Monthly Archives: May 2021

DnD Reflection

The allure of Dungeons and Dragons began all the way back at the beginning of the semester when we first designed characters. I decided to build a big red Dragonborn paladin of
Bahamut. Personally, I was most excited about this game because I play Pathfind on a regular basis and was tangentially familiar with the DnD system already. Everything revolves around your stats which come from the point buy system. I have never used it before as instead I have always rolled three d6s and totaled them together. From there we divided up into two adventuring parties based on our classes. My group had a paladin, rogue, and sorcerer who were there for two session and then a fighter and cleric who swapped out between them. We were hired by a dwarven merchant to protect his caravan from dangers in the forest.

Session one began with us pulling up to a crossroads with two dead horses in the road. On high alert now, we spread out to look for the source of danger. The rogue and the sorcerer found the trouble hiding in a few bushes off to the side of the forest while I carefully examined a cliff face for any danger. The goblins opened fire on us with their short bows, but being goblins missed nearly every attack against us. It was here the first proper bit of roleplaying immerged with a friendly rivalry developing between myself and the rogue. It was very similar to the back and forth between Legolass and Gimili. The challenge was to prove who was the best fighter between us. Little did we realize, the sorcerer would turn out to be just as deadly with her cross bow as I was with my hammer or the rogue was with her knives.

We made quick work of the goblins thanks to a critical hit and slashing blades until only one remained. As the paladin and moral compass of the group, I elected to offer the goblin its life and eternal redemption in the eyes of Bahamut in exchange for information on where the goblin base of operation. This goblin turned out to be named Maglub and became my squire, torchbearer, and student. I carried them in like Luke carried Yoda in the swamps of Dagobah. Maglub guided us through the forest and past a few traps that may have spelled out doom. The journey presented itself as great opportunity for roleplay as the other characters joked about how devote in my faith to the Great Winging One. Sesson one wrapped up with the rogue and sorcerer sneaking ahead to knockout and drown a pair of goblin senties while I taught Maglub about the tenants of Bahamut.

Session two began right where we left off, in front of the goblin lair. It was pitch black inside and only our sorcerer could see. She and the rogue lead a scouting party inside before they stumbled upon several wolves that were chained to a rock. They were by far the most dangerous threat to our group because they could actually deal damage to us. One almost killed me, but thanks to my divine healing, I pulled through. There was also a tied up captive in this chamber who shadowed us for the rest of the trip so we could keep them safe. Then came what I think was the most enjoyable part of the adventure: the trash shoot. The shoot rose 30 feet up into the cave to presumable the boss room. We thought it would be good idea for someone to do some recon so we could figure out what we were up against. Turns out that a bugbear was running this goblin gang. Once the rogue was about half way up the shaft, the bugbear decided that he would releave himself into the shoot. I was at the bottom to catch the rogue if she fell, but I think Bahamut smiled on me because I remained dry. The rogue was not so lucky.

We decided it would be better to go through the cave normally as our shortcut was now wet. This is when our sorcerer became a dead eye. She shot three goblins before they even knew she was there. The rogue took care of the other two within second and we were clear to approach the boss’s lair. We stormed in weapons drawn. I let loose my massive fire breath, the rogue threw a dagger, and the sorcerer shot some bolts into the fray. We left without a scratch on us. Victorious. The hardest part about DnD for me was getting the rules mixed up with Pathfinder. They are just similar enough for me to feel confident in a ruling and be wrong. I would recommend DnD to everyone. Where the challenge comes in is that it can be hard to find a group that you feel comfortable playing with. Once you do however, DnD can be a great experience for everyone involved.

