Saturday, December 17, 2011

RPG White Elephant Gift Exchange: Who Wants In?

So in a discussion today with my wife about the origin of White Elephant gift exchanges, I had an interesting idea...

If you're like me, you've ended up with rulebooks and the like, mostly orphaned from their original boxes or sets, or that you just don't like or have extra copies of. I propose moderating a RPG White Elephant Gift Exchange wherein:

1) Those interested send me a brief description of the item they're throwing in for the gift exchange (Secretly! Do not post in comment box! Do not send me actual item!) I also suggest that items be in at least a fine or better condition and be "moderately" worthwhile. (Nothing in "poor" condition, stained, ripped up by your dog, colored by your kids, etc.; also nothing like a single character sheet or a couple of throwaway MTG cards; but something like an 18x24 map, or a sheet of unpunched counters might be okay. Be reasonable and be considerate. White elephant doesn't mean "ef all." Also, no copies of originals or printouts of PDFs.)

2) Once the "enrollment" period has closed (maybe Tuesday, midnight CST?), I will create two lists - A) a randomly assigned list of numbers that correspond to "wrapped" (hidden) gifts, and B) a separate random list of names for the draw order.

3) The name on the draw list chooses a number from the (blank) gift list, at which point I will list the "gift" next to the drawer's name and "cross out" the number from the list.

4) The next draw may either "steal" a previously drawn gift, or choose a new (blank) number from the list. A gift may only be stolen twice before it is "locked." If someone has their gift stolen, they must then choose a number from the list. They may not steal from someone else after they have had their gift stolen. (Allowing that creates a much more tedious resolution and takes longer, and let's face it, we don't have that much time before the weekend.)

5) Drawing continues until all have gone, at which point I will reconcile the list, providing the original giver of each gift with the mailing information of the final recipient of their gift. It is up to each original gift giver to then mail that item to it's final destination.

Since I'm proposing moderating this, I will present two options for my participation to be chosen by those who participate. I can either: A) throw a gift in too, but just take the last unchosen number (no stealing for me, wouldn't be fair) whatever it may be, or B) just moderate without participating.

Who's in?

1 comment:

  1. I'll take it that this is an interesting idea in theory (given the number of page views it's gotten) but not in practicality (given that I've had nary a nibble on the idea.) Don't worry, I've already signed the "Do Not Resuscitate" order.

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