So...what happens when you put a middle-aged mom in the middle of a Dungeons & Dragons game? She has an amazing time, obviously! Malcolm and Tana talk about what it's like to invite your parents to a D&D group - and what it's like to be brand new to the game.
So...what happens when you put a middle-aged mom in the middle of a Dungeons & Dragons game? She has an amazing time, obviously! Malcolm and Tana talk about what it's like to invite your parents to a D&D group - and what it's like to be brand new to the game.
So, so this past week, and then also when this episode releases or the day after this episode releases, um, you will have played D& D for the first time and then the, you know, it'll be your second session tomorrow, quote unquote, if there's
Tana:a lot of confusing stuff as of the time of this recording, I've played D& D one time for the first time in my life.
Malcolm:Yes. And then, As of the release of this episode, which tomorrow you'll have played your second session Sure, so because it releases on Wednesdays. We play D& D on Thursdays
Tana:still sounds confusing. Okay, you're wording it, but whatever. Yeah, anyway
Malcolm:Hey, the biggest the biggest boss of D& D is scheduling. Okay. Yeah. Yeah But Yeah, so just this is your first time ever ever yeah playing D& D, right? So yes, I so I just I want to hear I want to hear the deets
Tana:you want to hear the deets Yes, the deets on the D& D Well, first of all Apologies, because I have some sort of respiratory thing. There's like 900 respiratory things going around. So welcome to January. Yes. Welcome to January. And I also get sick every January, like clockwork. It
feels
Malcolm:like after new years, it's like instant health problems.
Tana:I do think there's, somebody said something about like a post holiday letdown, and I do think there is something to that, like. I
Malcolm:think it's also just that everyone has now moved around their states and has met with all their families. That's true. And so all of the diseases and stuff are being shuffled around again.
Tana:True, but for me, it's been over a week since I've seen people, but I don't know. Um, although your dad was sick, so I'm going to blame him. Um. But, yeah, I do think there is also something to the, like, you've spent all this adrenaline getting ready and doing all this stuff and then, like, your body's like, whoo, you know? So anyway, um, so, yay, respiratory disease. Um, so anyway, yes. What were we talking about?
Malcolm:No, I know, I know, I know. Your first
Tana:session of D& D. Yeah, so I had some basic understanding of D& D because my brother played it when we were younger and that was during the whole, like, Satanic Panic stuff.
Malcolm:Satanic Panic? That sounds like a metal band.
Tana:It should be. If it's not, I would actually kind of be surprised if there is an A band somewhere named Satanic Panic. But, like, yeah, during that time everybody thought, like, not everybody, but there was, like, this, like, Oh. Dungeons
Malcolm:and Dragons is evil, you know. If you've seen, you know, Stranger Things, then you know. Right,
Tana:yeah, that kind of goes into it. Uh, and I have to give, uh, credit to my parents because they never, there was a lot of things I look back on and I'm like, man, they never, like, it's
Malcolm:because my mom and pop pop aren't stupid.
Tana:Well, no, they are not. They are not stupid. There's a high compliment. Hi, mom mom. Um, you're not stupid.
Malcolm:No, no, seriously. I think, I think they much, like, much more easily, easily, easier, it's easier for them to deduce. When, like, that stuff just doesn't make
Tana:sense. Right, yeah, I mean, they're, they're, uh, religious, and they're conservative, but they were not, like, they didn't fall into so many of the silly traps that I look back on now and I'm like, oh yeah, that didn't register as a thing to me because Um, my parents weren't like, Oh my gosh, and freaking out about it. You know, they were just like, um, yeah, moving on with life, you know? Um, but anyway, and then I know a little bit here and there from like watching Big Bang Theory when they taught, like, so I know like the basic premise of it, but I did not realize how much of it was up to the players. Oh yeah. Everything. Yeah. I, I had no clue about that. I thought it was going to be. Like, cause like the scenes they showed in Big Bang Theory were like, you know, um, you come across a blah blah blah and you know, it was, it was directed at the time that you like came into the scene, right? And then, you know, Howard or Raj or whatever would be like, I draw my sword and I do this or I cast a spell of blah blah blah. I kind of thought they were almost like scripted things in a way that I just would pick up as we went along. Right. But instead, you know, we we set like our ground rules for playing and then you had Your dad be like the first person who walked into a tavern. Yeah, yeah And then like just stuff just started happening.
