So...Getting Used to D&D

In this episode, Malcolm and Tana meander a bit (per usual) before finally landing on the topic of Dungeons & Dragons. We talk about what it's like to get used to playing: the challenges of staying in character, learning the game, managing information, and more. Don't worry though - we pepper our convo with plenty of rabbit trails and pop culture references.

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Transcript

Malcolm 0:04

Not morning.

Tana 0:05

Good morning!

Malcolm 0:06

No, not that much.

Tana 0:08

Not that much morning? It's not

Malcolm 0:12

great morning, it's good morning.

Tana 0:13

It's, okay, sorry.

Malcolm 0:15

Yeah.

Tana 0:16

Hello! I apologize for being too happy for your morning.

Malcolm 0:25

There, there are some people that like, they're over energy Like stresses me out

Tana 0:34

Your dad. Oh my god. He used to be like that so much earlier on in our morning in our morning And early on in the morning earlier on in our relationship Like he would He would wake up good

Malcolm 0:51

morning the Sun is

Tana 0:53

shining I mean practically what did he used to sing I think he I used to sing, like, Rise and Shine, um, and he'd be like, Rise and Shine, like, and just jump up and down on the bed, and I'd be like, no, because I've never been a morning person, ever. And he would just be like, jumping up and down on the bed and be like, time to get up, and I'm just like, I'm going to kill you. Like, I just, uh, I hated it. It was just so bad. So much enthusiasm for so early on. I just, I can't do that. I cannot muster up that much enthusiasm in the morning. I just can't. It just, even if I have something like super exciting going on that day. Like the most I can do is be, wake up, be a little miserable for a few minutes and then go, Oh,

Malcolm 1:41

Oh, I have a cool thing today. It's only super exciting if it happens in the afternoon or evening.

Tana 1:50

Well, now, like the older I get, I like, I feel like this, the more tired I get and I don't, I don't know if mine is just like, if that's just typical, like you just get older and you get more tired. But, um, I also have sleep apnea. And then I'm taking a medication that unfortunately causes fatigue. And then on top of that, I have a chronic illness that has brain fog and fatigue as one of the symptoms. Two of the symptoms. So okay. It's like I just have what

Malcolm 2:20

I said. Are you okay?

Tana 2:25

Like it just feels like I have like all the odds stacked against me for being Awake and coherent during any given day You know and then they're also like you shouldn't drink alcohol And I'm like, you know what? I'm at least drinking caffeine.

Malcolm 2:48

Fair enough. Yeah. I've heard that a lot, working at coffee shops.

Tana 2:54

Well, and the other thing that, It really sucks. Honestly, there are times I just want to whine and I just want to be like look, I really do have a lot of like things stacked against me. Then I have the problem with my plantar fasciitis, which I've had for, oh, like since I was 20. That's, it's been a problem. Um, we won't talk about how long a time it's been since I've been 20. And um, I actually had a number of my head and then I went, Oh God, it's more, it's a bigger number than that. But, um, so that's caused me problems like all throughout my life and it's just, it's, it's, Um, always caused me to have periods of, um, time when I can't exercise. And I was remembering the other day, I was like, you know what? I used to go for morning walks and I haven't been able to do that, but the morning walk would perk me up.

Malcolm 3:50

Yeah.

Tana 3:51

You know,

Malcolm 3:51

I was just making me more tired.

Tana 3:53

No, it would give me more energy. And, um, so I'm going to just have to figure out, um, I mean, I'm probably going to need surgery for this. And I'm hoping like after I recuperate from surgery and everything, then I'll be able to like actually walk again and not be in pain for the rest of the day. But I don't know, maybe I just need to work through the pain so then I can feel awake. I don't know. It sucks. I know there are people with way worse problems, but it really does feel like just staying awake and getting through the day is a challenge.

Malcolm 4:31

But hey, once you're, once you're actually fully awake

Tana 4:36

When will that be?

Malcolm 4:37

Yeah. I feel that. What I hate is when I, like, work a closing shift and then I work an opening shift the next day. Oh,

Tana 4:48

that's the worst.