Free Play: Lazers and Feelings

Last week, we had the option of choosing a game to play. The group I joined was playing Lazers and Feelings, a quickstart SciFi RPG all about using your laser or your feelings to solve all of our problems. I decided it would be fun to play the ship’s engineer, an android named distribution android model R-3 class Double L or D.A.R.3.L.L for short. Darell had a 5 in lasers which meant he was an expert in all things technology and logic. Lasers and Feelings only as one stat which determines how you can interact with the world. If you have a high Laser score like D.A.R.3.L.L, then you want to roll a 5 or lower on a d6 for your action to be successful. The opposite goes for Feelings, in which you would want to roll above your chosen number. The hardest e part about playing Lasers and Feelings was remembering that if you rolled your chosen number (5 for D.A.R.3.L.L), you got to ask the Storyteller one question about the situation.

After the unfortunate comatose state of our former captain, the crew picked up on a distress beacon from a derelict ship. We found no life signs aboard and decided to board through an airlock. I powered up the ship to reveal a bloody mess. The crew appeared to have been massacred by an assailant known to them. We decided it would be a good move to secure the armory to gear up against the threat. While looting the armory for everything we could, the assailant hailed us from the bridge. We negotiated a parlay and prepared for the worst. It turned out that an android spy worked its way on board and was trying to turn the ship into a planet killer. Thanks to our new weapons, we quickly turned the machine into scrap and blew up the ship ourselves.

Lasers and Feelings really shine in its light mechanics. Having only a single number determine how good you are in two opposite fields is a really cool way to build roleplay into the mechanics. Since my character was amazing at mechanics, I found it really fun to roll for feelings hoping that I would get a 6. My weird robot brain would understand humanity a little bit better with each successful roll. Quickstart RPGs like this one are great microcosms for leadership. Each of our characters had the opportunity to guide the crew’s choices and how we handled different situations. Our robot doctor would assess corpses, I would take any engineering concerns. Our security officer and explorer would guide us through the ship, and our science officer would keep us all sane. It was a great experience, and I recommend it to everyone.

Game of the Week Blog Reflection 12: Free Play

This week we got to choose which game we wanted to play. I chose to play Lasers and Feelings with a few of my classmates. Lasers and Feelings is a quick-play roleplaying game. In the game, you play as a crewmate of the interstellar scout ship Raptor. I ended up playing as the Alien Scientist on the ship who has a love of collecting brains and all things a little gross. My character had a number of three, which means I am in the middle of being good with both feelings and laser taks. My character’s goal was to solve weird space mysteries. I would say the hardest part of the game was picking names for all of our characters. So many of us kept refreshing Fantasy Name Generator trying to find a good name. 

During the game, our crew received a distress signal. Knowing how distress signals play out, we all still decided to investigate the signal. When we got to the ship, we discovered that there were no life forms alive. We searched the ship and ended up finding the bodies of a few of the crew. My character may have stolen the brains of said crewmates in hopes of studying them and adding them to her collection. When searching the armory of the ship, we ended up getting locked in the room by the “captain” of the ship. The “captain” of the ship ended up being an android spy sent to destroy Earth. I ended up watching as two of my crewmates kill the android using laser guns and laser swords. Before leaving the ship, my character looted as much as they could for their next future experiment. Everyone on our crew was able to return safely and ready to continue on our next adventure.

I would recommend this game to anyone who loves role-playing games like Dungeons and Dragons. This game is almost like a simpler version of Dungeons and Dragons. It’s very fun, easy to learn, and can be played in a short amount of time. Like Dungeons and Dragons, every person needs to cooperate as a group to get the story going. Each of us had a part to play to make the game more interesting. An entire game can be played out in the span of an hour or two. This game was so fun to play and I had a great time watching and collaborating with my classmates as our characters.

Game of the Week Blog Reflection Week 11: D&D Week 3

Due to not having class last week, we finished what we could this week in our session of Dungeons and Dragons. During this session, I tried to be more active in my game play. My character ended up being able to talk to the large wolves that guarded the cave and befriended them. The wolves kept talking about food, so we gave them our rations. The wolves were then named Snowcone, Ribeye, and Nugget. We all loved those wolves and were devastated when Snowcone was killed by the BugBear. That seemed to light a fury and rage in our barbarian, and he killed the BugBear a few rounds later. It was so fun to be able to bounce ideas off of one another during our session. Honestly, the hardest part of the game was trying to pick names for our wolf buddies! We spent a good amount of time trying to decide on the perfect names for them. 

