Back To The Dragons: A Prologue

I have played Dungeons and Dragons for more than 20 years.

Still beautiful after all these years.

Well, that's not entirely true. I started with D&D back when I was 9 years old, out of the Black Box that promised "Epic Adventures with Wizards, Dragons, and Magic" which I realize now is a very redundant promise. Over the next two decades I'd play a lot of D&D, too much Palladium, tons of Shadowrun, more than enough World of Darkness and a smattering of other systems such as Paranoia!, Traveller, and countless other 1 off pen and papers that didn't last the RPG boom. I spent years introducing the hobby to new people and have game mastered more adventures than I care to count (thousands?) and overall have found pen and paper RPGs to be a fun and fulfilling way to spend time with friends. I always found my way back to D&D, though.

My significant other does not share my opinion. She's been a good sport for a long time about my hobby, but that's mostly because she didn't really have to see me actually playing D&D  and doing goblin voices.  A couple of years ago, my gaming group temporarily played at our house and she was exposed to the hobby in it's true form. She did not play with us, though, and the group eventually disbanded due to time constraints and shifting priorities.

Now, almost four years later, I am starting up a new game, hesitantly dipping my toe back into the hobby with "Pathfinder," a third-party D20 game that is basically a better version of D&D 3.5, as I am still something of an edition snob and have little interest in D&D 4 or D&D Next. My goal is to get a good small group of four players to run a setting that I created myself several years ago for a previous D&D game. Looking back on my notes now, the setting looks a little clumsy, so my brother and I have been adapting and building on the skeleton of that world to make it more accessible, high-fantasy, and fun to play in.

Somehow, I have convinced my girlfriend to play. I'm not sure what magic I've wrought this time around, but she has actually made a character (claiming to help us "alpha test" some setting stuff my brother and I are devising) that I think she'll end up playing regularly. I'm pretty thrilled at the prospect of sharing this hobby with my partner - especially since she has decided to play a Kobold.

You walked into the wrong neighborhood, motherfucker.

I've always had a soft spot for the sadistic little bastards of D&D lore, Kobolds, and my own setting includes a slightly less murderous off-shoot of Kobolds more balanced for players to use. I shamelessly used the little draconian assholes as constant foes for low level parties due the the fact they are the best thing ever. I'm excited to see how my partner handles playing a D&D as one of the most maligned races to ever exist.

Just last night, we ran something of a prologue for her character (A Flames Mystery Oracle that currently has no gender and is named "Prek" or "Pre-Kay" alternatively) that was designed to get her familiar with the combat in D&D. Watching her scratch her brow to figure out what the hell was going on was entertaining, and she took to the "make-believe" aspects faster than I thought she might. She loves games like The Elder Scrolls and Fallout, so it's not as though this is unknown territory for her.

Not actually my girlfriend. My girlfriend is not a drawing.

Watching her struggle against one goblin (who got really good rolls, no joke) made me remember how much of D&D is essentially a "military skirmish simulator." Take turns moving, attacking, casting spells, and navigating terrain why hoping you don't die- to an outsider like my partner (who we will call Celes, to protect her identity), this does look suspiciously like "Graph Paper- THE GAME." She valiantly tried to strategize, even fleeing the dungeon to hire a local NPC as a meat-shield, but struggled throughout the encounter (a whopping six goblins over 4 rooms) due to the fact that a lucky roll can execute a first level character if they aren't prepared. I didn't fudge or doctor any rolls, even the string of 20's rolled by one goblin who was apparently a secret ninja the whole time, and it lead to some interesting moments -- a goblin laying prone on the ground botches his save against her kobold oracles mini-fire breath but only takes two damage: "He would have dodged the flames, if he hadn't lifted his face directly into them and inhaled sharply." This, she found entertaining. I made a careful note to include some low-AC undead for the next session so that she can waste them with her favorite spell, "Magic Stone" and get a feel for what it's like to stomp through an encounter.

In the end, she managed to liberate the mine of its incredibly small group of goblin invaders (a pack? a horde? a murder? What is the plural?) and claim the whopping 25 gold bounty. She collected about a thousand experience and seemed to enjoy herself. I am hoping to get a game up and running quickly so she can experience party dynamics and have a couple of thugs between her and the gibbering hordes.

Because Shadowrun is awesome.

I haven't told her I plan on keeping a blog about returning to the hobby, the development of our setting, and her adventures as a first-time-gamer. I'm excited to see how my long-time best friend, roommate, and sexy-times partner takes to the hobby that led me to a more creative life and developed many of the writing and creative skills I use every day.

I'm prepared to embarass myself beyond salvation telling epic tales of dwarven politics and draconian machinations because, frankly, I love to do so. It can be a bit of a time sink, I know, and I plan to set solid boundries with any group this time around (no more twice a week games that run until 2 am) and spend some time developing the world of The Coin once again. The setting we are building has a special place in my heart as the most detailed fantasy world I'd ever built for game -- So much so I've contemplated just writing novellas in it rather than gaming in it. I'll spare you the details for now (but not for long, I'm afraid) and focus primarily on the experience of coming back to game after a long absence.

You know, on relfection, I think she might have liked playing Shadowrun more, to be honest.