There are certain things that I have preset opinions about. This can be both a good thing and a bad thing. On the one hand, it makes assessing situations a lot simpler than if I, you know, stopped and politely reserved judgment. In the words of George Clooney (one of the few guys over 50 I'd still totally hop into bed with, just saying) in Up in the Air: "I'm like my mother, I stereotype. Its faster." I'd like to think I'm not that bad about it, but when it comes to certain things, my opinion is well-formed despite little to no contact with the actual activity.
For example, despite the fact that my (totally normal, insanely awesome) friends played Dungeons & Dragons together for almost a year, I maintained the operating assumption that people who play are of a certain type. You know, the unwashed, unorganized, pimple-faced, Dorito-eating, mother's-basement-living, sun-fearing, relationship-virginal, super-nerd types.
Like this, but people.
Thanks to such preconceived notions about Dungeons & Dragons, it wasn't something I intended to try. But when Justin mentioned that the group wanted to potentially start things up again, it got me thinking about giving it a whirl. There have been so many things for which my disdain has crumbled in this last year - who's to say that Dungeons & Dragons wouldn't be another one of those personal epiphanies?
Of course, this was a thought process I underwent about a week before the whole shindig got going, since you've already read about my character creation day. By the time actual Dungeons & Dragons day rolled around, I was actually pretty darn excited about it. See, having given my character an actual personality (something I didn't get to do when I was playing Warcraft), I wanted to debut it for my friends. The evening did not disappoint.
Dungeons & Dragons is essentially a prechoreographed skit, but with monsters and dice. Its two hours of acting warm-ups, but more fun. Everything I did was in character (with a few exceptions for questions about the game directed at the more experienced of the bunch). I got to be rude and pestilent, haughty and self-absorbed, picky and snide. Also, I got to ask a shopkeeper if his bread was fresh. Also magic. I have it. So that's cool.
I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. In particular, I loved that my friend Ben got to play around with a story and create an adventure for us. His story has about a perfect mix of danger and hilarity. Like seeing a ninja take a faceplant. Its still a ninja and that's scary as hell. But, I mean, come on. Right on the face? How can you not laugh at that?
Honestly though, the best thing for me was getting to spend time with friends who've scattered to the winds. Jon H. is in Korea. That's right. Freaking Korea. And we got to play with him. Ben is in Maryland, Adam is in Chicago, Ryan is in Portland and Justin and I were chilling downriver for the evening. Leaving Jon P. the only one left in Ann Arbor. It brought back some of the nostalgia associated with having people over at my place every weekend last year (before, you know, life happened). So it turns out I really enjoy Dungeons & Dragons (the way we play it, at least). So much for stereotyping being faster.
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