“I kick in the door…” — that character whose day is about to go pear shaped.

Either because I was the only one that could come up with an adventure in time, or the only one who wanted to, I’ve spent most of my time gaming as the guy behind the screen/ the DM / the storyteller / the game master. Role playing games, for me, weren’t just a means of escape from a mildly sad childhood, but a way of making friends. Of opening not just a door to adventure or entertainment for a night, but to friendships. When my door opens for the players, there’s food and drink, there’s companionship and laughter and talking about our day. You walk through the door and, for a few hours, away from the responsibilities of work and family, the weight of age and experiences, into a world where everything is possible with a good roll or a clever plan.

You get to walk through a portal not just into the bridge of your own starship, or out into an exotic locale looking for clues to what the bad guys are up to, or out of your superhero lair to rescue people, but — for people who are older — into a time when you could just be the kid you used to be, when everything was ahead of you and you could be whatever you wanted.

“It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings.