Confessions of a Gamer: The Little Ways Gaming Infiltrates My Life
Hello friends. My name is Kate. I have been a gamer for 15 years. I have been a GM for the same amount of time. I first started gaming when I bought a box set for D&D 3.0 and ran an adventure for my mom and a friend. I was hooked before I even got that box set. But let's be honest, gaming comes into your life, if you're like me at all, in more ways than just how many saturdays a year you spend at a table with dice. Maybe it's because I help run the largest gaming club in Toronto, or because I just am one of those all or nothing types, but there are things that gaming does to my life I don't usually confess to. Until today.
#1. All of my characters and games have theme songs
What? You don't do this too? C'mon. So for every character, and about 20% of my NPCs that are important, I choose theme songs. You can see my Deliria soundtrack here. I will spend hours of my free time searching for the right song. And then for the rest of the month/year while I'm playing these games, I will listen to them before and after each game to get a feel for it. My Deliria soundtrack has become the only thing I really listen to, and it's months since Deliria has ended.
In other words: All my music revolves around my games.
#2. I usually have a journal/blog as a character
So another thing I spend time doing, just in case I didn't spend enough time gaming, was keeping blogs or journals as my characters. Robin, my MonsterHearts character, has this blog. Pythia has a diary. Rose... well, she was keeping a notebook but she's gone a little crazy since reading the Tears of Azathoth. After each game, I'll usually sit down, turn on the soundtrack above or the character's soundtrack, and then write their posts. Fortunately for me, the MonsterHearts and Deliria soundtrack are the same. I really think it's just the "Urban Fantasy" soundtrack now.
In other words: Almost all my creative writing time is as a character in a game.
#3. I will watch a relevant TV show to the theme of the game BEFORE game
Most people watch what's cool for cats, right? People like Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones... etc. I watch whatever will help me get into my character's head better. I'm working on a Carnival game? I watch Carnivale. I'm playing MonsterHearts? I watch Vampire Diaries, Veronica Mars, or, heaven forbid, Gossip Girl. I'm playing a game about living on the moon? I watch Moon. And not just once to get the feel. Before. Every. Game. And often after because you have that after game "this is awesome!" buzz happening still.
In other words: Most of my watching t.v. time is to get "into"a game mood.
#4. If I have a game that day, I will dress and wear makeup according to my character.
Yep. I'm that dedicated. I mean, if I'm playing an emo goth kid, I won't go all out, but I will wear black and do my makeup a little more dour than just the plain "natural" look I've adopted. Today I am wearing vampy makeup, because, well, I'm playing a vampire later. When I was playing a doctor on a moon space station, I dressed professional and wore clean makeup. When I play my mortal, I dress in t-shirts, hoodies, and with a little more emo makeup. When I play Pythia, I wear natural makeup and high collared sweaters that are still form complimenting. I game almost every day... so...
In other words: Most of my clothing and makeup are reflecting my game later that day.
#5. If I'm having a bad day, I'll work on something game related.
It cheers me up. It's a coping mechanism. You can usually tell how "well" I'm doing by how much work I'm getting done on the campaigns I'm playing. If I'm stressed out and need a release, I start working on a new campaign or do more work on what I'm currently playing. Right now, my life is extremely stressful with my partner and I both being out of work. You'll notice I'm 1.5 chapters away from finishing a MonsterHearts playset, complete with 15 skins, two new rules, and an entire playbook to go along with it.
In other words: My mental stability and emotional happiness rely on gaming.
#6. If I'm focusing on my laptop doing work, my partner uses gaming as a way to talk to me.
It's a regular marital conversation piece. If I'm busy and my partner wants my attention, he'll deliberately bring up a game I'm in or I'm working on so he can pull me away from my work and have a conversation with me. And it works every time. I end up distracted by what he's asking and forget what I was working on and end up spending time with him instead of doing what I needed to do. Clever boy. Also, most of my clients (I'm an RMT) are gamers. Guess what we talk about during treatment?
In other words: My game talk is a way to always fill airspace, and keep my marriage happy.
#7. I wear perfume (when I can) according to what character I'm playing.
I know a lot of people who are allergic to perfumes. It's why I buy perfume from Black Phoenix Alchemy Labs. They're generally non-allergic, although some still have a musk in them that cause people headaches. If I'm gaming with someone who has an allergy, I don't wear perfume. But if I'm not, then, much like my makeup and clothing, I'll choose a perfume appropriate to the character. My illithid character wore a scent called Mania, which was incense and wine. My princess wears Snow, which smells like apples and snow, very innocent smelling. My mortal in MH wears a scent called Poison, that smells like temptation. My vampire wears Scherazade, which smells like incense and spice.
In other words: I usually smell like my character would smell, too.
#8. All My Friends Game.
There aren't really exceptions. Okay, maybe my best friend from when I was a wee lass, but even then, she'll game when she's here. She's played. I moved to Toronto and immediately jumped into a small gaming community, which now boasts over 1200 members. All my friends game. It's how we hang out. It's what we do when we're together. We rehash character stories, or talk about developing story lines and work on doing what we wanna see happen. Sure, we still talk about news, politics, philosophy, art, culture, and other issues, and obviously our emotions when times are rough, but we also talk about gaming a lot. And I don't really get new friends who don't game. When I do, I turn them towards gaming so we can game together, because otherwise, it's hard to hang out with me I'm at games so often.