Malcolm:Yeah, I I didn't really do much talking after that. Like I I introduced I introduced him, I introduced, uh, my one friend and my other friend that were all in the tavern at the same time. Oh, right, right, right, yeah. And then I just, I let them figure out how they wanted to join the party, like, join each other as a
Tana:party. And that was confusing to me too, cause I was like, am I supposed to just, like, pop up and introduce myself? Like, am I supposed to just be like, and then I enter the tavern and blah, blah, blah. Like I, I was so confused. And I thought, well, your dad was is familiar with Dungeons and Dragons and you and your friends have been playing, you know? So I just thought as the newbie, like, I just didn't understand, you know what I mean? Like I had no idea how much of that was just them making stuff up on the fly. Yeah. Like, no clue what's where. I was so confused and then I felt like there were like rules that I couldn't break that, but I didn't know what they were. You know what I mean? Like, um, so you, you introduced me as sleeping outside, outside in a, in like a fire that had been like a camp that had been deserted. And like, I basically wake myself up by What
Malcolm:did I do? You restarted the fire because you're a fire genasi. Yes, I'm a fire genasi. So you, you accidentally like touched the smoldering fire with your foot and it restarted the fire and startled you awake.
Tana:Yes, um, which was perfect. But also for people who don't know what a fire genasi is, can you explain that?
Malcolm:Basically, think of Avatar and she's a firebender, but like, as a race, not just
Tana:as a Right, that's like the race of, like, yeah, I can, I can do stuff with fire. But my character that I developed with Malcolm is a clumsy fire genasi. So the introduction of, like, I wake myself up by accidentally rekindling the fire with my foot was perfect.
Malcolm:You're welcome. And
Tana:so, like, I have this whole backstory. And, you know, I guess the idea, I still, you told me some of this, but I still didn't fully absorb it. Gotcha. Um, that I can reveal as much or as little of my story as I want to at any time. Yeah. But I also thought, like, Oh, there's a story that we have to stick to, and so I was afraid to do anything, make any decisions, because I didn't know if it was going to like throw us off the track of what the story is. Gotcha. You know what I mean? And so that was very perplexing to me.
Malcolm:I think that's, that's why I tried to explain is like, um, you just tell me what you want to do. And, and I'll like tell you how to do it. And that was funny when you raised your T up that your glasses completely fogged over.
Tana:I'm trying to control this muck
Malcolm:um, and yeah, I guess you just didn't realize how literal I meant that.
Tana:Yeah, I really, and also I don't know what I can do. You know what I mean? Like I, there's, um, I, this, so I'm actually looking right now at my Is it a play sheet? A character sheet? Character sheet on D& D Beyond. There's so much information and I don't know what it all means.
Malcolm:So that, that is one nice thing about as you play is that some of that stuff you'll start to just automatically know and then you'll be able to pay attention to the more. To, to the other information. But the only problem with that as well is that you are slowly memorizing this stuff as you level up, which then means you get more stuff.
Tana:Right. And then there's new, new things. But I think I also just don't think I realized, and I know this can vary, um, how much play acting there was. Like I thought it was going to be more like. A board game where, you know, Oh, you go here and like, you know, like a co op where you're like, well, my character has this spell and we can do this and I can do that. And like, you know, more like discussion. Um, and I, my understanding after we talked on Thursday is that that can vary by the players, but your dad went full on character mode right away and your friends played along.