Malcolm 4:49

Yeah, it's not great.

Tana 4:57

I used to hate that when I did fast food and stuff like that.

Malcolm 5:02

But, unless the closing shift is at the downtown location, because then they close mid afternoon or something, that's not bad. Yeah,

Tana 5:09

yeah, I guess that's true. But

Malcolm 5:13

that's technically an opening shift and a closing shift because I work, I work it through the day because it's only eight hours. Right, yeah. But. Yeah. I don't know. You're practicing being a bard. I'm

Tana 5:33

delirious. Yes. Yes. I just go about my day and make, make, making up songs. Actually I do do that anyway. I do. I like.

Malcolm 5:47

I mean, at the beginning of each of our sessions, you do sometimes sing or recite. Each of our

Tana 5:52

Dungeons and Dragons sessions to be clear. Not just every day. Yes.

Malcolm 5:58

During each of our podcasting sessions.

Tana 6:02

But yeah, I sing a song before.

Malcolm 6:05

Yep.

Tana 6:06

Also, every night before dinner. Oh gosh. If nobody is here, I do just kind of like sing random stuff when I'm walking around the house, like cleaning and stuff.

Malcolm 6:22

Yeah, you sometimes do even when I'm just here.

Tana 6:24

That's true. Sometimes I forget you're here, and then I'm like Fair

Malcolm 6:28

enough.

Tana 6:28

I'm like, oh! Like, cause I see the car gone, I just assume both of you are gone. And then I'm like, oh, I have an audience. But, yeah, that's just, I talk to myself too, and I don't know if you've ever heard that. I don't know. Yeah, I talk to myself. I also make a lot of noises, like random noises. I don't know if you've ever heard. Like I'll be doing something, like I'll be like, I don't know, I can't even think of anything off the top of my head, but I'll like put something, like maybe I'll put something on a shelf and I'll go boop! There's like a whole, there's like a whole world I experience when none of y'all are around me that

Malcolm 7:15

you really are just practicing for D& D every day.

Tana 7:18

Like I just, it's so, I don't know. It's really funny because I don't know why, but I just feel self conscious about it when you're all around. So I don't do it when you're here. I love it. So I think like you all would be like, if there were like cameras hidden and then you watched it later, you'd be like, who

Malcolm 7:34

is this person? I. Managed to indirectly embarrass Shelby.

Tana 7:41

Oh, really?

Malcolm 7:41

Because I Always jokingly like when I'm eating food just go om,

Tana 7:47

om,

Malcolm 7:47

or like nom nom or something like that. Do you do it in restaurants? I've done it so much That I've made Shelby jokingly start do it and there was one time that she was at her family's house alone Not with me and she did it while she was there and then she was like, wait a minute I did it. No one understands

Tana 8:09

this. Oh, I hate, you know, honestly, there's so many times when I hate Owen, um, like, some reference that you would totally get, like, comes up and you're not there. And I'm like, Oh, man, you know, like I'll make a joke and people look at me like, what? And I'm like, Malcolm would have got that, you know? Although David gets a lot of them, David. Oh, yeah. And, uh. He just last night, he was like, that person's the worst. And I went, the worst. He's like, yeah. That was a reference to Parks and Recreation, by the way, Jean Ralphio. Okay. Just catching people if they're not aware.

Malcolm 8:56

Um, that one might actually be the more

Tana 9:01

Oh, no, it wasn't. It wasn't the worst. It was flush with cash.

Malcolm 9:05

Flush with cash with what?

Tana 9:06

That was the phrase from Jean Ralphio.

Malcolm 9:09

Oh, I was, I was saying the, the worst meme is very popular. So, that one might be more well known than some of the other jokes we make.

Tana 9:17

That's true. Yeah, I guess, yeah. My favorite one is when he says it into Ben's ear and just like, Slowly pushes Ben to the ground. Anyway.

Malcolm 9:32

Anyway, how has D& D been for you now that it's been a lot more sessions?

