Just a partial selection of memorable events in my gaming career...
Sulkrist, Warden of the Northern March of Celene, convinces his queen that it is necessary for the Noldor people to join with the humans in the war against Iuz even if it means their destruction as a race. (This was a Greyhawk game with modifications -- the elves were out of Tolkien, and Tolkien's books were merged with the Grayhawk materials for historical background, with the idea that the War of the Ring was several Ages ago, and the elves were a fading people). It was a wonderful argument, full of passion and intensity the likes of which stories are written about.
Aerich returns to Dar's party after an absence of a year, older, darker, and more powerful by far. A great session.
Shao's method of finding a girlfriend: Save her life in the middle of a running gunfight, holding her hand the entire time. GREAT session. I SO miss Shao, Miao Yen, and Auntie. Any time
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g31g3r wants to run that game again, I'm there.
The moment in which Sulkrist's life and purpose crystallized for him, and he slammed his sword into a demon princess with no thought for the vendetta she'd surely have against him.
Sulkrist confesses his love for the Princess Jolene to her father-in-law, King Belvor of Furyondy. A GREAT session of pure roleplaying.
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Hmmm. I'm noticing a trend. I enjoy the HELL out of Gregory's games, but I have never felt the character was really pushed emotionally. Physically, they've been pushed to the limit and even beyond, but only in one game was the character (Shao) pushed to the emotional limits of his soul. Sulkrist, on the other hand, was pushed a LOT, and grew by leaps and bounds. Not that that's entirely Gregory's fault; I think when I've played in his games I've held back a bit because what *I* want in the game has rarely been what the other players want. In point of fact, Aerich was stretched mainly when G and I played alone or "blue-booked". And it seems the coolest stuff happened to Aerich after the game went kaput, when Gregory and I plotted his end together (And I'll miss him for years, I'm that kind of geeky roleplayer).
In my own games, I feel it necessary to give each of the characters at least one of what I call (and sorry to those of you who won't get this; start watching the B5 tapes I loaned you, dammit!) the "G'kar Moment", wherein they are forced to look into their very soul and decide where they will go from there in a painful, searing moment of clarity. These moments cannot be prevalent, of course; if they were they would quickly lose their magic. But there must be a few of them, from time to time shaking up the characters' resolve and focus.
I love emotional, soul-filling agony and beauty in my fiction and in my games, which is why B5, Buffy, and Angel appeal so much to me. Joss Whedon would be the perfect GM, in my opinion. So would JMS. And I want to be to my games what they are to their shows.
But to do that, you need players who are willing and able to play that kind of game, just like you need actors who can carry off JMS and Joss scripts. I'm blessed by good players, for the most part (I confess to a split opinion on a couple of them). And when this game is over, I want to play in another D&D or even Sci-Fi campaign run by someone who will challenge me as a player the way Ed does (on the rare occasions we get to play), or Neil did, or Gregory wants to (I could see him trying to do it when he ran our last game). I want to look forward to game the same way Elli looks forward to my Star Wars game.
I miss being a player in that kind of game.
(And no, Elli, none of this should be read as anti-your game -- it's barely begun, so I can't judge it yet).
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