So, you’re building a costume. You’re going to a party, or hosting a themed event, or you managed to snag tickets to Comicon or the latest immersive ACOTAR Ball (we get it, and we’re jealous). If you’re new to the costuming game, it can be intimidating with all the over-the-top amazing things you see from the cosplay world these days on social media. But don’t let that stop you.

Below we have compiled a list of our favorite tricks to take your costume from Childhood Halloween Trick-or-Treating straight to something the Hollywood prop department would be proud of. Let’s dive into 5 of our favorite tricks of the trade. As we move farther into this series we’ll be able to share in depth tutorials and have you follow along with projects and costume builds. We’ll be able to tell you when to use sculpting foam vs styling foam and what’s really carboard and modge-podge (It’s never what you think). but for now, these are our 5 best general beginner tips.

If You’re Going to Splurge in Cosplay- Splurge on the Wig

Not all cosplays require a wig. Maybe you already look a little like your character, or you’re reimagining a classic with a twist and you don’t need it. If so, that’s great. But for a lot of characters, hair is a defining trait, and cheap wigs are noticeable and an easy make or break. Most things in cosplay you really can do yourself with a bit of creativity and some dedication.

We have found that wigs are not one of those things. Don’t buy the $2 wig on the wish app, or TEMU. Or even the $15 one on Amazon. They don’t hold up well, they tend to be sparse, and flat and they look like plastic. If you’re going to be bougie for anything in your costume- spend the money on a nice wig that works. It’ll last a long time and they can frequently be used for other characters along the way.

Don’t Get Too Caught Up on Wardrobe or a Particular Character Look

I KNOW this sounds weird when we’re talking about killer cosplay. But there is a logic to this- hear me out. For a single photo or a poster- having that outfit matches the OG character picture might make sense. But, if you are cosplaying at a live event or going to a party where you are going to be in this thing for hours- consider comfort.

I don’t mean “I am going to get to hot?” or “are these shoes going to kill me?” though, to some those may be factors. Taylor and I have both been known to suffer the shoes or the overheating for the sake of a bomb costume.

What I do mean is: If you really love a character and you really want to pull it off but their classic appearance is in a strappy skin exposing anime outfit and you’re not comfortable with that much of your midriff showing….. don’t do it. If your favorite character rocks a strapless piece of armor and you’re not comfortable strapless- take some creative license. Notice I didn’t say don’t cosplay that character?

In my experience- there is always a solution that captures the vibe of the character and make sure people know exactly who it is without you feeling exposed or uncomfortable and miserable- which shows. Make your costume livable for you.

Thrift

YES! We love making things from scratch. We love armor, and chainmail, and a good “I made this 100% from scratch and there were a lot of tears and late nights involved but I did it!”. But not all of us are that person, and not all of us are there yet (If we’ll ever be).

Taylor has much more the skill set to be like “I made this pattern myself with the blood, sweat, and tears of my ancestors and my character’s inner rage”. I however, am just learning to sew. And if you’re just beginning it is much easier and less terrifying to thrift something and turn it INTO something else than it is to make a dwarven tunic from scratch in 1 shot by yourself (not like I’m speaking from experience or anything).

Do not be ashamed to repurpose something into something different. It still takes a lot of work and creativity, and you are still a valid cosplayer if that’s your jam. Its really fun to go hunting for the right pieces. We will never say no to an excuse to thrift. If you’re new to thrifting, Taylor has a really awesome guide of things to consider when you’re out digging- you can find it here.

This is particularly useful for shoes that can be used as a base to be turned into anything cool. My favorites of Taylors were steampunk Tinkerbell shoes from a pair of booties, and Satyr hooves from a pair of boots.

The Devil is in the Dirty Details

What is Aragorn without a little dirt, or Geralt without a little blood? Just a really buff guy in cool clothing, that’s what. What takes a costume from looking like you bought it at party city to a living breathing character? You’ve got to make it look lived in.

The good news is, that doesn’t require you to go roll around in the mud or hunt orcs in the woods for months on end without a bath (though you’re welcome to go the method acting route).

This is where antiquing, patinas, weathering, sandpapering, and scuffing are your best friends. We KNOW you just spent weeks putting this together and it feels sacrilegious to ‘rub some dirt on it’- but go on, rub some dirt on it.

Hot Glue is a Hot Commodity for Details

If you have a great base costume and need to create buildable details like embossing on armor, pieces of large chunky fantasy jewelry, or unique accents, but you need them to be flexible for movement; hot glue is your friend.

The coolest hack I have for making Gems and raised details on anything that needs to be movable once its done is a silicon mold (amazon has tons and silicon cake molds for fondant are the best). Fill it with hot glue and then leave it to dry before painting. Sturdy enough to hold up over time, easily paintable, and not prone to damage.

I’ve used this for mushrooms, gems, fake pieces of thick chain, gemstones, texturing, you name it.

Here in the coming weeks we plan to share more tips tricks, and tutorials for cosplay bits and pieces. We’d love to see your favorite cosplays and costumes and we can’t wait to share projects with you!

See you in the craft room!

Mikaela!

Come have a chat with RavenWerks creaters, Taylor and Mikaela, in their next installment about DnD. Today we talk about scenarios that made our DM’s say WTF, what our dream DnD crossovers are, and what we would like to try in future characters.

[Taylor] Hi! Welcome to RavenWerks Guild Talk. This is our second installment. We are once again talking about DnD. Kind of continueing off of our last conversation. Really quick in case you haven’t seen one of our videos before… we’re your hosts. My name is Taylor.

[Mikaela] Mikaela!

[Taylor] and last time on guild talk, we were talking about DnD, it was about first experiences, first impressions, what we would and would change when we very first started playing DnD. This time Mikaela has come up with a couple more questions that are a little more forward looking; less so about out first experience itself. And before we get into that, I just want to bring up just as a quick plug, check out our website if you haven’t seen it before. We are still adding new product including our stickers, t shirts (like this little guy), and we will be at some markets and things like that. So, we are starting to do candles, that are more…

[Mikaela] Like witchy decor…

[Taylor] witchy decor. More like small batch, very intentional things and those will start to be going up on our website as well. Or we will start putting up on our schedule online when and where we are, so if you are a Washington local, Western Washington, come say “Hi”! Come check out our in person stuff. So, let us move on to the main thing.

[Mikaela] Yeah. That being said, as kind of a follow up on those last questions regerding first experiences and that, my first thing is for you to describe your favorite scenario that made your DM, or Dungeon Master, say kindo of WTF to a scenario that your party was supposed to deal with or that they laid out. Maybe not necessarily that you didn’t do what you were supposed to. Although that definitely certainly happens and can, but as far as like, just something that your character played that your DM look at you like you’re a couple watts short of a full lightbulb.

[Taylor] Or in my case, question whether or not I should be in a psych ward.  So… uh… I guess I should preface this with: I almost always play a, some sort of chaotic nuetral rogue that tends to be more…

[Mikaela] A Kleptomaniac!

[Taylor] more on the creative side. They are not always kleptos. This one particularly was. And so, um, there was lots of situations where my fellow players would either pick me up and bodily move me from places because they could see me getting distracted by something they knew I was going to be like “Ah! Shiny!” And it did lead to some interesting situations. One of them in particular that I can think of is we were harvesting these plants out in the forest which, the DM did not see it going this way but, someone was purchasing them and then we realized it could be used as the DnD equivalent of cocaine. And then we started a drug ring and it was a whole thing. But while we were out there [collecting plants], we got attacked by a guy who was being sort of controlled/possessed by some higher fae entity that we never got answers on and he had this brand that was glowing that we did not know at the time was what he was being controlled through. It was shiny. We killed the guy in defense of ourselves. And I decided that I would cut it out of his neck and take it and keep it. And I put it in my pocket and I also had a habit of taming and keeping rodents and things so… my rat that was in my pocket and myself, because we had direct skin contact with it and were still around it, kind of got possessed by this fae thing. Then the had to [kind of] kill me and bring me back to life to get it out of me. It was a whole thing. There was other stuff. There’s been lots of things. But that’s the one that I think, the DM would was most like… why would you cut this off someones neck nad stick it in your pocket? Like it was very left field.

[Mikaela & Taylor] *Laughing*

[Mikaela] Fair. That is a fair response.

[Taylor] Like there’s other ones that he kind of *hhhhmmm* but he could logic through why it had popped into my head, where it’s like “oh! It’s shiny. Okay, you could grab this. I can see where you are going with it.” This one it was very much like “do we need to have a conversation meta? Like why did this even occur to you?” So yeah, I think that is my biggest one.

[Mikaela] Um, I think mine actually, and you may have heard, if you guys follow the blog, I did bring it up in a previous blog post because it is one of my favorite unconventional interactions. In my very very first DnD campaign, we were playing with Thomas’ (AKA Mikaela’s husband) brother and a couple of their friends and my brother in laws girlfriend was our DM. And we were supposed to be scaling to the top of this mountain and there was a temple that basically gave you access to the inside of, I mean it was the inside of a mountain, but it was essentially like a multi level dungeon, like, network of tunnels and we were looking for this group of dwarves that had been being, like, kidnapped and taken hostage. This was this thing with like possessing children. It’s a long story. But, on enroute to the top mountain, we came across a camp. A relatively large camp of goblins. And it was, it was implied that said goblins would be hostile and impede access to the top of the mountain. Which would usually lead to combat with said group, because, um, Thomas’ brother played a VERY enthusiastic paladin. Umm… But two of our party members were already at half health. It was our, it was Thomas’ and I’s very very first campaign so we were incredibly low level and it had been a rough day. So we used a combination of mage hand, my characters pygmy dragon (Pipsqueak), a little tiny frog totem that we had picked up in loot some place else, and a very good illusion to convince said band of goblins that one of our party was their god. And convinced them more or less to joyously through themselves off of a cliff as a blood tribute to us. Um, so, we didn’t get the experience points that we really needed to then help complete the rest of the dungeon so then technically it was creative but we also kind of stabbed ourselves in the foot.

[Taylor] And we had just been talking too… the frog totem thing reminded me that at one point I had to act out a thing that I did where I was in a frog hoody and I zipped it up and seduced a water elemental. So, umm, that one was more of a what the #*%$ for me though. I think he just really wanted to see me…

[Mikaela] He wanted to see how far he could push it.

[Taylor] Yeah. Me sexily ribbiting in a frog hoody.

[Mikaela & Taylor] *laughing*

[Taylor] Yeah. So… moving on to the next one. So, what is your dream DnD crossover and I’m not going to bring up the examples on here because I know Mikaela’s going to use a couple of them and one of them is kind of mine too sooo…

[Mikaela] Crossover. So like as far a, rather than playing just, like, standard DnD world or traditional homebrew. I mean, any of these would have to be homebrews, but as far as using other formats and like, fandoms and things that are out there… ummm… I have to put on the list Lord of the Rings. Because that is my all time high fantasy, like, cannon. Um, if we are going stereotypical, I want middle earth! But outside of that, my two favorites (ideas) are … if you know what the Fraggles are, and if you don’t, I’m sorry, I can’t help you. I… I want. It’s like the muppets but better and I think it would be hilarious to have a group of your friends have to create their own muppet. Not muppet but like Fraggle and knowing how they behave and, like, the zaney culture of the Fraggles. I think would ensue in some really great shinanigans.

[Taylor] I wanna be a Doozer.

[Mikaela] See! And I’m like I wanna be a Doozer! And another one, like silliness aside, short of the Lord of the Rings, my all time favorite book series is the Symphony of Ages. And if, again, if you haven’t read the Symphony of Ages, and haven’t heard of it, go find them. They are #&$^ing fantastic.

[Taylor] Yes.

[Mikaela] I think that that world crossover… The author, Elizabeth Hayden, has layered so much believable, authentic fantasy, but through the laws of fantasy realistic lore that I think there are some really cool class possabilities. I think there are some really awesome quest possibilities, just the end of the book series itself. There are so many upcoming problems that like, it could be thousands of years in the future and your parties problem could be to solve one of those ongoing issues.

[Taylor] Literally the whole thing.

[Mikaela] Umm, I think that there is so much potentialthere and it would be in some ways like my inner child high fantasy dream come true. So I think those for me are it.

[Taylor] The roots… Being in the roots of Sagia. (Mikaela agreeing) The whole thing. That would be like a whole arc all on it’s own. Totally different world.

[Mikaela] Yeah. [And] They have like some species crossovers so like instead of your traditional Elves, um, you would have to go, like, Lirin. But they still have got Firbolg. They’ve got like the Dracians.

[Taylor] I just think there would be a lot of really cool things.

[Mikaela] Yeah. There’s just so much you could pull from.

[Taylor] And like, some of the NPC’s that could be pulled that were, like, long living just, like, would be really fun as a DM.

[Mikaela] Part of the premise of the books without giving it away, is due to some weird worldbuilding situation stuff, there  is a group of people that are bordering on immortal. And we are talking, like, an entire generation from all different species of people have this weird thing happen to them where they stop aging. So, like, there’s so much potential there.

[Taylor] I would want to do it like later, like after the book series, because it could be like…. anyways, I am digressing.

[Mikaela] *theatrical whispering* And like the book series ends like 2 or 300 years after the thing… *unintelligable mumble gestures as Mikaela tries to imply stuff*

[Taylor] I know.

[Mikaela] That last book really like, right in the %^&$ing heart.

