D&D stories

Friday, which is game day for D&D, was ridiculously gorgeous on my campus. I was kind of sad I was stuck indoors planning a significantly epic battle for my PCs, but a Dungeon Master has to make that sacrifice. I went to the office where I work at school and sat in the back, helping out a little while figuring out stats and rolling dice.

On my way over to the dorm where I play every friday, I passed this couple with two young kids, one of which was a four year old boy. Gave them a smile and the little boy goes to his dad "what does she have in her hand?" I heard and turned around and the dad goes "I don't know, why don't you ask her?" I try to be receptive to questions, especially from little kids who haven't learned to restrain them yet.

I go over and unroll my battle map, the thing the boy saw in my hand. "It's a map sheet. I use it to make maps when I want."

He goes, "Well sometimes my daddy plays Dungeons and Dragons."

"That's exactly what I was going to do."

Chatted a little with the dad who wished me a good game. It was just so adorable to see a kid that young say "Dungeons and Dragons" so clearly. Young nerds in the making. I think the kids mom was also surprised to see a woman who is into the whole thing. Hey, us nerd women are out too, and I hope also to have little children someday that will watch as I roll my dice and have epic fictional adventures with friends.

Friday was a great game day. The whole three years of me planning this game had been building up to this: Battling a woman who wanted to be the reincarnation of Vecna, using both the Hand and the Eye of Vecna in the ritual. The stakes were high, and I really didn't put this battle in their favor. My players are pretty smart, so usually things don't go the way I imagined them too. I like it though, it keeps me on my toes.

Only one player actually died. Another one got to -9 hitpoints, so it was tense, but one actually died. The player proceeded to not care about the rest of the story at all. I was kind of disappointed, because this was all stuff that he had been investigating since the beginning of the campaign (being one of the two original players left in my campaign), and he was just apathetic and played on his computer. I shouldn't let computers at the game table anyway, because they can be super distracting. Everyone else there was pretty engaged, even when there were moments where their characters were not involved, and they were overhearing me do something else with another character. So I'm pretty sure it means I'm not a good DM. It just bums me out if someone doesn't seem as interested as I am about something I made for their enjoyment.

Although the big fight (or at least, the first big fight) is over, the politics aren't over yet! The Queen of the kingdom my PCs work for may have to be executed because of the whole debacle. Oh no! I'm really excited for next session. I think it will be the best mix of fighting and role-playing.