Untitled D&D Group Story, Part 1 (Patreon)

This week is going to be a sprint of chapters for this new story based on the Poll we had on the weekend. These opening chapters are just an introduction, but I think you'll find some hints as to what may be coming. I'll release them all bundled in PDF and Epub at the end of the week, hopefully with a proper title!

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Chapter 1

Packing up the minis, map, dice and all of my other bits and bobs that I used for DMing was like a ritual at the end of a gaming night. I’d been doing it for two decades, adding new tools and tricks here, dropping things there when I realized I hadn’t used them in months. Being a Dungeon Master for a regular group of players was probably one of the greatest pleasures I had in life.

“All good, Shane?” Melissa asked me as she came back into the dining room. She was readjusting her sweater, a pleasant glow on her face after the exciting game we’d played. Melissa’s elf fighter Meliana of the Autumn Veil had gotten into a bit of trouble early on in the session with a pair of the Dark Tyrant’s bodyguards, and the roleplaying that resulted had been a fun side-scene as most of the group rushed to try and save her.

“Yeah, for sure,” I said with a grin. “You good? Those ‘bodyguards’ were pretty demanding.”

Melissa laughed. “Well, it helped that you gave me a heads up that things might get prickly tonight. Thanks for that.”

“You know me, always looking out for my players,” I said.

“But never for their characters,” Melissa replied with a smirk. It was a longstanding joke in the group that I wasn’t afraid to kill a character if they got themselves in over their head. It didn’t happen that often, especially with a group that had been playing together for twenty-three years. “Look, I’ve got a favour to ask,” Melissa said as she came and sat down at the table.

“Sure, just ask,” I said. I had to assume it had something to do with the local theatre company. She’d been the official stage manager for the group since she’d left off teaching Drama at the community college to be a stay-at-home Mom. That had been years ago, and every once in a while she tapped into our D&D group for a little extra help since we’d all come up in the Theatre program at State together.

“Rhia is just starting her summer break next month,” Melissa said. “And she’s got some friends together from her program and was wondering if you’d run a D&D game for them over the summer. A little four-month campaign, weekly games. She was hoping you might do more than that but I told her weekly was already more than enough to ask you.”

I raised my eyebrows, stopping my packing with just a few items left on the table. “Melissa, I don’t know…”

“Not like our games,” Melissa assured me. “A regular game, like you used to run at the Game Store.”

“Oh,” I said, exhaling and shaking my head. “Jesus, Mel. Be a little clearer next time.”

“Sorry,” she laughed. “I should have realised the implication.”

“Well, yeah, I’d be happy to help out,” I said. “Tell Rhia to text me. She could have done that to begin with.”

“I think she was feeling a little shy about it,” Melissa chuckled. “She’s only ever played TTRPGs at home with me and Dan, but she’s loved hearing the, um, edited versions of our adventures since she was a kid. I think she’s got a bit of hero worship for your storytelling skills.”

“And I’m sure you’ve told her that it’s all just improv at the end of the day,” I said.

“Of course,” Melissa smirked. “But that doesn’t stop her from asking for updates to your story every time we come home from our game nights.”

I snorted, thinking of how the college coed would react to the unredacted version of events that happened around our game table. “I’m flattered,” I said. “And I’ll start thinking up something that should fit the timeline. But I’m not setting things up through you as an intermediary. She’s an adult now, she can get off her butt and organize things.”

“Agreed,” Melissa said. She stood up from her chair and came over to me, and I quickly closed my notes binder so she didn’t see what I had planned for our campaign. That made her laugh and she leaned down and hugged me, kissing my cheek. “Thanks, Shane.”

“No problem,” I said, hugging her back one-armed. “It’s Rhia, how much trouble could some college kids be?”

That made Mel snort as she stood back up. “You say that now, but remember that we started our game going into our junior year and all the shit that we got up to.”

“I’m doomed,” I laughed. “Doomed!”