Malcolm:Yeah. Yeah, my, my friends definitely like, uh, doing it, but unless someone else is pushing the role playing, yeah, then they won't do it as much, well, except for Shane. Shane will do it on his
Tana:own as well. I wish we had recorded it, because there were so many funny moments, and I can't even remember what they were anymore. Well,
Malcolm:I mean a couple people there are uncomfortable with recording. Oh
Tana:sure, but I mean just for my, like, my own personal, like, I wish I
Malcolm:could review it. You want to, like they do with football games? Yeah,
Tana:I need to review so I can fix my, fix my playing for the next time. But yeah, so for the first, like, like, almost half of the whole thing, I was like, What's happening? I'm so confused and yeah, and I don't know if even if you had been like, this is a total sandbox you can do whatever you want. I don't know that I fully would have understood what that meant. Yeah,
Malcolm:there's definitely a part of D& D that you can only really ever understand if you play it. Yeah. And one thing that sucks as well is like, we, we have an amazing group. Our group is great because. Yeah, that sucks. That's not the part I meant. Um, but everyone is willing to accept every play style. Whereas there are some other groups that really heavily force, like, it to be like a board game style or, um, it be like, The players do absolutely anything and everything, like, the DM won't even describe something unless you say your character looks at it or something like that, like, um, But I think our group has a good mix of some straightforwards and some, like, roleplaying, and so I think it's a really good group for you to start out with because there's no, like, Not competition, but,
Tana:like I think, I think I know what you're saying. Like, there's nobody who's being, like, overbearingly No one's juggling you around. Yeah, yeah, that's And that, that was, that was something that's also nice. I mean We're not, obviously, the same age as you and your friends, and the willingness of your friends to just be like, sure, your parents can play with us is like,
Malcolm:pretty My friends really like you guys, so Well,
Tana:that's nice. I'm glad, because I like your friends. But it's, I could see how, you know, it could be like, really? Really? You want your parents to play? You know what I mean? But they were, they were open and, um, your friends seemed really to react well to your, your dad's play acting. Um, and they kind of went along with it and, um. They were patient when I was like, what is happening? I'm so confused.
Malcolm:And yeah, everyone was so willing to tell you what was going on. We were all talking over each other to explain to you what was happening.
Tana:It's like, uh, I think I got it. But, um, yeah, yeah. So, um,
Malcolm:But hey, it works. Maybe your character was just confused for the first, like, day that the party was together.
Tana:That was the only thing I was a little disappointed in, is I was like, Oh, I didn't really get to establish my character. Or maybe feeling like I pigeonholed myself with the first day or something.
Malcolm:Oh, don't. So, here's the thing, um, and that's why I tried to mention at the beginning as well before we started playing, is that if there's any Any character difference that you want, just jump into it, because it's really hard, especially as your first ever D& D character, to get it right, and so like, it's very rare that a lot of people like their very first D& D character, if they, unless they like, only like it for the nostalgia, like, this is my first D& D character! I see, okay. But, I don't, I didn't like my first D& D character. Oh, you didn't? I thought he was pretty cool, but, um, overall, the play style that I was going for just didn't really work for me, and, so I would just recommend that even though it might feel weird to be like, my character has a sudden shift in personality, just play it off as if that's how you've always been, and more than likely everyone else will be maybe confused at first and be like, oh, okay, she's trying to, So, yeah. Like, change up how she wants to play her
Tana:character. Yeah, I, uh, so my character is named Incendia Cantore. Which I love
Malcolm:the name. It's one of my, it's definitely one of my favorite names out of everyone there. Yeah. Oh, well, good. Cause it just feels like you walk in with, like, a cape and you, like, swing it around and you're like, it's Incendia Cantore!
Tana:Yes! Yeah. And that's actually one of the reasons why, cause I, I was playing around with different names because it's, I'm a fire genasi. You're a bard. And I'm, well, I was getting to that. Sorry. And I'm a bard and so I was trying to think of like, and I mean like the translation of each word literally means like fire singer or something like that, you know, um, not how you would say it in Italian, but close, you know? Yeah. Um, and I was playing around with different things and when I came to that, I was like, yeah, that sounds, because my character, uh, The way I put it together is a bard that sings of her own greatness. Yes. Um, and so, Incendia, like what you just said, like to come in and be like, I am Incendia Cantore, and here is my story. Listen to my tales well, you know, um.
Malcolm:Anytime I, I think of something like that, I just always think of the bard from The Witcher, and just thinking of him singing Toss a Coin to Your Witcher.
Tana:I have never, I've never seen The Witcher, um, but I kind of partially based my character on, um, oh gosh, what's his name? From? From Harry Potter, the second Harry Potter.
Malcolm:Oh! Professor Oh, the one who, who like, isn't actually good at defense arts? Shelby's
Tana:sitting here, so I thought Professor La what's his name? I was gonna say that but that's the last name of a character on a TV show I'm watching right now So I thought maybe I was just like thinking. Yeah,
Malcolm:so. We have our local Harry Potter expert in the room right now.
