Visit and spring potluck

Damon F.P. arrived by Megabus from New York on Friday, 13 May 2011. He and I have been friends since high school, for almost 30 years. I’ve been Damon’s best man three times, and he created some of the first Player Characters for my “Vanished Lands” fantasy campaign setting.

We watched the Smallville series finale (review on that and recently canceled genre TV shows to come), and on Saturday, Janice, Damon, and I went to the Blue Hills Reservation south of Boston. After finding the main visitor area closed for renovations, we met role-players Josh C. & Sara F. and their friend Adam/”Llama.”

Soon, more people from Josh’s gaming groups arrived, including Bob & Ginger and Robin. My groups were represented by Beruk A., Brian W., and Brian’s wife Beth. Despite overcast weather, the potluck barbeque was a success, with some Nerf sparring and badminton. The cookout included roast chicken, pork, and sausages, as well as good conversations about politics, religion, pets, and of course, games.

Josh & Sara’s friends are a bit younger than mine and are typical of role-players who came of age in the 1990s in their interest in White Wolf’s “Storyteller: World of Darkness” and related systems. We’ve all recently played FATE 3e, with Brian and Josh running Legends of Anglerre for their fantasy campaigns and me using Starblazer Adventures for “Vortex.”

Everyone got along well, and I hope that this nongaming social gathering (the first in a few years among our groups) is just the beginning! Damon was drowsy from some medication, but Janice and I later watched the gnostic episode of Doctor Who written by Neil Gaiman.

On Sunday, after Janice made a pancake brunch, I took Damon to Central Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Unfortunately, our toilet stopped functioning properly. It’s the third time where we’ve had problems during visits — no heat during David I.S.‘s January visit, a leaky washer during my brother’s trip, and now this. Damon and I had lunch at Four Burgers before he returned to New York. Now I’m just waiting for our landlord to send a plumber….