The Group

I am frequently struck by the similarities between playing music and playing games. You need the right stuff--so there is a lot shopping and buying of cool things. And there is always one more thing that you just have to have (unfortunately, music involves more big ticket items...although my recent Frog God Games purchase felt like a music equipment purchase). Like gaming, genre certainly matters in music--you want to play stuff you like and not play stuff you can't stand.

What often gets left out of the conversation is the power of a good group. While the group isn't the only thing that matters, I am finding that the chemistry of the group is more important to me than anything else. I play music and role-playing games for enjoyment. When the enjoyment ends, so does my interest. The picture above captures the chemistry of my music group during our very first gig. And the chemistry gets better as we go along. Every rehearsal includes at least one total meltdown due to laughs. The more fun we have, the better we sound.

Our Monday Night Gaming Group is much the same way. As time goes on, the system and settings matter less to me than the laughing, the shared adventure stories, and the support we occasionally give each other when one of us faces a real life challenge. We are a gaming group, not a support group, but the friendship and the chemistry matter a great deal to me. That is the groovy thing about tabletop RPGs to me--the people matter and the group is the thing.