So much of my gaming over the years has reflected the deep Materialism of our culture. That is to say, reflected the belief that matter and energy (and their interactions) are all that exists.

Sadly, despite being self-declaredly non-Materialist in my belief systems, I’ve found myself buried beneath that assumption. This has disenchanted my experience both in life and play. I suspect this is a phenomena that others have found: we tend to assume Materialism out of habit.

In my fantasy gaming especially, I am seeking to re-enchant my play. That is to say, to move towards a spiritual worldview in which all things are infused with life in a way that may not be physically quantifiable. To move away from the old D&D “stat blocks for everything” mode of thinking.

Right now, this is simply a goal for my play. I am open on methods to achieve this goal, although my suspicion is to move away from trying to quantify everything mechanistically – this is the Materialist mode of “mechanical” and “machine” thinking – and to instead find other metaphors and ways of interacting with the mysterious.

I’ll leave that thought here for now. I’ll come back it when I have some deeper answers.

Game on!