The Obligatory
"Play safe. Ski only in clockwise direction. Let's all have fun together."
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Hail, Kinnell, Half-Elf Druid
It's finally happened.
For years I had dallied in the languor of my own brand of lovable half-nerdiness. Nerdy enough to play 'Axis and Allies' and dig They Might Be Giants, but normal enough to oh, go out in public and not make an ass of myself.
Earlier this year, though, I started reading several 'graphic novels' and enjoyed them immensely. I flirted with MMO's, and was heavily addicted to World of Warcraft for about a year. But just this weekend, for the very first time, I played pen-and-paper Dungeons and Dragons.
Yes.
For a few amazing hours on Saturday morning, a few friends from work, along with a few new outsiders, sat in a conference room at G4, rolled up new characters, and got our first taste of the intricacies of the d20 roleplaying system.
And it was awesome.
Pretty much all throughout middle school, I'd wander to the 'games' section of my local mall's Waldenbooks, and pour through whatever Dungeons and Dragons manuals I could find. Sure, wizards were cool, and those weird psionicists sure looked complicated. But it was the solitary druid that always struck my fancy. While that may seem a fairly obvious choice for anyone who knows me now, keep in mind that in middle school I was neither a). a vegetarian or b). someone who went outside on his own accord.
But alas, no one (at least, that I knew of), also wanted to play this heavily stigmatized game, nor did we have the resources to buy all of the dice, figures, books, or anything else the game required.
And so it was with great joy that I filled out the character sheet for Kinnell, my new half-elf druid and his still-unnamed wolf companion. And it was with even greater joy that Kinnell journeyed into his first dungeons with my fellow adventurers, to use said wolf to tear the shit out of anything that stood in our way.
'Cause you know what? That game is pretty fun. Especially when you're playing with cool people. And it's not all olde-timey role playing, either. There's a surprising amount of strategy, tactics and teamwork that go on in that game. We'd spend a lot of time trying to figure out the best way to conquer a situation, and when we did, we were genuinely excited about it.
I honestly can't wait until the next time we play.
I'm also now taking bets on how long it takes before I go to some DnD convention dressed like this:
For years I had dallied in the languor of my own brand of lovable half-nerdiness. Nerdy enough to play 'Axis and Allies' and dig They Might Be Giants, but normal enough to oh, go out in public and not make an ass of myself.
Earlier this year, though, I started reading several 'graphic novels' and enjoyed them immensely. I flirted with MMO's, and was heavily addicted to World of Warcraft for about a year. But just this weekend, for the very first time, I played pen-and-paper Dungeons and Dragons.
Yes.
For a few amazing hours on Saturday morning, a few friends from work, along with a few new outsiders, sat in a conference room at G4, rolled up new characters, and got our first taste of the intricacies of the d20 roleplaying system.
And it was awesome.
Pretty much all throughout middle school, I'd wander to the 'games' section of my local mall's Waldenbooks, and pour through whatever Dungeons and Dragons manuals I could find. Sure, wizards were cool, and those weird psionicists sure looked complicated. But it was the solitary druid that always struck my fancy. While that may seem a fairly obvious choice for anyone who knows me now, keep in mind that in middle school I was neither a). a vegetarian or b). someone who went outside on his own accord.
But alas, no one (at least, that I knew of), also wanted to play this heavily stigmatized game, nor did we have the resources to buy all of the dice, figures, books, or anything else the game required.
And so it was with great joy that I filled out the character sheet for Kinnell, my new half-elf druid and his still-unnamed wolf companion. And it was with even greater joy that Kinnell journeyed into his first dungeons with my fellow adventurers, to use said wolf to tear the shit out of anything that stood in our way.
'Cause you know what? That game is pretty fun. Especially when you're playing with cool people. And it's not all olde-timey role playing, either. There's a surprising amount of strategy, tactics and teamwork that go on in that game. We'd spend a lot of time trying to figure out the best way to conquer a situation, and when we did, we were genuinely excited about it.
I honestly can't wait until the next time we play.
I'm also now taking bets on how long it takes before I go to some DnD convention dressed like this:
that one guy you know, 8:26 PM
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5 Comments:
Well met, Kinnell! Soon we shall be travelling across Eberron in search of fortune and fame, and yea, even across Material Planes! My gnomish bard Kerwicken will regale you with tales of Garl Glittergold and his sons! Huzzah!
One more piece of evidence that we really, really should have known each other in high school.
I would advise against that. Stay away from the costumes, Casey! Do you really want to show up as an object of mockery on the next X-Play LARPing segment?
I've still never played, but one of my close high school friends got into it after she graduated college as well. The rest of us had a good laugh about it for a day, and then it was just one of those things. I don't know if she's still playing though.
I think I'd be more into that sort of thing if there were a sci-fi equivalent (but not Star Wars).
I think I'd be more into that sort of thing if there were a sci-fi equivalent (but not Star Wars).
Big time, dude. Big time.
Now get yourself some dice, and we can call you one of us for real.
Now get yourself some dice, and we can call you one of us for real.