Tana 9:43

I'm still confused. I find it really interesting, but I also, I also find it really, really confusing. And. I also sometimes have a difficulty separating the character and the person. Like both for me and for other people.

Malcolm 10:03

Yeah.

Tana 10:03

And so, so I feel like I can't fully get into character because I'm trying to figure out what's going on. And so, so everything's like on a tape delay for me. Right. Yeah. Cause something happens and I'm like, okay, so what just happened? And then I'm like, okay, so then That happened. So then what does that mean? And then I'm like, okay, so then how would my character react to that? And by the time I'm, I'm, I'm done going through this thought process, a bunch of other people have already done a bunch of things. And then they're like, why haven't you done anything? You know? And I'm like, uh, you know, and like my, what I finally formulated as to what would be my reaction. It's too late. Like it's already moved on to the next thing. And, um, yeah, so, and I think I also, I have a tendency whenever I'm doing anything like that, um, to, try to jettison what seems unimportant and zone in on the, or hone in on the hone in, hone in, whatever, focus, focus on the, uh, the important stuff. Right. So a lot of times stuff is happening and I'm just like, Oh, that's probably not important. And I'm just like, and then I'm like, Oh, it was important. Like I, because I just don't, I keep forgetting that like D& D is everything. It's not just like, Oh, some stuff happens and then there's a battle and that's when you need to pay attention. There's like all kinds of stuff happening that like, you might not like, I don't know. Um, I w I can't even think of examples from our campaign right now, but there was something that somebody was like, remember when we were in that toy shop and blah, blah, blah. And I'm like, no, I don't because my mind jettisoned that information. Cause it seemed secondary, you know? So, um, yeah, so it's, it's a really different.

Malcolm 12:32

It really burns the scene of, uh, the big bad, uh, cutting one of the NPCs heads off though.

Tana 12:43

Yeah. I mean, that one sticks in my head. No pun intended. Um. Yeah, so, um, I think if you've never Now, I think your generation is very different. Like, you have the world of video games, which is more immersive. than our video games were for my generation. Um, it's more, yours are more story based. They also have more realistic graphics. So I just think you're way more immersed than we were with like Mario Brothers or, you know, Qbert, you know, or like Space Invaders or, you know what I mean? Like it was, it was the, um, the pixelated, you know, not realistic at all. Um, 2D, you know, not, or whatever. Um, 2D, it was flat and 2D. Yeah. Okay. Um, so I'm even thinking like pitfall was my, my favorite. And, um, it was like, I can hear the little spoing, spoing, like, you know, like you're jumping and you're like, Oh no, you fell in a snake and died. Like, it was like, It was, it just wasn't, I don't know. It just wasn't like real. Um, whereas, you know, I've heard you and others say like, Oh, I cried at the end of this, or I cried when this horse died in the game, you know? So, um, so I think it's easier for your generation, um, and probably somewhere in between our generations, um, to kind of move into the D and D sort of thing. And

Malcolm 14:28

It's really

Tana 14:29

become instantly acclimated. Now, I realize as I'm saying this, D& D started with my generation. I know,

Malcolm 14:36

that's what I was about to say, it's really interesting to think about it that way.

Tana 14:39

But

Malcolm 14:40

I think you're right.

Tana 14:41

Yeah, so I realize as I'm going on this whole thing, I'm like, but wait, my brother played D& D and like there was the whole satanic panic like during my time, you know.

Malcolm 14:51

That's so funny to me.

Tana 14:52

So, so I don't know, maybe Maybe that is totally wrong. Maybe everything I just said is, is wrong. But I think, um, for someone, maybe, maybe it's more so that I'm trying to start late in life and, and do it after, like, you know, a lot of people would probably start playing it at a younger age. Um, when your mind is still a little more like moldable, you know, and like, you can kind of. Get into it right away.

Malcolm 15:26

Yeah,

Tana 15:27

so I don't know or maybe it's just me and I just suck

Malcolm 15:33

I Think it's something you need to just get used to Mm hmm. I don't think there's really much you do in your life that needs like quick reaction and Like I mean you've you've done stuff like Um, like theater before. So you at least have the

Tana 15:55

An improv.

