Librarians Playing Dungeons and Dragons?

I have been playing a semi-regular campaign of Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition with a fluctuating group of about eight other people, mostly fellow librarians and their friends/family. Tonight was another episode of our adventures.

My character is a gnome wizard. He goes by the nickname "Sparky" among the Tall Folk, and he has a habit of using fire and electricity to attack foes. He casts his spells while using rude gestures. One of the individuals who joined our band has a fire phobia, and obviously this does not mesh well with the pyromaniac gnome wizard. Were the gnome nicer, he might care about such discomfort his actions cause. However, character flaws make the game more interesting, and the conflicts that arise out of playing characters off one another adds a layer of fun if the players are mature enough to keep the game separate from reality.

Our current quest is exploring an ancient subterranean Dwarf city that has been long abandoned, and is now a den of Orcs and beasts. Our attempt at talking our way through the front door went . . . poorly. The orcs did not impede our progress for long, though, and we managed to fight our way deep into the ancient citadel. We discovered an orc shaman in the middle of her dark magicks, and we blundered into a barracks room full of angry Orcs, but we managed to survive despite the abject failure of the meat shields to protect the squishy wizard, and the resultant loss of an invisibility spell on the Ranger when the wizard got skewered. Part of this survival may be thanks to a certain halfling druid's healing spells. It looks like we have a chance at taking down the orc chieftain. Or perhaps something strange will happen, because it appears our half-orc monk might be one of his offspring.

Along the way, there have been shenanigans. We wasted some time throwing rocks into a subterranean lake to see whether there might be a monster to lure out. The Game Master (GM) often threatens us (and our characters, heh heh...) with various gruesome fates, but so far, only one party member has actually died. The player had a falling out with the GM and stopped coming. His character's fate was gruesomely described, and we witnessed his final agonizing moments. Then we looted the corpse. Extra treasure for the survivors! Yay! We are literally mercenaries, so our mercenary behavior should not be that much of a surprise.

Image credit

I do highly recommend finding an RPG group and playing a regular campaign. While D&D has had a longstanding reputation as a gateway to satanism among certain people, the game is not inherently religious in any way. The typical settings tend to draw from polytheistic mythologies, and the deities are thus treated as real, but that is hardly an inherent evil when used as part of a fantasy storytelling framework. The game is fundamentally a cooperative storytelling adventure, and the characters can certainly encounter representations of evil, but the game is about teamwork and camaraderie overcoming such obstacles.

Many game shops offer weekly adventures that are open to the public, so that can be a good way to learn the game. participation in these events is usually free, and pre-generated characters are often available for those who don't even know where to start. A campaign is designed to be survivable if players poll their strengths and work together. The dice add an element of chance that force everyone to adapt when plans go awry, and also present the potential for dramatic successes or crippling failures.

If a swords and sorcery setting isn't to your liking, there are many other good role-playing game systems designed for specific settings, or designed to be generic toolboxes to fit into any era. For example, Savage Worlds has a skill-based character creation system, so the "driving" skill could apply to a stagecoach in the Old West, a sedan in a film noir mystery, or a hover-car in the far future. The FATE rules are designed to be more narrative-driven with a looser application of a smaller set of dice rolls, and uses only standard six-sided dice.

The paperback basic rules for Savage Worlds is only $10 (USD), and FATE is a free download, so the core materials to start don't need to break the bank. I designed some 3D-printable bases for LEGO minifigs or similar construction toy figures, and others have as well, so that's just one option to represent your character on a table at little expense if you know anyone with a 3D printer.

I can't recommend this kind of gaming experience highly enough, so get out there and give it a try! What could be more fun than a truly interactive story where the only limits are your imagination and the patience of the GM?