One of the most important parts of D&D games are the snacks. Without the right nibbles, it can make sessions downright hostile. Additionally, it is said that if there’s not the appropriate offerings, DM’s will display their wrath upon the players by making things like ordering a pint from the tavern way more difficult than they need to be (like you’ll need to roll a DC 50 to order a pint from the tavern your troop has holed up in).

So what does Team Mayhem do for their snackage? We do full on dinner parties for our games.

We rotate whose home we are playing at and typically, the hosts will prepare a meal. Some of our past game day foods include lasagna, Indian tacos, pot stickers and eggrolls, venison roast, pizza, and chili. On top of those really delicious meals, the others will bring along desserts, chips, veggie trays, and alcohol (usually mead).

Is it over the top? Sure. Could we just all bring bags of chips and soda and call it a day? Eh. Not really. We tend to play for a really long time (seriously, 7-8 hour sessions is the average for our group) and most of us really like to cook. A homemade lasagna sounds better than take out any day for us.

Having a full on meal before we start playing also gives us a chance to catch up and re-establish our connections not only to each other, but our characters too. It makes for more engaging interactions, in my humble.

What does your group do for food on game day?

Kira

The last time we left our Keebler Coalition of Misfits, we were about to set off on our adventure to Oak Hurst. The next time we gathered, it was for an incredible 10 hours of game time. Now, I didn’t think anything of it. I know that a single session of D&D can take hours. However, I’ve since heard from a couple of friends who do separate games and, apparently, our group’s second time playing was tantamount to a long distance marathon. Go us!

As far as learning the actual game, I’ve discovered that it’s a process of understanding your character and their motivations and then not being afraid of improvising.

That being said, I am not a good at improv. True, I am a writer and I can get the character down, but the on the spot action throws me for a loop. It takes a while for me to get going when it’s time to take action. I find that there’s not a whole lot of time to think through a coherent strategy. This results in more than a few missteps. Like not following up on a blatant plot point from your DM or being extra dumb in your actions and almost getting killed twice. Yeah. That was me. I am still too embarrassed to talk about it.

Another crucial part of D&D is learning how to play as a team while in character. That means getting to know your fellow characters while you are in character. This is proving to be a rather interesting experience since most of the team doesn’t really talk to each other. Most team work at this early stage in the game is negligible. Our characters simply don’t trust each other too much yet. I am told that will come with time. For my character’s sake, I hope so. She’s too inquisitive to be stuck with a ton of non-friendly people. But then she is young, so maybe this is just shaping her up for the world in which she lives.

I will say that all of these prolonged gaming sessions are very fun. I am really enjoying getting to know my characters as they grow and learn.

By the end of our 10 hour long escapade, we made it all the way to Oak Hurst and we met Marl. Here we will learn about the magic apple that seems to heal the dismembered and disfigured, and we will try to help find the other guards that have been lost out of this garrison.

In other words, LOTS of team building exercises for Team Mayhem!

Game On!

Kira

Kira's Blogs