Chapter 2

Rhia broke into a grin as she stepped through the doors of the coffee shop and spotted me at a back booth. I’d picked the spot because it was the perfect site for the organizational meeting of a D&D game - a board game cafe. I’d already ordered a couple of chocolate croissants and coffees since I knew how hungry college kids could be, and I was happy that Rhiannon had shown up on time.

“Hey, Snorey,” I said as I stood up and opened my arms.

“Hey, Lumpy,” Rhia grinned as she walked right into my hug. “I still don’t snore.”

“Says you,” I laughed as we separated and grabbed our seats. “So, how was second year? I haven’t seen you since your fall performance.”

“Good,” she said. “My program classes are way better than my general ones, and I get to do less of those next year and I’ll have a better chance at good roles for the performances.”

“What happened with the winter performance?” I asked, already knowing the answer from her Mom but wanting to show her my support without just coming out with it. “I didn’t get an invite.”

Rhia rolled her eyes and scoffed lightly. “I got shafted by politics,” she said. “I was supposed to be the understudy for the second lead, but this kiss-ass bitch made a huge deal about it being her final year and how she felt slighted and one of the Profs stepped in. I ended up on Stage Crew and didn’t invite anyone cause I could see the writing on the walls from the beginning. It was a shit show.”

“Ah, I’m sorry,” I said. “I’m sure you would have gotten the ship sailing smoothly if you’d had a bit more control.”

“Well, I don’t know about that,” she smiled, giving me a look that said she knew I was just boosting her ego. Rhiannon had the same long, brown hair as her mother. She was tall, almost six foot, which was often detrimental to an actress since it made male stars look smaller. Rhia was also blessed with an extremely sweet, youthful face that meant if we’d been located in California she likely would have been a Disney kid if her parents had been willing to put her through that - probably a secondary character, with her height, but still an in into the business. Instead, living in Michigan, she was a diamond in the rough just waiting to be discovered when she got the opportunity.

“So, let’s jump right into it,” I said. “You want to play a game.”

“Yes,” she said, breaking into a grin as she set down the croissant she’d been munching on and pressed her hands flat to the table. “And thank you so much for agreeing to DM. Dad thought you might be too busy.”

“Well, your Mother can be pretty convincing,” I said. “But how could I say no to you?”

She rolled her eyes again and shook her head. It had always been a little game since she’d been a kid, me blowing up her ego with ridiculous statements. The game had died off in her early teens as she’d been going through the harder years of puberty and needed actual encouragement, but she’d always reacted the same way to even my smallest compliments and encouragement.

“What kind of game are you looking for, and how many players?” I asked.

“Six players,” she said. “And they are all in my year or one year up in my Theatre program so we’re hoping for lots of roleplaying and improv practice. And I want a game in your world, not the published ones. I’ve always loved the stories Mom and Dad tell, and I love the way you set up the world. I could probably name off more spots on your map than Dad can.”

“That might be true,” I laughed. “Your father is awful at remembering the names of places or characters. Always has been.”

Rhia chuckled and nodded. “I know. Mom always has to correct him when they tell me what happened.”

“Alright, I can definitely do a game set on Firth,” I said. “Any other requests? Has anyone else played before?”

“Tori played before back in high school,” Rhia said. “So just me and her. The others are all new, but I think Tori is going to teach her roommate Elyse the basics. And I think probably just general fantasy stuff for the most part in terms of themes - everyone knows Lord of the Rings and the basics of that so no one should feel out of their depth.”

“Sounds good,” I said. “General fantasy, my setting, six players, two with some experience. It shouldn’t be too hard to get your friends up to speed. Anything I should be aware of going into this? Any of them dating, or heading in that direction?”

“Well, I mean, not to tell people’s secrets, but Elyse went on a few dates with Nate and I think they banged, but that was at the beginning of the year and they seem fine to be around each other,” Rhia said. “Other than that, I think Ian has a thing for Tori, but when you see Tori you’ll understand why - everyone has a thing for Tori. He just got out of a thing with another girl in our program though so I doubt he’ll make a move for at least a couple of months.”

