"As your character opens the door he sees a large, scaly beast. Its jaws open, spilling green saliva upon the stone-tiled floor. Its talons make a blood-chilling noise as they scrape against the stone for traction. The horrible monster is clearly three times the size of your Sprite and it looks hungry. Before you can react, it charges."

"Can I retreat down the hallway?" Scott questions as he glances at his character sheet, assessing his current health.

"You can try, but the beast appears to be very fast." I respond.

"Where are the other characters?" He queries, cringing, as he knows the answer.

"They are asleep around the campfire several rooms to the south." I said. "Remember that you left them during your watch to pilfer treasure."

"Oh yeah." He paused for a moment and picked up his initiative die. "Well, I have to attack."

"Roll your initiative", I instruct as I toss my d6 on the table. The creature won.

"The beast moves forward and opens its massive jaws." Picking up my attack die I start to toss it to the table when suddenly the doorbell rings.

"It's Fast Eddy", Paul shouts as he opens the door. With a smile, a nod, and a healthy tip, Paul eagerly returns to the table carrying a pizza box, a bag of sodas, and some hoagies (or sandwiches for those who do not understand the terminology).

At that moment the game stops and our group begins to devour the food that we had ordered from our neighborhood deli. And for the next half-hour the room is filled with laughter and anecdotes from the daily chores. Yes, there were a view vocal jabs like, "eat up Scott, so the beast can fill its belly" or "hey Scott, it's your character's last meal", but Scott takes it in fun and laughs.

When the feast is done we will return to the game and dice out the combat, but first things first. After all, why do we game? Well, our group plays because we enjoy it (of course) but it also gives us time to catch up on each other's lives, have some fun, crack some jokes, and enjoy some entertainment. Did the huge, fanged beast eat Scott's character? Well, that's another story. That point is we spent time as friends, played for several hours, and enjoyed ourselves. And that is what gaming is all about.

Written by Mark Kibbe of Basement Games, Co-Creator of the Forge: Out of Chaos RPG and World of Juravia, http://www.basementgames.com