In the time of Covid 19, I’m getting to experiment with entertainments I’ve wanted to try, but haven’t taken time for. I’ve heard of Dungeons & Dragons for decades, and sort of played for a short session or two, but not enough to know whether I really like the game. So… I discovered Roll20, a virtual gaming tabletop.
I couldn’t find a group that was comfortable with beginning players that met at a convenient time. Almost all of the games lasted way too long for me! When it comes to fun things, my attention span can be shorter than what a squirrel would have on crack cocaine.
There probably are a lot of things that I don’t know about the website. I’ve seen videos talking about horrible things that the owners/runners have done for all kinds of nefarious purposes. I just haven’t seen any of that myself.
They are open to all sorts of games. After I tackle Dungeons & Dragons, I may try DIALECT or DENIABLE or one of the space-related games.
ANYHOW, I couldn’t find a group that met my needs and interests. Instead, I decided to invite a few friends and running a game myself. TALK about the blind leading the blind! Only one of my players has ever played before and I don’t know what I’m doing. This should be GREAT! I’m learning mapping skills, plotting for games instead of stories, and all sorts of other things that I didn’t know I needed to know to have a full life!
I’m also getting to explain concepts to people. For example, alignment… To a group of LCMS Lutherans… I’m just having to explain that good and evil in this game isn’t exactly like good and evil in our universe. As part of the explanation I’m using this website http://easydamus.com/character.html and this is the result of the quiz asking what my character would be if I was a Dungeons & Dragons character:
You Are A:
Neutral Good Human Cleric (7th Level)
Ability Scores:
Strength- 8
Dexterity- 9
Constitution- 11
Intelligence- 15
Wisdom- 16
Charisma- 13
Alignment:
Neutral Good- A neutral good character does the best that a good person can do. He is devoted to helping others. He works with kings and magistrates but does not feel beholden to them. Neutral good is the best alignment you can be because it means doing what is good without bias for or against order. However, neutral good can be a dangerous alignment when it advances mediocrity by limiting the actions of the truly capable.
Race:
Humans are the most adaptable of the common races. Short generations and a penchant for migration and conquest have made them physically diverse as well. Humans are often unorthodox in their dress, sporting unusual hairstyles, fanciful clothes, tattoos, and the like.
Class:
Clerics- Clerics act as intermediaries between the earthly and the divine (or infernal) worlds. A good cleric helps those in need, while an evil cleric seeks to spread his patron’s vision of evil across the world. All clerics can heal wounds and bring people back from the brink of death, and powerful clerics can even raise the dead. Likewise, all clerics have authority over undead creatures, and they can turn away or even destroy these creatures. Clerics are trained in the use of simple weapons, and can use all forms of armor and shields without penalty, since armor does not interfere with the casting of divine spells. In addition to his normal complement of spells, every cleric chooses to focus on two of his deity’s domains. These domains grants the cleric special powers, and give him access to spells that he might otherwise never learn. A cleric’s Wisdom score should be high, since this determines the maximum spell level that he can cast.
Detailed Results:
Alignment:
Lawful Good —– XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (24)
Neutral Good —- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (27)
Chaotic Good —- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (18)
Lawful Neutral — XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (22)
True Neutral —- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (25)
Chaotic Neutral – XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (16)
Lawful Evil —– XXXXXXXXX (9)
Neutral Evil —- XXXXXXXXXXXX (12)
Chaotic Evil —- XXX (3)
Law & Chaos:
Law —– XXXXXXXXX (9)
Neutral – XXXXXXXXXXXX (12)
Chaos — XXX (3)
Good & Evil:
Good —- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (15)
Neutral – XXXXXXXXXXXXX (13)
Evil —- (0)
Race:
Human —- XXXXXXXXXXXXXX (14)
Dwarf —- XXXXXXXX (8)
Elf —— XXXXXXXXXX (10)
Gnome —- XXXXXXXXXXXX (12)
Halfling – XXXXXXXXXXXX (12)
Half-Elf – XXXXXXXX (8)
Half-Orc – (0)
Class:
Barbarian – XXXX (4)
Bard —— XXXX (4)
Cleric —- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (18)
Druid —– XXXXXXXXXXXX (12)
Fighter — XXXXXXXXXXXX (12)
Monk —— XXXXXXXXXXXXXX (14)
Paladin — XXXXXXXXXXXXXX (14)
Ranger —- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (16)
Rogue —– XXXX (4)
Sorcerer — XXXXXXXX (8)
Warlock — XXXXXXXXXXXX (12)
Wizard —- XXXXXXXXXXXXXX (14)