Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Its all about the food

James posted the interview with Vin Diesel and Jimmy on his blog, and Vin Diesel talks a bit about his D&D experience. It is a fun interview and its only about 5 mins long.
One of the comments that came up during the interview was food. On this, I think we just need to set the record straight. You have to have food and drink. That is just part of the game. You need the books, you need dice, you need paper, you need pens/pencils, and one can argue that some of that stuff is not really mandatory. But the food is. If you are going to sit around with a bunch of folks for 4+ hours, and possibly longer, you need food and drink.
I think of the game as something of a bard's tale. It is a shared experience of action, adventure and exploration, with the story being created based on what happens during game play. At its heart, it is entertainment that is done with a group of people. The food is a critical part of the atmosphere. There is something special about sharing food and drink. I would even go as far as to say that it is hard wired into our DNA. It adds to the fun of the game, and this is really fundamental to any entertainment event. I mean, who would go to a Superbowl party without food?
When I am hosting, I pull out all the stops. We put out a huge spread of snacks and such, we order pizza or subs, we have wings, and then my wife usually bakes cookies or brownies. If that wasn't enough, we have at least one cooler full of all sorts of drinks. I don't roll critical fumbles when it comes to the food.
While I suppose it is possible to play without food and drink, that is not really a game I want to be apart of.
Speaking of food, I think its lunch time here in China.

3 comments:

Chris said...

Yup, feasting and bragging just go together (like polyhedrals and graph paper).

Now where'd I put that horn of mead...?

Mr Baron said...

:)

yup..that's exactly what I am talking about!

Keith Sloan said...

The most integral part of my old gaming days in the 80's was "Ale Detail" which usually invovled raiding our fridge to supply all the players with required sustenance. Fortunately, my parents were quite accomodating in that regard!