Gaming

Guest Blogger Spotlight: Erik V. Spaulding

This week’s guest post comes from my longtime friend and fellow storyteller, Erik V. Spaulding. We’ve rolled dice together, built worlds together, and spent more years than either of us care to count lost in the glow of tabletop adventures.

In this piece, Erik reflects on what forty years of gaming — and friendship — looks like. There’s humor, nostalgia, and that familiar spark that keeps the stories going, even when the dice don’t cooperate.

If you had told me, 40 years ago, that I would still be playing role playing games (as I near 60!), I would have laughed you out the house. But, here I am, still grinding away at role playing games. Though nowadays, I have given most RPG’s up.  The only ones I play anymore is Pathfinder and Traveller.  Mostly Traveller, due to the fact I also write.  My book is set in a Traveller setting so the game play gives me ideas. 

Since I involuntarily retired at the ripe old age of 49, I don’t have much to do. One of my long time friends also had a similar issue with retirement, so we knock around with each other. However, the rest of our buddies, and fellow gamers, still punch the 40 hour clock. There is some jealousy because of this, but the other friends don’t want to take up my ideas for their early retirement. Mostly because it involves some bit of nastiness to ensure medical retirement…the big babies.

Because of my friends failure to do the early retirement plan, our gaming comes down to once or twice, every couple of months. By the time everyone is done with work, we probably will have issues with memory, diapers, and wives wanting to spend the cash they have saved for this time. So, we get together online or sometimes in person, and have that bit of RPG fun. I guess, gaming with the same bunch of knuckleheads for 40+ years, a few times a year is, better than the alternative.

Thanks for reading…E.V. Spaulding

✍️ Closing Note

Reading Erik’s post hit home for me. We’ve shared more games than I can count — late nights, wild characters, and the kind of inside jokes that only decades of friendship can forge.

If you’ve ever had a group like that, the one that keeps showing up, year after year — you know it’s something rare. Whether it’s once a week or twice a year, it’s not just about the game. It’s about the people at the table.

Thanks for stopping by — and if you’ve still got your old dice tucked away somewhere, maybe it’s time to dust them off.

— Dennis D. Montoya

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