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View Full Version : Gamer Humor An odd dream about game planning, parenting, and... distrubing twillight zone themes?



Kol Korran
2016-08-18, 08:26 AM
I had a strange dream last night, which might humor you, or disturb you. For me I think it's both... I thought to share. There is no question, dilemma or argument, just a curious tale of... well, you'll see.

I'll start with some background, that I promise will be relevant:
I've been a slow- moderate member of the forum for many years now. Since I'm in my 30's, work, studies, and other real life matters mean my posting rate fluctuated greatly. Recently I've stopped GMing a long time TTRPG campaign for my group, with one of the main reasons for that being just not having enough time to invest as much as I'd like.

The past few months have been very busy- I got married, I finished my medical school and am looking for a residency, but most of all- My child, Michael, was born just over two months ago! :smallsmile: In the short time between finisign my studies and my child's birth I had a small period of time off, which was wonderful! As part of it, I decided to focus on two projects here on GiTP: A campaign planning log, and a Shadowrun campaign log (Since one of my players took over as GM). I've started these, and they seemed to have been going well, till my child was born.

I was... somewhat naive, or perhaps overly confident:

Congradulations. Good Luck. and prepare yourself for the rude awakening if you really think it will just be "a few days":smallsmile:
Take your time.

Yeah, the little guy keeps us busy, but we're starting to get accustomed to it. Of course there will be quite a few more adjustments and a lot of learning, but we're currently quite ok. I think I may be able to post, though slowly. The factions segment can be more easily written in parts, so I think I will try that, part by part. I've been updating the Shadowrun log (In my sig), slowly, and it seems to work so far.

Thanks for caring! Post by post, day by day... :smallbiggrin:

Yeah... I didn't get to update anymore... Taking care of our Michael, though very exciting, fulfilling and awesome, is also a LOT of work... And when I get on GiTP I now mostly browse, perhaps a PbP game or two on Myth Weavers, and Inever quite in the mood (or with the right energy) to write my long posts. (I tend to be... "extensive"... in most of my small projects).

And so... Life revolves around the child, and yet in my mind at times I keep thinking about roleplay, design, and planning. The last 2 days have been really rough with the kiddo (Stomach aches and digestion problem. Guts! Who needs them?! :smalltongue:) and when we fell asleep last night, I dreamed... an unusual dream...

Is this the real life? Or is it just fantasy?
In my dream, I am frustrated at not being able to make any progress with the campaign planning log. Suddenly, my wife says while nursing our kid "Why don't we move to the place you plan? It's in the country, and we'll like it, and need a vacation, and you can plan it from there!" As in dreams, this somehow makes sense, and so... we move into a sort of a little frontier village in a D&D fantasy world, near the edge of civilization.

Now, this may sound weird, but throughout the rest of the dream I keep seeing the place both through the eyes of a villager living inside the village, but also through a sort of an overland gaming map, in design stages. When we first arrive, I find the place... meh... kinda boring. All kind of expected cliche buildings and such (A forge, a temple, a market, and so on...) with most of the village still... kinda vague, as in smeared colors (Still in desing stages). I'm doubting if this has been a good idea, but my wife seems to love it! "It's so beautiful! And charming! I needed to come back to the country so much!" She (and Michael) seem thrilled. I realize she sees something more than I see, but it makes them both happy, so we find a small house and settle. I then sit down, and take a "map look", seeing a village map, with various "grey/ fog of war" areas, that have not been designed yet...

We settle a bit, and a few days pass. My wife make friends with some of the neighbors, mostly hard working village folks and such, but I get frustrated, because I still don't have any inspiration. "I need to have something happen, stir things up!" I decide, and after a few more moments thoughts I think "Bandits! Bandits are a common trope and threat!" And then... "Pop!" The map view expands a bit, to include a forest, some hills, a river, and a road to the nearest settlement, with bold threatening writing "Bandit attacks!"

Excited, I go outside, and find the villagers very worried about the bandit threat. Happy, I suggest we put a call for adventures, but get cut out. "Adventurers? Why would they come? And they always mess everything up! No, we need some sort of security along the road! We need... a watch tower!"

I am confused... A watch tower? Where the hell did that come from? I start to protest,but my wife interrupts me. "It's a good idea! It will be safer in the long run, and we can build it ourselves instead of pouring money over some of those... adventurers you talked about. It will be good, and it will protect the village! It's such a happy place!" She pleads with me, and I agree. In my map view I suddenly see a few villagers moving on the road, and... You know the real time strategic games like Warcraft and Starcraft, where some building unit start making a building? Well, I see the foundations of the watch tower, and them mulling around it, as it springs up being built in stages. "Kinda boring" I think, but oh well... My wife an the villagers are happy.

Yet the bandits move further away, and still threaten the road, and other small threats appear- marauding goblins on worgs, a manticore who kills live stock and so on. "Now we'll get the adventurers!" I get excited, but... "We need MORE watch towers!" says the same villager. I try to persuade them, but my wife pleads. "It will grant the best security! Please! It's such a happy place!" And suddenly in my map view I see various watch towers springing up, on the road, on some hills and other approach routes. Suddenly it all looks like some tower defense game... "Hmmm... odd... I didn't plan that..." I think.

