my children who grew up in and around forests. Spring, summer, winter fall, we're always in the forest. 


Magical. 

Wild. 

Dangerous. 

Protective.

Harsh.

Safe. 

Winters so still and so cold that your own body heat hovers like a cloak as diamond dust floats in the air. 

A forest at night, that holds back the worst of the storm.

As winter recedes, spring reveals secret trails.

Primeval places where children roam free.

And find cool waters in summer.

Which breaks to autumn where the blaze of leaves matches the sun.