So we’re off to the beach this weekend, the whole crazy lot of us. Of course, we’re taking our role playing game with us — which reminds me of the link between gamers and writers.

Many writers find that they enjoy role-playing games. The concept is quite similar: invent an imaginary world, people it with characters, and run them into trouble. The only difference is that you’re using dice instead of just your mind (that’s the “game” part of the thing: the random factor).

I’ve actually used role-playing techniques to come up with ideas for stories or conflicts before. After all, if you’ve got the dice, why not use them, right? You can find almost anything online, too. Random town name generators, random map generators, random treasure generators … there are even random “monster” encounter generators. I’ve used all of the above when I need a good fight scene, or a McGuffin for the readers to worry about.

So, as I said, we’re going to be spending a good part of our vacation off in our own little world, making up stories. The only difference is that we’re not writing them down and trying to publish them.

Oh, and there’s no internet at the beach house, so I may or may not be able to keep up the daily short-shorts. There’s wifi at the local bookstore, though, so I’ll plan at least a couple of big posts on writing and what-have-you.

Do any of you play games? Which ones?