[Taylor] I didn’t read the last one. I know you told… and I just don’t… cuz I would cry the whole time.

[Mikaela] Yeah… you would.

[Taylor] Yeah. But anyways… so, um, anyways. My own answer. Sorry we went down a little rabbit hole right there. My own answer, so one of her examples on here I am currently in.  And that probably would have been my go to answer until, you know, I am already in it. One Piece! Because that’s a whole world! Like it’s an expansive world with multiple islands, different cultures. Like it’s very built out and very layered and Oda is a freaking genius so there’s like just so many different things to pull from. (Mikaela making faces because we do not share this fandom and she has to hear all my rants and soap boxes and lecture) Don’t get me started. Anyways, I’m a huge One Piece fan. I have been watching it forever. Umm…

[Mikaela] We will always disagree on this one.

[Taylor] Yeah. I know right. I have been watching One Piece for liek 20 freaking years now at this point. So um, and reading, and everything. Just… One Piece. So that would be a thing but obviously I am in a campaign currently and have been for a little over a year so, I am living out that lovely DnD fantasy at the moment. And then I really agree with the Fraggles. And without giving too much away because she’s in my campaign, I have managed to integrate that in there somewhere. But I am not going to tell them who and what they are so if she figures it out, great but, uh, concepts are in there. That is coming up. And then…

[Mikaela] *whisper* Just don’t make me kill Fraggles.

[Taylor] Just don’t mindlessly kill.

[Mikaela] That’s not me. Talk to Victor.

[Taylor] Talk to Victor. Yeah. You guys are going to have to reign the bard in. And then I actually really love the idea of a Harry Potter world BUT Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them. So, focusing less on Harry Potter and Voldemort and that. I mean you can like bring those up and, like, have that be cannon in that world. But, I would much rather go, like, slightly more Victorian, like somebody, like when they are figuring things out. Like in Harry Potter and you read those books and that, they, they, bring up all of these cannony, like, people in their history books…

[Mikaela] Well, especially with how long lived wizards are. There’s possability there. That could be fun.

[Taylor] So, I jsut feel like I would want to go more that route and make it a little more steam punky because they do have stuff, right?! Like the, um, (My brain just shut off and is rebooting) just some of the different machines and that they have. They are obviously magical based, not steam, but kind of going that route.

[Mikaela]  But like technology meets magic crossover. They do have a fair a bit of that.

[Taylor] Yeah. Some of the real world world stuff but it’s kind of twisted a little bit. A little bit darker.

[Mikaela] And that would be cool because that gives you a fine blending of like, you’re in a weird way, your isekai world crossover fascination, where you get just enough of the real world to be able to pull from reality, like mundane reality.

[Taylor] Yeah. And she know’s I am a sucker for the isekai, like, falling into a different world concept anyways.

[Mikaela] That could, as much as I love Harry Potter, if you didn’t go stereotypical like, Harry Potter generation, they are all alive, and you are in that plot, then I think that could be super cool. Because, there is a lot of meta lore you could like pull from.

[Taylor] Yeah. Well even just like locations. Like you could still have, you know, Hogwarts etc. It’s jut like different people there because it’s… I would want to go prior to Harry Potter.

[Mikaela] Even like pre marauders.

[Taylor] Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Pre that. Very like, they are still figuring things out. Maybe even when the original house masters were there. Like Godric Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Slytherin, like, that would be a cool era to be in.

[Mikaela] I like how the only founder whose name you know is your own house. So… pbt!

[Taylor] I know the others (Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin). I do know the others, but he gets a pedestal.

[Mikaela] Okay.

[Taylor] Anyways.

[Mikaela] Fair.

[Taylor] And then…

[Mikaela] I think last question. I will let you interpret this to some degree because, I know you. Um… what character or type of character would you want to build or play next. It could either be like the type of characteryou have never ever played before or if you already have a specific character in your mind that you want to be able to build out and act.

[Taylor] Yeah. Cuz there’s cool ways to take somebody like, I don’t know, Darth Vader, and make a build around that. I would not, BUT… I mean I would but that’s not what I am going with this…

[Mikaela] DENIED!

[Taylor] No. I know somebody who is possibly doing that so I am not messing with that one. Um… so , I feel like I tend to go very dark, sassy characters. A little standoffish. I like going chaotic neutral and just, and I am really, really prone to, um, rogues. And that’s just because I find it easy to fall into that character.

[Mikaela] She likes to live vicariously through her DnD characters.

[Taylor] Just a little bit. And so, I would want to try something new. Something different. Maybe something a little bit more challenging. I feel like my current One Piece character, my closest class, since it’s a bit of a homebrew thing, would be kind of a druid. And I had considered do that. It’s very different for me and is a lot more difficult but I feel like I still have that somewhat snarky, dark character, like, character itself. Personality? And so I would want to…

[Mikaela] From what I have heard, yes, you are a murder doctor.

[Taylor] I am. Just a little bit and, like, I might hurt you. I might help you. I don’t know. And I do get really pissed at you and chop you up, I know how to stitch you back together so it’s fine. So, I feel like I would want to go, something…  (*both of us laughing*) it’s fine as long as you don’t die. Um, I feel like I would want to go something that would be harder for me to play character wise. So, something bright and bubbly and heppy and go lucky… kind of like a fluffy carebear character. I don’t know that I know necessarily what class but I would just want to play with a character that would be very, like, difficult for me to stay in character. I feel like that would…

[Mikaela] You want a challenge. Okay.

[Taylor] A growth thing. Yeah. Something that’s a challenge.

[Mikaela] Well, a challenge for you. Hahaha. See, and this is where you can tell that, yes, we are related. We have some very different personalities because on the flip side of this question, most of my characters, as opposed to her chaotic chaotic…

[Taylor] *whispers* Chaos…

[Mikaela] have been lawful good with a very strict moral code. It might not be everybody else’s moral code but they HAVE a very strict moral code. Um, and I am more or less, a squishy in real life (side eye from Taylor… because this is half true) so I feel like all of my DnD characters have been things that’s first reactions have been to, um, hit first and ask later. Um, I think my next DnD character… I will take a two pronged thing with this because technically speaking, the next character that I would really want to build, I technically have. I just haven’t gotten to play him yet beacause it’s for her (gestures to Taylor) campaign that we are getting ready to start. Um, and the cahllenge with one is going to be that it is an adolescent-ish aged, 24 year old, perpetually mutated, magically stunted, pygmy dragon sorcerer and not only have I never played a magic weilder- I am usually a barbarian or a ranger- but als, if you know me, my nickname is motor mouth for a reason. And, he can’t talk. So I am going to have to figure out how…

[Taylor] I mean he can, just not in anythnig that the other players will understand.

[Mikaela] Yeah. Unless one of my party members happens to speak draconic or dwarvish through a weird twist of backstory, nobody will be able to understand me. And even then, he doesn’t have fully developed vocal chords yet because he’s still considered young, so he’s learning to telepathically communicate short blips of information. But for the most part, my chatty ass is going to be reduced to pantomiming…

[Taylor] *sarcastic rawr*

[Mikaela] *nervous laugh* … which will be fun. But outside of Pip, like, if I was going to create a brand new character, I’m going to say, if we are going with angle of Mikaela getting her Symphony of Ages crossover, I want to build the closest thing that I could to Grunther. Um, which in that book series is a half Firbolg, half Bengardian, like gienat behemoth of a worrior. But he’s also kid of like a natural protector. He is the “Ultimate Authority To Be Obeyed At All Costs” is what one character has named him.  So I think I would do a half Orc, half Firbolg, but instead of – as much as he could be a tank- I think instead of building him as a barbarian or like a berserker, I would go cleric (or maybe Paladin?). Beecause, especially if we are taking place after the end of the Symphony of Ages story, I know where that series leaves off and then there would be so much room for my character to have to deal with the challenges of the stigma associated with Firbolg and those species still. And then, just get to constantly surprise the shit out people, which I think woujld be cool.

[Taylor] I loooove a good reaction from people. Like, even in an anime or that, like, part of the reason that I for a lot of the ones where it’s like the under dog, like whatever… and it’s such an overdone trope to some extent. But I will never not love it because I love when they pull something just out of left field and there’s such a good reaction to it.

[Mikaela] Well, and then you get the possability, at least with that character build, I would get the possability of like still being that terrifying, intimidating thing. So like with party interactions, my group would b e able to use that facade to scare the crap out of people and then physically I would still have the abiliy based off of just sheer size…

[Taylor] Intimidation rolls through the roof.

[Mikaela] …to, if I need to,  pick somebody up and chuck ’em. But at the end of the day I could focus on being a nurturer and a healer and I’ve never gotten to play a cleric. And ironically, in every party I have ever played, we  haven’t had a cleric so if somebody got injured, we were kind of “dude, you’re screwed.”

[Taylor] So that’s something I’d like to talk to in a future thing as well, with like character creation- is like, to some extent, your races, they already have bias’ against them. Maybe or maybe not depending on the world!

[Mikaela] For instance if you are a tielfing. Right?!

[Taylor] Yeah. And I love when you’ve got a character class, sometimes it can be annoying when they are completely the opposite (more like it isn’t believable) of like what that race would be. (insert a lot of um, like, like- because aparently I had a valley girly moment). You know what I mean?

[Mikaela] It’s unrealistic.

[Taylor] Yes. It’s unrealistic. You know some races tend to just be more dark and if you make them so they are super bubbly… but if there’s like some layer there, where they are super bubbly but they still retian some of the dark, you know what I mean? There’s like a fine line and I love that, being able to play with that.

[Mikaela] That’s why I’m excited to do- we have a blog post coming up about like, how to build a playable character DnD character and a believable one. Because there’s a difference- without us getting too much into a rabbit hole- there’s a difference between creating a cool character in your head and then being able to execute it.

[Taylor] Yeah.

[Mikaela] So…

[Taylor] And I love talking about character creation, even with NPC’s. Anyway’s… But I’m going to go down a rabbit hole because that’s what I do. So… mums the word.

[Mikaela] We’ll get that.

[Taylor] *literally just repeating what Mikaela said*

Um… *awkward pause* I think that was all three of our questions. I think, that’s the end of it. Don’t be a stranger, like I said. Check us out online. Check us out at market if you are local and…

[Mikaela] We will post the ones that are coming up so that you, you know, know ahead of time.

[Taylor] Yup. And if you haven’t notice, I have done a lot less of the, like, blog posts recently. Mikaela has been kind of chugging along with that, but you are about to see a little bit more of me on there again. So, uh, just keep an eye out.

[Mikaela] We have some exciting partnerships hopefully coming up soon that we’re, again mums the word at the moment, but like when the moment’s right! And hopefully things pan out, we will be able bring you some new stuff soon. And we are still kind of chugging along and kicking as far as like making career moves to really put us in a position to really kind of take this from grass roots growth to hopefully, like, really good trebuche launch.

[Taylor] Yeah. Well, and partnerships, we are talking products. We are talking maybe getting some people in here for interviews. Lot’s of good stuff coming up and ALSO… if, if, I don’t know if I mentioned at the very beginning, but part of our long term goal with our brick and mortar is to have a bar there. We did open up another instagram specifically, since I personally work as a bartender and now I do freelance bartending, so take a look at that too. It’s @ravenwerks.bartending, you can find it on our main instagram (@ravenwerks_guild) and there’s going to be a lot of tips and tricks, new recipes, and things like that.

[Mikaela] Yup! So, I think last notes are, do us a favor- Follow. Subscribe. And then if you have a moment and are feeling so inclined, in the comment section below, if you would do us a favor, I mean we would love to A. hear your answers to these things, because that’s part of the whole excitment with DnD, is that community and the connection. And you sometimes get some cool character ideas from people. But also, if there is a specific area of DnD, if you are looking to want to play and you aren’t sure where to start or you haven’t seen that blog post yet, if there are any particular questions that you would like answered, we love hearing those. It helps not only point us in the correct direction for future blog posts of beginner base line things that we can help you with, but also you may then get to see your question featured in a future video.

[Taylor] Yeah! Don’t be a stranger. Have a good one!

[Mikaela] Toodles!

Huzzah Adventurers! Always lovely to have you in our Guild. Oh…. You have more questions after Mikaela’s post on creating unique and playable D&D characters? Well then, are you in for a treat today?! That is rhetorical since I already know that you are, in fact, in for a treat.

You have painstakingly created your character and backstory, are ready to play your first session, and BAM! You realize you aren’t sure if you can properly bring your character to life! What if they fall flat (like a 2D piece of paper- bum-dum-tss!)?! What if they are just a statistic (or at least a page of them)?! NEVER FEAR!!! Elder Taylor is here! Never call me that though… it’s rude to point out a woman’s age.

Let us talk about how to bring your character to life through roleplay. It’s in the name of the game. Literally. TTRPG is an acronym for Tabletop Roleplay Game. You can choose how roleplay heavy you want your sessions to be but A TTRPG without ANY roleplaying is basically a boardgame. Still fun, but not a TTRPG. And you can choose whether to just talk through what your character is doing OR you can really get the full TTRPG experience and ROLEPLAY what they are doing.

Notice I didn’t say D&D? That is because D&D is just one TTRPG. There are MANY TTRPG’s such as Lancer, Pathfinder, Call of Cthulhu, and homebrews. I firmly believe you can use any of the tips or ideas below to help you in any TTRPG.

Are you sick of me saying TTRPG yet? TTRPG. TTRPG. TTRPG.

