Post by friartook on Jun 22, 2015 13:16:24 GMT
Good morning everyone. Today is my middle son's birthday; he turns 10 years old today! I've mentioned him on here before, he's the one that loves dungeon mastering, worldbuilding, and creating his own homebrew magic items and monsters. He's my little prodigy and one of the best DMs I've ever played with.
For his birthday, I got him the 5e Monster Manual. My version is a PDF. We have a copy I printed and put in a 3-ring binder, but the pages have gotten torn and some got out of order. Its just not fun to work from. Also, Chris Perkins related once that the first D&D book he ever owned was a Monster Manual, so I thought it would be a good starting point.
My boy is a tough nut to crack; he's hard to read and will often not express his true feeling openly. So, when I handed him the bag with the book in it, he pulled out some tissue paper, paused, got a blank look on his face and said, "I think I know what this is, its something D&D right?" He's at an awkward place where he's getting over toys, but not quite into more mature pursuits yet. He couldn't think of anything he wanted for his birthday that wasn't a video game (which we make them buy with their own money). He was already disappointed with the new Razor scooter we gave him early (yesterday), so we are instantly on guard for him to be displeased.
He pulled out the book. Looked at it for a moment. Said, "Which edition is this for?" I said, "5th edition. Its yours. Your book." He paused and said, "Just mine? Really?" And he got this tiny smile on his face. That smile from him means more than a fountain of cheering yells from your average kid. I hugged him, told him I love him and that he is my favorite dungeon master ever.
So, now I am going to spend the rest of my day trying not to burst out into tears at my desk.
I wanted to share this on the tail end of Father's Day. Being a father is like being a DM; its not about being appreciated and told what a great job you're doing. Its about the craft of creation and those moments when you know you've done right. Its weeks of hard work and build up for that one, perfect moment. And then you get to do it all over again, and again, and again. With luck, for the rest of your life.
For his birthday, I got him the 5e Monster Manual. My version is a PDF. We have a copy I printed and put in a 3-ring binder, but the pages have gotten torn and some got out of order. Its just not fun to work from. Also, Chris Perkins related once that the first D&D book he ever owned was a Monster Manual, so I thought it would be a good starting point.
My boy is a tough nut to crack; he's hard to read and will often not express his true feeling openly. So, when I handed him the bag with the book in it, he pulled out some tissue paper, paused, got a blank look on his face and said, "I think I know what this is, its something D&D right?" He's at an awkward place where he's getting over toys, but not quite into more mature pursuits yet. He couldn't think of anything he wanted for his birthday that wasn't a video game (which we make them buy with their own money). He was already disappointed with the new Razor scooter we gave him early (yesterday), so we are instantly on guard for him to be displeased.
He pulled out the book. Looked at it for a moment. Said, "Which edition is this for?" I said, "5th edition. Its yours. Your book." He paused and said, "Just mine? Really?" And he got this tiny smile on his face. That smile from him means more than a fountain of cheering yells from your average kid. I hugged him, told him I love him and that he is my favorite dungeon master ever.
So, now I am going to spend the rest of my day trying not to burst out into tears at my desk.
I wanted to share this on the tail end of Father's Day. Being a father is like being a DM; its not about being appreciated and told what a great job you're doing. Its about the craft of creation and those moments when you know you've done right. Its weeks of hard work and build up for that one, perfect moment. And then you get to do it all over again, and again, and again. With luck, for the rest of your life.
