So we’ve been fighting off colds and other illnesses among our group for the past three weeks, so we haven’t been gaming unfortunately. This Sunday marks a change in all that, as well as a change in games. This may seem sudden, but in my mind, it’s been working up to this for a while now. But, let me elaborate a bit, so that maybe, those who DO read this blog will understand what has happened and why we are shifting games seemingly so suddenly (I mean we HAD just started our Star Wars game and I was really looking forward to it).
Let me start at the beginning. When I originally started my AD&D campaign, we had a roommate that was also a long time player at our table, and a close friend. It was myself as the DM, him, my wife, and my stepson, and it was a nice little group. This was back in January of this year, and I had started the game with the intention that the campaign would probably last until at least the beginning of next year, and longer if needed. We were all looking forward to a long-term game, and I was looking forward to FINALLY being able to run the campaign I had always wanted to run in my home setting,
Around this time the roommate had started seeing a girl but she was a non-issue at the time. Soon enough though she became a massive distraction even though she wasn’t there physically at the table. He would be sullen and moody because he was worried about what she was up to (because she couldn’t be trusted), and when that wasn’t going on, she would be texting him CONSTANTLY and telling him how she ‘hated’ his gaming, KNOWING that at that moment, that’s what he was doing, and that it was disrupting our fun. He would shrug all of this horrible behavior off stating that “He got it”, and “It’s kinda sweet”. No. It wasn’t. She’s a horrible person and she only hated his gaming because when he was gaming she was out of sight and out of mind and he wouldn’t stop everything just to go run her around in his car and be available for her every whim.
Well it happened that while he was in town constantly for her, he was leaving his son here with us constantly, basically making him our responsibility, which he was not. We have our own two children (well step-children for me) that we needed to take care of, and that was enough. We finally put our foot down and said that his son could not be here without him. At that point he seemingly moved out of the house even though his stuff was still here, and was barely ever home, even for game. I talked with him, and suggested that maybe we should shelve the D&D game for now so that he could concentrate on getting a place of his own and then we could pick it back up where we left off. He agreed, and I was fine with that at the time.
So it was that I started up the Sunday Star Wars game with another friend of ours that we couldn’t have over because the gaming days that were good for the roommate was not good for this friend (he could only come out after 6pm on the weekdays and we started at 3). This Star Wars game was going to be fairly easy for me to run, and I set it up that way on purpose. If we started the AD&D game up again, I would have time to prepare for AD&D (which takes a bit of preparation in comparison to Star Wars), and not have to worry about the Star Wars game as it would run itself essentially. So win-win right?
Well at this point, I have come to the realization that the now ex-roommate is not the same person I became friends with. His actions, broken promises, and fucked up morals have caused me to want nothing to do with this individual, which is fine, because I get the idea that as long as this girl wants to be with him, he could give a shit less. On the heels of that revelation came another – we would never game with him again. Which meant the AD&D game was dead in the water, permanently.
So I got to thinking over the past three weeks while everyone was sick – we will never restart that AD&D game, and we’re only 3 sessions in on the Star Wars game. Originally I told my players that I would at least run the first story arc of Star Wars and then we could start AD&D up. Then it hit me; if we’re not that far into the Star Wars game, why wait to switch? Why get attached to the characters and put in that time and work just to switch games? Why not switch now and run the Star Wars game after the AD&D campaign ends? So this Sunday we will be doing character creation for AD&D and I will FINALLY be able to run the campaign that I have always wanted to run with little to no hiccups, pauses, or stops (I hope!).
So despite a major setback and the loss of a close friend, we’re coming out ahead. I think this group will be more fun to run games for now that he isn’t involved anyway (to be honest he had a lot of little habits that drove us nuts and he did make it hard to run games unless they were set up a certain way. We dealt with it because he was our friend). I know it’s harsh to say, but it is the truth, but that’s as much as I will say about that.
Here’s to our new group, and the fun that we will be having at our gaming table in the near future!