Happy Friday! With bridal season starting back up, and us working on a few events for this year, sustainable event planning has been on the forefront of our mind lately. Event hosting (especially weddings) can be a big source of waste if we’re not mindful. In many cases, things are purchased, used once, and discarded. Its never sat well with us, and that’s part of the idea behind the kind of events that RavenWerks wants to host. Today we want to share ways to help you plan a more sustainable wedding.

The Green Bride Guide states that the average wedding produces 400 lbs of garbage and 63 tons of CO2. With an estimated 2.5 million weddings per year, that is about 1 billion lbs of trash and as many emissions as approximately 4 people would produce in a year, in just one single day (link).

Consider Reusable Décor

This can mean a lot of things. You could go the route of renting, which means it doesn’t end up in a landfill, and you don’t have to store it afterwards. There are a lot of different services out there that provide linens and specialty dishware as well as other things.

If you have a very niche theme, this can seem more intimidating, but don’t let that deter you. You can do a lot if you’re creative enough. If you’re a Washington local you can also reach out to us, that’s kind of what we do. We love to help create custom events for alternative décor styles and take the stress off of you. You can learn more about that process (here).

Create Legacy Pieces

Another idea in this area is to choose décor that you can reuse in your home later. As an example, I planned on reusing all the frames we made for my wedding to display our wedding photos in our home. It worked out really well, and I now have a really unique collage full of memorabilia. We turned the silk flowers we used for part of our decor into a chandelier in our dining room. My gnomes are now in my garden, and my D&D dice are, well, my D&D dice. A more sustainable wedding doesn’t have to mean that you skip out on creating an intentional experience.

Donating Decor

You can also donate your wedding décor if it’s something that isn’t name specific. Thrift stores are always an option. But a lot of wedding planning companies also take donations to help them build their inventory of what they can offer to others. You just need to find a planner/ rental company that matches your style of décor. If you have décor that matches their style you can support a small business and keep things out of landfills. If you’d like to donate, you can reach out to us at info@ravenwerksguild.com.

Hire Sustainable vendors

Your vendors and the people helping you on wedding day are a huge factor in how much waste is produced. Talk to your vendors as you book about what their practices are like (I know, it’s one more thing to consider, but it’s worth it). Some states and areas even have vendor groups of companies that are vetted. Zola and the Knot have a filter you can use if you are using a service. If you’re a Washingtonian, check out Emerald Hour Wedding Society, they offer amazing information.

In some ways, the easiest thing you can do to plan a more sustainable wedding is hire vendors that have practices in place, as that is where the bulk of wedding waste is.

Let your Bridesmaids/ Groomsmen Thrift their Attire

This can be harder to do for groomsmen depending on your style. However, where possible I highly recommend it. Another back up is to rent it, especially if you’re going more formal. This is one of the simplest things you can do on this list.

The days of mandatory matching dresses are over. Many modern weddings opt to have bridesmaids all wear different dresses in the same color or color palette. With the way the fast fashion industry contributes to ladfills and carbon emissions, I strongly urge brides to let their bridesmaid’s thrift or buy consignment for their gowns. Being a bridesmaid can be expensive and that can be hard for friends; even if your best friend wants to help on your big day. Allowing your friends to thrift their clothing can also make things less stressful for them. It can also make for a fun wedding activity to do together.

This helps merge a more sustainable wedding with a touch of individuality. AND it ensures that each of your bridesmaids will get to wear something that they feel comfortable and good about themselves in. Very few things are worse than being forced into clothing that makes you feel exposed or bad about yourself for hours on end in front of lots of people. Especially when you KNOW pictures are going to be taken that will probably be on someones wall for all time.

Shop Consignment for Your Wedding Gown.

Don’t freak. I know that for some people and cultural groups there are superstitions around this (mine included because I had to have this conversation with my mom). But consider for a moment the environmental fallout from how many wedding dresses are thrown away every year. It’s momunmental the number of dresses that are purchased to be worn once and never put on again. There are also the millions of dresses that never get purchased, and get discarded.