For the sake of ease and because it is a very popular TTRPG, I will just reference DnD from here on. That being said, I am most familiar with DnD and homebrew campaigns so most of my examples are from those games BUT like I said before, applicable to any….

TTRPG. Just kidding! I promised I would stop saying that.

All kidding aside, there are 4 things that I personally find help me more effectively roleplay during a session and I am here to pass those on. You don’t have to do everything on this list (though I do recommend it if you want to elevate your game). You can do as little or as much of it as you want or even take it further. If you do something different, please share in the comments as we would love to expand on our list, and I love trying new things.

(1) Decide How to Make Decisions

Mikaela touched on this a bit when she talked about creating your character. Maybe it wasn’t worded the same but there is going to be a lot of overlap here. This first area to focus on is really about knowing your backstory and then taking that a step further. When different situations arise, you want to react to them not how you would, but instead as your character. Sometimes this means not playing in the most beneficial or strategic way and it can be tough to take meta (real life) you out of a decision. So, here are a couple of things I do to help me decide on my actions and what I will or won’t say in character.

How Does Your Origin Affect Your Personality/ Knowledge/ Reactions?  

Think about your character’s backstory. This may seem a bit obvious, but I want to dig a little deeper on this one. I get that you came from place X and were a poor thief with a drunk for a mom or that maybe you were the daughter of a noble who wanted freedom and to prove you were meant for more than an arranged marriage. But how does that actually affect how you act? Are you more likely to be comfortable with seedy taverns or are you going to maybe be scandalized because you were very sheltered? Do you tend to be good at negotiation because of your cunning and practice or maybe more frugal because you know what it is like to have nothing? Maybe because you came from a lot of money you are good with it as you were home tutored in economics OR maybe you are ‘out of touch’ with no street smarts because everything was provided, so you are easily scammed. Think about your characters day to day and what their family is/was like. How would that affect them today?

How Do NPCs View Your Character… From Your Characters Perspective?

This may sound weird but stick with me. How you act is often a reflection of how others treat us. This seems like a no brainer. But equally, how you act is, in some part, affected by how you believe others perceive you… whether or not it is accurate. I have met MANY people who act with a confidence that I applauded only because I respected how deluded they were. On the other end of the spectrum, I know a number of people that overthink every interaction they have because they think that they speak too much and annoy others OR they think that others judge their appearance, so they dress in a certain way to hide a perceived flaw. … even if that is untrue. In both situations, the people are reacting to how they THINK others view them, whether or not it is substantiated. How does your character think others see them? Additionally, you can play with a character that tries to put on a certain persona to control how others see them.  For example, I played a rogue for a couple years that was quite intelligent and thought things out but as a coping mechanism and to stay safe she acted like she had one foot in the looney bin on purpose. Everyone thought she acted erratically and didn’t take her seriously except those who stuck around long enough to see her occasional character slip into her true self.

How Does Your Character View/ Treat Others?

How does your character treat people of different castes? Are they social standing snobs? How about other races? They could be racist or maybe they have just never met another race, or they obsessively fangirl over another race. Think about how quickly they trust another. Maybe they are slow to trust others or maybe just distrustful of a certain sex. Think about whether they are outgoing or shy. Are there certain professions they see as below them?

What is Your Alignment?

This is another staple of what to consider when roleplaying. I will not go into too much depth here as Mikaela was pretty detailed in her last DnD article. Check it out HERE if you want a breakdown of what your options are and what they really mean with examples of pop culture characters.

What is Your Race?

Next, I like to consider my race and how that would affect how I play my character. How do they fit into the world in both a physical and social sense. Let’s look at a couple races for examples. Tieflings physically have dark vision, horns that hypothetically could be used creatively, etc and those could be factors that affect how you roleplay a situation. Socially, depending on the world setting you are playing, they often are discriminated against. In a different situation, as a dwarf, physically you may have to roleplay situations to cater to your height (or lack thereof) and socially maybe you have a dislike of dragons and elves that colors your interactions with them. I play a 1-foot-tall stoat (think tiny, angry, adorable weasel) in a campaign currently and it has led to some very interesting roleplay… like how to open a normal sized door and how I talk to others and get super pissed off when someone calls me small or cute or, heaven forbid… the party’s pet!

What Are Your Motivations & Goals?

In Mikaela’s last article she talks about the fact that these should also be considered during character creation. She also references a book, “The Ultimate RPG Character Backstory Guide”, as having some great insight into what inspires your character. I would have to agree that this book is a fantastic tool for not only creating your character but determining how you will play it going forward. On page 45 there are some prompts that help you think about how your end goal or motivation can drive decisions. For example (not in the book), imagine you are a hostage. The bad guy offers you freedom from your restraints and power in exchange for your obedience and maybe a few choice pieces on information on your party from time to time. If power was your kink and all you cared about was getting stronger regardless of who you hurt on the way, you might take the deal. You could want this power for your own nefarious plans or for revenge on another evil.  On the other hand, you would probably refuse if you were more focused on true freedom and making your own decisions or if loyalty was one of your biggest motivators.  

What Are Your Weaknesses & Flaws?

Picking out some weaknesses and flaws for your character gives them more depth. Playing with them causes some of the most memorable moments. I love when something is triggered, I have to turn to my fellow players and say, “sorry in advance”, and I HAVE to act on a weakness or a flaw to stay in character. With one of my characters who has kleptomania (mostly drawn to shiny things) and a penchant for adopting animals in ally’s (rats, racoons, scavengers, etc)… it has led to a mule by the name of Barnabus living in our apartment, the start of a fantasy plant based drug ring, the springing of traps, goofy chase scenes and even (unpredictably) heart felt moments just to name a few. My stoat character with the issue of being called a pet? She is a doctor and was trying to be covert and sneak in somewhere by pretending to be a pet… and subsequently could not hold back her anger when it was successful so she went rogue, basically had a Godzilla level tantrum, burned down/exploded like 10 buildings, killed at least 10 people (final number of casualties never confirmed) in a couple minutes, scared both sides in a war and accidentally still completed the objective before running back into her party who has no idea why the locals look a bit scared of their adorable doctor.

Do A Personality Test as Your Character.

Here is where we get more into the presession prep. There are SOOOOO many free personality tests out there. I like to take a couple but answer everything as my character. I figure out what Hogwarts house they are, their aesthetic, what color suits them best, their IQ, zodiac…. Heck, what character from F.R.I.E.N.D.S. they are! Literally any tests at all. The point is that it not only gets you into the headspace of answering questions as them, but it also helps you narrow down their vibe to something more relatable. I always do Hogwarts houses because I am a huge fan, and it really talks to me about my character. But maybe you are a huge gear head and characterizing your character by the type of car they would be is more your speed.

Let the Dice Decide

Say you have gone through this whole list already, but a situation comes up that you are still torn on how to roleplay. Let the dice decide! If you have a couple options that you feel your character could believably choose, assign meanings to a dice at random. If it is between just 2 options, role a d6 and say that getting 1-3 means you will choose option A while 3-6 means option B. I also find that because I am chaotic neutral most often, I can throw some random options in there and see where the dice gods take me. Plus… as I have said in the past, I love a good reaction. When my teammates see me randomly role, I can visibly see them shore up their imagination because they know chaos is about to ensue.

Make up your own rules for interactions (don’t tell people what they are)

What I have really enjoyed doing in previous campaigns is making up social rules for myself. I never tell others what they are off the bat, and I wait to see how long they figure them out. Sometimes it is a rule like, if offered free food, my character immediately bonds to that “person” or that they will have a compulsion to lie about why they were in prison before. Those could be explained by the previous exercises. But here is an idea I am currently using in a campaign… you do not always bond with people in your party at the same rate or in the same way in real life. So, I have been arbitrarily giving or taking away points for each character every time we have an interaction. Some things (like giving me my favorite foods) have a set point amount. Some actions depend on the player and how meaningful it is given their current point or maybe my mood. Players with higher points I treat differently as we are closer and at a certain point, I start sneaking things into their packs. First, a way to track me when I disappear and then later, bits and baubles. The other players have figured out they have points assigned to them and know what they do to some extent (it has been over a year), but not the point system.

(2) Decide On Voices

So now we have talked about how we would act and what we would say. But how would you say it? This is something I have talked about recently in a video because I wish it was something I had played with more in previous campaigns and am looking forward to practicing more in my upcoming games. Having a different way of talking for your characters will help you separate them from yourself; both for yourself and for those interacting with you. Think about jokingly pretending to be someone you know or a different social group. Really quick, try this exercise. In your head, imagine you pretending to say these things as the different characters. You can totally do this out loud as well.

1. You are a Southern Belle and say, “bless your heart, darlin.”
2. You are a flamboyant fem boy and say “SLAY!”
3. You are in Braveheart giving his famous speech to hype up his warriors.
4. You are in 300 doing the iconic “FOR SPARTA!!!”
5. You are the Terminator and say “I’ll be back.”

Did you just say them straight faced, no accent, no inflection… or did you automatically put yourself into those roles? Was there extra sass in your slay and a questionable accent while you pictured yourself with blue face paint? If you just said bless your heart without any inflection, you wouldn’t get the context and the character behind it. You lose part of the impact.

I am here to say… do not be afraid to play with a different way to speak.

Equally, do not think that you need to be an amazing impersonator or always talk in an accent. In fact, I am horrible at accents, and they are not my preferred way to do voices. Yes, they can be iconic and an easily recognizable character builder BUT there are many more things you can play with in your voices that are a little less intimidating. These are some possibilities:

• An Accent: The obvious one but in my opinion, also the hardest for me to keep up.
• Pitch: You can pitch your voice higher or lower to denote age or gender. Think guys trying to do a female impression or vice versa.  
• Volume: Is your character shy or boisterous? Play with talking quietly all the time vs very loud.
• Emphasis: Changing how emphatically you speak or what words you emphasis completely changes your vibe.
• Syntax: Different people have different vocabularies due to their origins, nationality, education level etc.
• Sounds: Can you think of any characters that have a verbal tic they always use? It can just be a sound… maybe your character always smacks their lips or sniffs at the end of a sentence. Or you can take it a step further and it can be a word interjected randomly. Anyone watch Anime? Great examples are Naruto, towards the beginning always saying Da ttebayo! Or what about a rabbit character always saying pyon at the end of sentences? It is literally the sound for hop so if you take it literally, it is superfluous, but it adds flavor. Or Nyan for cats? You get the point.

I shared 2 videos when I talked about creating NPC’s in my article about DnD world building. I would also like to recommend you look at these to help with your character since it is still applicable. They are not super long, but they ARE very detailed and give a TON or ideas and a more inclusive list than I do.

• How To Create 100 Distinctly Different Voices by “Improve Your Voice”
• Laban’s Eight Efforts demonstration by “David Bareford”

(3) Practice Some Prompts

Like any other skill or hobby, roleplay takes practice. In my opinion, this is more about knowing the character without thinking and also being comfortable in your own performance. Get out of your own way! People are afraid of not doing well so they do not fully commit. What I recommend is that you practice on your own, so you feel more comfortable being your character in front of others. It will help you practice scenarios and your voice, mannerisms, etc. Here are a couple of ideas.

The Ultimate RPG Character Backstory Guide

Check out the book that Mikaela and I keep talking about. The Ultimate RPG Character Backstory Guide has a tone of prompts and scenarios and then guides you on how to address them and asks questions about the who, what, when, where, and WHY. It really makes you think outside the surface level and I will never stop recommending it.

Look At One Shots and Run Through Them in Your Theatre of The Mind

Similar to looking at the book, I will also look through free online one shot and as I read through the different scenarios, I picture in my mind how my character would respond.

Talk Out Loud About Your Back Story or Through a Situation as Them

Does anyone else give mini lectures, or rants, or have hypothetical arguments with their boss in the vehicle on the way home to absolutely no one? This can’t just be a Lasley thing. When you are by yourself in the vehicle, on a walk, cleaning, etc., try to talk like they would in a conversation. Explain your backstory in your voice. Or pretend you are in a tavern, who do you approach or what argument would you have? OR on your drive home, still rant about your boss but do it from your character’s perspective in their voice.

(4) Cosplay and Props

This is an extra and I feel like it is often overlooked. I talk about it a bit in our first DnD video as well. I love an excuse to dress up anyway but in the context of roleplaying your character, I feel like this does SO MUCH!!!! It helps set the ambience for yourself, your fellow characters, AND your DM. It is so much more fun interacting this way and even makes me feel less goofy about acting. It is also a great reminder in my case of the scale of things. Some of my props seem oversized because I tried to make them so they would be proportioned correctly compared to my 1 ft tall character. If I know I will need something in a future session, I will also make things like notes because it is such a fun touch to actually whip one out to pass to another player. I find that some of them (like the vivre tracking card in our One Piece campaign), other characters will hold onto and bring up later in our campaign and it helps ALL of us immerse ourselves deeper into the actual world.

So, What Now?

At the end of the day, I can give you lots of tips and tricks, but you just need to go out and do the dang thing! Roleplay is a learned skill, and nothing will help you believably play your character more than just learning as you go. And remember, you do not have to do all of these things at once. Start picking one or 2 things to integrate into your own games and see what works for you.

As always, we love hearing from the community. Leave us a message below. We want to hear about your experiences and if you have any other methods that work for you!