Tana:I was like, is Shelby listening? Can she just like tell us the name real quick? But yeah, the one that would take other Wizard stories and obliviate their memories. Although that's not my, that's not my character. Oh yeah, no, you're not
Malcolm:that evil.
Tana:But, um, but I'm clumsy. Yeah. And so I, I, I exaggerate my own greatness and if I accidentally Save people sometimes. I play it off. Yes. I am a mix of professor Lockhart and Jar Jar
Malcolm:Binks. Wow. Isn't that a character to behold?
Tana:But like the self importance and like how he walks in and he's like, can everybody See me. Can everybody hear me? Like, just that, that was kind of how I felt like, but, but it's, it's difficult for me to play act that because in the moment I'm feeling very insecure because I'm like, I don't understand how to play this game. Um, and also that's not my personality. So I'm playing very much like against. Yeah, you know what I mean? And so I'm having trouble, like, remembering like, oh, right, my character, although I did clumsily get into, like, sort of do what my character would have done anyway. Um, in the, uh, when we were, oh, yeah, yeah, sorry.
Malcolm:And, and, okay, so let me, let me explain the situation.
Tana:Let the dungeon master set the scene.
Malcolm:So, um, basically, they had And just taking, taking a rest and they pass through these massive gates and they
Tana:heard So wait, wait, wait. There's me. Yes. And there's, uh, one, two, three, four other characters. Yes. Uh, we have a paladin. So
Malcolm:there's, um, so there's you, the bard. Yes. We, uh, have a eladrin paladin. We have a Arag Nasi, um, rogue. We have a human warlock, and we have a goblin artificer. Right, there we go. Um, for those who know D& D. Right. If
Tana:you don't, it's a group of misfits.
Malcolm:Yes. Mostly spellcasters, actually. Um, but, uh, well, I can give a general rundown of the characters, too, themselves. So, obviously, you're, you're Clumsy, and then we have, that's my defining feature.
Tana:Yes, it's clumsy. I also have a withering stare, a withering stare. I can't, I can't put that on my sheet as a weapon, but it should
Malcolm:be. Um, our, our paladin is very straightforward and, um, has a, goal set in mind to do what they want to do. Our rogue is kind of pretentious and
Tana:he's kind of a jerk. Yes.
Malcolm:And, um, he wants to be in front of the matter and in control of the matter. We have a, uh, the goblin artificer is scared of everything, but has learned in his isolation how to like Make things out of machinery parts. And so it's this like terrified little goblin that just like pulled out this arm cannon at one point Which was really funny And then we have this Self conflicted warlock that Just kind of
Tana:That was a graduate of the University of A.
Malcolm:Yes. Every time he introduces himself, he's like, he's like, my name is blah, blah, blah, and I was the graduate of this university of magic. Um, and, uh, and yeah, he kind of lets the hits roll, but, um, but everyone's noticed some like weird stuff going on with him. It's fun. Yeah, he keeps
Tana:talking to the sky. Yep. Yeah.
Malcolm:Um, but anyway, these, these, uh, people, these hunters, um, came across the party after arrest and
Tana:um, well we were entering like a
Malcolm:city. Yeah, you were. You guys were, he were heading into an opening that was gonna lead to a lead to a town. Oh yeah. Yeah. Um, and. These three guys. Yeah. They had asked you if, if you had seen a, a bunny that was passing through'cause they were hunting Um,
Tana:what did, what
Malcolm:did, yeah. My dad started calling them bunny hunters. Mockingly. Yeah. Uh, you, you, you, uh, like terrifying bunny hunters,
Tana:right?'cause they asked for a rabbit, but then he was immediately like bunny
Malcolm:Yes. Um, and. Uh, our paladin seemed to get angry at them. Our party doesn't entirely know why, so I won't say anything, but Uh, and so then our rogue and our paladin started questioning them and everything like that. Trying to find out who they were, who they worked for, and how they could contact who they worked for. And basically they, they said that you guys needed to get their attention in some way. You get, you need to get them to dislike you so they come after
Tana:you. Oh right, yeah, that was it. They had to dislike us. And
Malcolm:so then you, as a genuine question, not realizing what this would start, were just like, so would they dislike us if we hurt you?
Tana:And you were like, are you asking that question in character? And I was like, yes.