During Dungeon and Dragons,  you need to have a good combination of assertiveness and compassion. You can’t run the entire story on your own, but you should give some of your own flair into the game. A good Dungeon Master will let each player have a moment to share an idea and add a contribution to the game. Both the players and the Dungeon Master need to be fair and treat everyone’s ideas with respect. Not one person can run a Dungeons and Dragons game by themselves. It takes a group effort to make the game a natural twenty success.

I would recommend Dungeons and Dragons to anyone who wants to play a great board game. Dungeons and Dragons is a game that anyone who can tell a story can play. Each time you play a session of Dungeons and Dragons creates a new story to be told. No two sessions of Dungeons and Dragons can be the same. Everyone has something that they could add into a game of Dungeons and Dragons.

Game of the Week Blog Reflection Week 9: D&D Week 1

In this week’s class, we started playing Dungeons and Dragons. I have a bit of background in this game, but not nearly as much as some of my other friends. Dungeon and Dragons is a storytelling game. In this game, the players and the Dungeon Master tell a story together. Players roll dice to determine whether their attacks hit or miss and if they succeed or fail in what they wish to do.  I had never used the software Roll player before. Usually, when I am playing Dungeon and Dragons with my friends, we tend to not use a map. 

During our session, I played as a pink tiefling druid. Now don’t tell me tieflings have to be the same colors as humans. If I want to be a bright pink tiefling, I am going to be a bright pink tiefling. We were ambushed by goblins, but were able to capture one of them. My character fed the goblin berries while another player wanted to kill him. My character, Iniki, wouldn’t let our barbarian kill her new friend, and the party ended up putting the goblin on a baby leash. The session ended with us having our goblin ‘friend’ start leading us to a cave. 

I really had a blast trying to bounce ideas off of my classmates. I ended up making my character slowly seem more and more crazy as the session progressed. For example, when a horse was killed, my character would pet the horse to make it have “nice dreams.” Another time I made it so that the goblin we kidnapped knew it was my “friend” and that “friends never leave one another.”  I think the most difficult part of this game was setting up the Roll Player software. At times it was slightly confusing to use, but after a while we finally got it working for everyone.

Dungeons and Dragons relate to leadership in how we work together in a group. One person may try and control the narrative at times, but when the timing is right you can completely change where the story is going. You need to be able to listen to what others are talking about and then make a decision based on it. Sometimes it’s better to be the quiet character who then springs up a crazy idea. Other times you want to make sure that the story leads to a specific area and have to make a way for the session to run in that direction.

I am not sure who I would recommend to play Dungeon and Dragons, at least from the people that I know of. I would say my friends, but all of my close friends already play Dungeons and Dragons. After a year of not seeing each other in person, we are planning to start a new campaign once the school semester is over. Honestly, I would recommend this game to anyone who wants to tell and be part of a fun story.

Quiz Creation: Which Tea Dragon are you in The Tea Dragon Society

Here is a link to the quiz: 

https://www.tryinteract.com/share/quiz/6096f898ceb9810017906477

When creating this quiz, I tried my best to incorporate parts of the comic and card game of The Tea Dragon Society. In the base game, there are four different dragons; Jasmine, Rooibos, Chamomile, and Ginseng. Each dragon has a different personality and skill. Jasmine dragons have a great deal of elegance and poise. Their special skill in the card game involves the grooming card. Rooibos dragons are the most active dragons and are always looking for an adventure. Their special skill in the card game involves the entertaining card. Chamomile dragons are the most relaxed and easygoing of all the dragons. They love to sleep, hence why their special skill in the card game involves the sleeping card. Ginseng dragons form strong bonds with their loved ones. To show their appreciation towards them, they give small items and food to their friends. The special skill card for the Ginseng dragon involves the feeding card. 

