We all sometimes make silly decisions and do things we know we oughtn't.
My most recent blunder was engaging in Twitter discourse with the crowd that think that Dungeons & Dragons is primarily a tool for "storytelling," that DMs are obligated to provide the players with story arcs, tension building, and other techniques of crafting a narrative. At their most extreme (and I know I am speaking in generalities), player characters should never die unless it's "dramatically appropriate."
I was crafting an essay, perhaps a meditation, on how storytelling is one style of play, that there are roleplaying games that integrate storytelling into gameplay, and that it has always been a secondary concern in Dungeons & Dragons specifically as opposed to other games. However, with my would-be father-in-law's funeral just a two days behind me, the holiday tomorrow, and my marriage coming up this weekend, I haven't the energy to finish it. Also, reviewing the discourse, and the smug strawman arguments and the assumptions that people who don't prioritize storytelling as the primary objective of Dungeons & Dragons somehow "don't get it," I've decided to boil my whole thesis into just two bullet points:
-In the words of Homer Simpson, "Just because I don't care doesn't mean I don't understand," and
-Dude, it was a fucking first level character. Get over it. It'll take you all of ten minutes to make another one.
In the meantime, I have set a start date of December 7th for OpenQuest 3. It'll be nice to be in the saddle again.
Enjoy your holiday, whatever traditions you may have.