Since it has suddenly become winter, skateboarding sessions are rare. To pass the time I usually play guitar or read. Now that the kids are older I decided to see if they would want to try Dungeons and Dragons. To my absolute surprise they were absolutely excited and jumped in with both feet. My oldest decided to be an Elf Cleric and my youngest went with an Elf Thief. They are doing 100% pencil, paper, and dice while I do a combination since all of my map resources are digital.

We play a system that combines some really good ideas from 2nd Edition AD&D (proficiencies, specific saving throws) with the ease of 5th Edition character creation. I have dropped things like feats and embraced passive perception while allowing for more character building and spellcrafting. Combat is rare. It is really more of a character-driven game at its core. I hope to make a formal “rulebook” soon as the winter drags on for this method of play.

I have been building a world for over thirty years and have an extensive history created for it complete with maps of over fifty towns, a pantheon of gods, and a cast of characters from lowly barkeeps to kings of great empires. Since they chose Elves, I decided to start them in a special Elf Kingdom on one of the continents I have really not developed much with past gaming groups. This particular continent, Issen, is one of the largest on my map but, for whatever reason, I had not created much of a story for it so it gave me a chance to create something new. Needless to say, I have been busy in Wonderdraft updating my maps and adding towns, keeps, ruins, and even a new country.

The story starts in a small town, Grayvale, at crossroads of the Elf lands, a large mountain range, and a human kingdom hostile to outsiders and fearful of magic. I am over simplifying but that is the essential mood of this town. The Cleric is the new town novitiate charged with the upkeep of the shrine and the adjudication of civil law who shares responsibilities with a mayor who is almost always out of town on business. He has just arrived in town and is trying to find someone who can give him the keys to the shrine so he can setup shop as the old town priest has not been heard from for several months. It seems this order has a problem with priests walking away from assignments. My older son is playing this character so straight. He is a true believer and, even though my son is a popular extrovert, he is making his priest quiet, awkward, and pious while still showing the townspeople that he is a spiritual authority. Nice balance.

My younger son’s character, Oestend Riverfarmer, is passing through town after a stint as a crew member on a merchant ship. He tells the local innkeeper that he is in town to get supplies but he is carrying a secret that he is in town for way more than some bread and a new cloak. He has created a super rich backstory for his character that I still can’t believe a seven year old wrote. He looked over my world map and picked a city in the far west of this continent and asked me about it. I showed him the notes on the city. “Perfect”, he said, “I ran away from there”. He goes on to tell me this long story about how he ran away and how he encountered a skeleton in the mountains that told him he needed to go to Grayvale because it was the start of finding his destiny. He is also hiding his alignment. Lets just say he may not be one of the good guys. 



As with any good adventure, the Cleric and the Thief meet at the in just before the proverbial stuff hits the fan. Now, they are deep in the woods investigating the disappearance of the old priest and the apparent curse bestowed on the daughter of the innkeeper who also seems a bit mad herself. 

What has surprised me the most about running this game is how a-typical my boys are compared to the gamers I have played with in the past. They are COMPLETELY uninterested in taking risks. Everything they do is considered and cautious. They avoid the tropes of monsters, treasure, and glory and are operating with the best interest of the town in mind. They even walked away from an encounter that every player I know would have dove in 100%, a corpse in the woods wearing the same robe as the Cleric with a dagger nearby and a suspiciously missing head. The actually preserved the crime scene and evidence before returning to town to enlist more help. Wisdom over Monty Hall. It is keeping me on my toes and making me tell a much richer story and I am loving it.



All I can say is seeing these kids play is just magical. They are embracing their characters, making their own story, and shaping a world I thought only I could control. It is inspiring and reminds me exactly why I love this game.