I'm not particularly old (turning 27 in december), I don't have any degenerative brain disease (as far as I know), and I have not crashed against a pole since at least two weeks ago (I tell ya, those poles should watch their step, always crashing into people).
Yet during our gaming session last saturday, I spent the better part of an hour DMing the wrong story, including NPCs, sites, and encounters that had absolutely nothing to do with the campaign we were playing.
And the group just played along with it!
<Shakes angry fist>
As it turns out, I figured something was wrong when one of the players didn't know how to answer something that was patently obvious -for me-; of course there was a dragon in the tower! What tower? I don't know! There never was a tower in the story, nor a dragon, nor a wizard named Wulfgar!
Apparently, I had a mental lagoon and started the session convinced we were going through part of a very old campaign I ran during my AD&D years in school, one that I never finished. Then the whole party noticed and decided to play along with it. I like to think they did it to avoid making me look ridiculous, but I'm quite sure the objective was exactly the opposite.
Ah, the tricks of the mind. Poor old Wulfgar never got to use his dragon.
I'm not particularly old (turning 27 in december), I don't have any degenerative brain disease (as far as I know), and I have not crashed against a pole since at least two weeks ago (I tell ya, those poles should watch their step, always crashing into people).
Yet during our gaming session last saturday, I spent the better part of an hour DMing the wrong story, including NPCs, sites, and encounters that had absolutely nothing to do with the campaign we were playing.
And the group just played along with it!
<Shakes angry fist>
As it turns out, I figured something was wrong when one of the players didn't know how to answer something that was patently obvious -for me-; of course there was a dragon in the tower! What tower? I don't know! There never was a tower in the story, nor a dragon, nor a wizard named Wulfgar!
Apparently, I had a mental lagoon and started the session convinced we were going through part of a very old campaign I ran during my AD&D years in school, one that I never finished. Then the whole party noticed and decided to play along with it. I like to think they did it to avoid making me look ridiculous, but I'm quite sure the objective was exactly the opposite.
Ah, the tricks of the mind. Poor old Wulfgar never got to use his dragon.
I'm imagining Klaus taking out his D&D Red Box and explaining to the group about Thaco...
Ultradan
How long did you go on believing you where playing in a campaign that was not the current one? Whatever the answer is that is some seriously crossed wires.
I'd actually be concerned if this sort of thing (anything involving really unusual events surrounding your memory) crops up again without a serous lapse of time in between. Like go see a doctor concerned.
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Are you SURE you are only 27? Maybe you are really older but are starting to remember only the old times while forgetting the new ones. ;)
Are you saying that it is truly the year 2078 and all this is just me remembering that time I posted in the Paizo forums 67 years ago about believing I was DMing a campaign I actually ran in 1998? Oh noes, the recursivity!
I'm imagining Klaus taking out his D&D Red Box and explaining to the group about Thaco...
DM: So you attack him? Are you sure? His AC is -2! You'll need a pretty good roll.
Player: <Pokerface>How long did you go on believing you where playing in a campaign that was not the current one? Whatever the answer is that is some seriously crossed wires.
I'd actually be concerned if this sort of thing (anything involving really unusual events surrounding your memory) crops up again without a serous lapse of time in between. Like go see a doctor concerned.
About 30-45 minutes, I think. I was honestly absolutely convinced we were playing that campaign (and since for the last 5-6 sessions I've decided to stop using laptops for DMing -I'm returning to the "physical books only and clear tables" method of the old days- and I didn't have my notes with me, I didn't get conflicting info until my players starter acting oddly). And I agree, that was some serious lagoon.
First time something like that ever happens, except for one time about 5-6 years ago when I woke up thinking I had to prepare the shopping list for the pharmacy (I have never worked at a pharmacy, by the way) and I was quite concerned about the fact I couldn't remember what drugs to order.
I'm not saying you need help or anything, but just thought I'd pass on my recent experiences with weird memory things. In 1986, I suffered a massive emotional and mental breakdown, the echoes of which never fully went away. Then, in 2006, it happened again. This time I was older and had medical coverage, so I actually sought help. After years of medical and psychiatric counseling, I'm mostly able to handle things, although it's doubtful I'll ever be returning to work again.
Having said that, your story reminds me a little of something that's been happening to me the last year or so. Sometimes, I can't tell if something I'm remembering is an actual memory or something I've dreamt. The obvious things like flying or talking to cats are dreams, but I have very vivid dreams about "normal" things and then can't tell what's what.
It's damned aggravating, let me tell ya.
So, I'm not a doctor, a shrink, a sleep expert, or even particularly smart, so feel free to take what I"m about to say with a grain of salt.
Have you been operating lately with a consistently-low amount of sleep? I had this friend and roommate in college, and he had this strange thing that would happen when he was really running on low amounts of sleep for extended periods of time. He'd seemingly wake up and be functioning. He'd walk around, talk to you, all the normal stuff, but he'd just have these strange ideas or hangups about stuff. For instance, one time he woke up in the middle of the night while me and a few other guys were hanging out. I thought he was fully awake, but he kept talking about the toaster, how it was broken. "Why does it keep burning my toast?" Over and over, and over. No one was having toast. This happened for what felt like a really long time (probably 30 minutes or so). Me and my other friends were having a great time with it, but he was dead-serious. He could not figure out what the deal was with the toaster (which was fine, by the way).
We were able to put it together the next day, but he had been having some dream where apparently the toaster burnt two or three attempts at making toast. I don't know if this was a focus of the dream or just something that happened in the dream. And his brain didn't fully wake up when he got up, so he couldn't tell that he wasn't having the dream anymore, and we couldn't' convince him that he wasn't fully awake.
It was weird.