Another way I incorporated the card game into the quiz was the last few questions of the quiz that regarded the seasons. The card game is all about trying to make memories and bonds with your Tea Dragon. I tried to make it so that each season had one memory/experience that related to each dragon. For example, during the spring season question I made the energetic Rooibos dragon have the memory of hunting bugs and looking at butterflies. Meanwhile, the sleepy Chamomile dragon has the memory of watching the rain and falling asleep to it.

I asked ten people to take my quiz. Of the results, six people were Rooibos, one was Jasmine, one was Chamomile, and two were Ginseng. When I first asked people to take this quiz I was shocked. Everyone kept getting Rooibos as the dragon that they related to. My friends Gavin, Samatha, Anna, Kyle, and Laura all were the first people who took the quiz and all of them got Rooibos. The last person who took my quiz, my friend Nick, also got Rooibos as his result. Each one of those people also agreed with the result that they got. When asked why they agreed with their result, each person talked about the last sentence of the result, “You have a great enthusiasm for life and want to experience all that life can give you.” They all spoke on how they enjoy being able to go do stuff with family and friends. After a little bit of thinking, I think I found another reason why everyone kept getting Rooibos. Rooibos’ are little dragons that are slightly different from the others. Rooibos’ are the only type of dragon that play in activities. The other type of dragons don’t seem to care for activities. Rooibos’ have an enthusiasm in playing with others and doing different types of activities. All of my friends have been social distancing and following guidelines for the past year. They are tired of being stuck in one or two buildings. Several of them haven’t taken an in person class in over a year. One of them took a gap year due to the virus. Several haven’t gone into a store in over a year. One hasn’t eaten anything that wasn’t a home cooked meal for the past six months. They’re all tired of having to follow the guidelines, while many many more people have refused to do anything at all. Sometimes a Rooibos Tea Dragon can’t do an adventure due to their lack of energy. This in turn makes the dragon have to take a nap and eat some berries. All of my friends want to go on their own little adventures, but lack the safety to do so, as opposed to energy. They have had their fill of naps and berries and wish to go on an adventure. In due time, when the pandemic has slowed down, each one of my friends can be able to do their adventures to the grocery store and other possible mundane things they took for granted before the pandemic. 

My mom was the one who got the result of the Chamomile Tea Dragon. She also agreed with her result. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that my mom’s favorite tea is chamomile. My mom is the type of person who is very easy going. She takes life slowly and happily. Not to mention loves to take naps, much like the Chamomile Tea Dragon. One of her favorite things to do is take a nap cuddling up with one or two of our dogs. Whether it’s on the couch or on a bed, she will be fast asleep cuddling one of the dogs.

My friends Sarah and Matt both got the result of the Ginseng Dragon. Both of them also agreed with their result. Sarah believes the result to be correct due to her nature to give her friends gifts whenever she is thinking about them. She tends to give gifts to several of her friends as a surprise and “just-because.” I remember one time she got her and me matching nail files because she just wanted to be nice and give us both something special during the middle of the pandemic. My friend Matt agreed that his result was correct due to him also giving small gifts to others. His gifts tend to be more in the food category. If you go to Starbucks or any sort of coffee shop with him, he will offer to pay for your drink. Even if you decline, he will be sure to ask you the next time you both head out to get a drink coffee or tea somewhere. He enjoys seeing his friends happy while enjoying a nice drink. 

My friend Ben got the Jasmine Tea Dragon. He also agreed with his result. Jasmine dragons are the smartest breed of Tea Dragon. As Ben’s major is Electrical Engineering, it makes sense that he got the result of the smartest dragon. Ben also tries to stick to a routine every day, as he has specific times for when his classes are, when he is studying for his classes, and when he has to go to work. 

When doing this quiz, I found that everyone did agree about their result in one form or another. I have a feeling that if my friends had received a different result, they still would have agreed to the result. Each result is kinda vague enough that each person might relate to it in some way. Tea Dragons are simple creatures. Each one wants to make memories with the people they love. Chamomile loves to take naps with others, Rooibos loves doing activities together, Ginseng loves to give gifts, and Jasmine loves to be involved in day to day life, all of them show love to others in a way most people can relate to.

