Note from Chef Telas: I apologize for my absence from the Gnome Stew kitchens over the last few weeks. Our first child showed up on June 5th. Not only was she over two weeks early, but the first thing she did was break my wife’s water, probably not the last thing she’s going to break… Everyone’s doing fine, but since then, we’ve been knee-deep in diapers, bottles, breastpumps, books, pamphlets, lactation consultants, doctor visits, relatives, friends, neighbors, paperwork, and various unidentifiable infant accessories. The only thing we don’t have is sleep. I’ll post as time, sleep, and newborn allows.
Random Thoughts on Gaming, Gamers, and Other Things.
Every now and then, I’ll hear or think of something that seems cool, but isn’t worth an entire blog post. When I collect a few of these nuggets o’ wisdom (or dross), I’ll post ‘em here under Wandering Damage, along with something amusing or geeky I overheard at Gen Con.
- When deciding whether to follow the spirit or the letter of the rules, pick the one that’s going to result in the most fun. Consistency is important, but not nearly as important as fun.
- It’s okay to tell your friends and fellow gamers that they could use some hygiene. Nobody was born with the knowledge that daily showers are a good thing.
- The most important element in a game is the GM. A gaming group can ignore or route around bad rules or bad players, but they cannot deal with a bad GM except by finding another.
- GMing draws on many skill sets: knowledge of the game mechanics, history, philosophy, science, math, popular culture, leadership, communication, listening, managing small groups, scheduling, acting, etc. It’s the perfect hobby, because there is always room for improvement.
Things Overheard at Gen Con:
- “My email address? Um, I’m between ISPs right now.”
- “I kill things on the weekend.”
- (On Saturday, referring to a Friday night get-together) “By the time I got back to the hotel, all my favorite shows were on SciFi, so I just stayed in.”