Until next session,

Taylor

Hello Adventurer! Nice to see you back in the Guild Hall! Are you ready for our next lesson? Now that we’ve talked about world building, and we’ve discussed the benefits of D&D, as well as gone over some of our favorite beginners’ tools– it’s time to talk characters. Specifically: How to build a playable D&D Character.

Anybody can slap together a race, class, and some basic stats and run with it. But that’s not the same thing as creating a playable D&D character with depth that is believable and fun for you to interact with. We’re talking about the kind of character that your DM falls in love with and therefore can’t kill. Well, they can still kill them, it’ll just be a lot harder for them to bring themselves to do it.

Resources that will help you Build a Playable D&D Character:

D&D players handbook: we talked about this in a previous post. You can read more about it here.

Ultimate RPG Character Backstory Guide: also on that list of resources for beginners’, this is where this book is really going to be your best friend.

You and your brain.

Building a Playable D&D Character

I won’t walk you through every single step in detail because you don’t need me for that. We’re talking Nitty Gritty 4 Dimensional Characters here, Backstory, personality, believability, the whole shebang. I’ll still cover the basics, because there are some things to consider. But for an in-depth look at the races, classes etc. you will want to refer to your D&D players handbook, or your DM if it’s a homebrew campaign and you maybe have some more race options you’d like to explore.

Select your Race:

This will be the foundation of your stats and your skill set. Refer to your D&D handbook. If you are selecting a home brew race you will need to work with your DM to reference believable/ reasonable stats/ race advantages etc.

Select your Class:

if you are playing 5E your base options are barbarian, bard, cleric, druid, fighter, monk, paladin, ranger, rogue, sorcerer, warlock, wizard, blood hunter. Refer to your D&D handbook for a breakdown of each.

Choose your alignment:

this is the beginning of believability in a playable D&D Character. Some races are inclined towards certain alignments (ie dwarves: lawful good, Tiefling: Chaotic neutral) that being said you still have flexibility SO LONG AS it can be explained or rationalized by your backstory. Think about the kind of character you want to build. This selection impacts your character’s morals and decision-making process.

Alignment is an X/Y axis scenario (X: lawful, chaotic, Neutral Y: Good, Evil, Neutral). Both Axis’ have a neutral component.

• Lawful: The rules matter more to me than individuals. “The Law is hard but it is the Law.”
• Good: Other People’s well-being matters more than own. “For the Greater Good.”
• Chaotic: Individuals matter more to me than the rules. “You say rules, I say Guidelines.”
• Evil: My own wellbeing is more important than rules or the general public. “I am my own Rule.”
• Neutrals: My opinion of what is more important is on a case-by-case basis. “The Devil is in the details.”

Lawful Evil:

A lawful evil character is going to follow a strict moral code. It might be warped, sure. But they are going to follow the letter of the law just as much as a lawful good character. They’re just following their own law. Think Darth Vader or Lord Voldemort.

Lawful Good:

A lawful good character is going to follow the letter of the law for the greater good, regardless of what that means for themselves. You see this a lot with Paladin types. A good example is Captain America.

Lawful Neutral:

we do what we must. They are characterized by being bound to a code or set of rules. They may not agree with all of those rules, but they understand the necessity of following them for a functional society. The punisher is a good example of this.

Chaotic Good:

Chaotic Good characters are going to do what they believe to be right for an individual regardless of what the law says (think Robin Hood).

Chaotic Neutral:

A Chaotic Neutral Character is the essence of “I do what I want when I want as I see fit.” These characters do have moral codes and beliefs that they live by, but it is on a case-by-case basis and they take all the semantics into their account. Decisions are made at their discretion. Riddick is a great example of Chaotic Neutral.

Chaotic Evil:

In contrast, a chaotic evil character is going to say “Fuck the rules and fuck you.” The Joker.

Neutral Good:

Gandalf The Grey is a prime example of “Neutral good” in that he has a strong desire to do good and make the world a better place, but unlike a lawful good he is willing to compromise on societal correctness to do so (insert every instance in which he utilizes hobbits to achieve his long term goals), occasionally seen as unreliable but largely at the end of the day they are about balance and acknowledging that there are multiple sides to every situation and decisions are not a one size fits all.

True Neutral:

True Neutral is less common because it is harder to play than you might suspect and it’s easy to accidently slip into “Neutral Good” as the line is very fine- this is one of my favorites and I think this excerpt from Gamer’s Decide explains it best: “The True Neutral alignment represents a character who is neutral on all alignments, and does not feel strongly about good, evil, law, or chaos. They may act in their own self-interest, but they do not have a particular moral or ethical code that they follow. They may act to preserve balance or neutrality, but they are not necessarily committed to doing so.”  Geralt of Rivia is an excellent example of true neutral.

An Additional tool for this is the Save the Cat Prompt on Page 16 of the RPG backstory builder.

Choose Your Background:

Here you will also want to refer to your player handbook for the basic categories. You can also chat with your DM for a homebrew to customize something that matches your character better. Remember that this is not your backstory- it’s your background. In the vaguest of terms think of it as the style of your upbringing: Urchin vs Noble vs Criminal vs Hermit etc. each one comes with its own set of proficiencies or perks.

Spend some time thinking about this, as this is what you will build your backstory off of (or if you’re like me you already have your backstory and you’re going to pick the background that fits with it the best and gives you the proficiencies you want or are looking for.) You can use the roll technique and use some personality traits from the handbook if you want or pull your own, but this is where your characters quirks start to develop.

Arm Yourself:

Spend some time thinking about how you want your character to be involved in combat. This is heavily affected by your race and class but I have seen some unconventional blends that have worked. Its all about believability. If you are a physical fighter instead of a spell caster etc. you may want to spend some extra time in chapter 5 of the Player’s handbook as it goes into detail about different types of weapons and may give you some ideas, or templates to pull unconventional weapons from.

Write a basic backstory:

You don’t have to be an award winning novelist. Or even a good writer. I urge people to try for a paragraph or so, but I also totally get if you have an idea in your head but you aren’t an avid writer. My husband uses bullet points for the ideas he has and the things that are important to him and doesn’t bother stringing them into paragraphs. He can talk to you about his character but isn’t going to write a story.

However your brain works- write down your origin story: Who are you? Where do you come from? Why are you adventuring? What is your purpose? Who raised you? If you were making a 30 second intro clip for your character’s video game- what’s the premise?

Let’s Get Gritty:

So you have your basic build. Now let’s take basic and build it 4 dimensional. Let’s give it personality, nuance, believability, and pizazz. Nobody plays D&D to be boring- that’s what real life is for. D&D operates in the realm of possibility. Have fun. Play with it. This is how we take the basics of stats and story, and add flesh and blood until we have a playable D&D Character.

Appearance:

maybe you thought this would go in the generic section, but I want you to go beyond how tall you are, what color you hair is, and what color you are based on your dragonborn heritage. Picture your character clearly in your head.

How has their lifestyle affected their physique? Calloused hands could just as easily be from a lifetime of baking bread as they can from hefting a sword. Is your profession or background reflected in your wardrobe or jewelry? Could someone guess what you do based on your appearance or gear? What’s the likelihood of someone guessing and getting wrong? Are the little splatters of pigment on your fingertips from ink or the toxins you lace your weapons with? Do you have freckles? Identifying tattoos? What is your body language like? Do you come across cocky? Mousy? Stuffy? Intelligent? Might your appearance intimidate others or impact how villagers view you? Do you  face any biases because of your appearance?

Language:

A big portion of buidling a playable D&D character is developing parts of them that you can interact with and bring to life. How does your character speak? What’s their vocabulary like? Do they have any phrases or terms that they use regularly? This is a great way to add depth and believability to a character and make game play more fun.

A sorcerer is going to have a much different vocabulary than a soldier or a priest. Does their hometown impact their accent or their colloquialisms? Can other people tell where they are from based on their speech? Is there something that makes their vernacular unique? A fun little added tool you can use in addition to these questions is the idiom generator on page 14 of the RPG backstory guide.

Religion and Beliefs:

In addition to whatever your D&D ‘deity’ is, or two whom your character pays homage, spend some time thinking about what their beliefs are. Do they actively practice their religion or passively believe in something? How much does it affect their day to day life? Do they observe any strange or interesting holidays? A fun (though not all inclusive) prompt for holidays is on page 18 of the RPG character backstory.

Core lessons:

A good way to build out a playable D&D character is to think about all formative things your character has learned up until the start of the campaign. All real people have them. life events and lessons that have shaped how we view and interact with the world. These should be based on your characters traits and backstory but with more detail. Try for a minimum of 5. What events, choices, or traumas have they lived through that have shaped their character? An amazing set of 5 questions to help you with this is on page 26 of the RPG Character backstory Guide.

Party Preferences:

What kind of company do you keep? Obviously, you don’t get to pick what kind of characters your friends or party members choose to play, or what your DM evilly decides to do with that. BUT based on your backstory and character you should be able to describe who your character would like to adventure with, or if there is anybody your character would absolutely not do well with. It will affect how your character interacts with the other player characters as well as any NPC’s your DM cooks up.

Think about it like this: if your backstory is written around the fact that your family was murdered by a war band of goblins and another party member happens to be half goblin… you might have some prejudices or some strained interactions to work through. It will also be a factor in how you interact (or should interact) with NPC’s. remember- you are not you, you are your character. An example of this concept can be found on page 28 of the RPG character backstory guide.

Add detail to your core stats:

Sure, a barbarian is strong, but go deeper. How are you strong compared to other barbarians? How did you come to be this way? Of course a rogue is high in dexterity (if they’re a good rogue) but how might someone else be able to tell you’re dexterous, what might hint at your master thief skills? There’s a fun exercise in the RPG character guide called “Across a crowded Tavern” on page 32 that will highlight some ideas for this.

What drives you forward:

when all seems lost and things aren’t going according to plan (and they won’t). what inner strength, power, ideal, or memory pushes you to keep going. What stops your character from tapping out even when 80% of them is ready too? Check out the exercise on page 45 of the RPG book for some examples.

Create a mental snapshot of home:

what did your childhood home look like and how might that environment have impacted who your character currently is? Were you raised in a city? A village? A tribe? In a metropolis or a forest? A cave dwelling civilization? Where did you call home? where did you usually sleep? Do you miss it? Where did people socialize? What did community interaction look like? What did people respect? Who was in charge? Check out page 47 of the backstory guide for more prompts.

Creeds, mottos, and ideals:

this is different than beliefs, lessons, or idioms- even though lessons and idioms typically have meaning or deeper wisdom in them. Not a slogan, or a catch phrase (although those are equally endearing in a character- we see you Naruto). It doesn’t even necessarily have to be something your character technically excels at but rather something they hold in high esteem, a trait they aspire to, or something they believe in outside of religion. These are statements of belief outside of deities. Examples might be:

• Life is what we make it.
• We have nothing if we don’t have our morals.
• The only thing stronger than a man’s given word is his heart.
• Power is the only guarantee of freedom
• We always have a choice.
• It’ll feel better when it quits hurting.

Valuable advice:

what is the best piece of advice your character has ever received? If they could pass on any one piece of advice what would it be? Similar to creeds and mottos, but distinct in that this is something they have learned, that they live by, and act on whenever possible. A belief they hold in the livable present. Examples might include:

• When you get the chance to dance, dance.
• The man is the head of the family, but the woman is the neck and she can turn the head any way she wants.
• Tuck your chin, you’re going to get hurt, expect it and be ready.
• This too shall pass
• The friends who criticize your actions are the ones who really care about you. If they didn’t care they wouldn’t waste their breathe.
• If you love something enough, and for long enough, the rest of the world will eventually have no choice but to accept it, regardless of its original perception of it.
• All things worth having are worth working for.
• You’re always going to be “too much” of something to someone, do not dim your light for anybody.

Fears, Flaws, and weaknesses:

nobody, or character for that matter, is perfect. Even superman has kryptonite. To make a character really fun to both play, but also interact with for your DM and party members come up with a short list of “shortcomings” or flaws. They could be major or minor, or something your character is actively working on improving, extra props if at least one of them is something that your other party members can leverage.

• You snore terribly.
• You’re a dwarf that can’t hold your ale- a complete lightweight, the family doesn’t talk about it.
• You have a gambling problem
• You are a terrible cook- like give someone food poisoning bad.
• You are severely ADHD- this causes problems in combat, problems with your memory, and with everyone elses sleep schedule. You lose everything contstantly.
• You have a soft spot for strays and are always trying to “adopt” the local critters. Even when your party can’t hide them, feed them, or otherwise deal.
• You are terrified of the dark- dungeons, am I right?
• You can’t swim
• Terrible anemia
• Petrified of zombies
• Invasive thoughts with no filter. Your party does not appreciate you making your disturbing thoughts their newest fears.
• You have a crippling fear of heights.

Consider your long-term goal:

I want to leave you with an idea for character development as you go forward to create. Remember that what you are building is the base of your character. The point of D&D is to play/tell a story. Characters develop during stories. What you are making is the origin story, the idea, and the potential. But remember that your character is going to interact with others, be subject to circumstance, and hopefully have the opportunity to grow. Don’t try and create a level 10 character with an “I saved the world” backstory. That’s what the story is about.

But also, do not limit your character ideas to what your current stats are- your character is as fluid as its development is. Some gardeners become protectors in great stories. If the templates and basic things don’t seem like they are ticking all the right boxes, or that nothing quite describes the character you’d like to build…. Remember that multi-classing is a thing. The possibilities are endless depending on what choices you are willing to make. In much the same way as real life you can choose to learn multiple things to create your own field of study/ specialty. If you’d like to learn more about multi-classing, check out page 163 of the D&D Players handbook.