“I just don’t want dating stuff to mess with the dynamics of the group,” I said. “People hooking up or breaking up can cause disruptions, and with a little under 4 months if we take a week or two off for people to cool down, that’s a lot of time lost.”

“Isn’t almost everyone in your and my parents’ group together because of your game?” Rhia smirked at me. “Well, everyone but you, He Who Sits Behind The Screen?”

“Yes and no,” I said, shaking my head at her use of the unofficial nickname my college friends had given me. “Jack and Veronica were dating already when we started back then, and Rachel and Aaron broke up and got back together almost six times before they got married and that was a problem a few of the times.”

“What about my parents?” Rhiannon asked. “The way they tell it, their characters fell in love and then they followed suit.”

“That’s true,” I chuckled. “But don’t bet on that happening with one of these guys, missy. Your Mom and Dad had their own hurdles along the way.” What I wasn’t going to tell her was that Rhiannon had been one of those hurdles - she was immensely loved, but she’d been an ‘oops.’ Things had turned out for the best in the end, and Howard and Melissa were extremely happy together, but they hadn’t actually been dating when it happened. The pregnancy, and their in-game romance, had blossomed into their actual romance and marriage.

Rhia quickly polished off the last of her croissant and licked her thumb as she smirked at me a little. “I’m not seriously interested in any of the guys we invited to be players, Shane,” she said. “Don’t worry about me.”

“Alright, Snorey,” I chuckled. “Anything else I should know?”

“Just that I love you and you’re my favourite,” she said with a sweet little smile.

I rolled my eyes and pushed my croissant across the table to her. “Little gremlin,” I muttered.

She scrunched up her nose and picked up the pastry, taking a big bite. “Fank-oo,” she said around her full mouth.

“College students,” I replied. “Always hungry. House rule number one for the game - you guys are bringing the snacks!”

Chapter 3

I surveyed the table in my game room, double-checking that I’d remembered everything. I had my custom-printed map of my homebrew world of Firth hanging up on the wall like always. My DM screen, my notes, my dice - with extra sets ready in case someone didn’t bring their own. I had the fresh, partially completed character sheets ready to go. With new players, it was always better to give them a few choices like basic class and names and to get into the game quickly. I had three copies of the Player’s Handbook out and ready for referencing (or browsing for inspiration). Drinks were prepped on the side table - non-alcoholic since at least half of them were still 20. Bowls were ready for whatever snacks they brought.

With nothing left to do, I nodded to myself, proud of my work.

“Nothing better than Game Day,” I said, looking over at my cat where he was lounging on his shelf perch near the window. “Right, Jasper?”

Jasper meowed at me and blinked.

“Good point,” I said, the old game of pretending to talk to him so I wasn’t talking to myself kicking in. I headed back out of my game room to my office, sitting down to check my emails. No time to spin up some work, but enough to fire off a couple of emails. I was trying to decide how best to phrase ‘Pay my rate or get fucked’ to a client who had come to me through word of mouth when the doorbell rang.

Leaving my office and work behind, I headed to the front door and could hear female voices on the other side. I immediately hoped that Rhia wasn’t making things awkward for me and showing up after her friends, but I put on my winningest smile and opened the door.

Oh thank God, I thought.

“Hey, ladies,” I said, swinging the door open wide and gesturing for them to come in. “Come on in!”

“Hey, Shane,” Rhia set, leading the way with a big grin and stepping right up to me to pull me into a tight hug. Her dark chestnut hair was down a loose, looking silky smooth, and she’d done her makeup lightly. I was a little shocked by her outfit though - the pink skirt was fine, but the polka dot red and white top looked like it was a size too small for her. Especially in the bust. It showed off a strip of her stomach above the waist of her skirt and between the sheer amount of cleavage she was showing and the thin shoulder straps I was pretty damn sure there wasn’t a bra under it.

“Hey, Rhia,” I said, hugging her back one-armed, deciding to just try and accept the fact that she was a college coed and this was probably normal for her.

“Shane,” she said, stepping aside but keeping her arm around my waist from her hug, “This is Tori, and this is Elyse.”