Malcolm:And then everyone at the table was Like oh gosh And so I you know, I had the backup and I had to raise their their crossbows They'd be like, why do you ask and then all of a sudden they everyone just started attacking each other. Yeah Yeah, but that was That was absolutely
Tana:hilarious. Because it was just a genuine question. It really was just curious. But, uh, I accidentally started a fight. Yeah. Yeah, anyway. But it was, I wish, I wish I could convey, um, how funny it was in that moment. Because I seriously was like, is this, is this one of the things? Because then I'm going to ponder it, and decide if that's something we want to do. But
Malcolm:like, yeah. You didn't read it as a threat at all.
Tana:Nope, and then like the whole table was like, what? Yeah, that was funny, that was funny. So, that, um, yeah, so. My first experience doing D& D. That was, it was fun. I Um, I, I do feel a little overwhelmed still of like, I don't know what all these spells mean, I don't know what like
Malcolm:One thing I would definitely recommend, especially as a full caster, because you will get a lot of spells as a bard, is just to re read your character sheet before the session starts. Um, and then over time you'll slowly memorize stuff and there'll be less and less stuff to read, and that way Everyone, every new player misses, um, a trait or a spell that they have or, especially traits because so many, because everyone gets like a feature or a trait almost every level. Oh, I see, yeah. And so, it's just like a small, like, passive ability that your character gets but people forget, so.
Tana:Yeah, I, um, I have bardic inspiration.
Malcolm:Yeah, bardic inspiration is like a bard's thing.
Tana:Yeah. Yeah, um, I can see in darkness up to 60 feet. Obviously, I have resistance to fire damage, that makes sense, but it's, it is interesting, like, um, Cause, I'm grateful for these, the electronic sheet, cause that helps me keep
Malcolm:track. Especially since when you level up, it'll automatically update a lot of information for you. Like, it'll automatically calculate your new skill scores and your new Right, hit points.
Tana:Yeah, everything. Um, yeah, the, the, the things you add to the dice and, um, but, yeah, so it was a little, little overwhelming cause I don't fully understand what, um All these, I just did something, okay, sorry, I'm like looking at the sheet and it just changed and I was confused as to what I did. There's all these different like, role for this, role for that, and, um, I thought that was, that's something that's very interesting because, I mean you can kind of, there's so much you can do. Like, it's not, like, you can go to a new place and you can, you can search it. Um, you can, uh, roll to see if you know the history of something. Um, I'm curious about the deception one.
Malcolm:If you're lying to someone, you have to roll deception so they don't recognize you're lying. Yeah,
Tana:and so, yeah, I don't, I don't know. So it, it is It is very overwhelming at first if you've never played D& D, um, but I would recommend if you think it would be fun, um, to just, to just do it. Uh, I think for me, I find it helpful that I'm joining a whole bunch of people who've played it before. Because y'all Can kind of carry it while I'm figuring things out and also tell me what I'm doing wrong. Whereas I feel like if a whole bunch of people are like, we're going to learn D& D together, I feel like that would be very difficult. Um,
Malcolm:it's honestly with stuff like that, it depends on the DM. Sure. Um, because it's a new DM. You can accidentally force your players into something they don't want, uh, because you're, you know, you're also learning, so you're just, you're just trying to do what you think is best, um.
Tana:Yeah, I could see how it'd be very difficult, like, for me, I could see if I were a DM, I'd be like, well, this is how the story should go, and they're going over there instead, and that's messing up my story, like. Yeah,
Malcolm:that's, that's why when I, when I make my campaigns, I, Try and I make all the locations. I make all the NPCs. And so no matter what the players decide This this basically there should be a story that's going on. That's self carrying that's self contained and then depending on how the players interact with that that might change and then you just have to reasonably figure out how the how the story that is outside of the players will go on its own, or how the locations will progress on their own. Yeah. So instead of like, if this party was trying to stop an army from smashing this town or something like that, you don't wait until the party gets there to Uh, or it gets to the interception point of whatever of the army. If the players decide to dawdle somewhere, that army is going to continue going and it's going to destroy that town. So then D& D becomes a lot about these consequences as well. And then you, a lot of people realize that Like, oh, this isn't just a video game or a board game where, like, stuff pauses while I'm doing my own thing. Like, this is a breathing world that is occurring on its own. Yeah.
Tana:Yeah.
