For the past few months, I’ve managed to stick with running a Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition (D&D 5e, or dnd 5e) game. It wasn’t easy switching editions from 3.5 to 5e*, but I’ve finally learned to let go of a previous broken edition for whatever the game is now. Worse, I’ve managed to get some enjoyment out of it.
Much of this has to do with my college friends who have managed to put up with me over the past many years. I’ve had to lean on their memory of good times when my own conveniently forgot them. They’ve also persisted in putting up with me when I’ve been unable to run a game or disappear for months on end.
Tabletop games have always been more than just a bunch of people sitting around a table rolling bits of plastic. The experiences vary based on the philosophies of everyone involved. Sit at a competitive table, and you’ll see people trying to outdo each other at every turn. Cooperative tables tend to foster groups who build things greater than the sums of their parts. Based on these descriptions, it should be easy to tell which one I lean towards.
The game itself is one part of the experience, though online it tends to dominate. Back when I played in person with my friends, we could all sit around a table and hang out. I used to cook food on occasion, though I wasn’t as good at it back then as I am now. People could enjoy all of this stuff together.
I hope that I’m able to foster at least a little of that feeling when I run my game now. It’s hard to tell sometimes, since my perfectionism reminds me that it’s something I can always practice and never master. At those times, I have to remind myself that the process will always have ups and downs. People will forgive the latter in the hopes of embracing the former. I might not understand why, but I am grateful to know people who do.
*One might wonder if there was a fourth edition at some point. We don’t talk about it, except in being happy that it’s gone.
Amusing Nonsense 
Nice! I’m in a bi-monthly 5e game myself (level 10 half-orc totem barbarian). It’s hella fun. I vaguely remember 3.5, and 5e fixes a lot of the things wrong it. Still, all things considered, I prefer Pathfinder. (blasphemy!)
LikeLike
I was a player of D&D and AD&D way back in the late 1970s, and I still have a set of 4, 6, 8, 10 and 20 sided dice and hardback copies of the 1st edition AD&D Player’s Handbook, Dungeon Master’s Guide, and the Monster Manual. The problem then was finding enough people to make the game interesting, and at times a game might consist of a just one or two players plus the DM. It necessitated the DM also having a PC, and this juggling act eventually lead me to abandon playing.
I enjoyed creating my own worlds and campaigns, even if I never had the opportunity to play them. I tried reviving the game with my children and later with my grandchildren but the problem of having a sufficient number of players limited the enjoyment.
LikeLike
Hi Sirius. The first rule of Everyone Hates 4E club is that nobody talks about 4E.
I have a year or so on Pathfinder and quite liked it. If that’s similar to 3.5 then GO!3.5!! Just started playing 5E as I have to convert my scenarios to it.
One of the things I have actually enjoyed in the past 18 months is that thanks to Roll20 I’ve been able to play every week or fortnight with friends from 30 years ago. Very recently a big group of us got together and we spent a weekend gaming and I made lots of food. It was perfect.
LikeLike