“Nice to meet you, Shane,” Tori said, leading the way in. Rhia had mentioned that ‘everyone has a thing for Tori’ and I could see why - she was stunning in the sort of open way that I’d only ever really seen in true actresses. Tori was clearly of Indian or Pakistani descent, her warm skin tone and dark hair distinctive when combined with her delicate features. She’d worn a green summer dress that showed off almost as much cleavage as Rhia’s top, and while she was quite as well-endowed she certainly wasn’t lacking anything in that department.

“You too,” I said, accepting her hand and shaking it.

“Hi!” Elyse said, following her in. If Rhia and Tori were both typical in their ‘Theatre Girl’ attractiveness, Elyse leaned into the other side of things - she was the slightly grunge, slightly hippy, dirty-hot tomboy artist type. That was a pretty specific ‘type,’ really, but I immediately knew that Elyse was someone who liked working on the Crew in some capacity or another and wasn’t really interested in being on stage or in front of the camera. She was blonde, her hair long but with an undercut that gave her a punky vibe, further supported by a copper septum piercing that helped highlight her cheekbones and smile. She may not have been ‘actress’ pretty but she gave big ‘girl who does motocross because she can actually race’ vibes and that had a sort of attractiveness all its own. She’d arrived wearing a simple grey crop top that sat fairly high on her, making it clear she was the smallest in the bust department by far between the three of them, and a pair of jean shorts that sat loosely on her hips.

The girls got inside and kicked off their shoes, carrying their knapsacks with them, and I led them over into the game room where they gave appropriate ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ over the nerdy shrine I had created, along with some cooing as the new girls met Jasper. He was, as usual, a big slut for some pets and showed off his tummy for scritching as he stretched out on his perch in the sun.

“So, how late are we expecting these guys to show up?” I asked. The girls had been a couple of minutes early, but we were already getting to the start time.

Rhia shot me a look, making a pained face. “So… bad news,” she said. “The guys sort of bailed over the last few days.”

“Ian’s parents wouldn’t pay for him to stay over the summer and find a job here and made him go home to work at their company,” Tori said. “So he has a good reason, at least.”

I rolled my eyes. “What are the not good reasons?”

“Nate and Isaac both bitched out when they found out we wanted to dress up to play,” Elyse said. “Like, cosplay our characters to get into the game more.”

“We’ve been planning this for weeks and they just told us yesterday they aren’t ‘into it like that,’” Tori said, mimicking a Bro Voice.

“Is that OK?” Rhia asked. “We can still play with just three of us, right?”

“I wish you’d told me sooner, but yeah,” I said.

“Sorry,” Rhia said with a little apologetic smirk.

“But we are still good to play, yeah?” Tori asked. “I haven’t played in a couple of years and Rhia says you’re supposed to be amazing at DMing.”

“Years of experience is what I have,” I said. “Practice makes perfect. Alright, three people is easier to manage than six. Why don’t you ladies grab some drinks there and then grab a seat and we can talk about character creation.”

“Actually,” Elyse said. “Rhia and Tori already did character creation with me at our place so we could get our costumes ready.”

I looked back over to Rhia again, who had the good decency to blush.

“Guess I should have told you about that, too,” she said.

I sighed, shaking my head at her. “Alright, let’s see your character sheets,” I said. “And you gals can go change into your costumes. Theatre kids, always so dramatic!”

“Thanks, Shane,” Rhia said.

All three of the girls opened up their backpacks and pulled out the gear they’d brought for playing, handing over their folders with their character sheets. Rhia and Tori had both brought dice with them, along with their own pencils and notebooks, and Rhia passed over a set of dice to Elyse as well.

“Downstairs bathroom?” Rhia asked me.

“You can use my office, too,” I nodded, already opening up the first sheet to check out what the girls had come up with.

As they left the room, their bare feet padding on the hardwood in the hall, I heard one of them say quietly, “You didn’t tell us your uncle was hot.”

“He’s not my uncle uncle. He’s like a family friend uncle.”

“Still, you could have warned us!”