Afterword
Let me first thank the laudable readers who were kind enough to pick up this book. Following you, allow me to offer my deepest gratitudes to my patient editor who never once lost their temper at my slow progress, and the splendid Lansane, who embellished this story with gorgeous illustrations from cover to cover. And of course, thanks to all of you who watered me with your thoughts as I wrote the web novel on Narou—I’m quite prone to withering, after all.
Above all else, I’m thankful for the companies that develop the TRPGs that have acted as the foundation for countless stories and adventures. I can only hope I’ve been able to honor the tabletop games that I’ve enjoyed for years in some small way.
I remember drowning in the mountain of rulebooks we’d stuffed into the cupboard of a messy four-tatami-mat (or was it six?) room; before I knew it, we were rolling dice in a slightly larger apartment as the neighbors yelled at us to be quiet; and one day I found myself playing with enough space to line three tables up next to one another. Looking back, it’s been a long journey since I graduated from our decrepit little cave.
“Man, I want to draft up a character sheet and roll some comically oversized dice,” I’d groan at work. Being the strange creature that I am, I simply wrote as it took my fancy until I found myself in an astonishing place: with a paperback book full of drawings, I too can now claim to be a fully-fledged author.
If nothing else, let me address my old school friends who egged me on by saying, “You’re going to turn your pompous ramblings into a light novel? Don’t make me laugh. Hurry up and write the next part of our campaign.” I’ll return the favor by reaching through time to ask, Do you see me now???
With that out of the way, I’d like to touch on the subject of TRPGs like a good afterword should. Every now and again, I received comments on the web novel from people who were not at all acquainted with the concept. This should go without saying; it isn’t exactly a ubiquitous hobby (though it is unbelievably popular compared to the days of its inception) and requires several people to truly enjoy. Still, I can’t think of any other activity that’s as much fun to enjoy with a big group.
It’s akin to acting out a play that has story beats but no script, where the GM and players are trying to kill one another but still working in tandem to weave a story together. Both you and others will vicariously enjoy the tale through characters near and dear to your heart: you’ll laugh, cry, bask in glory, and sometimes trash talk each other all night. Honestly, it’s hard to sum up in a single sentence.
There are perfectionist weirdos like me who use pen and paper to jot down everything from numbers to the setting in order to cause all sorts of mayhem. There are also hobbyists who don’t care for data and are only there to dive into their role. I find this troubling, but there exist warmongers who see the GM and other players as “opponents” to beat down for the thrill of triumph. And there are even some who simply use the medium as a tool to spend time having fun with the people they love. Tabletop games are a very, very tolerant pastime that will accept anyone and everyone.
Beyond that, there are enough genres to drown in. You have classic fantasies, settings where you might expect a dark something or other to reside in someone’s eye or left hand, worlds that threaten to chip at your sanity just by reading of their existence, and more.
I tried to list as many things as possible, but the depths of the hobby can’t be enumerated in the short space of an afterword alone, so I urge you to try your hand at it yourself. Relax, it’ll be fine: just as the road to hell is paved with good intentions, the path leading to the bottomless pit of tabletop games is easygoingness. A few minutes with the glowing slab of metal next to you is more than enough to find a place where you can enjoy a campaign.
Who knows? That might be the beginning of a lasting friendship—the kind where you listen to their drunken babbling even approaching your thirties. The fun of playing a role, writing a campaign, and letting dice decide your destiny may lead to something new.
With only a smidgen of space remaining, I finally realized that I completely forgot to talk about the story itself, but I hope you at least got a laugh out of my scatterbrained nature. I plan to continue Erich’s adventures online, and would be overjoyed if you kept up with the latest releases with the same nonchalance as reading somebody’s replays. If we get a chance to meet again, I’m sure those terrifying fairies will get their turn in the spotlight.
Now that that’s all said and done, thank you for accompanying the long-winded text of both the novel and afterword. I pray that I might be able to bring you more of Erich’s journey in the future.
[Tips] The author’s expected value when rolling 2D6 is 5 as a player and 9 as a GM.
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