The Butt Ugly Weblog

"Once upon a time..."

One of the somewhat unexpected side benefits of role playing games is that you learn to invent and tell a story real fast. Lately, I've found that this skill is rather useful when your kid starts expecting a bedtime story. Guessing that he might want to hear one every night for the next ten years or so, I need to look forward to maybe 3600 stories or so. Sounds like a lot, but I have a feeling that those years are going to pass sooner than I expect.

Of course, I can't use my arcane knowledge like Cthulhu Mythos to weave a story (yet...), but so far it's become a thing between us. He likes to hear me talk, and I like to tell a story. So it's working out ok, even though the stories are simple and somewhat repetitive. Though I have to admit that they sometimes surprise me too - I had no idea for example that this night's story was going to end up in a half-burned outhouse under a starry sky...

Stories are a fundamental way of transferring wisdom between generations. It's so fascinating to be a part of that continuum.