RPG a Day 2020--Day 4--Vision

For RPG a Day 2020 episode four and the prompt is vision. Sadly, as seems to be the general theme of 2020 itself everything has a negative feel to it. However, if one can get one’s head around a lot of the mess that’s going on both in the world and in one’s personal life, one can still have a positive vision for the future.

For my part and in regard to the hobby—that is why we’re here this month after all—I can envision a time when my daughter will be old enough to play RPGs with me. At age five—all too soon to be six—she already makes up interactive stories with me such as exploring an island for pirate treasure or a fun game we have where different people call us up on the phone.  As one who reads different rule books and the like even for games I have no intention of playing, it’s funny that I have more of her interest doing a ‘theater of the mind’ style with basically no rules. She does like looking at maps and drawing already, but it’s just as off the rails as you may expect with a free wheeling five year old’s mind paired with a scatterbrained 46 year old one.

With our recent move to Beijing she will also have a more populous group of English speaking youngsters than we’ve had before. The more young friends she makes and the more fun she has with me running small adventures, the more likely that I’ll have an all new play group if she wants to share the experience with them. When and if this vision becomes a reality, Ii will be different from any other role playing I’ve done. I can also envision further into the future and wherein she eventually becomes my equal but ultimately surpasses me and leaves the RPG hobby in the dust heap. Even if she doesn’t become a lifer like me, I like to think she’ll at least look back on the games we play as the time she bonded with her dad. You never know, maybe she’ll be a lifer too.