Game of the Week Blog Reflection 12: Free Play

This week is a free play week, and I played Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege with my classmate Leon, this game is a 5 vs 5 FPS game, there are offense side and defense side, and there are lots of characters with unique skills on each side, each player can choose which character they want to use for this round before the game begin. Leon was very good at this game; his rank was at least at Diamond. During the class time, we played two games and he carried our team a lot, so we win both two games.

I think I like this game very much, because my favorite game CSGO is also a 5 vs 5 FPS game, so there are many similar parts between these 2 games, they are both competitive and required a lot of communications. However, the map in R6 is much more different than in CSGO. In CSGO, the buildings are not destroyable which means that enemies cannot make a hole on the wall and watch your team’s moving direction. In R6, you can even destroy a whole wall make the map totally different. So, I think the hardest point is the same as playing CSGO, it needs a long time to learn, otherwise, you will never be a good player in R6.

For the leadership part of R6, I think it is very important to communicate with each other. If at team has no communication, but the other team has, then the game will be like 1 vs 5 but not 5 vs 5, which means the team without communication would have a very high probability to lose. So, I think communication is the most important thing in this game, it will make 5 players a team, but not five individual players.

I think all of my friends who play CSGO with me will also like this game, because they are very similar games except the map.

Game of the Week Blog Reflection Week 10: D&D Week 2

This week, we played the game D&D, and this is my first game of D&D since I missed last week’s class, and I never played this game before, but I knew this is a very famous board game. So, I was very excited to play this game during the class session. During the class session, the DM helped me to insert my character, which is a monk, and I began my first adventure on D&D. We adopted three wolves to against the big Goblin, and we killed the big Goblin by one of ours ultimate.

I think the hardest point during I play this game is there are so many choices, and I do not know which I should choose. As a rookie to D&D, I think others’ experience might not be that good if they play with me, so I think this might be a part I dislike the game. However, for the game itself, I think it is very interesting, I can build my own character and I can create my own adventure story when I am playing the game.

For the leadership part of this game, I think it is most about the decision making. There are so many choices in the game and as a leader, you must think which one is best for your team. A good leader will always make the right choice for the team based on all the information the leader has. For example, in this D&D game, a leader can choose to fight with the boss directly or use some tricks to give the team advantages during the fight. If the team is under a good situation, then a leader might choose to fight with the boss directly, but if the team is not under a good situation, then the leader should think about what to do to make sure the tam can win the fight.

I think my roommate Steven will like the game, because he always like to make decisions and he did a good job on making right decisions in the past.

Game of the Week Blog Reflection: Free Play

This week we had the opportunity to pick which game we wanted to play for the duration of the class period and I picked Lasers and Feelings along with some of my classmates. Lasers and Feelings is a super quick role-playing game, the back story is that we are a part of a crew in outer space exploring and consorting with friendly and deadly aliens. Our captain of the spaceship is unconscious because he has fallen ill due to some unknown cause so we are left to fend for ourselves. I had a lot of fun designing my character, I chose to be an android doctor called Metallica who is better with feelings (such as intuition, seduction, diplomacy, etc.) and has the primary goal of continuing to be awesome.

In our gaming session, the crew and I were able to explore an old ship that has been sending out distress signals for years. Upon arrival, we found the entire crew slaughtered and only one android present claiming to be the captain but really was a spy sent to destroy the earth realm. Despite my best efforts to avoid violence, several crew members used their laser guns and laser lightsabers to kill the android, safely return to our ship, and blow up the other bloody ship.

I would recommend this role-playing game to everyone because it is super fun, low maintenance, and easy to learn/follow. Anyone can play it and it can be adapted to match the age and maturity of the players. Another thing I like is that it is quick and you don’t have to worry about remembering what happened in the last session. My favorite part of the game was witnessing Ian being hilarious and a great roleplayer, he really gets into character and that’s when you have the best experience.