Malcolm 15:56

You at least have the acting.

Tana 15:58

Well, that's the funny thing. I've done theater. I've done improv. I've actually also done disaster response in a few instances. And I'm very good, like, in those situations. But this isn't Real, like, this is in a fantasy world that I don't understand. You have to understand

Malcolm 16:19

something else entirely.

Tana 16:21

Yeah, so, the, the question is, like, If I were in a non fantasized version of this, how would I respond as Tana? If, but, if I'm in this fantasy realm playing by these roles, how would I respond as the character I created? So there's like layer after layer after layer that I have to go through. work through to get to that. So I, I honestly think what I probably should have done, cause I just didn't, I was like, yeah, I'll figure it out. You know, I probably should have like watched some tutorials, like on like basic D and D stuff. Like how, how does it work? Like how does it, you know what I mean? You know? Um, and maybe that's still not a bad idea to just do that.

Malcolm 17:06

I have no clue. I don't, I haven't really watched much D and D stuff. I kind of just. Honestly, I think I just sat down one day and, like, read all the books.

Tana 17:17

Oh, did you?

Malcolm 17:18

Yeah. And, uh That sounds like a lot of work. Yeah, it was. But I also wanted to be a DM. So, that does require a lot of work.

Tana 17:29

How do you like DMing?

Malcolm 17:31

I like it quite a bit. I think I'm going to like it a lot more when I'm doing stuff that's my own creation, rather than Wizards of the Coast's creation. Um, which is a company that owns D& D. Oh, got

Tana 17:44

it. Oh.

Malcolm 17:45

Uh.

Tana 17:46

Okay.

Malcolm 17:47

And owns Magic the Gathering.

Tana 17:49

Really?

Malcolm 17:50

Yeah. They're part of the same universe.

Tana 17:52

Really?

Malcolm 17:53

Yes. Well, part of the same multiverse. They're not in the same universe.

Tana 18:00

We had friends that were really into magic for a while. I don't think I've ever If I've ever played Magic, it was like one game when someone was trying to show me what it was about, but that's it.

Malcolm 18:12

Yeah. Well,

Tana 18:14

you're very good at it, by the way.

Malcolm 18:16

Thank you.

Tana 18:17

You're, um

Malcolm 18:19

I don't perceive myself to be very good at it. Really? Yeah.

Tana 18:22

Well, um, to be fair, I don't have other DMs to bring it to. So, maybe I'm wrong.

Malcolm 18:29

Well, the thing that sucks is that you're like, Set against people in the industry which have been doing it for like over a decade most of the time

Tana 18:39

Yeah, but you know, okay. So, you know what I do have to compare you to? What? Big Bang Theory And like as far as I can tell comparing to that you're very good like You know what I mean? Like that's, that's all I've had. Well, I mean, I have seen some critical role and things like that. So, and I don't see any difference between you and them. Like, I don't, I'm not like, damn, Malcolm isn't as good as those people. Like you never seen. I can't do the

Malcolm 19:06

voices that Matt Mercer can't, but

Tana 19:09

I'm good at the world stuff. But I think you do good voices. I think your voices are good. And I think you had some, like, I don't know if, I don't know what is in the book because I know the Curse of Strahd is a campaign you've done before as a participant. Yes. I don't know. Well, you did say some places the other day that you went off book. Like, um, you had Strahd cut off Ismark's head and that was not in the book. No, it was not. Um, so I don't know, like, other places where you may have added some flavor or if it was in the, you know what I mean? But, um, some of the characters, I think you, like, you did a fun voice or whatever and, um, I don't know. I think you're good.

Malcolm 20:01

Okay, like I was about to say, half the characters I feel like are just my voice.

Tana 20:04

Yeah, I feel like you, oh, just your voice? Yeah. What about Blinsky?

Malcolm 20:10

That was easier because, uh, He like it's literally written in there with like the accent.

