2023-2024 Campaign
The Harengon of Rabbiton are threatened by an evil necromancer and a corrupt Mayor. Humans can't be trusted to help. It's up to us, the animals of the world!
Along the way, there will be opportunities to improve your skills, perform heroic feats, and develop friendships with those numbered among your companions.
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A Student of the Game or How I Spent the Pandemic
In October of 2020, I needed a distraction from events in my life. Toastmasters led me to return to a hobby that I loved, was introduced to in high school, yet left a few years after I graduated. I was on Meetup one night doing something Toastmasters related and saw a Meetup event for a local in-person Dungeons & Dragons group. I figured it was kismet, as Toastmasters and Dungeons & Dragons are about as far apart as one can get. Or so I thought at that time; that’s another story, however.
I took a chance and reached out to the event organizer. He was kind, helpful, and friendly. Little did I know that he would become a true friend soon after this. We started to play and it took me a while to get my footing in this new version–fifth edition, or 5e for those familiar with it. I was rusty, like a rusted, disused, neglected short sword. I had, however, joined Toastmasters several years before, so I had that chemistry going for me, as well as my experiences in theater in college . . . and the great teacher of life as well, of course.
Then the pandemic struck in March of 2021. Play stopped entirely. I kept in touch with my friend, our group’s Dungeon Master (DM), and we both lamented that we wanted to play. I was unable to play online due to technological limitations and he only wanted to play in-person. We were at a standstill.
I therefore turned to watching videos on YouTube to brush up on this new edition, as well as read the player facing source books, as I didn’t want to pull back the veil, as my friend likes to say, of 5e like I had with 1e and 2e. Kenn Kihiu has this to say, “A student of the game is the player who only wants to get better. The player who loves instruction and correction. The player with more heart than ego. The player who does not drudge the daily practice but revels in it.”
That was me. I watched the following YouTube channels: Dungeon Craft, Taking20, Nerdarchy, Ginny Di, and a smattering of others like How to Be a Great DM, Geek and Sundry (of course), D&D Beyond, XP to Level 3, and Seth Skorkowsky. I picked up a lot of player tips along the way to make me a better player and make better characters. (Which I made a lot of. This was the other thing I did to maintain my interest in the game.) My DM, now friend, and I spent a lot of time discussing the finer points of the game we both love. I also took the occasional dip into the DM side of things and watched Matthew Colville’s channel along with the occasional DM related videos on one or more of the aforementioned YouTube channels.
I would fill up a voluminous tome with all of the information I learned from all of this study and becoming a student of the game if I were to list it all here. And the learning continues, both in real life now that my D&D group resumed in-person play again (which may be in doubt again because of the Delta variant), my becoming a member of the Dungeons & Toast Toastmasters club, stepping behind the DM screen for the first time in an age, watching even more YouTube channels and YouTube videos, reading even more D&D source books and talking with my friend about the game of D&D and exploring the hobby that I love.
Got a question? Just ask. I may even have an answer for you! Now go out there and make yourself a student of the game!
Sources Cited:
“Becoming a Student of the Game,” The Learning of Life, 1 September 2021.
The Power of Yes, and … in Role-playing Games
What does improvisational comedy have to do with role-playing games? Well, I’ll tell you. First, a bit of background. Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) is in all probability the most well-known role-playing game. Wikipedia states that “A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game;[1][2] abbreviated RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making regarding character development.[3] Actions taken within many games succeed or fail according to a formal system of rules and guidelines.[4]1”
Like role-playing games, improvisational comedy also has rules. One of these rules is the yes, and . . . rule, which Wikipedia defines as ““Yes, and…”, also referred to as “Yes, and…” thinking, is a rule-of-thumb in improvisational comedy that suggests that a participant should accept what another participant has stated (“yes”) and then expand on that line of thinking (“and”).[1][2]2”
How is the rule of yes, and… applied to D&D or any other RPG? Whether a Game Master (GM) or a player you will improvise dialogue and actions throughout the course of the adventure. If a GM or player says no, that line of discussion, that line of thought, or that conversation is dead due to a lack of anywhere for it to go. (At times, a GM has to say no out of necessity… sorry, players.) If you want to enrich your encounters, in particular your social encounters, with non-player characters (NPCs) or player characters (PCs) — your fellow adventures — empower yourself and employ the power of the yes, and… rule and see where it takes you; it may become an adventure all its own and take you to places that you’ve never thought of or imagined.
And who knows? You may think of an idea on the spot that may have never occurred to you before; the yes, and… rule gets you out of yourself and into a more creative, magical, spur-of-the-moment improvisational space. Unleash the power of your creativity and improvisational skills and give the yes, and… rule a try the next time you sit down with your friends to play an RPG and watch the magic happen as whole new worlds of adventure open up for you, ripe for exploration. When I think of the use of the improvisational comedy rule yes, and… in RPGs, I say, “yes please!”
Sources cited:
“Role-playing game,” Wikipedia, 29 July 2021, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Role-playing_game.
“Yes, and. . .,” Wikipedia, 12 February 2021, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yes,_and….
New Year, New Possibilities Await
Happy New (Toastmasters) Year! In the previous Toastmasters year, the Dungeons & Toast club achieved Select Distinguished status, which is the second highest level of recognition a club can earn in any one Toastmasters year. This distinguished status reflects how well a Toastmasters club serves their members and helps them achieve their goals. The achievement of Select Distinguished status is an impressive feat for a club that only chartered three months ago! Congratulations, Dungeons & Toast club members! Thank you to all of our guests and members who helped us achieve this level of excellence in the previous Toastmasters year!
This Toastmasters year our club will aim even higher and again strive for excellence as we work to achieve President’s Distinguished status, the highest level of recognition a club can earn in any one Toastmasters year!
If our club achieved Select Distinguished status in three short months, imagine what our club will accomplish in an entire year! Get ready to soar even higher, my fellow adventurers! Stay tuned as this Toastmasters year will be a fun year as we have a number of surprises coming your way! Adventure has called to us, and the Dungeons & Toast club members have answered the call! An epic tale of adventure — one worthy of legends — begins…