Malcolm:Um. Yeah. And so I think that's, that's the most important thing to keep in mind as a DM is that the world should be moving on its own either way. It shouldn't be waiting for the players. Mm. So. So that way the players aren't making the story, the story is happening and the players are joining in and then can alter the story. So
Tana:I have a question. Yes. So in part of the story we came across like a body. Yes. I don't remember if somebody actually already did this but could we have like checked it for like Money and weapons or something, I'm taking it. Except something that didn't occur to me until later, I was like, oh wait. We probably could have I
Malcolm:don't know if one of you searched. But I can't, I can't remember. Um, you guys did find a letter on his body. Yeah. But he was just holding it in his hand. Right. So you could see it out in the open.
Tana:Yeah. And I think we got distracted by that and didn't think to be like, and the wolves that were howling in theile, well, they were wolves. Yeah. Um, and so when you come up with something like that, like, do you already have it in your mind? Like if they decide to check they'll find this? Or do you like make it up on the spot?
Malcolm:Oh, you do. Okay. Um, most of the time I have that stuff already written out. Uh, there are some things where I just won't anticipate it. And then I'll have to improv. Okay. Um, and, that is really hard as a dun as a new dungeon master. I can imagine, yeah. But, most mostly what I do if I don't know what to do, like, in my own brain at the moment, is I just Whatever's the first thing that pops into my mind. If it's something absolutely amazing, then, nice. The character's found something absolutely amazing. If it's something really stupid, like Nothing? That works too. Like, it doesn't have to be something very specific. Cause,
Tana:I mean But this is like, this is a story, right? So, that's something I don't understand about. like is there a basic story and then each dungeon master like makes up their own details or,'cause there's like books, right?
Malcolm:So you can, yeah. So the one, the campaign we're doing is Curse Tro Uhhuh And so I have read and copied down the entire source material for Curses tro and, and this, um, source book called, uh, um. Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft, uh, where it base basically it came out before Cursa Strahd did and it's a settings book. So the book came out with a bunch of settings, including Barovia. And, um, then Cursa Strahd came out and it takes place in Barovia. So basically the people at D& D first made the setting and then they made the campaign in the setting. Um. But there's all sorts of stuff that you can do to change it, or you can just follow the book. I personally like to change things and make things more personal for all the characters because that just, it becomes more enticing that way.
Tana:And so, okay, so you and Shelby are co Dungeon Masters on this. Yes. And so, you Have this basic story and then did you two just sort of like make, you said you want to personalize it, like did you just make up additional characters or did you like
Malcolm:change? We might have added, we might have removed, we might have changed any sort of things because Shane, Shane has already run this campaign for Shelby and I and, uh, and some other people that are in a different D& D group.
Tana:Oh, okay. Um. So you're familiar with the basic story. Yes,
Malcolm:but Shane himself also changed a lot. And, and so, um, first of all it was interesting seeing how much Shane had changed for the campaign by reading the source material. But even Shane was like, this is completely different than what I've seen for Curse of Strahd, and it's only the first session. So, that's what I was really hoping for, because one, Shane is like, one, just a great person, but also he's great at D& D, and loves D& D, and loves the roleplaying, and he will not metagame. Like he will not be like, Oh, I know what's going to happen next. So therefore my character does this. Like he's the type of person that's like, my character is this character. So they're going to do this thing, whether I know otherwise or not. Um, and uh, so I was comfortable with Shane coming on, but um, even then Shane was like, this is different than What I've read or what I made, so I, I know this is going to be a lot different than, I'm not going to be able to predict what's going to be happening next. Especially because in D& D, even if you play the same exact campaign, there's, uh, unless people are trying to go the same route, things are going to change entirely just based on characters decisions. Because some characters might decide to kill this person instead of just capture them, or these characters might decide to forego this side quest they could have done that would have helped them tremendously, or etc, etc. Um, and even small tweaks from the DM can completely change how everything goes. Like changes to like mini bosses or the main boss or anything like that. So,
Tana:hmm. Well, I mean, that's good that it can be done again and differently because then if you have, you know, somebody joined your D and D group and they're like, Oh, I've already done this. Like, they're like, yeah, have you? But also I think it would get, um, I mean, I guess there's probably a ton of stories out there at this point, but
Malcolm:Oh, you don't even know. There's, there's like already, um, several D& D YouTube channels just dedicated to reading Reddit stories for D& D.