But something bugs me. "Who will man all of those towers?" The villagers become concerned, and they say "We hire soldiers!" I'm perplexed "With what?" They huddle concerned. "We need a resource! Perhaps... a mine?" Now this I like! Mines are always good adventure spots! In my map view I suddenly see the village like in a Civilization game, with plots for workers, and a mine springs up! I move some of the village population there, ready for them to "dig too deep"/ "Unearth a sunken temple" or such, but the buggers just use it to excavate core and earn resources! Also, one comes up to me. "Can we get a quarry?" I am confused "For what?" Yet my wife insists. "Please, help them! They are good folks! It's such a happy place!" I wonder what she sees in this village, but I shrug, and "pop", A quarry appears. The watch towers are upgraded to stone...

And soon, soldiers appear, to man the many towers... No adventurers though, which irks me. And the soldiers aren't very productive, and are starting to get restless... I'm thinking of letting them go, but my wife think they should stay, and make a home there! "It's such a happy place after all! With so many wonderful people!" So... we make a call for people- farmers, workers, whatver, and the village starts to grow... In my map view I see it growing, and expanding a bit it's influence. "But... I wanted it to just be a small frontier base for adventures..." yet my grumbling falls in deaf ears.

The new comers quickly integrate into the village, and what do you know- families are made, and a lot of them get fertile, very fast! Nearly the entire population. At first I find it odd, but I get distracted when I find the soldiers are now practicing on offensive tactics, of taking down walls and so on? "What the hell is happening?!" I ask, and my wife responds. "The surrounding settlements have become jealous of our wonderful little town! We have heard... rumors! What if Brindol attacks! (Thanks too many RHoD journals!) We must strike first!"

I think this is madness, and call for a village meeting, but it's interupted by a massive birthing, as all of the pregnant village women go into labor at the same time. In my map view I suddenly see bars of "population growth rate" and so on... Yet what really disturbs me, is that when I look at the babies, they all look different, but at the same time, they all look to me as Michael. (Dreams...)

I start to panic, finally realizing something is deeply wrong, and rush towards my house, and find my wife there, and him in her lap, laughing and playing. Michael, 2 months old, turns to me with his cute adorable cheerful face. "I/ we/ it/ us/ are here to stay" I feel a sort of strong empathic communication from our wonderful kiddo. "What are you looking at dad? Get to work! All of you!" and suddenly a spasm runs through me, and the other villagers, we all jerk, try to resist, but then we each go to our work- farm, take care of the Michales, train for war, or sit in front of my map... Not MY map anymore, and on it I see developing plans of conquest and war, spanning the world... I start planning, not of my own volition, but irresistible none the less...

And then, though trying to resist, a smile forms on my face, and on the faces of all the villagers, and we hear in our minds. "It is a HAPPY place!" and we have no choice but to agree.

And I remember just one more thing of that dream, a strange sensation, of also smiling immensely inwardly, out of a strange and odd pride, of my son! :smalltongue: :smalleek:

So yeah... Just thought to share... :smallwink:

Cealocanth
2016-08-18, 10:02 AM
How does one respond to a thread like this?

That's a disturbing dream that might say a lot about your subconsious understanding of your life at the moment. In fact, it makes a little too much sense, based on your post. Methinks that you might have done a bit of dream interpretation already and are integrating that into your retelling of it. I can't sympathize with the hassle that is having a child, but I can wish you luck.

Don't fret about being a Lurker in the Playground. This forum is not a community that demands very much from you. Just have fun with what you want, and don't feel pressurred to update threads you don't want to update. We're all friends here. People will understand.

mikeejimbo
2016-08-18, 03:07 PM
But it's a happy place!

Congratulations on the birth of your son. Michael is an awesome name. I'm incredibly biased, yes.

ImNotTrevor
2016-08-18, 07:41 PM
I'm also a dad. A fairly recent dad. And I know how you feel. It seems like your entire life is being eaten up by this tiny potato person and they will utterly conquer and control your life forever.


But that's not true.

After about 4 to 6 months, things will just kinda... go back to normal. Yes, the baby is there, but you adapt to their schedule. You get used to their needs and when those come up, and suddenly you have time for things again. I've returned to running sessions at home every weekend (more or less) and it has been great.

Trust me, things get back to normal. I think that's your biggest stress right now. But it's not true. You'll get through to the other end.

Kol Korran
2016-08-18, 11:12 PM
Thanks for the concerns, but I'm not worried or overly stressed! I found the dream amusing mostly, and I feel very fortunate and blessed! Yeah, I miss my hobbies a bit more, but it's a minor issue, and I feel my family's life got enriched, happy and quite wonderful by Michael coming!
Yeah, he's a handful (I loved the phrase "little potato person" by the way!), but we'very expected it (sort of at least ), and know very well we'really in an adjustment period...

I just found the dream amusing, in how it involved RL stuff with epilepsy design, and thought to share!

Again, Thanks for the concern, but we're doing great, despite the major change. Thanks!