Tana 20:18

Oh really?

Malcolm 20:19

So it's really easy just to like Imagine the text as the accent. Okay. That might just need to be what I do more Because I've always been impressed with like, comic books. Comic books are, will just, um, spell out words differently and you can tell what the accent is when you're reading it.

Tana 20:37

Oh, okay. And

Malcolm 20:38

so I like, feel like I need to figure out how to do that so then I can, cause then I can imagine the accent perfectly. But if I'm not reading it, then My brain's just like, all right, different pitches.

Tana 20:50

Right. So you, what was the catchphrase for Isnofun,

Malcolm 20:53

Isnoblinski.

Tana 20:54

But you said it different.

Malcolm 20:56

Isnofun, Isnoblinski. Yeah.

Tana 20:58

So I could see how like the is the is no, it might be like two E's and then an S like is no fun, is noblinski or something like that. But yeah, I don't know. I think that would be fun. Like, I don't have, I don't have the time.

Malcolm 21:14

to put into that, but. The moment that would give me a stroke is that every time they would put like a w like in the middle of the word or something so you'd get the huapi or something like that and they have it in happy as h w a p p y and I just couldn't my brain just couldn't wait h w a p p y as how to say huapi.

Tana 21:36

Huapi? And

Malcolm 21:36

that was breaking my brain. You

Tana 21:37

make me huapi?

Malcolm 21:38

H

Tana 21:40

w a p p y? It's like, cool, whip.

Malcolm 21:49

But I was actually telling dad this the other day. I was, I was like, um, the books themselves are fun, but, uh, sometimes it's hard for me to react as a character that I didn't create. Like properly.

Tana 22:08

Okay.

Malcolm 22:08

And so I feel like when I start doing my homebrew campaigns that's Since I will have made all the characters and all of it will just be stored in my head. I'll be able to react properly But I need to like quickly figure out what All of the intentions and everything are of this character that I wasn't expecting to have a conversation, a big conversation with, like, and figure that out. But.

Tana 22:41

I think, I think another problem for me with this is it is, sessions are an extended period of time.

Malcolm 22:51

Yep.

Tana 22:52

And I do have ADHD. And so my mind starts to go, Hmm, like at, like something will happen. We'll do something. And then I'll start to, my mind will start to wander. Yeah. And, uh, I have difficulty staying on task. So then I miss more information, which doesn't help with my confusion. You know what I mean? Like.

Malcolm 23:19

Yeah. Bryce has the same problem sometimes. And, then dad is always getting messaged by work. So I, so like there's a lot of times I'll say something and then one of the three would be like, what?

Tana 23:31

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So it is interesting though. It's fun. I just, um, Again, a lot of this comes down to my level of, um, tiredness. And I'm hoping, you know, I've been, I have that app that tracks sleep, you know, and I have been, at a deficit for pretty much the entire time I've had that app. And there was like, I had like four days of like, great, you're well rested. And then it just like went back to terrible. It's just like, I don't know. It's like every time I get my self in order, somebody else ruins my sleep. You know what I mean? Um, It's just like, I can't win. Um, but my hope is that if I can get myself well rested into some good routines, then instead of just like showing like, Oh gosh, it's D and D night. And then like showing up and being like, I'm exhausted and like, now I'm going to sit here and I'm not gonna understand what's going on. Like maybe I can. At least maybe have the time to, like, review my character before we start. Yeah. Or, um, uh, if you have a, if you would like provide a summary of what we did last time or, cause I, I take notes, but then I try to take notes during the session. And then I look back at them and I'm like, I did not really explain what happened. Like, it's just like random notes. Like, like Jewel like, I mean, that's not actually anything, but like, although it was this last time, um, and like, you know, horses like Yeah. It's like, what happened? You know? Um, I, I don't know. The other thing is like, I work a whole day and then I like run downstairs and then I'm sitting at the table. So it's like I'm sitting at my desk all day and then I'm sitting at this table. So I, I think I also need to work out like, okay, during my lunch. on those days, I'm going to do something to exercise. You know what I mean? Like, I just need to plan out my time better. Um, yeah. So I'm not just sitting all day. Cause that also contributes to my restlessness when I'm, when I'm in the session, you know? Cause then I'm like, by that time I'm like, I have been sitting all day, you know? So.

