Saturday night was an important date in my diary: we had a new campaign to launch, I’d run a character creation session two weeks before, and I was keen to dive into a fresh process for prep inspired by Johnn Four’s “Wizard of Adventure” course.

But Saturday was the Father’s Day weekend. Two players said they were unlikely to make it. Another player had a serious personal event midweek and had gone understandably quiet. Worst of all, I wasn’t anywhere near prepped. I wrote about how I felt 15 minutes before the session and it wasn’t positive.

I decided to simply show up. We’d take things from there.

In the event, three of the four players attended. Initially, I felt an overwhelming sense of guilt at letting them down. Yet as I thought about it, I realised that I needed to simply accept the fact that I needed more time. As I relaxed and leaned into the opportunity to chat with my friends, I found myself enjoying the conversation.

We talked about stuff. Life, politics, religious practice, health, wellbeing, work… it was all on the table. And then we started talking about the game. Two players started to raise thoughts around their characters, and then tweak their sheets. Questions about the use of certain weapons in the world of the game gave rise to new lore. It was a rich conversation.

By the end, I was feeling a key tension: on the one hand, I felt disappointment in not being prepared when I had three great players ready to go; on the other hand, I realised that not being ready is not just ok but, in this case, gave rise to much deeper conversations about character design.

What’s my learning? Firstly, don’t be so hard on yourself. It’s ok to admit that we need more time to prepare a new campaign. Secondly, it’s beneficial to meet and talk when we can’t meet to play. Finally, remaining open to questions and suggestions makes my campaign worlds better.

Thanks to all the chaps, Saturday wasn’t quite a write-off after all.

Game on!