The Spark

Folks like to say that our hobby has moved on to the virtual tabletop. And they are right... partially. See, a whole generation of folks are picking up tabletop roleplaying games in the age of the internet, and using those vtts for their gaming needs.

There is nothing inherently wrong with playing on a vtt, hell, I have, and still will, for the last 2.5 years. It was a fine stand in for the world pandemic that we are still not completely out of. But, recently I've discovered that it is missing one essential piece for my hobby enjoyment: human interaction.

I have blogged about how I got my start in this corner of the world, but for brevity sake, it happened with my best pals in high school, all of us sat around a table for hours every weekend we could. It was full of way too much soda, definitely too many chips, and plenty of pizza and subway. Pens, pencils, and loads of dice everywhere, with piles and piles of books next to book ages and even a few miniatures.

The spark of this hobby lies in those moments where you can 'feel' the energy in the room rising, when you can hear your friends breath catch as they wait to roll that d20 as if the very fabric of reality depended on the outcome. That is what kept me in this madness for so long. And for my taste, it just isn't the same without it. I'll be sticking to in person gaming for a while. I'll see you on the flip side.