I suppose I try to live a life that one could call noble. I try to do the best I can and to make a difference in my little corner of the world. That said, I don’t exactly jump on my white horse looking for damsels in distress or dragons to slay. Likewise, very often there is a cost to noble actions. Sometimes you have to weigh the potential downside because real life is filled with plenty of consequences and peril. This becomes more difficult when we have responsibilities to other people.

Role playing games offer us the opportunity to experience, witness, and participate in moments of extreme nobility. It’s my opinion that these are best when they are not contrived or engineered but emerge naturally due to the decisions the characters make in tough situations.

Some of my favorite moments in RPGs involve moments of sacrifice or heroism. Some involve characters making sacrifices to make the world a better place, a world which they will never have the opportunity to enjoy. Others involve characters taking a stand, sometimes against impossible odds, when they are ready to say enough is enough and they draw the line in the sand. Whatever the circumstances, these moments are always moving & memorable.

It is in these kind of moments that I find inspiration. Sometimes I wish that I was as brave as our characters. But sometimes, I think that each noble act that we take or witness in our games helps us to be a little braver and more noble in our own lives.