Now go out there, build an awesome character, and keep your eyes peeled for our next D&D post where Taylor will cover actual execution and playing of this awesome character you have created.

See you on the battlefield!

Mikaela

Okay nerds… Buckle up because I have a lot to say this time.

Today I want to talk about creating your own Dungeons and Dragons campaign or more specifically world building. A while back we did a video on our personal experiences from when Mikaela and I were first learning to play DnD where I mention not ever having DM’d. For the uninitiated, that means to be the Dungeon Master or the one creating the world, plot, deciding dice role outcomes, etc.

DM’ing is very underrated. The DM is (for lack of a better descriptor coming to my mind at the moment), the game god. It is a lot of work, prep, blood, sweat, tears, and love to be a good DM. But it is also very rewarding! You get to see your world come alive and be a part of not one character… but EVERY character as you are the playing all the NPC’s but also helping to develop and grow your players characters over time. You are constantly flexing your creativity, quick thinking, organization and, depending on the DM, your acting.

That being said, the prospect of being a DM can be intimidating. I can say that for a loooong time I avoided it like the plague because I knew it would be a commitment and I didn’t feel I would be able to do it justice. Earlier this year I decided to say, “fuck it” and start building my own campaign anyways. It may be a learning curve, but I have wanted to try my hand at being on the other side of the table and was done psyching myself out. Turns out my OCD ADHD self LOOOOOOVES world building and what I should have worried about is getting stuck in a creative concept hole.

That being said, I just want to preface my world building process with a couple notes (big surprise since I always do this).

1. I want to emphasize the distinction that this is about WORLD BUILDING for your campaign.  Writing a campaign is like writing a story whereas the world building is just focusing on building the world the story takes place in. You need to take into consideration things like the Big Bad Evil Guy (BBEG), character deadlines, etc but we aren’t focusing on them as that will develop and change to some extent during game play and I could/will eventually go more into that at some point.
2. I am sure you can find a bunch of other lists and articles that tell you how to world build. They will probably work. At one point or another I looked at some of those lists to make sure I didn’t miss anything. What I want to do today is show you the process that, specifically, I went through and what tools you might use.
3. I will point out that you could definitely buy one-shots, books of campaigns, maps etc and have just as much fun but this is how to build your own world for a new campaign because worldbuilding is just as much fun as playing in my opinion.
4. Again, I also want to preface this with the knowledge that there are MANY ways to go about this and none are wrong. This is just what I did. I will also be using my world as an example, so I do not go off into more tangents than is already inevitable with me.

So, let’s get into my process…

I like to start big and add more details as I go. My thought process behind this is that when writing campaigns, you want to let the world grow with the characters and let the players help build it with you. It was easier for me to consider the bigger picture and start filling in necessaries so they had a starting point with the knowledge that smaller details can, to some extent, be thought of on the spot or become lore through the actions or back stories of my fledgling party.

WHAT TYPE OF GAME PLAY DO YOU WANT?

I am not sure if this first thing is necessarily world building, but the first thing I considered was what kind of campaign I wanted to run. It helps set the tone, what kind of world I want to build, scale of the world, etc. For example, if the campaign you want is going to be a dungeon crawler you might build a high fantasy world OR do a more modern realistic world with Indiana Jones vibes. If you want a suspenseful murder mystery, you could go with a Victorian or a sci-fi space setting. Maybe you really want steampunk political intrigue. The point is that by determining what type of game you want to play; it will hugely affect what type of world you want to build. I also feel like mentioning that you can take inspiration from anywhere and to not avoid mixing and matching things. You are creating a new world so you can have new concepts! But on the flip side of that, do not be ashamed to steal a concept that is already out there and play it with maybe just slight tweaking because your players are going to add their own flavor to it anyways.

In my case, I was building my campaign world off of a book concept I had considered writing. Additionally, I am a huge book worm and also avidly consume Anime and Manga and there were certain tropes and plots that I loved and also wanted to incorporate so I pulled inspiration from a couple places. I decided on a high fantasy style game that combined an adventure/dungeon crawling style with political intrigue. I also love adventurers’ guilds but didn’t necessarily want players in one… maybe just something similar. I also loved the idea of playing something based off either a mirror image of earth or its cultural beliefs. So, imagine if the earth was populated by the myths, legends, and fantasy creatures we write and talk about and in this world, humans and our meta cultures are the stuff of their myths and legends. Again, this was kind of a vague idea at this point, but it gave me a concept to start building everything else on.

KEEP SOME THINGS, CHANGE SOME THINGS.

This is also less of a step, and more of a reminder for me and you; a tip if you will. When thinking about all the following steps, remember to keep some meta things and change some meta things. What I mean is don’t have a world so far removed conceptually that players can’t understand it or struggle with game play BUT also don’t have it be so normal in comparison to our meta world that it is exactly the same. If NOTHING in your world is relatable there is a steep learning curve. Additionally, it makes it hard for the players to have a starting place to be creative. I love being able to use my own meta knowledge about our world in creative ways… like sciencey shit etc but if NOTHING is applicable in that world it makes it hard for me to improvise. On the flip side, if it mirrors our current world exactly… what is the point? You are describing my reality, not a new world. At that point I would just call it TTRPG Sims… or I would go play my Sims… or even better, walk out my front door and interact with my normie neighbors. You need to change at least one thing about our world and then watch how it affects everything else.

START BIG. HOW IS YOUR WORLD LAID OUT?

This was my big map step. You will constantly be making maps of cities, dungeons, encounters etc. but you need to have a larger, general world for those to fit into. I already said this… but I like to start big and narrow down details later so my next step was creating the world or planet itself. Think about how big you want your world to be. You can start with a universe and then add planets that you add continents to and then later country borders to and so on, and so forth. For this world, I started at the scale of a planet. To start, I drew an equator (there is a reason for this) and then started drawing continents. This was easy for me because, though not exact, I based my continents off our meta world, BUT you could draw literally anything. The sky is the limit. Maybe your whole world is only one continent or a bunch of islands or a single spaceship or everyone lives in ships because there is no land. You get the point.

After that, think about if and how your continents would be further divided up by “human” constructs such as territories or state/country borders. Do they have defined borders or is everyone nomadic? Or maybe the world isn’t very populated and is mostly uninhabited wildlands. When I got to this point, I chose to take a bit of a hybrid approach. A planet is large and if there are multiple continents, it stands to reason that not all of them will be the same. Because I was basing my world off of our myths, legends, cultures, etc. I did research on those cultures and made decisions accordingly. The continent corresponding to our Europe has country borders that are not a mirror of but are vaguely reminiscent to Europe’s countries. The continent corresponding to North America is completely different. I chose to base it off of Native American lore and their cultures as a whole had less defined borders. To reflect this, I chose to show the territories where nations are generally found but avoided hard borders and many (not all) of the nations were nomadic or semi nomadic.

I also started adding major topographical landmarks (think major mountain ranges, great lakes, things big enough to show up on a world map) at this point but I didn’t focus too much on it yet. It is a whole planet, and I could easily get super sucked into this FOREVER.

You do not need to pull all of this from thin air either. Think about your inspirations and work smarter, not harder. I pull images and information from the real world and resources already out there. Here are a couple I use(d) on the regular.

• The internet in general- This is obvious. I used this for research and for images. Google search the shit out of everything. I was all about using reputable sources and fact checking but depending on your world and what you are searching for, realism may be less relevant honestly.
• Inkarnate – Create Fantasy Maps Online– This is a favorite resource of mine for several reasons. You can use this site to make your own custom maps fairly easily in multiple styles for free and with paid versions. Additionally, there are randomization options for those who want less work or care less about this aspect or are stuck. This service works for world maps but also for cities and dungeons, so it is VERY useful long term. Finally, many users publish their maps for other world builders to use FOR FREE so you can also find a map that suits your world if map making from scratch is not your thing.
• AI art- AI gets a bad reputation but if you are looking for fun visuals for your world without spending forever, this is the way to go. As an artist, I sometimes (a lot of the time) hate AI art and what it means for me BUT sometimes I go this route. I just find free programs online and sometimes I know what I want or other times I will use the weird things it makes as inspiration. Either way, I love having visuals for my players and myself and while I enjoy hand making things, I will also supplement with this.

THINK ABOUT THE RULES OF A PLANET.

When I talk about thinking of the rules of a planet, I am talking about the laws of nature. Once the campaign is running, this is mostly not thought about in game play because it is second nature (baddump-tsss) to accept those everyday rules. I mean, how often during the day do you consciously think about tectonic plates, gravity, or the tidal currents of the ocean and how that affects landscapes, weather, and where certain things live? The answer is A LOT if you are me but probably not at all if you are the general public. Just think about that for a second though and what this would look like in your world.

I would recommend using our world as a reference for these laws. Remember: keep some, change some. It will make the world more relatable and avoid awkward gameplay. I am not saying that you need to become a meteorologist, zoologist, geologist, etc. to make your world. How in depth you go and how much you change is up to you. I knew I could spend forever creating this new world and never actually play if I got stuck in this. I went VERY DEEP and will probably always be adding to this. What I am saying though is to just put a bit of thought in… I started with these categories for me:

• Tectonics- I went there! You don’t need to. But I just briefly thought about it because it helped me decide where to put mountain ranges and volcanic hotspots. I did use our planet as reference, but I didn’t want placement to be 100% the same.
• Seasons- Do you have the same seasons or are they completely different? I kept the same seasons. Both because of familiarity and because a lot of ancient lore revolves around the seasons, so they were relevant. Also, I knew I was going to focus more in other areas and was avoiding even more work.
• Natural Disasters- What types are there? Are they more prevalent in certain areas? I decided to keep our normal ones and add a couple new ones since I had a highly magical world. For example, I added a Chaotithaumaturg Storm with is basically a big word describing a huge storm event that happens around areas that are particularly dense with magic, and it causes your own magic to react and manifest in weird ways or not at all.
• Gravity- This was easy for me… I kept Earths gravity. This may be different on your planet, spaceship etc. If you are in space, you could have VASTLY different ranges of gravity and that will affect races, game play, technology, flora, fauna, etc.
• Distance from Equator- I told you this would be important! Again, because I used earth as a reference, I knew my rules and could mostly ignore its placement BUT, on your planet, think about how this affects everything. On Earth, closer to the equator means more light and warmer weather which means that the races and flora and fauna there have adapted to that. It also means the water in the oceans is warmer near the equator, leading to more hurricanes.
• Wind and Ocean Currents- Again, for me, Earth was a reference, and this was one area I chose not to mess with. There is one big thing to remember about currents though if you have different terrain/ continents and it is that currents will follow the path of least resistance. This could mean flowing downhill if we have Earth gravity or up if we have a different gravity rule.  If wind hits a mountain range, it will be forced up which will cause different weather on each side of it. Water will flow until it hits an obstacle (like a continent) and then will be redirected to flow along the coast until it is redirected again by another obstacle. When apposing currents meet you could have a strong up or down current or a whirlpool. Just things to think about if you want to make more realistic maps/terrains.
• Flora & Fauna- This is where I chose to make more of my changes and where I am still making new things constantly. Think about what plants and animals are in your world and what/where their habitats would be. I kept a lot of our meta plants and kept them native to areas relative to our world while adding larger carnivorous, magical, and monstrous options as well. For the “animals” or creatures in the world I may have gone a bit far (to the point of dichotomous keys). I did keep some of our animals but for the most part I wanted to make run of the mill animals, like pigeons, the equivalent of a mythical creature like a phoenix. Instead of Pigeons, they have something that looks like tiny rat pigeon gryphons called a Rageon. A shifter that turns into an earth wolf? How magical! What is a cow? Instead, my cultures have domesticated and made a global industry out of Bonnacon farming. I just felt like it really made for an immersive world and opened up opportunities for fun interaction.

You don’t have to focus on all these things, or you can look at other “rules” than I have here. I would recommend though that whatever you are thinking about, consider how they interact and change in relation to each other if you tweak just one thing. How would less or more gravity affect your natural disasters? What if there was only 1 season… or 13? And how would that affect how plants, animals, or even people adapted?

TRIBES: WHO, WHERE, AND WHAT ARE THEIR RELATIONS?

So now we have a planet and need to start adding “people” as it may be. I like to think of this in terms of “tribes” because it is a bit more in depth and pushes me to think about things in different ways. Tribes can be defined as:

a social division in a traditional society consisting of families or communities linked by social, economic, religious, or blood ties, with a common culture and dialect, typically having a recognized leader.

