Dungeons and Dragons

     Hello.  Today I’m writing about Dungeons and Dragons.  

     The past couple years or so I’ve had a growing interest in D&D.  I had seen a couple YouTube videos, listened to some podcasts, and browsed a few websites online that had me very interested.  It was a game like nothing I had ever really seen before and a storytelling medium that I hadn’t ever seen before either.  However, it never really came up in conversation with my nerd friends and I never ended up voicing interest in it.  Playing it would require a couple expensive books, at least three people, and a large amount of time, which were all things that initially dissuaded me.  Recently, I’ve been very lucky to find a group of people willing to play with me.  It came up among conversation with one of my oldest guy friends and before too long I had a group of people including: that friend I talked to, one of his friends, my girlfriend, her Dad, and one of my newest guy friends and possibly his Dad.  From what I’ve seen and heard it’s always the most fun to play D&D with good friends or people you’ve known for a long time. Don’t be dumb like me, don’t hesitate to ask your friends, your girlfriend or boyfriend, and your family if they’re interested in playing because you may be surprised.  Another thing to mention that may be helpful is that the expensive couple books you need to play are probably available online.  I downloaded the Player’s Handbook for fifth edition D&D to my phone as a PDF for free, and I don’t doubt that the other books are available that way as well.  

     Here’s a small summary of D&D for those of you that don’t know what it is.  D&D is a game where a group of at least three and up to twelve or so friends can sit around a table with some paper and a pencil and weave together epic tales in a high fantasy setting.  D&D has no pieces or game boards (although you could easily use a map to represent where the characters are at any moment) instead you play with just some paper containing the details about your character, a pencil, and access to a couple rulebooks.  D&D is a roleplaying game, but it doesn’t require a ton of imagination as you may think.  The backstory for a character might be as short as saying your race, class, where they come from, and their motivation for adventuring, or it could be as long or detailed as you like, with many different influences from their past affecting the character’s choices in the game.  Each player has their own personalized character, with their own race, class and backstory, and no two characters are exactly alike.  One player instead of having a character will be the Dungeonmaster.  The DM describes in detail the different places characters may go and what happens to them, they’re the general orchestrater of the storyline, however players can greatly affect the story as well by making drastic or unexpected decisions that could greatly alter your small band of adventurers, or the entire world you’re inhabiting.  As the adventure goes on your character gains experience points and starts to level up; doing so can cause their ability statistics to go up, and their access to more powerful skills.  It’s this way that not only does the story constantly progress, but so does the power of your character and their personality development.  

     It is possible for your character to die in a tragic fall off a cliff, or in battle with a group of demons, but it isn’t the end for the player.  In a high fantasy world like D&D it’s entirely possible to have your character magically resurrected, but a player could easily just join the same group of remaining companions as a new character, in the same storyline.  I’ve created two characters so far that I’m interested in playing at some point.  Eogis is a Blueveined Tempest Knight.  Being a blueveine means that you’re human, but you have a noticeably large or glowing blue vein that flows with magical blood.  You gain magical powers from it, but the vein spreads as you age and will kill you long before you reach sixty.  As a Tempest Knight, Eogis is proficient with weapons like swords and battleaxes, but also fights with the powers of lightning and thunder.  He’s haunted by a great monster that killed his family and the order of knights he was trained in, so he’s started adventuring to maybe find this beast and kill it, but he’s a protector to all the races against monsters, and ultimately a force for good.  My second character is Ignatius, a Phoelarch Untouchable Blade.  A Phoelarch is a humanoid that’s descended from the phoenix, giving him bright orange skin, feathers for hair, and the ability to burst into light and fire.  If he dies, he leaves a small black egg which will eventually hatch into a Phoera, a bird similar to a phoenix wit all his memories and his personality.  As an Untouchable Blade, he is very skilled with using one handed slashing weapons, and has learned skills like parrying an attack, and counterattacking, making him a very quick and useful force on the battlefield.  He’s come from the Plane of Fire, hoping to find adventure and something to fight for.  

     As you can see, the possibilities for your character are endless.  D&D is very unique that way, it put’s unique characters in a unique setting and let’s them do whatever they want, creating an epic fantasy tale that could last for a day, or months.  If you’re at all interested in playing, I recommend reading the Player’s Handbook online and of course, don’t be afraid to ask those around you if they’re interested.  Bye.