Sitting down to play today, aiming to brush up my knowledge of GURPS and mess around with some simple combats, I found myself having a visceral and angry moment as I opened up my laptop.

The intent was to boot up GCS and create a couple of low-points warriors, print them off, and set to with dice and minis. The reality was that I resented that act of lifting the lid on the computer.

As marvellous as tools like GCS are – allowing us to build complex characters and handing off all the maths to the machine – the reality is that I miss the tactile enjoyment of doing it myself. I want to hold a pencil, scribe on paper, and let my imagination flow. The digital action is an impediment to my process of creativity.

The computer is really good for editing your ideas, and it’s really good for getting your ideas ready for publishing out into the world, but it’s not really good for generating ideas. There are too many opportunities to hit the delete key. The computer brings out the uptight perfectionist in us – we start editing ideas before we have them.

Austin Kleon, “Steal Like An Artist” (2012), page 58

Here’s my suggestion: grab a pencil and some paper, a notebook even (if you are brave enough to risk filling it). Write down an idea for a character. Describe them with words. Imagine them in your mind. Sketch them, if that’s the way you like to picture things. But do it with your own hands. Reach out and create them with your very own digits.

Imagine the thing you want to create first. Draw those ideas down onto the paper. Pencils are great because they feel less permanent, softer on the page, lighter and filled with possibility as tools. Describe, sketch, outline. Capture the seed of the thing first. Then begin to add definition.

For me, the application of the rules comes later but it still comes by hand. What qualities am I going to define? I sketch out some possibilities, dropping loose numbers onto the page. Perhaps they are this strong, or that smart. They might have this or that trait, skill, or ability. But it’s still a mutable, changeable thing of possibility.

I’m not even sure I really need the “character sheet” anymore. The page of my notebook can contain the essence of my character. The numbers might well benefit from being copied up onto a single piece of paper, but the real creation exists inside my head. If the numbers don’t reflect my imagined reality then I can change them… and I will.

I closed that bloody laptop pronto. I went in search of a pencil. I reminded myself of how much more enjoyable it is to create and play with my own two hands. I also allowed myself to pick up the older Third Edition of the book. That’s how I had to play when I began this hobby in the 80’s; it’s how I choose to play now I am older.

Game on!