Hello, Adventure-Raisers! Hope your week is going well. I thought a good extension after last week’s topic would be to talk about being in that notable position of being a TTRPG Kid… and your parents are not TTRPG People.

So, ya’ll already know that I was not really in this category. I didn’t come to this corner of the world until I was in college. All that said, I have since tried introducing games to my parents and my in-laws, which was an absolute trip. I love my parents, I really do, but they are stuck in their ways… to give you an idea, when my husband Orin DM’d a campaign for the family my father’s backstory was a Gorge Thorogood song.

“I walked forty-seven miles of barbed wire
I got a cobra snake for a necktie
A brand new house on the road side
And it’s a-made out of rattlesnake hide
Got a band new chimney, baby, I put on top
And it’s a-made out of human skull
Come on take a little walk with me baby” – Who Do You Love, by George Thorogood

Orin made it work for a Aasimar Oath of Vengeance Paladin with a hermit background… but I think I’ve illustrated my point. My dad calls himself an OG player: he played D&D in the late 80s while stationed abroad in the Army. To the day he remembers his Ring of Feather Fall very fondly. So I think his goal was to throw Orin a curveball and see how creative his son-in-law can get, because of course there is still that challenging dynamic going on…? But, at any rate, Dad was in a hurry to get back into the hobby.

My mother, on the other hand, had never played before and was trepidations. Questions I had to answer during the weeks leading up to Session 1 include, but are not limited to:

“How long does the game last?”
“So, it’s all of use verses Orin [DM], right? And it’s like that the whole time?”
“Do I HAVE to be on your dad’s team? Because I don’t think I want to be on his side”

That last one had me and the gang laughing for about a week… as my mom unintentionally, often does. She’s one of those people who is just too sweet to ever get mad at, but also connects the dots around her in ways that no one else can and it makes for very endearing and funny quotes. It’s very childlike, in a good way. She managed to build a wonderful ranger that was amazingly close to Vex from Vox Machina, though I’m positive she still has no idea what Critical Role is. Most of the session was spent traveling through the woods, so when we finally made it to the obligatory tavern Orin asked my mom “what is your character doing first?”

“Oh!” my mom sat up bolt straight, trying to think of something her ranger would do in a shabby tavern by the sea after a long day on the road. She arrived at her answer quickly. “I’m looking for the ladies room!” And speaking as someone who has been on road trips with my mother, that was just too real. We never let her live that one down.

Everyone at that table had fun, and we laughed for hours so it was just perfect. I wish that campaign has lasted longer than it did, but the heart of the matter is that we’re all busy. Orin and I had just moved into our permeant home, my parents had their own lives to run, etc. But there’s nothing stopping us from playing a session here and there when we meet up for holidays.

On a separate day we tried pulling my mother-in-law into this world. She didn’t have the patience for character building, so Orin made one for her beforehand. His mother is an oncologist, so he made her a cleric specked for healing, of course. I was still wrapping my head around the mechanics and honestly, he made my character as well. That was the only time I’ve played a tortle so far, and I honestly can’t wait to get back to that race. It was just the 3 of us playing, Little Dragon wasn’t even a concept back then. Her eyes were so bright as she listened to her son paint word pictures of a haunted castle we needed to explore. I remember she giggled the entire time. But in the end, the rules were too intimidating to keep her in the TTRPG world.

It seems a bit hypocritical to say that I believe so strongly that this is a family hobby, or at least it can be, but my own parents don’t play with me very often. So I offer in contrast my friend Salvation (or Sal, a LG Knowledge Domain Cleric/ Warlock… he has conflicted feelings about that) who plays with his real-world father every other Friday. Orin is actually playing with them tonight. But, really, it’s like any other hobby in that you can’t force someone to enjoy it or prioritize it. We all had fun in all these instances, but scheduling is a NotNiceLady. And sometimes as parents, are brains are already too full to take on a new learning curve, am I right? My oncologist mother-in-law could absolutely learn to play on her own if she was so inclined, but she’s not at that point in her life. (Sal’s dad, and engineer, certainly is, goodness gracious. He begs for more game time, haha).

So all in all… if the feeling’s right, play a game with more family members. And if it sticks, it’s a blessing. And if it doesn’t it’s still a blessing to play even a little. That’s all I have for this week, but I hope you guys have a great weekend with your little dragons! Remember, you are not on this journey alone… sometimes you can even ask the Chetney Pock O’Pea’s of the world to go on an adventure…