Dungeons and Dragons
By Aimee on
Growing up, whenever I heard of Dungeons and Dragons I just thought of it as this really nerdy thing people played in basements. That’s the way it was always depicted. I’ve always loved medieval fantasy and growing up it was pretty much all I would read. When A friend first introduced me to Dungeons and Dragons I was still a little sceptical but willing to give it a shot. Then I fell in love. The creation of characters that you role play, the in depth stories you come up with. The friends you hang out with and all the laughter that comes with it. I was hooked. When another friend recently said, hey! we should do a campaign I eagerly threw my hand into the air. Sam and I were so excited we rolled our characters that night. It took a bit to remember how it was done as it had been a year or so since making a character. Once I got into it though I ended up helping not just Sam but a number of other party members. So far we have only had two evenings playing but looking forward to the silly adventuring that will happen on our characters journeys. So who are these characters?
The adventurers! aka The Merry Men of Muffin
Max Littlefoot: A half-elf ranger who’s lived her life mostly on the streets of Neverwinter as an urchin, and the woods nearby. Stealthy, and good with a bow she mostly keeps to herself and talks to her pet mouse Sammy. Growing up with very little she tends to take what she wants and has a habit of hiding food and trinkets in her clothing. She decided she wanted more from life than scuttling the streets and believes in her skills. She heard of a man called Gundren who was seeking adventurers and met a motley crew at a tavern.
Roland Slug: The youngest of twelve in a noble dwarf family, Roland slug was sent to study under a druidic order whilst his elder siblings were groomed to inherit the family fortune. He has a natural talent for but because of his race was looked down upon. Feeling segregated and tired of the order he set off to seek his own fortune and prove his merit. He believes in both his ancestral and educational skills but wishes to display his own value as a free elf… uh, dwarf. When he isn’t squashing people with his war hammer he is biting off heads as a Hyena.
King Gizzard the Lizard Wizard: As his name suggests he is a wizard of fine ability and the hide of the blue dragon-born, although not a true king but a king of the entertaining world. He leaves lovers in his wake and is trying to run from his past. He recently acquired a staff of glass with wondrous magical abilities and tends to burn his enemies to the ground with his infamous burning hands. When magic isn’t in use he will knock you stupid with his quarterstaff. Fierce yet friendly it is best not to get on his bad side.
Sibrar Korsk: He can stare down a hell hound without flinching, but when it comes time to battle or crash through a door he crit-fails 95% of the time. He tends to give soldiers a bad name.
Dorf the Bard: A tiefling with no last name, all to add to the illusion. He loves a good insult, even one directed at him and enjoys delivering them with flair. Not satisfied with passively telling tales or being seen as a common minstrel. Dorf believes a true bard crafts his own sagas through the thrill of adventure and wants to forge his own tales and star in his own ballads.
Callie Thorngage: A new addition to the group is the halfling light foot. She might be pint sized but that doesn’t stop her from scaling walls, jumping through windows, and shooting you through the eye and blinding you with her crossbow. A highly valued member who helped save the druid and attack a dragon. She may also dabble in thievery and document forging. She comes from a noble family and hopes to reclaim her land one day. She is also a romantic deep down and falls in and out of love easily.
The Dungeon Master
He is the unseen god, the storyteller, the monsters you battle, and the referee. Our DM is the only other person, besides myself, that has played Dungeons and Dragons before and knows his stuff. We have begun the campaign of ‘Lost Mine of Phandelver’ which comes with the starter set but as most of us are starters, it works well. He sets the scene and draws up the battles on large grids so we know where we are. If a player tries to do something he will allow it with a roll, and sometimes just because he wishes to see what will happen. Then hands out inspiration points for things done particularly well, like the interrogation of a ruffian.
Basic Rules
Your 20 sided dice is king! If you want to stealth up to a foe, you roll that dice. Depending on the number you roll you may succeed in stealthily walking around the enemy or tripping over your own foot and landing in a clattering heap. You roll the d20 (20 sided dice) when figuring out what order you fight in, you roll it to see if your attack hits and for a number of other things. Each person has a character sheet which has their skills, who they are, their belongings/equipment and the damage they do with their weapons or spells etc. It also has a bit of their history and their flaws etc. which all goes into helping the player to be able to role play properly. With the above characters we all had our own hand in creating them. They may, or may not, suit our own personalities and that’s half the fun. So we start with a group of people that start going on an adventure, we talk to the people we meet and we battle bad guys and monsters. Sometimes though we can fight good guys, make tavern brawls, get rowdy, pray to gods/goddesses, buy stuff and all the things you would normally do on a regular medieval magical adventure but generally trying to follow quests.
Why It’s for Everyone
It isn’t just for the nerds. Yes I’m a bit nerdy and so are most of my friends, but I do think it can be played by anyone. It is something that I have wanted to bring into classrooms for students. It is storytelling, creativity, basic maths with your dice rolls, acting and improvisation. The characters let you become someone else, for a short time. Let you try things you wouldn’t normally do and I can honestly say I laugh the most when playing. Other members come up with some crazy ideas and you can kind of go wild and let go. It helps with team work too, you do need to come up with solutions and work together. People who aren’t normally into this kind of thing do find they have a blast playing. You should all check out the youtube clip of Vin Diesel playing Dungeons and Dragons. It’s hilarious. You can check it out here.