Your race is the heart of your character. It is who they are at their core. Their thoughts, feelings, and upbringing are influenced by their race. This week we’ll be taking a look into the races of D&D and how they shape your character. Today we’ll be talking about elves. [Read more…]
How Game of Thrones Helped D&D Grow
The new season of Game of Thrones is upon us! That means more adventure, more political intrigue, and more bodies to throw on the ever growing corpse pile. The show has a huge fan base that has grown in its six seasons of airing. But what if I told you that growth is also partially responsible for the growth of Dungeons and Dragons? [Read more…]
What is Dungeons & Dragons? How to Concisely Explain the Game
Recently I’ve been talking to a lot of people about Dungeons and Dragons. Surprisingly enough, most of these conversations starts with one question: what is d&d? It has surprised me to learn of how many people don’t know what d&d is. Sure they might have heard of it, but not a lot of the general population knows how the game is played; or worse, they think it’s something entirely different. [Read more…]
The Stream of Annihilation: Reaction and Review
On June 2nd and 3rd, Wizards of the Coast brought together figureheads from the D&D community under one roof and set up a stream of games and announcements for one purpose: to annihilate our minds! And they delivered in spades. During the Stream of Annihilation, these figureheads, such as Matthew Mercer, Matt Colville, and Chris Perkins, and many more, along with a few celebrities like Joe Manganiello, Matthew Lillard, and Dylan Sprouse played in several sessions of D&D. These were great fun to watch, but the real meat of the program showed in between games. It was during these intermissions that the near future of D&D was announced. The first of these announcements being… [Read more…]
Moving on: A Word about Character Deaths
Death in tabletop games is a funny thing. It holds a different weight for each gaming group, depending on how the group handles the rules of the game they’re playing. For some groups death is just a speed bump in the campaign, for others it’s a huge deal to grief over. If your group is less punishing, then a death in the party can be fixed by a simple ritual. If yours is a little less forgiving, then the death of a character means they won’t be coming back to that table ever again.
If you find yourself at a more relaxed table, then death may not be a big deal to you. At least not to your real self. But consider what sort of toll that takes on your character. Your character has suffered enough pain to kill him, had his soul dragged out, and stuffed back into his body shortly after. Trauma like that is sure to affect your character somehow. This can lead to some very interesting character growth. How that growth plays out is up to you, but if it’s played out well then death can end up breathing new life into your character.
Maybe your group is a little more brutal, treating death as a finality. This gives more weight to a character’s death, since it means that character will no longer be part of the story. Although something is being taken away with this play style, it leaves room for something new to add to the game. Unless the situation is rushed, your party will most likely want to grief for your fallen comrade. This could lead to an entire game based off the deceased’s funeral. Something like that is very character driven and offers a unique opportunity to explore everyone’s character.
No matter how your group handles death, death is a very important story telling tool. It paves the road to a more interesting story, but only if you’re willing to drive it. Of course death should be avoided at all costs. To do this, be sure to keep those dice rolling high!