A tribe can be a race in the broadest sense of the word, or we can narrow it down to nationalities, religions, government factions, a club at school, a friend group, etc. I like to start thinking about who my tribes are, where they would be found, and what do their relationships look like. Do you only have 2 races; one that has adapted to water and lives on the coast and an inland hunter gatherer race. Do they get along and trade for resources? Or do they compete and have a long history of conflict? I once again find it easy to start big and narrow it down:

1. What races inhabit your world? I went high fantasy and had a lot of options since each culture has numerous intelligent characters to turn into races. Just think Celtic Fae or Japanese Oni and the variations within those categories alone. Therefore, I have a very diverse world.
2. Where does each race live? In my world I based this generally on what culture the mythos is from, but you may need to look at things like where resources would be available and where their physique would make sense. Or maybe your race has to live someplace odd but there is a relevant reason that you are writing into your campaign (ie. dwarves living in trees because of extenuating circumstances no one will tell you even though they hate it).
3. Next, start dividing into smaller tribes. Maybe it is the scientist in me, but I love to categorize things. First, I started with broader groups that I thought would relate to each other best. In some worlds this could be nationality. I did consider nationalities as a tribe but I actually went with categories of races first such as the fae, shifters, mer people, demons, angels, tauric races, vampiric races, shades and revenants, giants, etc. Within those I then broke them down into subcultures. Take dwarves for example… just to name a few I put in that category I have the Menehune of Hawaii, Duwende of the Filipines, Duergar of Northern England, and the Zwerge of Germany. These were my own categories that I used for my world so I did take some creative license, but you get the point.
4. Think about how these different categories or tribes interact with each other and why it is how it is. Just as a note, I feel that tribes closer together are more likely to have either the most conflict or the most harmonious relationships. It is this duality of naturally wanting to be seen as unique/different and competing over the same resources while simultaneously having a lot of commonalities due to similar environments and an exchange of goods/ideas. If you are in forced proximity you are bound to either love or hate each other eventually.
5. Start adding smaller tribes. Here are some I considered/added: countries/ governments, gangs, organizations, guilds, and religions. Maybe in your world it is fleets or packs. Regardless, make yourself some groups and decide who they like and don’t like. 

I feel like a lot of other articles that talked about world building didn’t really talk about tribes and their relationships, but I think it makes it more realistic. Especially if you are looking to make a very large world and if this is a campaign you plan on making a long one. It adds layers that you may not interact with at first but will add complexity later.

WHAT DOES THE DAY TO DAY LOOK LIKE?

This was actually a suggestion in a Master Class about Fantasy and Science Fiction Writing by N.K. Jemisin. By this point you should have a very clear idea of what your setting is and who is interacting with your world. Think about your daily routine and what that would look like in the world you are creating. This will help you flush out the minutia like transport, money, language, prepping food, bathroom routines… little things. This is probably where I get stuck the most trying to make things consistent and make sense. N.K. Jemisin listed off some different areas to consider how your world is different or the same as ours: Deviance, Military, urban vs rural, gender, politics, inequality, medicine, technology, health, family, stratification, law, conflict, race, economics, culture, education, religion, environmental, ethnicity, science vs magic (how does it work in your world), and industry. I wouldn’t even know where to start to give examples for this step because once again I went a little cray cray at this point. I decided that like different countries in our world had different day to day routines, currencies, socio-economic structures etc…. so too would mine. I will say that I originally started just flushing out the deets in the area my players started in and am building other cultures etc with my players as we go to an extent. It also helps that I am once again basing much of it off of our meta world so if it is an area of the world that historically bartered and was nomadic… the culture in my new world will barter and be nomadic.

MAKE SOME NPCs… BUT NOT ALL OF THEM.

Okay… Now that we have general groups of people, we need to flush out some NPC’s. Your NPCs should constantly be evolving and growing as the campaign progresses. Don’t worry too much about having the info for every person in the world and their whole genealogy. Just focus on some NPC’s you will need either on a regular basis, to progress plot (like your BBEG), or in your next session. When deciding who to initially create, I asked myself a couple questions:

1. Who do my players already know? I try to have at least one NPC per player that would be tied to their backstory and the players themselves can help with that.
2. Who are some of the local vendors?
3. Who are some local figures of authority?
4. Who are a couple NPCs that you may NEVER meet but everyone would know their name? This could mean adding celebrities, higher ups in your star fleet, or the king for example.
5. Who is my main villain?
6. What NPC’s do I need to progress any story I have?

This is just how I started to get the dice rolling and for each one I tried to make note of a couple things that made them relevant and interesting so that I had a starting point to play them later. Things like how they look, likes or dislikes, their role in the world, maybe a couple sentences on their backstory, a quirk, or a skill that isn’t obvious, but your players could accidentally discover and take advantage of.

There are lot of d100 lists, charts, and online generators to help randomize NPC’s. Here are a couple of resources that I like.

• AI art- again, just using free online programs to have visuals for your players.
• Dndspeak– This site has lists and AMAZING generators for everything from names, designations, physical traits, character quirks, etc. They have them for fantasy AND scifi themes. Additionally, they have generators and lists for even more than this… loot, locations, weather, wares in a store, dwarven insults… EVERYTHING.
• Fantasy NPC Generator with 5E Stat Block (npcgenerate.com)– This generator is nice because it lets you narrow down modifiers like age, race, or profession. It still gives a blurb and description of them but gets in depth enough to describe the voice for DM’s who live more role play. Additionally, it creates a stat block in case they end up in combat or so that you can save it.
• Youtube- I watched youtube videos to help create NPC voices. Two in particular that I found helpful were How To Create 100 Distinctly Different Voices by “Improve Your Voice” & Laban’s Eight Efforts demonstration by “David Bareford”.

IS THERE A BASE OR HOME FOR THE PLAYERS?

Now we have a general map, general groups of people, and specific people (NPCs). The next thing I needed was to zone in and become more detailed with my map as we got closer to where the players were based. In my case I followed all my previous steps for map building and still used Inkarnate to get a bit more detailed on a map of their country, adding a few towns for now and some topography. I don’t need to know a bunch about those towns yet. Next, I picked where my players would be based. If this was a city or town, I would then make a detailed map of that as it would be referenced a lot over time. I chose to have a home base outside a town, deep in the woods but there were still multiple buildings, so I mapped that. If your characters have a house or home base you could make a map for that. You could stop at country scale and use theatre of the mind for the rest. Do as much or little as you want. For now, I have not mapped out the inside of shops or their base and instead opted for theatre of the mind, but you never know when that will change.

CONSIDER THAT A WORLD HAS LAYERS AND HISTORY.

This is another one of those steps that is more of a reminder than anything else. To avoid a flat to two-dimensional world, you need to have layers. Here are some things to just keep in the back of your mind and use as you will.

• Worlds have long and convoluted histories (unless it is a new world) and usually there are multiple truths depending on the perspective of the teller. Additionally, the average person does not know everything about that history or remember it clearly if they were educated in it.
• Everything is connected so think about the butterfly effect and how each decision you make in world building will change something else OR what repercussions there will be for gameplay.
• Usually, two of the same things are NOT the same. What I mean by this is that there is always some variation. Unless you are copying and pasting something digitally, there will always be differences and you should play with this. This could be variations between individuals of a race. Or within a pack of wolves where some have different abilities or stats.

So now that I have dumped all of this information on you, I just want to remind you that this was just how I decided to approach it and is way more in depth than some of my friends have done. Some campaigns I have played, they started with just a partial idea of a town and built out from that as we went and another, I have done was a dungeon with a new world on each floor. However, you choose to build your world, I hope this has been at least an inspiration rather than it making it seem more daunting.

Until next time,

Taylor

“Why don’t you do something more valuable with your time?”, “Parents should be encouraging their kids to pursue more productive hobbies.”, “What’s the point?”. I hear a lot of variations of these sentiments, and it grinds my gears every time something like this comes up in conversation. Hopefully it grinds yours too. So today, my young adventurers- we’re going to discuss the academic benefits of Dungeons and Dragons. That way the next time a co-worker, friend, PTA mom, or your least favorite and overly judge-y aunt or uncle gives you a hard time you are prepared defend your questing decision. Or maybe you are that judge-y friend/aunt/uncle/PTA mom; let’s talk the truth about D&D.

Critical thinking and Problem Solving in D&D:

I personally think this is obvious- however, it must not be, considering the number of people that make scathing remarks. D&D really stretches your critical thinking and problem-solving muscles. It’s a large portion of the game. You are solving constant unexpected problems in real time.

Weather as a player unraveling puzzles, piecing together plot points, and trying to solve the overall mission of your campaign. Or as a DM who has to constantly outmaneuver their own players because someone made a ridiculous decision and the entire party went in the wrong direction as a result. The Paladin read too much into an obscure detail and now you have to figure out how to get them back on track without telling them you’re getting them back on track.

You have to ask questions and collect information through observation and constant character development in order to further the plot. Because the game is open world and open dialogue there are millions of possibilities in every interaction. Which means that your solution to the problem isn’t the only solution. And the decisions you make at the beginning of the campaign may force you and your DM to create or solve an entire different problem by the end of the story.

I haven’t played a single campaign where myself or my party didn’t unintentionally complicate or thicken the plot through our own actions thereby creating NEW and unforeseen problems to solve. The entire game is one constantly evolving puzzle that technically nobody is in control of. Which happens to make for great fun.

Creativity in D&D:

Dungeons and Dragons exercises all your creative capabilities. Not only character creation but also execution. You have to figure out how to play the character you’ve created: how they talk and what they would do in any given situation. Its almost like method acting a video game.

Creativity is also in necessary in finding solutions to every unexpected plot point your DM throws at you. You have to remember that your character is limited to the resources they have on hand or can create and utilize within their environment. Their magical, frequently hostile, and foreign environment. That means most of the time you have a team of people trying to McGuyver their way to solutions in a pinch.

I once played in a party that came upon a large camp of goblins on a mountain. We were trying to reach the top of it in order to access the temple at its peak. Our DM implied that the goblins were hostile and would be an active obstacle to us reaching our goal. Technically we were supposed to defeat the goblins, and 9/10 times that would have resulted in combat. Except we were low on supplies, two of our party were injured and we were far outnumbered.

Instead we used a magic frog totem we had picked up somewhere, Mage-Hand, a really good illusion, and my characters pet pygmy dragon to convince the goblins that a member of our party was their deity. Then we demanded a blood sacrifice that led them all to joyously jumping off a cliff. Not what our DM had in mind. But as far as solutions go- we technically defeated them. Creative problems require creative solutions.

Creativity as a DM

If you’re a DM- I take my hat off to you because you have the hardest job of all. regardless if it’s a homebrew campaign or you’re running one of the classics. You get the challenge of creating the ambiance your players experience and setting the tone. Whether that’s music, food, scents, lighting, props, maps, or creating the whole world. You also play 85% of all the different characters, stretcting yourself to distinguish each individual NPC and switch between them smoothly. You are a creative genius.

Teamwork and collaboration in D&D:

Very rarely during a campaign have I ever found myself off on my own without the rest of my party. In a successful campaigning party you learn to utilize everybody’s strengths. This balances out the team and helps cover your weaknesses. You begin to rely on certain characters to cover your back and collaborate in order to come up with solutions and ideas and solve mysteries.

D&D teaches you how to trust your teammates and how to delegate. You learn how to best utilize the players you have on your team- something that is a hugely useful skill in any leadership role. You don’t always get to pick the players on your team (or your employees) but you can learn how to best utilize the team you do have.

Math & D&D:

Math has never been my strong suit. My father would tell you that math was my greatest challenge in school and therefore one of his greatest challenges as a parent. Many of his evenings were spent sitting with me at the dining room table going over whatever the current school math topic had been. Or reading my math book to see what was coming next so he could teach it to me at home because I really struggled to focus in class on it.

I always thought it was a combination of ADHD (what I find uninteresting is almost impossible for me to focus on because there’s no dopamine in it and it is therefore a chore) combined with the fact that it was a “real time problem solving” kind of subject. Meaning it wasn’t full of information I could zone into reading or gobble down and memorize (those were the subjects I loved). I might have been able to memorize a rule or the definition of a numerator. But each equation was different and it felt like having to start over for every single math problem.

Creating Interest

D&D really helped me with my basic arithmetic as well as being able to do equations rapidly in “real time”. All of a sudden I had constant, basic math problems wrapped in an adventurous package tied up neatly with a ribbon of spontaneity and excitement (AKA dopamine). Exactly what my overactive imagination needed.

Application of Skills

During game play you are constantly adjusting your hit points, health points, cantrips, and major spell slots based on the moment to moment interactions and combat.

“I rolled my D6 for damage three times for that attack with my Warhammer and I’m advantaged because I’m raging and utilizing dwarven resilience. So that adds 2, plus my strength modifier of +2, so I deal….17 damage”

It sounds silly, but it was an effective tool in helping me apply practical math. I did better in school because of it.

Story telling in D&D:

Say what you want about story telling not being a necessary life skill- but this is a hill that I am willing to die on. Mankind has been telling stories since the beginning of time. We use them to teach lessons, share faith and beliefs, and connect with people from generation to generation. Some of the most popular modern stories are variations of the same tales we have been telling each other since the bronze age. No fairy tale: Origins of some famous stories go back thousands of years (sciencenews.org)

A Valuable Skill

Story telling is one of those skills that’s hard to teach or learn because of the way modern society is structured. But it is a valuable skill, a vastly underrated one. People connect through story telling. And I believe connection is what drives humanity. Companies spend millions of dollars every year trying to figure out how to connect with their audiences.

Story telling can make you a better communicator. It can help you relay problems and solutions in a way that people can relate to. If you work in merchandising or marketing it can help grab people’s attention.

Now you can take meetings full of statistics and numbers that nobody is really listening to anyways and turn them into a problems, situations, or stories that are relevant to the person you’re talking to. People listen to what they find relevant to them. Become a good story teller, and all of a sudden you have their attention.

If you are a DM- you’re a story teller.

You lead a group of people on an epic adventure that they have to interact and engage with. You describe worlds and people and lay multi-faceted plots at people’s feet in a way that brings them alive in the moment. If you always wished you could be in your favorite movie or book, Dungeons and Dragons is a dream come true. You get to bring that world to life for someone.

