I Want To Play Dungeons & Dragons.

I’m sure that by now it is abundantly clear how nerd/geek oriented many of my interests are. If not, this should appropriately drive the point home: I really wanna play some D&D.

My interest was re-ignited after seeing the D&D focused episode of Community appropriately titled: “Advanced Dungeons & Dragons” (season 2, episode 14). It was a friendly reminder of how much fun my friends and I used to have sitting around, drinking some beers, and completely nerding out (the “drinking beers” is a tip off to the fact that we were either way too old to be playing or way too young to be drinking). The Freaks and Geeks episode “Discos and Dragons” is another great illustration of the experience playing the game. These shows did a great job of showing how easily even the most reluctant player can get caught up in the adventure unfolding before them, and the satisfaction gained when ones (fake) goals are achieved. None of us ever dressed up, though in hindsight that may have been a mistake.

We did, however, try to stay in character – as in, we would make choices based on what our character would do, not necessarily what we would do. The only thing that has come close to the freedom allowed in D&D is The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim . . . that and, y’know, life – though I’ve never befriended an elf nor ridden a dragon in life. I usually just end up retiring to Countryside Acres with my wife and five children in our yellow station wagon. #boardgamehumor (is it weird to hashtag a blog entry? #rhetoricalquestions)

In the interest of full disclosure, my friends and I only played D&D together one time. Our primary focus was on a game called Call of Cthulhu.

It took place during the 1920s and was based in the world created by H.P. Lovecraft. The characters we created ranged from Small Town Law Enforcement and Men of the Cloth to Baseball Players, Vaudevillians, and Wanna-Be Cowboys. As these characters, we investigated mysterious events brought about by horrors such as Yog-Sothoth and Nyarlathotep. We weren’t always triumphant, and not everyone survived. Not that it mattered – it was a blast either way. It’s certainly one of those “you had to be there” kinds of things, but you would have enjoyed it too.

It’s now been over ten years since I last played and not a day goes by that I don’t miss it (that’s a lie, but I do think back on it fondly from time to time). At this point I’d say the odds of me playing any of these games again are slim – and that’s okay. Still, it’s nice to have dreams.

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