As all great modern tales do, this story begins with a text. This text exchange, to be precise.
As I understand it, the Heroes were in a bit of a bind because their thief was unavailable and they hadn’t found a replacement. I guess Mark thought I would be someone who would enjoy playing, or at the very least, say yes and show up.
I can be a “jump first, check parachute second” kind of girl, so Mark wasn’t wrong. If my mother reads this, I definitely did check the parachute first. Definitely. Hi, mom!
Over a few texts the night before shooting, while I was at an Elvis tribute show, the skeleton of my character was born. Mark texted me some words and I randomly picked one of them. I know now that he was sending me class, race, and other character options. However, at the time, I had no idea what these meant in the context of the game. All the research I was able to do was a quick Google search of “dungeons and dragons” while walking from my house to the venue. I opened a random page and did a quick scan of classes and abilities. My eyes landed on “healing spells,” so I picked a Cleric. Never heard that word before.
I was not exaggerating when I told Mark that I didn’t have any feelings or knowledge about D&D. To me, Dungeons and Dragons was a game played by awkwardly pubescent boys in their basements; often scripted as the butt of a joke in television and movies. Other than those few seconds of screen time, I had never seen anyone play (not even the Heroes!)
D&D Scene from “Freaks and Geeks”
From this limited exposure, I was under the impression that it was some kind of game that involved cards, which would give you a character and certain traits to play. You play those characters as they are written for you. I realize now that I look at that picture, there are no cards present. #facepalm
I also thought it would, you know, take like an hour.
I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Fast-forward to the next morning, where I am sitting at a table with 4 people (who are not, in fact, pubescent boys), no player cards, no traditional game board, and most importantly, NO INSTRUCTIONS. I surmised quickly that they simply play this game with “only a few” dice (umm, why so many dice????) and a hand-drawn map.
Oh yeah, and a guy hiding behind a tri-fold with a dragon on it. Cool.
That game is now known as Purple Flame. I was totally lost in a blur of elves, human dragon-haters, and anxiety; good we got it on film…FOR-EV-VERRRRRR.
Purple Flame took about 3 hours to play and then we had interviews…let’s just say my Sunday plans were no longer my Sunday plans. At the end of it, I wasn’t sure I would ever play D&D again…or if anyone would want me to play D&D again…especially for a show that, you know, people watch.
If you have seen the show, you know that I do come back and play again. Stay tuned to this blog to learn why I came back and how I took my character from an improvised (my fancy word for “I had no idea what I was saying”) one-shot to a purple-flame throwing member of the Heroes of Awesome.
[su_note note_color=”#921d22″ text_color=”#d6d6d6″ radius=”10″]Contributions needed! New player or wannabe player: Do you have questions? Concerns? Brainstorming your character? Post them in the comments below. The Heroes will read them! Veteran players: Do you remember your first D&D experience? Yes? Tell me about it! We are going to feature YOUR stories, so please send me a message via twitter @melmcd512, or email stories@heroesofawesome.com[/su_note]
Next time on Behind The Flame (dramatic tone): Find out how my “agnostic” cleric was realized and read my tips for new players!