Malcolm 26:06

Yeah. Cause then after however many hours you're sitting for work, you sit for another three hours. Yeah. Yeah.

Tana 26:12

And then people hang out and keep talking and then they finally leave and then your dad wants to talk more about the session and then I'm like, it is my bedtime. And I'm like, you need to stop talking because I want to go to bed. And then it's like, you know, so then it's just like a whole exhausting day of Sitting and talking, you know?

Malcolm 26:37

Yeah.

Tana 26:37

So yeah, I just have to figure out the the proper balance on that

Malcolm 26:44

Yeah, I do want to make it that way I can start writing out the game in a story format and Start posting it in a separate spot on the discord So people can read it like it's a story.

Tana 27:01

Yeah, it'd be helpful, because I cannot remember what happens and then somebody will mention something and I'm like, oh yeah, I totally forgot about that. Um, I mean, of course, that could be helped if I took better notes, but I'm, I'm trying, I'm struggling to keep up, you know?

Malcolm 27:23

Yeah.

Tana 27:23

Although I do, I, there are certain things I definitely remember, like, I, I, I love, um, What is the spell that Abris does that is like a schlorping black hole of some kind? I don't even

Malcolm 27:35

remember, uh, but it's, it's definitely like just pure eldritch horror spell, and it's wonderful.

Tana 27:45

It is.

Malcolm 27:47

But it it's always it's described in D& D as like it's really cold You can feel it like being really cold And it's just like an abyss that basically appears in front of everyone and it's like a huge range, too Like it could swallow a building.

Tana 28:04

It's giant

Malcolm 28:05

and Yeah, all that you hear Is like slurping, and, uh, crunching in of anything that's inside of the of there.

Tana 28:21

Yeah. What was it? Someone said like a Abrahams's boss was hungry and he just delivered him DoorDash. That was,

Malcolm 28:27

that was Shane that said that. Oh, yeah. Shane. Shane was like, my character was, was hungry and, and, uh, Abras basically just. Or, uh, my character's patron was hungry and I basically just delivered him DoorDash.

Tana 28:46

I love it.

Malcolm 28:47

Yeah, yeah. I love Shane's character. Shane's character's very funny. Oh, he is very funny. Oh, let me see if I can find the That was my stomach, yeah.

Tana 28:58

Thought it was an airplane flying overhead.

Malcolm 29:02

It's, uh, arms of Hadar.

Tana 29:05

Arms of Hadar.

Malcolm 29:06

Yeah. Yeah, you invoke the power of Hadar, the dark hunger. Tendrils of dark energy erupt from you and batter all creatures within. Oh no, no, that's actually something else.

Tana 29:17

I was gonna say, I didn't think it was arms of Hadar. I thought it was something else. Oh,

Malcolm 29:20

hunger of Hadar. Hunger of

Tana 29:21

Hadar, that was it.

Malcolm 29:22

Yeah, you open a gateway to the dark between the stars. A region infested with unknown horrors. A 20 foot radius sphere of blackness and bitter cold appears centered on a point with range and lasting for the duration. This void is filled with a cacophony of soft whispers and slurping a

Tana 29:42

cacophony

Malcolm 29:43

and slurping noises that can be heard up to 30 feet away. No light, magical or otherwise can illuminate the area and creatures fully within the area are blinded.

Tana 29:54

Nice. It

Malcolm 29:57

literally says it creates a warp in the fabric of space.

Tana 30:00

Oh, Apis is powerful.

Malcolm 30:03

Yeah. Um, but yeah, every time that he casts the spell, some of us are just going the whole time. And, uh, at one point, at one point, I don't know if he was telling someone that he was casting it on or something like that, but he was like, ignore the licking.