In other words: All my friends are in my life because of my hobby, not the other way around.
Well... I think those are a few of the things that show just how game obsessed I am. Hopefully I'm not the only out there who lives and breathes games.... right?
#1. All of my characters and games have theme songs
What? You don't do this too? C'mon. So for every character, and about 20% of my NPCs that are important, I choose theme songs. You can see my Deliria soundtrack here. I will spend hours of my free time searching for the right song. And then for the rest of the month/year while I'm playing these games, I will listen to them before and after each game to get a feel for it. My Deliria soundtrack has become the only thing I really listen to, and it's months since Deliria has ended.
In other words: All my music revolves around my games.
#2. I usually have a journal/blog as a character
So another thing I spend time doing, just in case I didn't spend enough time gaming, was keeping blogs or journals as my characters. Robin, my MonsterHearts character, has this blog. Pythia has a diary. Rose... well, she was keeping a notebook but she's gone a little crazy since reading the Tears of Azathoth. After each game, I'll usually sit down, turn on the soundtrack above or the character's soundtrack, and then write their posts. Fortunately for me, the MonsterHearts and Deliria soundtrack are the same. I really think it's just the "Urban Fantasy" soundtrack now.
In other words: Almost all my creative writing time is as a character in a game.
#3. I will watch a relevant TV show to the theme of the game BEFORE game
Most people watch what's cool for cats, right? People like Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones... etc. I watch whatever will help me get into my character's head better. I'm working on a Carnival game? I watch Carnivale. I'm playing MonsterHearts? I watch Vampire Diaries, Veronica Mars, or, heaven forbid, Gossip Girl. I'm playing a game about living on the moon? I watch Moon. And not just once to get the feel. Before. Every. Game. And often after because you have that after game "this is awesome!" buzz happening still.
In other words: Most of my watching t.v. time is to get "into"a game mood.
#4. If I have a game that day, I will dress and wear makeup according to my character.
Yep. I'm that dedicated. I mean, if I'm playing an emo goth kid, I won't go all out, but I will wear black and do my makeup a little more dour than just the plain "natural" look I've adopted. Today I am wearing vampy makeup, because, well, I'm playing a vampire later. When I was playing a doctor on a moon space station, I dressed professional and wore clean makeup. When I play my mortal, I dress in t-shirts, hoodies, and with a little more emo makeup. When I play Pythia, I wear natural makeup and high collared sweaters that are still form complimenting. I game almost every day... so...
In other words: Most of my clothing and makeup are reflecting my game later that day.
#5. If I'm having a bad day, I'll work on something game related.
It cheers me up. It's a coping mechanism. You can usually tell how "well" I'm doing by how much work I'm getting done on the campaigns I'm playing. If I'm stressed out and need a release, I start working on a new campaign or do more work on what I'm currently playing. Right now, my life is extremely stressful with my partner and I both being out of work. You'll notice I'm 1.5 chapters away from finishing a MonsterHearts playset, complete with 15 skins, two new rules, and an entire playbook to go along with it.
In other words: My mental stability and emotional happiness rely on gaming.
#6. If I'm focusing on my laptop doing work, my partner uses gaming as a way to talk to me.
It's a regular marital conversation piece. If I'm busy and my partner wants my attention, he'll deliberately bring up a game I'm in or I'm working on so he can pull me away from my work and have a conversation with me. And it works every time. I end up distracted by what he's asking and forget what I was working on and end up spending time with him instead of doing what I needed to do. Clever boy. Also, most of my clients (I'm an RMT) are gamers. Guess what we talk about during treatment?
In other words: My game talk is a way to always fill airspace, and keep my marriage happy.
#7. I wear perfume (when I can) according to what character I'm playing.
I know a lot of people who are allergic to perfumes. It's why I buy perfume from Black Phoenix Alchemy Labs. They're generally non-allergic, although some still have a musk in them that cause people headaches. If I'm gaming with someone who has an allergy, I don't wear perfume. But if I'm not, then, much like my makeup and clothing, I'll choose a perfume appropriate to the character. My illithid character wore a scent called Mania, which was incense and wine. My princess wears Snow, which smells like apples and snow, very innocent smelling. My mortal in MH wears a scent called Poison, that smells like temptation. My vampire wears Scherazade, which smells like incense and spice.
In other words: I usually smell like my character would smell, too.
#8. All My Friends Game.
There aren't really exceptions. Okay, maybe my best friend from when I was a wee lass, but even then, she'll game when she's here. She's played. I moved to Toronto and immediately jumped into a small gaming community, which now boasts over 1200 members. All my friends game. It's how we hang out. It's what we do when we're together. We rehash character stories, or talk about developing story lines and work on doing what we wanna see happen. Sure, we still talk about news, politics, philosophy, art, culture, and other issues, and obviously our emotions when times are rough, but we also talk about gaming a lot. And I don't really get new friends who don't game. When I do, I turn them towards gaming so we can game together, because otherwise, it's hard to hang out with me I'm at games so often.
In other words: All my friends are in my life because of my hobby, not the other way around.
Well... I think those are a few of the things that show just how game obsessed I am. Hopefully I'm not the only out there who lives and breathes games.... right?