This blog is, once again, regarding an experience with the Strength of Thousands adventure path and my character’s peril. It is not in regards to any brush with death I personally experienced.
That being said, last week my Wizard died at the close of the climactic battle with the chapter’s Villain. My friends were able to revive him, and I was grateful for the opportunity to keep playing a character I’d been developing for the past several real-world years.
What I did not expect was my friends planning a surprise both for me and my returning Wizard during last night’s game, where the aftermath of the climactic battle was addressed.
I won’t go into great detail, but the short version is that they’d been planning between last week and last night to recap what my Wizard experienced in that mystical place between life and death before returning. It’s a classic storytelling trope and one I rather enjoy, so imagine my delight when I realized what was happening.
Beyond the cleverness of the scene and how narratively satisfying it was, I was made speechless by my friends planning this little surprise for me. Last week I wrote at length about attachments that get formed to characters played in years-long campaigns, and to have my friends go that extra mile to turn the poor luck of a dice roll into something narratively significant was overwhelming in the best possible way.
Sometimes, something as simple as remembering you are seen by the people closest to you can be the most incredible feeling in the world. And my friends gave me that last night.