Tana 30:30

Oh, gosh. Yeah. There's some funny, that is one thing I always enjoyed when you started hosting D& D here, uh, I would be upstairs a lot of times. I think when you started it, I don't think I was, I don't remember. I, I feel like. I can't remember when you started it. If I was working or if I was unemployed at that time. Like two

Malcolm 30:57

years ago.

Tana 30:59

Yeah, um, but I would, I would be upstairs like working on something or applying for jobs or doing, working on podcast stuff or whatever. Yeah. And I would just hear laughter just like burst out at different times and I just always enjoyed it. I always enjoyed just hearing the sound of laughter in the house.

Malcolm 31:19

Yeah.

Tana 31:19

I, we used to, as you know, we used to host people at our house like all the time. Um, you know, we had the Sunday lunch thing and then we had board games, um, every Friday night and then we just had people over like all the time and it just slowly kind of, you know, this was when we were younger and the people we were hanging out with were, were younger than us and like we were the only one with a kid and, uh, So everybody, you know, young, unmarried, or just newly married. And then, you know, people move away, they get married, they have kids, different responsibilities change, you know. And so over time, that just sort of fell off. Um, partially also because we moved away to Blacksburg and then came back and everything was different, you know. And so I kind of missed that, you know, kind of missed having just, you know, That, that just people in the house and laughter and, you know, stuff like that. Um, but I had also gotten, you know, sick over time and I didn't really have the, necessarily have the energy to constantly be inviting people over. And so it was like I got to hear it. You know, and, and like kind of feel the energy of people in the house, but not be responsible for posting it. I'm sure you also heard

Malcolm 32:45

like very random quotes.

Tana 32:46

Oh yeah. I would hear really weird stuff and I'd be like, okay, all right. I don't know what that is, but they seem to be enjoying it. But I don't know. It just makes me, it just makes me happy to have people here.

Malcolm 32:57

Yeah.

Tana 32:58

Yeah. And we do have a pretty full house, like most of the time now, cause y'all have D& D Tuesdays and Thursdays. Your dad has a friend over most of the time on Wednesdays. We have game night on Fridays. We have people over on Saturdays and sometimes on Sundays and it's pretty Yeah. Monday is pretty

Malcolm 33:17

much the only consistently empty day. Yeah.

Tana 33:22

Yeah.

Malcolm 33:23

Uh, That can be stressful sometimes. Yes,

Tana 33:26

it can.

Malcolm 33:27

Because it's just like, all right, is someone going to be in the house or not going to be in the house today? But.

Tana 33:36

Yeah, yeah. But that'll make me even more sad when ever you and Shelby move out because it'll mean like not only are we losing you to

Malcolm 33:49

Half the week goes empty. Yeah.

Tana 33:50

Yeah. and Poppy. Um, and

Malcolm 33:53

Poppy,

Tana 33:54

but like your friends won't just be like randomly stopping by unless we continue to host one of the d and d things here.

Malcolm 34:01

It's true. I, I'm really excited'cause uh, uh, Salem's now gonna be hosting a d and d session and, uh, I'm super excited to be playing in that. And one of, he's DMing. Yep. And, uh. They're basically, it's like D& D adjacent. They're DMing, sorry. Uh, it's like D& D adjacent. And, um, so it has all this like D& D rules and stuff in it, but it's a, it's a different setting. And, uh, there's a new class in it called Apothecary, and I'm going to be playing that class.

Tana 34:47

Oh, that's interesting. So. Cool. Yeah. So you get to drug people.

Malcolm 34:54

Yeah, I'm gonna be a mad scientist. Nice. Yeah. It's my first time playing a chaotic evil character and it's gonna be very

Tana 35:01

fun.

Malcolm 35:03

I'm going to be someone that loves testing new poisons on people. Yeah. Uh, the setting is that a city basically got, like, hit by a meteor and, um, destroyed a good portion of the city, but it also left behind a rare material that everybody wants to get their hands on. So it's created a bunch of factions within this ruined city that are trying to get their hands on this valuable material, and I'm going to have it that my character, Basically got broken out of prison by this meteor.

