I am a child of the 70s (it says so right there in my profile description). So it would be no surprise if I decided to write a nostalgic post about D&D when it was at it heights in the 1980s. Considering that I have already written 1600 words on made for TV movies starring Ewoks, it would also not shock anyone if I decided to write about the terrible Dungeons and Dragons cartoon that aired from 1983-1985.
I was going to use a far cooler and more modern image of D&D... but I am neither cool or modern.
But I am not going to do that.
I am writing this post because I need to ask a question about Dungeons and Dragons today.
In addition to asking a real question, this post is also a gauge at just how geeky I really am. Am I geeky enough to attract the attention of other geeks who can answer my question? Am I geeky enough for non-geeks to smile and shake their head in disbelief over my copious amounts of geekness? Am I geeky enough to cause trolls to want to tear me apart in the comments for being such a loser?
Because I am a geek, I married a geek (I am a very lucky man). We then had two children who we are raising in the way of the Geek. And it is a raging success! They can't get enough Harry Potter and Star Wars. We all go to comic book shops and toy conventions. We wear T-Shirts featuring cartoon characters and witty puns. We listen to audio books in the car and attend opening weekend of every Marvel movie. And now, our family also plays... Dungeons and Dragons.
There's nothing quite like dooming your children to a lifetime of playing geeky games in their parents' basement to ensure you will never win the father of the year award.
My god! What have we done!
A few years ago, my geeky son begged his geeky dad to play Dungeons and Dragons with him. This was before I became addicted to Steem so I had quite a bit of time on my hands. I had never been a dungeon master before so I had to do quite a bit of research. I managed to fumble my way through most of a campaign. My son had fun and we put it away.
This summer, he began to play with his friends. Sadly, they could never play regularly as their dungeon master was not very reliable. The group asked my 13 year old son to become the dungeon master. He refused. It is not that he does not want to take over, he simply doesn't feel qualified. He does not want to let his buddies down by taking on such a huge responsibility without some practice.
What is the safest way to practice? By making your family your guinea pigs.
And that is exactly what we have become: three of the geekiest guinea pigs you will ever see.
Actual family photo
My wife and 11 year old daughter had never played the game before. They had a great time creating their characters. My daughter had an especially fun time drawing her character and writing a very thorough back story for Dawn (who is a human Druid who is a 21 year old version of my wife).
When it came time to create my character, I made sure to capitalize on an inside joke my son have had running since the start of the summer. After I completed my human, criminal, chaotic neutral, wizard, my son asked what I would name him. I informed him that I had just given birth to...
Rick Sanchez!!!!!!
If anyone knows of a spell that will make enemies get schwifty, that would be cool.
Wubba lubba dub dub!!!
My son has done a great job of running the introductory campaign ( Lost Mine of Phandelver). My daughter is actually having the most fun of all of us and constantly asks to play. But it takes my son quite a bit of time to prepare for each session.
So here are my real questions: