Married to a GM

I am a gamer in my own right, I enjoy playing tabletop RPGs in various systems and in many different settings.  But when you are married to a GM you end up playing systems and in settings you don’t like if they need more players (as you often do).  I have found myself playing in campaigns I find nearly painful out of love for my husband multiple times.

I am married to a Call of Cthulhu mad man.  Call of Cthulhu is the system I dislike playing most.  I’ve gone mad and been eaten by possessed/evil/evil possessed things more times than I like to think about.  I feel like there is no way to win CoC. I don’t mind losing, but if I have no hope of there ever being a good ending it’s hard for me to invest in a game.  But when there just aren’t enough players it becomes my job to fill in the gaps.  I know the system, I know the rules, I understand what the setting is, I’ve got my own dice so I have to fill that empty seat at the table.  If he has a new campaign that he’s written and needs to test it, I’m always in the first go around and a lot of times I’m in the second and third too.

If I get out of playing in a CoC campaign, either due to having enough players or because I’ve earned a reprieve for the night or because we just can’t find a sitter, I do get to help brainstorm for the campaign or help make props.  Once I even got to be a secret helper in a CoC campaign and moved things around and made noises, I even put a cow tongue on a player’s character sheet when he was out of the room.  I get to help set the mood, and that is one of my favorite parts of being a GM’s spouse.

Now, it’s not all CoC all the time, there are other systems that he runs and I happily participate in those (even RIFFS, although I hate making characters in that system).  Because my husband is such an RPG nut I get to experience lots of different systems that your standard role player might not get to dabble in.  Because he has forced me into systems and situations outside of my comfort zone he has made me a better role player.  I am quicker to adapt and end up knowing a bit about every system, even if it’s one I've never played, because he has talked at length about it.

I know some GMs that can’t resist telling their significant other details of their campaigns even when their significant other is playing in the campaign.  Not my husband.  He won't even leave his notes lying about on the off chance I might see them.  I’m never given an edge, he doesn’t go easy on me, he doesn't save my character from a terrible death or a fate worse than death just because I’m his wife, and frankly, I appreciate that.  At that table, with the battle mat out and dice at the ready, I’m just another player and he’s just another GM.  

Unless it’s CoC.  Then he’s a terrible person and I’m there against my will.