This is not a spell where you can raise a holy symbol and have your deity pay the cost for you.
Doesn’t matter how tough or swift you made your character. Doesn’t matter what sort of broken, overpowered, totally legal character builds you’ve prepared.
Eventually, bad rolls are going to catch up to you. Eventually, you will bite off more than you can chew (alright, that one is more like “immediately” for most players). Or perhaps, and this is a BIG perhaps, you might be roleplaying character development and having your character give their life for a higher cause.
But mostly you die because of failed dice rolls and overwhelming force and/or numbers.
An Aasimar paladin-druid delivers a divine smite in beast form.
So, what happens when we die? Theologians and scientists will give you all sorts of answers and criteria for considering that question, but thankfully for gamers, games have had more solid rules. Let’s look at them, shall we?
Like the difference between watching a streamer play a game for its campaign mode, and watching a streamer play the Legend Rank multiplayer build.
Even with video. Even with the internet. Even with game streaming. Who would have EVER thought to put Dungeons & Dragons online? I mean, who would want to watch people roll dice, play at acting, and discuss rules instead of playing online card games and gladiatorial shooting grounds?
Turns out, quite a lot of people, if Critical Role’s 115+ episodes of their first season are anything to go by.
Consider if there’s a way to make that stupid idea of detonating a barrel of alcohol to rocket jump work. Or if the Bard can, in fact, end the boss encounter because he rolled a 20 to seduce with his songs.
This week, I’ll be branching out into another of my interests: Tabletop roleplaying games, and the guys that run them! Also, an attempt at naming a post series!
True, D&D and its ilk have long endured, and have been getting more and more accessible and popular. We’re no strangers to the concept, and certainly, there are sites and video series which are dedicated to tabletop gaming, but consider this a crash course for newbies, told from the perspective of a fellow relative newbie as opposed to someone with a lifetime of D&D editions and Pathfinder homebrews. I always had an interest, but grew up in a time of electronic gaming and a lack of dedicated groups. Add to that my current state as someone who reluctantly adults the adulting of the adulty adult world, and I can, as always, speak as someone who has to deal with everyday life and its responsibilities.
Some DMs carry on well into their golden years.
Maybe you know nothing about it, or you’ve heard about it but don’t get it. Or you might even be a frequent player and want to try running a game yourself, seeing what it’s like to be in the driver’s seat. You might even be a card carrying DM. Either way, let’s roll initiative and get started! …What do you mean you’re the ONLY one around to take a turn? …What do you mean I can’t make you roll against other readers on the internet? …What do you mean I’m asking useless questions for things nobody actually thinks? Silly, that’s how the internet works!
The Write Stuff 