Tana 35:44

Oh, interesting. Interesting.

Malcolm 35:47

So I was talking to Sal about this and Sal was like, I'm also probably going to have it so everybody has to have at least one connection with, uh, With another player in the group and I was like, what connection can I have? Did I murder someone's parents or something? Like, like what connection can I have?

Tana 36:09

Maybe.

Malcolm 36:10

I'm thinking of just going the route of like I owned a company with one of them or something and then I kind of Went off the deep end Like Otto Octavius But

Tana 36:27

When's that starting?

Malcolm 36:30

Um, within the next couple months, hopefully. I'll be excited to, uh, play a new character, so. Gosh, that's so many campaigns. Well, I'm DMing one, and then I'm playing two of them. And playing doesn't take much energy out of me at all. It's mostly DMing that does, because I have to, like, Yeah, that's a lot more work. I actually plan the whole session throughout the day. Yeah. And, uh, so it'll just be fun for me. I, and I love D& D, so I love the, I love world building stuff. So if I get to build a character, it is super fun. Even if like 90 percent of my backstory doesn't actually come up at all, I still have fun because it was fun making that character. And, uh, That's why I also think I'm gonna be way more excited to play my homebrew campaigns because I will have made all of it and so then it's gonna be other people enjoying something that I've created and I'll know it inside and out. So.

Tana 37:39

Cool.

Malcolm 37:40

Cool.

Tana 37:41

Yeah, that'll be fun. That feels exhausting to me, but but that's not like One of my primary interests where I get energy from so

Malcolm 37:52

on my On my Obsidian for my homebrew campaign that I'm making, um, on like the homepage for it, I have Aladdin, a whole new world, with him flying on the carpet.

Tana 38:11

Okay. That's a choice.

Malcolm 38:16

I don't know, I found it funny when I put it in, so.

Tana 38:21

Oh my goodness, that's so funny. Well, I'll be curious to see what the rest of this campaign has in store.

Malcolm 38:30

Yeah, you guys basically opted in for the longer campaign. Because Curse of Stride usually goes until level 10, and I'm making it until level 15.

Tana 38:41

Oh.

Malcolm 38:42

So it's gonna be significantly longer.

Tana 38:46

Okay. Yep. All right, well I need to do some brushing up on basic D& D stuff. And I, what I actually need to do is look at my spells and really understand what they do. Yeah, cuz I'm like, like it's my turn. I'm like, but I don't understand what this does. And then, you know, Salem's like, It doesn't, well if you do this, and then it does this, and then it doesn't, and I'm like, okay, well, I just have a encyclopedia beside me, like, it's helpful.

Malcolm 39:13

I try to simplify it and then a lot of the time Salem or Shane will add like things and I'm like, I'm just trying to keep it like

Tana 39:21

right right at the basic level

Malcolm 39:23

But yeah, Salem especially is just an encyclopedia of D& D knowledge.

Tana 39:28

Yeah,

Malcolm 39:28

and it's pretty impressive It'll make it make them a very interesting dm because I have a feeling that they're going to be very quick on rulings versus me

Tana 39:36

Oh

Malcolm 39:37

and So I I already know sam is gonna be way more strict than I am and I feel like i'm already pretty strict on my rulings You So I'm going to be very interested in, in this. Gonna

Tana 39:50

roll with an iron fist.

Malcolm 39:51

Yeah. Which is also funny because I'm going to be playing a chaotic character. So.

Tana 39:56

Oh. We'll have fun.

Malcolm 39:58

Yeah.

Tana 40:02

All right.

Malcolm 40:03

Well. I think that's all for today, folks.

Tana 40:10

We'll keep you posted on our D& D adventures as we continue through.

Malcolm 40:14

Yes. Don't, don't burn down another village.

Tana 40:19

Hey, it was an accident. Bye

Malcolm 40:26

bye.

Tana 40:26

Well, well we have to do our Midwestern goodbye.

Malcolm 40:30

Well,

Tana 40:31

time to go.