leet gaming skills

I spent the day yesterday telling stories, rolling dice and inhaling sweaty man air. I was at a local RPGA convention playing *gasp* Dungeons and Dragons. I had a lot of fun and got to chat with some people who, like me, have been out of the gaming scene for awhile.

After lunch, I sat down at a table with five other players for what is called a "Core Special" (CS). A CS is a module (short story) written by a someone to tax the abilities of the players. A normal module has a certain number of encounters (challenges) targeted for characters (imaginary personnas) of a given level (set of abilities). The CS turns it up a few notches. Thankfully, with increased difficulty come increased rewards.

As I was saying, I sat down at the table and there were four other people I had played with before. Two of which I hadn't played with in years. It was a cool time of reminiscing and catching up. Once the judge (story teller, referee) showed up we started playing.

Somewhere along the way we found ourselves facing a dragon. Which shouldn't be surprising given the name of the game and the level we were playing. But it was against the dragon that I fully realized something that had been bouncing around in my head for a little while. I have no idea what I am doing. Of course I had some idea, I delivered the blow that incapacitated the dragon and allowed us to triumph, but the face of the game had changed so much since I had played full time three years ago.

The rules have changed. The options have changed. The people have changed. The style has changed. The challenges have changed. On top of all that, I had forgotten a lot of the basics. I had become a liability. Bah.

You may know what I am talking about if there is something you used to be really good at and now, after a long hiatus, you pick it back up to realize you just aren't that good anymore. They say that once you've learned to ride a bike you never forget.

I agree, but that doesn't mean I am good at it anymore.