My 14 year old is an evil cleric with aspirations of world domination.
At least his character is. Theroval the cleric. He’s an asshole. He has killed two beings, almost gotten all of us killed and argued every step of the way and he doesn’t care in the least. This, my friends, is our D&D.
When I first met my husband, I had played D&D (Dungeons and Dragons) exactly once and I was terrible at it. I was dating someone, who threw me into his weekly gaming session with very little information as to what I should do or what to expect. Nervous, terrified me listened to the 6 young men seated around the table who spoke so assuredly and weaved this intricate tale of vampires, rogues, orcs, wizards and elves. They all played their parts and one even dressed his part. I listened transfixed with their easy way of creating this imaginary world and as we entered our first battle I realized I would be forced to participate. My. Dear. God. As each person rolled their dice and took a turn, I was panicking. So by the time it got to me, everyone just got a lot of ummms and uhhhhs and any suggestions guys? (oh the anxiety of being an introverted extrovert). I couldn’t just let myself have fun with it because I was just too damn nervous.
My now husband began telling me about his D&D adventures very early on in our relationship. This time I was excited. For one, I had a very good teacher. For two, I thought I would be able to express myself and have more fun with this game since it would be just be me, him, and my oldest child participating. Cue my surprise and nervousness when I realized his brother and one of our friends would be joining in. We set everything up, I rolled up my character, created her backstory and took off into this world that my husband as DM (dungeon master) had created. The story: Four strangers involved in a plane crash. An island where it never stops raining. Zombie hoards, ghosts, time travel, soldiers, and the scramble to find out why we were there and how to get home. At one point in one of our sessions we were trapped in a flooded bunker with a horde of zombies streaming in. The only thing separating us from them was a chain link gate. The water was up to our waists. Something was brushing against our legs in the water. We battled with axes (my favorite) and guns barely escaping with our lives. It was intense, fun, and the most creative thing I had done in a long time.
Let’s be honest, this world is a real downer a good portion of the time. A decent portion of my adult life was just being tired and watching TV during the week. D&D allows us all to stretch our imaginations and work together. We have to take on these different personas, get inside our characters and think about how they would act. How they would feel. That does not always match what we would do ourselves. The creativity abounds. During the Satanic Panic of the eighties, religious groups touted that D&D encouraged Satanism and opened up young people to possession by demons. This was such bullshit. Unfortunately this gave D&D a less than stellar reputation. Parents were scared and this simple creative outlet for so many became something you did but didn’t talk about. There are so many good blogs and podcasts about the insanities during this time and one day I may add my own but today is not that day.
Wait, did I say simple? I didn’t mean it. I take it back. The game itself is so very complex. Please do not let that scare you away. By more complex, I mean the possibilities for what you can be and do are endless. Your world can be vast, filled with towns, mountain ranges, oceans and caverns just waiting to be explored. The more you immerse yourself into this world, the more fun it can be.
Watching my children create their own characters and make decisions for those characters, and work together (mostly) as a team fills me with joy. Over the weekend my husband suggested that I start chronicling our latest adventure and post it here on this blog. So, for those interested in our adventures and mishaps, there will be a new section of this blog for story time. Come join us. Laugh with us. Live our adventure through our words and share your thoughts with us. You’ll love Jubby the frightened knight, you will be shocked by Theravol, and you will get to read about me stumbling my way through as a Halfling thief. Some weeks my husband and I will switch roles. He will have his own character as well and I will lead the story. We have so many adventures yet to come and I am excited for each one.