Consignment is not what many people think it is. Many consignment boutiques do carry local consignment (dresses that have been worn by brides and then consigned). These dresses are vetted thoroughly for condition, style, and quality. Additionally, most consignment boutiques mostly carry over stock and discontinued sample dresses. Meaning they are typically only a year old and have never been in an actual wedding, just a show room floor.

This is not only a way for you to help keep something out of a landfill, and support a small business, but also save money planning your wedding. Most consignment bridal shops are selling 20-40% off original retail. You can always tweak your dress in alterations and then you still get the option of keeping your dress after, or consigning it back if you want to recoupe some money.

In Washington, we love Astraea Bridal in Mt Vernon (we’re biased, that’s where I bought my dress and sometimes help out at). Laura, Leslie, and Megan really know what their doing and create an amazing personalized experiences that really make you feel comfortable and safe. We’ve also heard great things about Brides for a Cause in Seattle, if you’re more in that area.

Consider your paper waste

Is all the paper necessary? Do you need a program, and place holders, and a pamphlet about the bridal party? Pare down what isn’t applicable to you. It’s always been weird to us that in a world where we understand that we use far too much paper, we still hold on to certain wasteful practices in the name of tradition. Companies like Zola and the Knot also allow you to have people RSVP online. This not only saves you from having to manually count and keep track of your answers, it also eliminates RSVP cards.

What stationery you do need, go for natural fibers and recyclable material. Or consider compostable materials and seed papers. They are still high quality, and heavier weight papers, but without as negative of an impact to the environment. Planning a sustainable wedding doesn’t have to mean that you use NO paper, just be smart about what you choose.

Transportation and Venue

A seemingly smaller thing to consider is cutting down your guest list if possible. This reduces your costs, but also the per capita waste on every single thing in your wedding. Less food, less party favors, less paper products etc.

Another thing is to have your ceremony and reception in the same place if you’re not getting married in a church or religious building. This cuts down on carbon emissions from having to shuffle everyone around (and saves you from having to organize transportation as an added bonus).

Tackle Your Registry with Intentionality

While some very established couples choose to forgo a registry altogether, being environmentally conscious and choosing to plan a more sustainable wedding, doesn’t mean you have to. There a number of things you can do to make this more eco-forward.

Look into a company like Everlastly. This company offers more traditional wedding registry items for couples that still need the more traditional things. However, they are sustainably made, transparently rated, and vetted through a process designed to promote honesty from vendors. We love them.

You should also consider what you need and what you don’t, and talk to your guests. We know that talking to people about asking for gifts is an uncomfortable topic for a lot of people, we totally get it. But it doesn’t have to be if done with authenticity.

A lot of people will just buy something from the traditional wedding gift list if they aren’t sure what to do. When putting your registry together consider things in your life that you really want or need. Many online registries will allow you to open group gifts so people can contribute to something bigger that you may need instead of a butter dish that you only pull out once when they’re over.

Consider what your goals are as a couple.

If you both decide you don’t really need anything, be transparent with your guests about that. “We don’t really need more stuff, your presence is all we need. However if you really want to contribute to the start of our next step ________blank is really important to us and we’re saving for __________.” Maybe you’re both working to pay off student loans, or purchase a home. Maybe you haven’t taken a trip in forever and you’d really love to take a special trip. Letting guests that want to give you something for your wedding, contribute to something bigger that is important to the two of you is a perfectly acceptable thing to do.

Consider your Flowers

There are two different approaches to this. One is to go the Wooden flowers route then you have a unique way to keep and preserve your flowers. If you’re like me and still just want the simplicity of natural flowers, the other option is to make sure that you are picking local, in season florals. This is better for the natural grow cycle, supports local business, and cuts down on CO2 emissions as the travel for transport of imported flowers is eliminated. This in part comes back to your vendors. Have a conversation with your florist about where they get their product from and who their suppliers are.