If you are a player- congratulations, you’re also a story teller.

You may not have written the campaign or created the world you’re playing in. But you tell your character’s story. Their current situation, adventures, and their backstory. You bring to life the way they talk, think and move.

Changing Educational Paradigms:

I think Educators need to consider the value of D&D as a practical application way to stitch multiple topics together. The key to educational benefits of Dungeons and Dragons is that in play, kids’ curiosity is turned on. And curiosity happens to be education’s rocket fuel. The Surprising Educational Benefits of Dungeons and Dragons – Let Grow

Are You a Teacher?

I would urge you to look into the science and psychology behind it and talk to your local educational board about incorporating it into curriculum or the classroom even in small ways. If you have a critical thinking class (and I believe all schools should) that’s a great place to apply it on a larger scale.

Do You Teach History?

Run a one shot set in the time in history or event you are studying and make your student’s participate in history in groups. You’d be amazed at what they learn about an event or time period when all of a sudden the weaponry of the American Revolution affects their hit points, or they’re struggling to complete their mission because the taxes on tea are to high and all of a sudden they get why people were pissed off.

Biology?

Pull a Miss Frizzle. One shot episode where all of your students are a white blood cell and their mission is to fight off a disease. Osmosis Jones here we come!

English?

Guess who gets to break their students up into teams and assign each team a different Shakespeare play. Tell them to run a one shot based off their play using only Shakespearean vernacular.

Assign each student a different author, then let build a character based off that author. Their mission is to battle the other authors but they’re limited to weapons and resources found in that author’s stories.

Have the entire class campaign through a book after you read it, see how they interpret it and what they get out of it. All of a sudden the Hunchback of Notre Dame is a lot more interesting to your students when they are debating whether or not Frollo is a warlock or a dark paladin.

If nothing else, I hope this has opened your eyes to the possibilities and the amount of value there is in the game. Come back soon to see the next installment of our Dungeons and Dragons series. You can find our previous post here.

Happy adventuring!

Mikaela

So, you want to play Dungeons & Dragons? But you’re an introvert. You’ve got your dice. You’ve got a basic idea for a character in your head. Hell, you may even have a group of friends to play with. But you’re not sure where to go from there.

Not to worry young adventurer, the Guild has got your back. Below is a list of our favorite resources for beginners. By no means comprehensive because the resources are endless. However, we’ve sorted and shlogged through the ones we’ve used over the years and narrowed it down to the ones that we love the best for the absolute beginners.

Those of you that, like us, want to learn the in-depth mechanics and nitty gritty character-building aspects without feeling like you have to ask a million questions in front of others. You’ll still probably have to ask some questions, but we get it; we don’t like feeling publicly inept either.

DND Player Guidebook:

This kind of goes without saying because honestly, for a beginner it’s hard to play without one. but honest-to-god this is also still on this list because at the end of the day, this is the DND basics bible. You can pick it up at any Barnes N Nobles, most gaming stores, and like everything else these days, Amazon: Amazon.com: D&D Player’s Handbook (Dungeons & Dragons Core Rulebook): 9780786965601: Wizards RPG Team: Everything Else

Note Book or Campaign Journal:

This is a preference thing. But for me, I wanted to be able to record our campaign as well as anything else I thought would be noteworthy or useful. Especially since while you’re learning it can be hard to catch every detail since you’re focusing on mechanics. For me, it came in handy because I was able to refer back to things months later that ended up being useful for my party as a whole. Its also a great place to sketch things for reference.

Technically speaking you can use anything from a binder with paper in it, to a spiral notebook etc. You can even use a laptop and type things if you are so inclined. It’s not my preferred method because personally I prefer to write and it limits my ability to sketch. But, at the end of the day- its up to you. As we know, my sister and I can be a little extra so I typically try and find a notebook or record keeper that I feel really fits and reflects my character.

For my barbarian I had a brown raw leather bound book. For my last rogue I actually found one that had a lock on it that I thought fit her vibe. This one in the link is the one I just bought for the new character I just built that I’m going to use in Taylor’s first DMing Campaign. Amazon.com : Rosmryx DND Notebook or Journal, 200 Pages Hardcover Dragon Embossed Leather A5 Notebook, RPG & DM Character Notebook, Dragon Journal for DND Gifts or Accessories, and Players Handbook or Spell Book : Office Products I encourage you to have fun with it. It’ll add to your overall experience playing.

DND Character Sheets:

Now, some of those notebooks come with character sheets in them already. And the players handbook has a master copy that you can always scan and print if you have access to a scanner. Or, you can print them from online. dungeon and dragon character sheets – Search Images (bing.com)

For a beginner- I have found that the best thing to do is to print one and then go to Kinkos or something and get it laminated. You spend a lot of time erasing in the beginning. Honestly, its just faster and less paper waste. When you’re not playing you can slide it into a sleeve protector, so nothing gets smudged and then pull it out next time you play.

RPG Player Character Building Book:

This is by far my favorite thing on this list. On one level, character building isn’t hard, don’t let people intimidate you with that. On another level, it can be overwhelming as a first time player. The DND handbook will walk you through the basics: Race, Class, Background, Alignment, backstory, etc. BUT, then there’s making a character that is layered, detailed, and roll-playable. You can go basic, sure. But DND is one of those things that the more you put into it, the more detail and life you give it- the more you’ll get out of it.

This book is a great tool for figuring out how you want to play your character once you’ve built them. The Beauty of this book? You can get it in hard copy/ paper copy if you’re like me and want the tangible thing, or want to actually fill out the prompts in the book. OR its also available on kindle unlimited (AKA FREE) for on-the-go endless use. The Ultimate RPG Character Backstory Guide: Prompts and Activities to Create the Most Interesting Story for Your Character (Ultimate Role Playing Game Series) – Kindle edition by D’Amato, James. Humor & Entertainment Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

DND Beyond:

This is technically the grand cheat code of beginners guides for actual game mechanics. Basic access is free- which is a great place to start. If you want access to some of the more obscure races (or are going more non-traditional/ homebrew) then there are things you end up paying for. Either way, totally worth it if you want to focus on getting into character instead of how to roll your dice and do the math portion.

This takes out ninety percent of the guess work involved if this is the part that intimidates you. You can create your character, run your sheet, even roll digital dice (if you happen to forget yours) and it will do all the modifier math for you. If you want the action, social, role-play adventure part but looking at all the variables and what goes with what makes you nauseous- then this is your best friend. You can find the link to start for free here: D&D Beyond Character Sheet (dndbeyond.com)

Hopefully, these resources make your early days of adventuring less intimidating. If you’re new to the blog or just trying to decide if you think DND is for you- check out our guild talk post Q&A on DND here. We’re excited to continue our Dungeons and Dragons Series with you. We have a new campaign starting soon as Taylor steps into the roll of Dungeon Master for the first time. Are there other resources you have tried or really love? Let us know!

We’ll see you on the battlefield!

Mikaela

Join RavenWerks guild Leaders Mikaela and Taylor talking about their favorite parts of Dungeons and Dragons and what they would or wouldn’t change about their early campaigns based on their experience as players.

[Taylor] Hey! If you’re just tuning  into our channel, I’m Taylor… 

[Mikaela] Mikaela.

[Taylor] This little nugget back here is Mini. 

[Mikaela] Um… and we just wanted to to turn  around and chime in. We know it’s been a while  since we launched our… um… intro videos and  it was like kind of a second way to try to connect  with you guys on our platform. For those of you  who don’t know, most of our business and our work  is on our website and our blog. You can find the  link in the description box below. Um… But we  wanted to turn around and take today- you know so  far we have focused more on our sustainability and  spirituality and being environmentally friendly  and that kind of stuff – but a big purpose behind  RavenWerks that we have kind of discussed in the  past is making those alternative hobbies and those  other interests you want to pursue in life and  learn about, more approachable, and removing  alot of the the stigmas from around them. And  one of our favorite topics in that area is…  um… Dungeons and Dragons. There are kind of  a lot of- i feel like- misconseptions about  what playing Dungeons and Dragons is. You know,  for the longest time, it was labeled as the nerd  geek pastime. And especially- it’s begining to  become more mainstream and more accepted but it’s  still… there’s a lot of fear and trepidation  around -you know- starting to try and play or  find people that have those common interests.  And especially starting playing as an adult,  without that backstory. And especially as a  female. So… um… we kind of just wanted to take  some time to reflect on our previous experiences  and have a bit of a conversation there. Sooo…

[Taylor] Sooo… we just have a couple questions  today to start with and we’ll cover more in the  future BUT to start, I guess… uh…  FIRST QUESTION… What is your fart… *DIES LAUGHING* Word salad… it happens… What is your favorite part of DnD as a  whole? *still struggling not to laugh* 

[Mikaela] As a whole (repeated). Ummm… For me -I think- favorite part  of DnD as a whole is the community.  Not just the playing and of itself  and um the other people that you connect with.  For instance, if you watch critical role or if  you are on some of the Facebook groups and that.  But like whoever you’re actually playing with,  it’s a good social interaction especially  if you’re an introvert because it’s usually  like a small group of people. You can relax, have  fun, get in character and kind of out of yourself  and have that adventure but have it with other  people…um… in really most of the time in a non  overwhelming setting. So for somebody like me  that’s… when I played my first campaign there  was like 6 of us that played. It was once  a week. That was our Sunday event. That was  basically the majority of our day and I came home  feeling relaxed, like I had had a healthy social  interaction but I also wasn’t drained from it.

[Taylor] Uh. I would actually agree. So I feel  like my favorite part from DnD as a whole is  very much the social aspect because it’s…  it’s a different outlet of social. Like there’s  one thing if I like to get dressed up and go out  and party or if I go to the movies with friends or  I interact with people at work or whatever. But…  ummm… DnD is a little bit more of like a- I  don’t want to say, uh, intimate setting- but  it’s like it’s your friends and it’s a different  outlet because you get to be artistic with them.  It’s… some of my friends are more long distance  too so I get to interact with them and video chat  and that and I don’t have another outlet for it  because they aren’t going to drive, you know,  6 hours once a week to hang out with me.

[Mikaela] Also I feel like it challenges  you to get to know you friends in a different way.

[Taylor] Yeah. You do definitely start to realize  things about them… because you get to be silly  about things and play with different scenarios  you wouldn’t come across in real life. So feel  like… yeah… social aspect for me for sure. 

[Mikaela] Ummm… so then what was your biggest  challenge in wanting to start playing and what  would you say to someone wanting to learn  to play that’s never touched it before? 

[Taylor] So I actually feel like for me it was  finding a group of people to start with. It was  kind of intimidating because I… I actually  wanted to play for years. I kept bringing  it up. Uh… You even bought me like little  miniatures and like a book and I still didn’t  start playing for a while. I think I had a set  of dice set aside for like 4 or 5 years because  it seems daunting when you look at it. There’s  a lot of different, like, processes for combat  and things like that…that once you know are  super easy but it takes having somebody maybe  walk you through it for a couple of sessions  for you to feel comfortable. And it’s also hard,  or it least it felt intimidating to me to find a  group to play with to initially start it because  I feel like you either think that everybody’s  already got an established group and you can’t  come into it and you can’t come into an  established campaign OR you think that if  you bring it up with your friends you are just  going to get weird looks. Maybe I just didn’t  have the right friends though. I don’t know.

[Mikaela] No. I- Honestly for me I would say  it was a two pronged thing. Number 1, yes.  Finding the right group of friends. Cuz I had  a very small social circle. Um. And at least for  me, my friends were the right kind of nerds. They  were all as geeky wierd as I was if not wierder.  Um. But some of their nerd wasn’t necessarily the  same kind of nerd.

[Taylor] Yeah. 

[Mikaela] Ummm… It was a little bit easier  for me to find a group because I actually  got invited. Thomas and I actually got invited to  play by his brother and his brother’s girlfriend.  So that was a good experience but I think for me,  I think having the right group of people is part  of it because it plays a part in your comfort  level of putting yourself outside of yourself.  Which for me was the hardest part because it’s  real easy to have your character and your timeline  and this awesome story adventure in your head and  it is sometimes a lot more uncomfortable to then  role play that in front of people because it  does feel goofy when you are first learning. 

[ Taylor] Yeah!

[Mikaela] You’re sitting at a table  making strange voices, whole equally asking does  this work? How does this work? Can I do this? If  you are playing with a more experienced player.  So for me the scariest thing was putting myself  outside myself in public. Um… but what  I think made all the difference was having  a big enough group to fun but a small enough group  to have it not be overwhelming and have them be  people that had played before that could teach me  what to do and had the patience for it. As far as  what I would say to somebody wanting to start, I  would just say don’t do what I did and hold back  for as long as I did because the second I into  it- not so much the mechanics, that takes time,  learning what dice to use with what thing and what  you have an action and a talking or a movement…  that part is going to take time- but I was gonna  say throw three sheets to the wind, get out of  your own head, and get into it. Because the more  you put into it as far as your character goes,  the more you are going to get out of it.

[Taylor] Well, and I would also say, um,  I just…. I want to say real quick that  we are coming at this right now for like  a player perspective… not so much like  a DM perspective. And I… I mean I am  writing my own campaign right now. I do have  ideas. I do want to be a DM but just haven’t- 

[Mikaela] Haven’t had the oportunity yet.

