Last night, I was playing Dungeons & Dragons with some friends. Most of them are fairly new to the game, with this being their first campaign. As such, previous games have been fairly quiet affairs with most of them only saying something when called upon. Not this game. This game they worked together. They talked to each other. They played their characters in a way to create a story with each other, and that was what I was wanting all along.
During the game they were forced to steal their ship back from a terrible gang of hobgoblin pirates. Their biggest issue was catching up with their ship, and boarding it. Several players ended up in the water. Finally, the group collaborated, shouting to each other in character. The half-elf sorceress turned the gnome assassin invisible as he poisoned his short sword. The elf barbarian put him into the mounted ballista as the dragonborn Barbarian aimed it. The human paladin navigated the ship closer and held them steady. The gnome was airborne. He made it to the other ship, to go around wreaking havoc and cutting off hands.
Each character put in their efforts as their characters would. Leading the charge, offering aid, working towards safety. They worked through a puzzle beautifully. In doing so, they created a story separate from the one I had created as the dungeon master. They collaborated in a magical bit of improvisation that couldn’t help but succeed. It’s these moments, these instances, that show why I truly love Dungeons & Dragons. The story always comes through when people start to work together.
If you’re out there struggling to get the next thing written down. To find the next words or actions to make a character seem genuine, find someone you trust and have them read through it, take their criticism as far as you’re willing while remembering they too are fallible, and, like my players, might be falling back in the water after sending you flying to your goal.
Now to plan for the next game. Maybe I’ll kill someone off.
A Daily Dose of Zach 