Tana:Reading Reddit stories for D&
Malcolm:D? Yeah, so like people posting stuff on Reddit. Um, about something great that happened or something terrible that happened or am I the asshole stories in D& D and type of things like that. Really? Yeah. Um, because there's plenty of stories of bad DMs, problem players, um. Uh, circumstance that the players did that caused the DM to not necessarily have to do something shitty, but like it made sense for the DM to do something shitty. And so then the players get mad at the DM. And that's one thing I like about our group as well, is that, and I think it was a good idea that we established. That we keep things in D& D. We do not make fun of each other. We do not get mad at each other. Anything like that, because it happens to a lot of groups. People just take things personally. For some reason. It's like you're playing a fantasy game. You're in a fantasy world Why are you taking things personally?
Tana:I think people do that with Everything. Well, yeah, I mean I can see how in Dungeons and Dragons it might be a little more intense because You're role playing right so I I could see how maybe like Yeah, if you were role playing and you did something kind of jerky to somebody and Like that could feel a little bit more I don't know. As opposed to like if you're playing a board game and you're like, oh, I'm gonna steal all your whatever It's
Malcolm:so like because people people get mad at those circumstances, but those create the most interesting moments in D& D like Session three or four of the camp of the campaign that I did with Shane, I did something against the rest of the group's wishes, um, because all of them were saying, No, don't do it, and I was just like, I'm just going to do it anyway. And so one of them like shoved me up against a wall and started yelling at me. Another one like threatened me and everything like that. Like in the game? Like in the game, yeah. No, in real life. They like shoved me against the wall and everything. But it was like such an intense and interesting and fun moment. And I feel like there's some groups out there that would get mad at That would genuinely get mad at the person for making a decision other than them. And then that player would get mad at them for, like, forcing their character against the wall and stuff like that. It's like, no, that's what makes the game interesting, because you're like, you're feeling the emotions of your characters.
Tana:Right. Yeah, I don't think, I would hope that people wouldn't, you know, carry that outside of the game. But I can understand how it'd be easier for it to happen in a role playing game than in, like Yeah, for sure. You know, I don't know, some other game where it's just like you're competing for resources or you know, there's uh, oh my gosh, I remember when we first started playing uh, games um, and we started with Dominion. That was like our gate gateway game. And there was like, there was this one card called the witch and I don't even remember what it did, but you loved that card because it allowed you to do something mean to people. And you were like, I'm going to play a witch. And then I'm going to play another witch. And like, you know, and like there's cards like that in games that cause people to like, Lose resources or it messes up something or whatever and like, you know how the game works Yeah, and I can and I know that there are times people get upset and like after the game, they're like, they're frustrated and Again, you would hope people wouldn't be but I can see how a role playing thing would make it a little bit more difficult to oh
Malcolm:Yeah, extract yourself. Um, I Think it's just like some people also just like don't want to see don't understand why people don't see things the same way that they do. And it's like, everyone's meant to play different. Would it be interesting in a show if everyone was like in agreeance with everything all the time and was just like this merry band of people that was just like, yeah, let's just go do this, this
Tana:and this. A whole topic for a whole other podcast about how. We don't know how to disagree well with each other, um, especially nowadays. Um, I think it's just period to be honest, but I mean, yeah, we're just, people aren't very good at it and I'll admit I'm not always good at it because I, I sometimes take it as a personal. Judgment. Yeah. You know, um, I disagree with you and therefore I think you're a terrible person for thinking what you think. Whereas it's just, nope, I have a different opinion. There is a lot of
Malcolm:times we're just in conversation. I'll play the devil's advocate because I find the conversation interesting, but then people get Mad at me for playing the devil's advocate on
Tana:stuff. Oh my gosh, you are your father's son. Oh my god. Your dad's the same way. And like, cause he likes the intellectual exercise. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And, and you do too. And, but for a lot of other people, they're invested in what the topic is. And so for you to just make an intellectual exercise out of it feels insulting. You know? But it's not
Malcolm:It's one of those things where I want to get more out of the person, though. I want, I want to understand their feelings entirely about something. I understand that, but I And you can't just be like, and you can't just be like, tell me more.
