Happy Thanksgiving!
Hello heroes! We wanted to use our blog post this week to talk a little bit about what each of us is thankful for in regards to tabletop roleplaying games. All of our lives have been enriched by this hobby that brings us together. We are thankful as a group for all of you who tune into our games, join us at conventions, and support us as we give our stories to the world. Here are some of our thoughts below:
Alex:
I am thankful for the friends and family I have cultivated through RPGs, for the creative outlet they offer, and for the life-changing career I have pursued in this industry. Mostly I’m grateful for the connection gaming allows me to keep with my father even though he has passed on. I wouldn’t be the person I am today if he hadn’t introduced me to roleplaying games. It’s a magic I get to capture every day!
Jonesy:
Gaming has brought me so much to be thankful for. I have forged lifelong friendships and found my family while repelling alien invaders, hostile dragons, machinations of elder Kindred and other crises. Of all the blessings it’s given me, the thing I am most thankful for is the community that welcomed and embraced me when I came out. To this day that group of Garou and Kindred that supported and loved their ST unconditionally was more than I could have ever dreamed possible.
Chris:
40 years allows for many things to be thankful for…the friends I’ve made, the places I’ve been able to travel to and see, the opportunity to improve as a person and be the accepting inclusive person my home environment would never understand or have allowed. For all of my faults, of which there are many, my strengths have been developed and nurtured at the gaming table. THANK YOU.
Brandon:
I’m thankful for the friends!
Jo:
I mean…. Can I be supremely sappy? Because I wouldn’t have my partner, I wouldn’t have come to terms with parts of my sexual identity/relationship styles, and I would not have found most of my NeuroSpicyFam without ttrpgs….So basically much of my happiness and foundations for self-care is rooted in collaborative storytelling and interconnectedness of collective pretend.
Aunt Puppy:
I’m grateful for getting to live lives I’d never get to in the real world with people all over the place. Allows for escapism of everyday stuff for just a short time.
Wiccy:
I’m thankful to have a completely normal outlet for all the voices in my head.
Deuce:
I’m thankful for the people who have shared all the stories over the years with me. Whether in the game or around it, I always find those moments as the fondest of memories shared with people who have made this life such a beautiful thing. Also thankful for all the poor unfortunate souls who have to put up with my bad jokes and still find the strength of will to come back. Don’t know how you do it but glad you do.
Andy:
I’m thankful gaming gave me an outlet in which to be creative. I’m thankful it gave me a way to connect with different people, and connects us even though we’re not always close.
Teegan:
I’m thankful for an outlet for the wild insane stories I come up with.
Gemmy:
I think the amount of adventures and stories I’ve been able to have and share because of these games, and how many friends I’ve made by getting to ramble back and forth about chaotic stories from different sessions we’d had with our friends.
Aaron:
- I’m thankful for the OGL. Despite the recent ruckus caused by the changes to OGL, OGL did create a new landscape for tabletop RPGs. Without the OGL, we never would have seen Pathfinder when D&D 3.5 went away, we never would have seen the first edition of Mutants & Masterminds, and in general our hobby would be much poorer.
- I’m thankful for all of the family, teachers, and friends who didn’t make fun of gaming, or fall to the “Satanic Panic.” Because of their encouragement, I’ve been able to meet some of my closest friends, and have had countless hours of enjoyment and entertainment.
- Modern dice makers. When I got into gaming, dice were hard lumps of plastic that required you to color the numbers in. Now there are so many beautiful and customizable dice that it just makes gaming more fun and colorful. I love it when a player comes to the table with their Pride-colored dice, or their latest metallic dice from Norse Foundry, or whatever other bizarre dice they have.
Kat:
The amount of people I’ve met through ttrpgs that have made my life infinitely better.