Unlike most of the live action roleplayers that I know, I didn't get my start in sword and sorcery playing tabletop. I launched right into the ultimate nerdom of LARP, beginning in 2004 in a NERO chapter that has since launched their own pretty killer gaming system. Beyond taking a few years away from the game to incubate and birth my own little weirdos, I am still donning the costume and hefting a fistful of spell packets with local friends. I've been LARPing for twelve years - but only this year am I finally DMing my own tabletop game.
Despite my experiences writing and running plot at a variety of scout camps over the years, and playing in a few tabletop games, I've been as anxious as I am amped about running my own.
But because I've been obsessing about the idea since reading this article on all girls D&D group this time last year, I just couldn't let it go. I knew this was exactly what I wanted. My experiences with mixed groups of players have been phenomenal ones, but I've definitely held back. Many of the things that I enjoy have been traditionally male-dominated, and while that's for sure changing, the stigma is still there - the expectations, the jokes, the out-of-nowhere feeling of being an outsider stealing over me when I least expect it.
https://youtu.be/-leYc4oC83E
The video above has always made me snort with laughter, and now I'd like to make a tasteless comment about getting drunk in a tavern, trolling for dudes, without the awkwardness of there being dudes in the room. Or, alternately, being the only girl in the room when a comment like this is made by a dude. I wanted roleplay, debauchery, thieves and warriors and lovers without the baggage of being a girl - it's complicated, but it's a real wish and I'm definitely selfish enough to be motivated to make it happen.
So, with help, I acquired the manuals. The pawns. Drew the maps. Created YouTube playlists for ambiance. Spent too much time thinking about how each NPC would speak only to eventually really butcher their accents.
After our first two sessions, and anticipating a third this coming weekend, I don't think I could have chosen a finer group of ladies to adventure with. We've had whippings for insubordination, woefully inaccurate pig slaughtering, stories of theatrical gore, secret hook ups, sly bids for power, and moans of mismanagement among pirates. There's not a single gal at the table who hasn't delighted me with her imagination and her wit. While I'm still getting my sea legs rolling the big dice, they are on it.
It's pretty much everything I could've hoped for.