[Taylor] Yeah. I haven’t had the oportunity  yet. So like, we will touch on that  later as I get more experience there but,  um… As a player I agree 100%. Like I just  feel like I wish I could back and tell myself  a little bit just like put my big girl panties on  and…. or even just go to like a gaming bar and  just talk to some people because I almost  guarantee there are people… there’s a  hund-… I mean there’s tons of people out there  that would want to play, would welcome you in,  even if they are mid campaign.

[Mikaela] They are excited when  people ask questions.

[Taylor] Yeah. Yeah.  The people in the DnD community, for the most  part -Like there are some real hard asses out  there- But like, for the most part as very,  very accepting and they want to teach you,  they want to bring more people into it even if  it’s mid campaign or even if they do like a one  shot. They will find ways to work around that.

[Mikaela] You can be a guest character. 

[Taylor] Yeah. Yeah. So just go out.  Just do it. Just do it. Just do it. Okay so…um. Next question here.  Looking back at your first campaign,  what would you have changed about the experience?

[Mikaela] It kind of ties in with that last  one. I would, i would honestly say, get into  it farther, faster. As far as, as far as like,  I spent a lot of time out of character  asking, like, can I do this? Most of the time,  if you go and try and do something in character  that doesn’t work, your DM (Dungeon Master) is  going to tell you. So it would be really  hard to have that mental shift between  character and then breaking character to talk to  somebody. So I guess if I could change anything,  I would, I would approach it a little bit  more comfortably and open minded from the  get go and I would be hopefully less afraid to ask  questions because part of it- nobody likes to feel  you know dumb of stupid or like they are  not picking it up and I felt like I was  afraid to ask certain questions because  I felt like I had already asked it and  so I should have understood it at that point.

[Taylor] Sometimes it takes hearing it a couple  different ways for it to click. [Mikaela] Or watching somebody  else do it before you are like  “OOOOOOOOHHHHHHHH… That’s how that works.” 

[Taylor] Mmmmhmmmm…

[Mikaela] But… But there really is,  like she said, so much acceptance in that  community that like, they really don’t care  if you ask a question repeatedly cuz they want  you to enjoy it. They want you to come back. They  want you to part of their group. Ummm… I really  honestly think that’s my biggest one. That like,  I was so afraid of being social with it for so  long, that like, I hesitated to go every single  week. And then when I was there I had fun.

[Taylor] Yeah. Okay. So for me, this is a… *sigh*… I think  there is three things. And I think I am going  to contradict myself, some of the things I have  said before, just a little bit. And I will explain  why. So, the first thing that I would say is,  ummm… really get into character.Like, do not be  afraid to get into character. I feel like my first  campaign, IIIIIII- and I, this is something I want  to work on a couple of others because I am now on  like 3rd campaign kind of situation- ummm… none  of my characters, I have really played with like  voices and things like that and I really wish I  had. It doesn’t have to be an accent, it could  just be like the way you change your tone… 

[Mikaela & Taylor] Your vocabulary…

[Taylor] I feel like I have really gotten  into character in the way my actions play out in  things like that but I really want to play more  with like ACTUALLY PORTRAYING IT. So like  when you here me speak as my character vs  when you hear me speak META, you can tell, because  again it’s a way to play with the different- it’s  just like… yeah. That would be the first thing.

[Mikaela] There are some words that one  character wouldn’t use or terminology  because they aren’t relevent to them. 

[Taylor] Exactly. The second thing  I really wish that I had done is….  I know I said just do go out and just, like, do  it. But like, also do be careful of who you do it  with. (Are we talking about DnD or safe sex???)

[Mikaela & Taylor] For a first campaign. 

[Taylor] Like, later it’s whatever, but my  first campaign I just have to bring up, we  all knew each other except for the DM. We had  a DM… Mini please stop (she was scratching  and shaking the whole couch). So we had a DM who  basically ghosted us maybe siiiii…. oh, maybe  a year into the campaign. He was long distance  (DMing online), we onlyu really knew him over  the video chat. And it was just such a bummer  because I felt that we, as newer players,  were just finally just starting to get really into  it and that, I just complete… I don’t know… 

[Mikaela] It kills momentum.

[Taylor] It was just such a let  down. We had to find a new DM, Start a whole new  campaign. And it’s one thing, sometimes campaigns  fall apart (especially really long ongoing  ones) but I guess, just, that was my first  campaign and that was such a bummer so I guess  at least know somebody in your first campaign or  know that they are serious about it. And that  was going to be my next thing (#3), is that,  maybe make sure you find people who are just as  invested as you. Like if you’ve got people who are  really just not into it, and they are not paying  attention and they are not really, don’t care at  all. Like they are there JUST for the talking, it  kind of puts a damper on you playing and learning  because if you are really invested and nobody  else is and you are the only one that really  wants to get into character and do things…

[Mikaela] That almost adds to the discomfort. 

[Taylor] It makes it harder for you to learn,  it makes it harder for you to get into it. It’s  just… so yeah… I feel like those are the  biggest things with my first campaign that I  really was just (nonverbal emphasis with  hands lol), I struggled to get into it,  the first one. So yeah. I think that’s it.

[Taylor & Mikaela] *A whole lot of yeahs* 

[Mikaela] Last Question. Describe  your perfect DnD setting or ambience. 

[Taylor] For me… I really like to get into it.  Like if you have got mood music for it, depending  on the situation. Like I have different play lists  set up for my campaign. I am very ready for this.  My current campaign is, that I am in is One Piece  based and we actually started as a bigger group-  which can also be challenging, So don’t go  too big. Like 9 people in combat is a lot-  ummm but we all kind of fallen into kind of a role  like what we bring. Like I tend to bring salty  snacks and somebody brings alcohol, and somebody  like candy and everybody is swapping stuff around.  So I really personally like having that. And  it’s not something we set up at all. It’s just  kind of roles we’ve… it just happened. It’s  just really nice because we’re all able to like  bring something to it. We like to like dim the  lights a little bit (I do in my campaigns at  least) sometimes. It depends on the mood.  It depends on the campaign and who you are  with too. So like part of that depends on  the situation. I also prefer if everybody  is around a table. It’s hard to do it in like a  living room setting or something like that just  because there’s no central area and I like to see  people and talk to them when I am in character.  I would say that that’s my biggest thing. I  tend to prefer mine a little bit more relaxed  um, vs, like really, rigid.

[Mikaela] Yeah. As far as like, rigidity goes,  I will say I prefer a little more relaxed beccause especially if it’s your first campaign. Not only  do you have to have some give and take with  your DM, and when people have like a… like  if your working with a DM that has absolutly no  flexability in what they will allow and are very  by the book- and for some people that’s great- I’m  not one of those people. So I like the flexability  aspect of it. As far as ambience goes, we always-  my friends are all kind of like I said, extra-  so we allways went extra. It was our Sunday thing  and the ambience of the room adds- if you are in a  well lit, blank walled room with a table…  yeah you can play if you’ve got your character  sheets and a good group of people that are  really invested. You could totally do it.  But especially if you’re nervous and are coming  into it, having the right ambience almost makes  it easier for somebody that’s shy to get out of  that box and get themselves into that character.  So like what Macey would do, we had our long  table, and the five of us would be around it  and she either when she was creating her own  world, drew her own maps or we had the minis,  and she built landscapes and we had all of our  character pieces and she would move them around  to give us distance examples. She at one point had  a little fog thing set up on the table. Someday… 

[Taylor] That’s sick.

[Mikaela] Someday… those  tables… Someday I will have one. I will build  one, I will whatever. That it’s inset and that you  can move your people and you can make the mist  set up and have the light and everything. But  in the meantime, she had music and she changed it  for whatever. She would sometimes have the actual  playlist set up because she actually knew what  timeline we were going to be on. But obviously  then your characters threw a wrench into that so  then if we ended up in a fight she switched it to  like if it was dungeon fight music or bar fight  music music or whatever. And we did, we rotated  who cooked because it was usually like a whole day  think which I thought was awesome. I would usually  bring like one or 2 snacks or baked goods. If we  were doing it at whoevers house was hosting it,  they provided dinner, whether that was ordering  food in or like- we all like to try different  recipes. So sometimes what we would do – and  this was super cool but super goofy I guess- was,  each person, when it was their week to cook, would  prepare a meal or food that would have been custom  and normal for their character and we shared it.

[Taylor] I like that. I like that idea. 

[Mikaela] We had drinks and they weren’t always  alcoholic but there were. And that way you didn’t  have to get up and feel rushed or leave or  if you were uncomfortable and needed a break  or a bathroom break, you had something to break  those moments. And it just made the whole thing  relaxed. She would sometimes, depending on where  we were, have a candle lit with a certain scent  that… it was like it added to the…

[Taylor] Scent therapy is a thing. 

[Mikaela] The whole thing was just very emersive.

[Taylor] Yeah. So I have to say that… ummm…  so we are actually… the One Piece campaign is  actually building one of those tables and I am  super stoked. I LURV the idea of the food for your  character thing. So, previous campaign, we would  rotate houses and who hosted and whoever hosted  was in charge of food but I never thought about  doing a character thing. That is a whole different  level. I really like that. I will say, the One  Piece campaign, we all, maybe some of us did get  a little more into this than others. I spent like  a year making a costume. But depending on my mood  and like how rushed I am to get to the campaign,  I still wear that. Like, pieces and parts. Not  all of it but sometimes pieces and parts. Because  for me it does help a little bit to fall into that  character. And there’s something else to consider  there too. When you write your backstory, you’ve  got this idea of who your character is. Don’t be  so attached to it that your character doesn’t  grow. Like my characters have become something  else sometimes. Sorry. That just popped into  my head. BUT… ummm yeah… I feel like…  PROPS… props are so huge. Not just for a  DM but for a character, because, like I said,  I haven’t DM’d yet, but I know when my DM has a  prop- like they’ve brought a picture of one of the  NPC’s or like they’ve built something and have it  in the middle of the table or they’ve done their  own map- like that visual for me is amazing. But  as a character, I have to tell you how excited the  other people at the table are if I thought ahead  of something my character would have. For example,  in my One Piece session, there’s something  called vivre cards in that world that I like  pre prepped and I been like, as I get to develope  relationships with other players characters, been  like, rolling for stealth to hide them in their  belongings, slipping it into their belongings in  real life, not explaining what they are, and then  in like a session or 2 they will find them and  be like, what the hell is this? And it’s, like an  extra layer of excitment. Or like if something is  happening and I whip something out (like my own  photo’s of my summons or transformations etc),  like everybody else’s excitent. So you aren’t-  the DM’s not only doing ambience, you are just  as responsible for adding that extra little bit  ambience or UMPF to all those other character too. 

[Mikaela] Yeah. So like if you know up partially  in costume, it give them a visual for you as  well other than… hey there’s a girl with cool  colored hair sitting in the chair accross from me. 

[Taylor] Exactly. So that’s what I was talking  about too with like finding a group that’s as  invested as you because if you that they want to  do that and they are into that kind of stuff too,  it’s going to be so much more fun for you.

[Mikaela] And it’s a good reflection of DM’s  time too. It’s really depressing to watch somebody  that’s spent all this time building a diorama or a  map on top off writing the actual campaign and the  frame work of your story and then you have a group  of people that just sit around the table and they  are like mike character is going to doooooo this.  And that’s just kind of, there is no give and  take, there’s no…. I don’t do the whole,  I am going to do this anymore… I just in  character say it and my party can either respond  or… sometimes if it is out of line or it doesn’t  work, then my DM will out of character by like….  so I love you but you can’t do that.

[Taylor] Well I will also say too though that  it takes a little bit to work up to that because  the first sessions… we’re probably, maybe,  I don’t know, like 30 sessions into this One  Piece campaign right now and we’re just finally  getting to the point where I feel like, like for  example, my character…. I knew my character,  but you have to KNOW your character. Like it  takes a little bit to get to the point where  you are ready enough to be like IN character that  much because you are learning the character as  much as they are. So like. don’t beat yourself  up if the first 2 or 3 sessions or more, like I  said it took a little while, we have a really  big group so it took a while to get everybody  really in character. But don’t beat yourself  up if right off the bat, you’re not like…  I don’t know what I am saying.

[Mikaela] Give yourself some grace.  It does take time.

[Taylor] It does. 

[Mikaela] And I will be interested in future  conversations- because you brought up a couple  of things make me want to start talking about  them now but obviously in the interest of time  we wont do that. But in future talks, to be able  to talk about character building and yourself  vs your character. Because that’s like a whole  different dichotomy thing. SO… if you guys found  this interesting and you really liked it, give  us a shout, let us know if you have specific DnD  questions or things you would like us to cover.  Obviously our video blog portion is not just  limited to DnD, But we figured this was a great  place to start because especially for women there  aren’t, I feel I don’t meet as many women playing  DnD. Most of my campaigns have been full of guys.  So like if you have questions, if you want to  reach out, if you are looking to connect with  people. Or if you certain things you would like  us to go over or cover in the future… Let us  know. Otherwise you can find the link to our blog  down below and just keep tuned. Keep coming back! 

[Taylor] Down below. *whispered* Also…

[Mikaela] You had to with the fingers. 

[Taylor] I had to, I had  to. Also, I just want to say  you will be seeing more videos on some of the  other topics but we are also going to have a  blog post kind of related to this on our website  here, later this week as well. So just keep an  eye openand we will be covering more topics  and we look forward to talking to you soon. 

[Mikaela] Yeah.

[Taylor] Bye!