I’m going to preface this by saying there’s no reason for players to give gifts, it’s not something I encourage or demand, but it’s really lovely when this kind of thing happens.

I started hosting fortnightly community RPG nights for all of 2019, missing one week and deputising one player to run in my stead for that time. It was fantastic and at the moment we’re still all social distancing, so I’ve had to move my sessions to online spaces instead.

At the end of 2019 I was sent a Christmas card from Alex, one of the players who’d been in the community nights for a long time. He mentioned about how much he’d loved his time in that space, which was really touching, a good sign that the nights were doing exactly what I’d wanted. Then there’s this dolphin pen:

Yep. It’s pretty special. Michał and Joanna brought it for me, saying they felt it fit my running style, which… yeah. They’ve got me there. It’s made a great pointy stick at the dolphin end, and I’ve made sure it gets used in games like Pasión de las Pasiones.

At GenCon UK I was running a game of Spycraft in what was pretty much a massive tent in a Butlins. There were only two players and this being Living Spycraft they both came with Snoop characters. When there was a power cut, they both left without really saying anything. I sat there, not really sure what to do but busily making notes for my home campaign. They showed up, having gone to their chalets to bring beer. I’m not even a beer fan, but it was a really nice gesture, so I drank with them as we waited for the lights to come back on and to play through. Out of the games I ran that weekend it was one of the most fun, and the kind of mission where two Snoops and a briefcase full of legal documents won the day as effectively as a group of bikers and combatants. I miss Spycraft, and would love to see a Forged in the Dark version one day.