3 Things That Make Me Want to Play Dungeons and Dragons

by APPA THE GYPSY

Lately, I’ve found myself considering taking the time to squeeze in a game of Dungeons and Dragons with some friends of mine, in between the combined monotony and stress of university and work.

And they want to play too!

Why? Well, I don’t know about the rest of them, but I’m pretty sure I’ve got three reasons for wanting to delve into the world of ‘Dungeons and Dragons’.

Firstly, Dragonlance.

When I first started reading the Dragonlance novel series, I hadn’t even heard of Lord of the Rings yet (amazing, I know). But that just made Dragonlance all the more awesome. Never had I encountered a world quite like this one, in print or otherwise. It was so detailed, and so vivid, and everything that happened there felt like it would resonate with entire continents and races of people that seemed just so real, even with the dragons, and interfering gods, and magicians sauntering across the pages. The characters were so well-written, and so amazingly flawed (something I can assure you I hadn’t encountered prior to reading these novels). I just loved them, and I loved Dragonlance (I really do recommend the novels to everyone).

And it was this series of novels that led me to ‘Dungeons and Dragons’. How? The world of Dragonlance was first brought out into the light as a series of gaming modules, followed by a trilogy of novels, published by the company that first published ‘Dungeons and Dragons’. So? The idea for the Dragonlance world and its storyline were developed during a game of ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ which Margaret Weiss and Tracey Hickman, the authors of Dragonlance, were participating in. Still not getting it?  The first Dragonlance novel was released as a supplement to the ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ game that used the Dragonlance world of Krynn as a campaign setting.

Knowing how much I loved the world of Dragonlance, I figured I’d love ‘Dungeons and Dragons’. But, alas, in a tragic twist of childhood trauma, none of the other kids would play with me. Well, they wouldn’t play ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ with me. That game is for geeks, right? Whatever.

But, something happened along the way to make ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ cooler, and that something put ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ back on my radar. What was it? The I.T. Crowd, of course. Specifically, the episode that featured and emotional game of ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ that allowed Moss to help Roy overcome some deep emotional issues in season 4.

The I.T. Crowd is hardly mainstream, but it’s just so funny! People like funny.

But, still, no one would play ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ with me, despite my having two good reasons for wanting to play.

I’ve got no idea what changed between then and now… maybe my friends got cooler (read: geekier). Maybe I got new friends. I don’t even know.

But now, they want to play with me!!

Why?

Well, for the same reason as me. This song:

‘Dungeons and Dragons’ got turned into a song parody. Yep. That was all I needed. And here I am, hoping to play this game of ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ sometime in the next few weeks.

What will that entail?

I don’t even know. I think you need a 20-sided dice, candles, and a cloak. Or something. But I will find out, because I will play this game of ‘Dungeons and Dragons’, if it’s the last thing I do!!

I’ll let y’all know how this adventure turns out for me…

On a side note, I would imagine that the ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ episode in season 2 of Community may have encouraged my friends to indulge me just a little more…