There was a time in my life when I’d say, “I’d rather drink a gasoline milk shake than do that.” But, years go by, time heals wounds and… well, I always did love L5R. Like an old girlfriend you stay friends with after the breakup. Sure, it hurts to watch her go out with other men, but every once in a while, when the time is right, you get back together and have really great sex.
So, two Saturdays ago, the guys in the game group wondered what we were going to play next week. Doc Savage (I think it was Doc) said those fateful words. “So, John. You wanna run L5R?”
Trekhead jumped on that. So did everybody else. So, I said, “Sure. I guess I will,” without any kind of clue what I was going to do. I spent the next week thinking of what kind of adventure I’d run. I mean, the group I play with are a pretty hard core group of guys. Old school, if you know what I mean. They dig getting into character (a few more than any other gamers I know), and they like a good story as much as anybody else, but when it really comes down to it, they want to kick ass, and they really don’t care what your name is.
The week rolled on by. I kept up my word count for my writing assignment, but in the back of my head, the thought, “You’re totally unprepared for Saturday” kept picking at me.
Then, Saturday stepped up the plate. Daring me to throw a pitch. I arrived, and everyone was there. Well, almost everyone. We had a big group. Everyone wanted to play, even the folks who couldn’t make it.
What to do? I didn’t know. I’m helping everyone make characters, and I’m still trying to figure out what to do.
They finished their characters. They all looked at me. I look at them. Time to start.
I looked their characters over. All of them are loaded for bear, except for Trekhead and Doc. The Crane and the Scorpion. They’re all dressed up for a party. Well, they can take care of themselves. They’ve played this before. They’ll know what to do. It’s the other guys I’m worried about. Even letting them make Rank 3 samurai doesn’t save them from the “one strike and you’re dead” syndrome.
But they want a fight… they want a fight…
I smiled. Suddenly, it hit me. Like Shinsei’s wake-up stick.
You want a fight? All right. I’ll give ’em a fight.
So, I sent ’em to Beiden Pass.
(Continued later…)