A Place at the Tabletop
by Ian Everett
The nature of tabletop role-playing games seems to guarantee camaraderie among players. Perhaps it is the cooperative nature of the game, as parties must work together to defeat enemies and meet goals. It might also be the storytelling aspect, since players must invest themselves in characters together, not unlike a good theater production.
Then again, maybe playing games is plain fun, and that always brings out the best in people.
Houston’s Community
Houston hosts an impressive community for tabletop gaming. There are eight gaming-oriented stores in the greater Houston area, and most of them host events like Friday Night Magic, which is centered on the Magic: The Gathering card game, or weekly Dungeons and Dragons sessions.
Ethan Uhlig, a cashier at 8th Dimension, a comic-book and games shop in northwest Houston, said that he could have worked many places, but the game shop felt like home.
“I like surrounding myself with what I like to do,” Uhlig said. “I thought the community here was better. I like the people, they like me. It’s less of meeting a random person on the street, and more like I know the person coming through the door and can have a conversation with them.”
Uhlig said that he’d met at least fifty people he considered his friends through running weekly D&D games at the store.
“I first came up here as a prospective player,” Uhlig said. “But I took over the position of my original game master. And at some point, they offered me a job because I wouldn’t stop showing up.”
Nan’s Games and Comics Too, a famous Houston store that deals in games, comics, and collectibles, has a similar feel according to Ryan Taylor, one of the store’s clerks.
“It’s been a ton of fun. I couldn’t work a regular retail,” Taylor said. “I’m a smart ass.”
Taylor was a customer of Nan’s shop long before he worked there. He bought games from them as far back as 1986, though he’s only worked there for the last twelve years. He picked up the job after finishing a defensive driving course, thinking that it was the only job he’d be happy doing.
Taylor said people often mistake him for the owner, assuming “the old guy behind the desk” has to be the manager. Even so, he said he loves the job and the people he serves.
“We have great clientele,” Taylor said.
Memorable Moments
That bond of familiarity goes further than customers, however. RPG enthusiasts across Houston said they’d formed many relationships through the game.
“I’ve befriended about a dozen people by playing RPGs,” said Brooke Tolle, a local Houston gamer and UH alum. “Most of my closest friends whom I have known for years are people I play D&D with.”
For Tolle, it began on accident, as she bonded with a high school theater group over the popular television show Community.
“Community has a hilarious episode about D&D, so then our Community watching group became a D&D group,” Tolle said.
Tolle met her current boyfriend through the game, a fact she feels grateful for. However, her interest in the game doesn’t end with meeting people.
“I love getting to create stories with my friends in a group setting — the dungeon master does most of the world-building, but the decisions of the characters absolutely impact where the story goes, often in ways that the DM didn’t expect,” Tolle said. “We have created so many memorable moments together.”
Creativity
According to Uhlig, that unexpected aspect of the game, where players surprise him and take his stories in different directions, is one he loves.
“As a GM, you put a lot of work into creating this mythos, this world, that you’re trying to entertain people with,” Uhlig said. “The best moment is when your players, whether they are new players or experienced players, come up with a decision or something cool you never thought of or expected, and you incorporate it because of how awesome it is.”
Uhlig could only marvel at the wit of his players and the community he’s chosen.
“I think you don’t realize how creative people can be, and gaming seems to bring that out of people,” he said.
