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| Dungeon Master James and Halfling Tori (who's playing from South Korea) |
I mentioned way back over here that I had started playing
Dungeons and Dragons with friends. It’s been a while since we’ve played though. It is
a bit hard when your group is spread across the world after all. And life in
general has a nasty habit of getting in the way. Quite hard indeed. But the
game is something that I’ve thought about more and more lately.
But it’s not really thoughts about the game itself that pop
up, though those thoughts are there too. Instead, it’s about the similarities
in my life right now with my characters.
THE GAME
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| I generally roll poorly when it counts... |
For those who don’t know, Dungeons and Dragons is a classic
pencil-and-paper role playing game (RPG). It’s pretty much what it sounds like.
You create a character (or adventurer) all with his/her own personality,
strengths, weaknesses, traits, flaws, etc. In essence, you become that
character while you play. Not unlike creating a character for a story you are
writing. And that character gets thrown into situations dictated by the Dungeon
Master (DM) or Game Master (GM). Those situations can revolve around conflict
(“Your group gets ambushed by a horde of goblins in the dark! What do you do?”)
or more socially (“The elf with the tattoos and her Halfling companion beckon
you over. What do you do?”). But regardless of what type of situation you find
yourself in you must react as your character would.
THE CHARACTERS
We had two games going and I played two different
characters. Dorn is a human bounty hunter from Waterdeep who’s created a bit of
a name for himself there but is trying to branch out a little bit. He’s
confident in his skills and his attention and focus is on the fact that he has
a job to do.
And then we have Flynt. I really miss playing Flynt. I had
great plans for him when I came up with his character. Originally he was
supposed to be similar to the nameless minstrel from Gaining Music, giving
out inspiration and confidence to his companions. But from the start I knew
that wasn’t going to be who Flynt was. I started envisioning him as a dashing
rogue and a bit of a con-artist. Quick to get in trouble, and equally quick to
get out of it. However, that’s also not who Flynt is. Flynt is, in a word,
Flynt. Insanely charismatic, he’s a bit of a dick at times and started off as
quite cowardly. As the sessions went on, though, he started to grow and became
less cowardly. Instead, he has a great sense of self preservation.
THE REALITY
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| From that time Tina, Will, and I adventured our way into Mordor |
As much as I’d love to be as courageous as Dorn, or as
charismatic as Flynt, the harsh reality is that I’m not. Nor do I believe I
ever will be. They are exaggerated after all. But I’m slowly coming to the
realization that I’m more like them than I thought. At least in one respect. Like them, I’m an adventurer looking for treasure. And like them, I’m forging
relationships with other adventurers I'm meeting along the way. The treasure I just
happen to be seeking is memories, experiences, and friendships instead of
money, weapons, and items.
Maybe Jay is right. Maybe I actually am a people person as I’m finding great enjoyment and enrichment
in meeting other adventurers along the way…
Sinceriously,
-Chad
