I've been playing TTRPGs with the same group of loveable weirdos for nearly a decade now. Often when I tell people this I'm met with shock because the true villain of any given tabletop game isn't whatever BBEG your Dungeon Master has cooked up, but scheduling. From what I gather, most groups tend to start out really enthusiastically but dwindle over time until fizzling out completely because it's hard to get a group of people to meet together consistently unless you're really committed. I consider myself extremely lucky in that I ended up with a group of friends equally dedicated to collectively hallucinating bizzaro fantasy adventures on a weekly basis. Having that consistency really helped me get through the COVID-19 pandemic, when I was living alone and would often go weeks without talking to another human being outside my TTRPG group. So this one goes out to them. Here's to many more adventures!
Panel 1
A group of three medieval fantasy adventurers stand around in a cave, looking bored. One is a large man leaning against a sword, the other an elven woman with a lute, and the third is a cloaked figure.
Panel 2
An evil-looking lich and his skeleton minion stand in the same cave. The lich scratches his backside.
Panel 3
The lich and the sword wielding adventurer face each other nonchalantly in front of a door. The adventurer coughs
Panel 4
The lich and the adventurer continue to stand near each other, doing nothing.
Panel 5
A goblin witch comes through the door, holding a coffee.
Goblin: Sorry I'm late, folks!
Panel 6
Lester, Chauncey, Marla, and two of their friends sit around a table, ready to play a TTRPG. Lester, looking annoyed, sits behind the GM screen. Marla holds up a piece of paper and has a coffee in front of her.
Lester: Jesus, Marla, what took you so long?
Marla: I stopped to get coffee. Now give me a few minutes to select my spells and I'll be good to go!