If you go the second route, then they are either compostable, organic material, which goes right back to mother earth or you can have them dried or preserved if you’re more of a memorabilia person.

Dinner Ware

Depending on your style, this might have a bit of overlap with “vendors”, however, it bears mentioning.

If you are having a more formal get together, consider renting dishes or see if your venue will provide them. We’ve seen a few people do the thrifted unique dishes as well which is really quirky depending on your theme, and what your plan for them afterwards is.

If you’re having an outside wedding, or something a bit more laid back (but still nice and put together), opt for compostable dishes over regular disposable paper or plastic. Many paper plates aren’t compostable or recyclable because of the coating on them. Plastic ware finds itself in the same boat. Compostables have come a long way and there are a number of different styles and types available that range from uber casual to natural or more polished looking. You can even buy them on amazon if you aren’t sure where to start.

Consider your Wedding Favors

Many couples are choosing to forgo this part of a wedding altogether, and we’re totally here for simplifying and minimizing the consumer behemoth that has become commercialized weddings.

However, my inner Hobbit’s need for elevated hospitality completely understands the decision to cut a different part of the wedding in favor thanking my guests. At the same time, it’s silly to waste your money on something that honestly nobody needs, will cost you money, and end up in a landfill (we’re talking to you overpriced bride and groom wineglass. We don’t really need dinnerware with someone else’s name on it).

There are some really unique and environmentally friendly ways to express gratitude to your guests for coming. Put your heads together for something inexpensive that is reflective of you, and the authenticity will make it mean more to your guests as well. If it’s handmade or edible- even better.

A Few Favorites We’ve Seen

• Miniature loose leaf local teas with honey sticks
• Reuseable aromatherapy heat packs
• Little wooden Ornaments
• Custom Cookies
• Hand rolled candles.
• A print of the bride and grooms favorite picture with each of the guests (these we’re printed at Walgreens with a little note. We’ve also seen a variation of this done as a cool thank you note- the bride and groom’s favorite picture from their wedding with each guest for their thank you cards).
• Chocolate truffles
• Homemade preserves
• Tiny soaps
• Little succulents
• Sample jars of honey
• Sample bags of coffee
• Homemade bird seed ornaments
• Little air plants
• Pet rocks (this sounds bizarre but it was weirdly adorable and people were tickled)
• Evergreen seedlings

Rethink Your Send Off

If you’re doing a formal send off or goodbye, there are a couple versions we wish people would skip for various reasons. Please don’t use rice. Despite being biodegradable, birds eat it and it’s really terrible for them, it can even kill them. Skip the glitter and plastic confetti. Quite frankly, glitter is an abomination and people shouldn’t use it for anything. A quick google search will reveal the tip of the iceberg where the hazards of microplastics are concerned, but the far reaching consequences of them goes even deeper.

Try opting instead for dried flowers like lavender, or jasmine. Paper confetti is also an option if you get a compostable or non-acidic type. We’ve seen bird seed used and we also knew a couple that had a wedding in the fall and hole punched dried leaves for confetti, which was really unique.

In Our Opinion

Weddings should be intentional, personal, and unique. While yes, you are hosting an event you are also celebrating a major life-decision, step, and life long commitment. You are celebrating your relationship with your best friend and partner. There are so many possibilities and ways to make things unique even on a budget. As passionate about that as we are, we truly don’t believe that doing that requires us to sacrifice on our ethics, or the environment.

These are our favorite ways to incorporate sustainability into planning a beautiful wedding (that will hopefully take some of the strain off your pocketbook as well). This list is by no means comprehensive, and we’d love to hear your ideas as well. You never know who else you could help (and of course the planet). We’re constantly striving to improve our services and the way we do business. Collaboration and education is a big part of that.  Let us know if there is something else people can do to lessen the environmental impact that hosting a wedding can have.

All the best, Always,

Mikaela

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

“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

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!