Tana:Right. Uh, well, oh man, oh, this is so tough for me. Cause there have been so many times where I'm like, oh man, I just feel like Like, ranting about this, venting about it, and I go to your dad because I think, oh, he agrees with me on this, you know, and so we'll just have a good, like, quick little, oh man, yeah, that person's an idiot, you know, or whatever, you know, and, and be done with it, right? And I'll say something and then he'll go, well You know, like, what if, yeah, what if, what if, like, well, well, you know, what about this? What if they were having a bad day too? What if they did that? Or what if they, and I'm just like, oh, oh my God, I don't want to game this all out. I don't want to think about all these different things. I just want you to be angry with me, you know, like, yeah, so, um, yeah. But, yeah, yeah, we don't know how to, we don't know how to describe, we also don't know how to confront, um, discomfort. Um, we don't know how to, basically, I think in very generally speaking, humans are not good at dealing with any kind of negative emotions. But that is like, again, like. An entire podcast just on, you know what I mean? Cause, cause. Yeah, anyway, so yeah, so um, that was, I, I, I'm looking forward to this. It was actually uh, playing Dungeons and Dragons. Uh, I think it's actually kind of the thing that's, I've been missing from my life is some kind of like fun group activity. Yeah. That's creative and um. It's very creative. I love it. Yeah, so I think, um, I'm really glad that you invited us along. I'm grateful to your friends for. Letting that happen. Although I suspect they might have allowed me in cause they figure I'll bring snacks, but, um,
Malcolm:They also just like you.
Tana:Nah, I can't be it. But no, I'm looking forward to it. And it was fun. And, um, even fogey like me, I recommend you, uh, maybe give D& D a try. It was fun. It's, it's a good time. Yeah.
Malcolm:Oh, actually we didn't share character names either besides you.
Tana:Oh, I don't remember
Malcolm:the names. Um, so you're Incendia Cantore.
Tana:Thank you. I did remember that one. Yeah. Just
Malcolm:in case. Okay. Um, Oh, Tempor. Yep. Our Paladin is Tempor. And then our Rogue is Zephyrus.
Tana:Zeph for
Malcolm:short. Yes. No, it's, it's Zeph and then Zephyrus for long. Right. Yes. Yeah. And, uh. Then it's, uh, Hulk. Yup, Hulk is our goblin. He's the goblin. That's scared of everything. Um, but he does pull out a mean arm cannon. Yes, he does. Uh, and then we have Abrus. Abrus Marsh is our
Tana:warlock. I thought it was Abrus. Is it Abrus or Abrus?
Malcolm:Abrus. Abrus. I don't know. Abracadabra. I'll have to
Tana:hear him say it again, I guess. Abrus. I'm pretty sure it's Abrus. Although Don called him Albus at one point. Yes. Yeah. Dumbledore. Dumbledore. Yeah, so, but anyway, good times. Maybe we'll talk more about it another time if there's any kind of interesting Sorry, I just looked over at your father and he's doing a little happy dance. I'm gonna assume he's watching like football And the Browns maybe? I don't know. Did something? I don't know. Anyway, he was doing a happy dance. Sorry, that threw me off. Anyway, um, maybe that's our cue to head out.
Malcolm:D& D is a lot of fun. Give it a try if you haven't already. Um, there's plenty of online communities that help you find people either in your area or online to play games with. D& D, if you have D& D Beyond, D& D is completely free. Um, D& D is free in general, because you can just write everything down on paper. So, you don't even have to do that. Um, so, yeah, it doesn't take much money. Um, don't get into the minifigs though, because that will start eating up
Tana:your money. Yeah, I just used a minifig from another game we already had. Yeah,
Malcolm:but there's You know, it's, it's such a fun game. The starter kits are pretty cheap, the campaign books are pretty cheap, like it's only like 30 a book, and that's for an entire, like, if you, a lot of sessions, or a lot of campaigns will probably last for a year or more. Dang. So that's 30 years, or 30 years, whoa, that's 30 for a year's worth
Tana:of content. Yeah, yeah, I think sometimes you don't think that, you People don't take that into account when they think about how much a game
Malcolm:costs. Yeah. I also don't think people understand how much other people also want to play D& D. They just don't say anything until someone's like, yeah, I play D& D. So, yeah, give it a shot.
Tana:Yeah. All right. Well, I, I had fun. So that's good. Yeah. Well, well, time to go.