“Now that’s a persuasion check. Grab your D20.”

1/31/20

This one’s super nerdy, but there’s an important connection at the end, trust me.

           The lumbering half orc sprints forward to face the kobold crouched low to the ground. His hands grip a long metal shaft stretching downward toward a hardened steel axe head that is dragging behind him in the dirt as he moves. Muscles flex and strain as the half orc raises the weapon up in a diagonal slash, the weight of the great axe now several times heavier due to the momentum of the run. With a grunt of force, the large axe now connects with the small body of the Kobold. The sheer force of the axe’s momentum drives the martial weapon right through the evil creature as a screech can be heard echoing through the halls of the Kobolds lair.

           “Holy F*** Seabass. You just cut that thing in two!” yells Delves, a gnome warlock who sits upon the shoulders of a halfling rogue.

           Taking only a moment in the heat of the battle Seabass relaxes his grip on the large axe allowing it to fall to rest on the ground. Turning his head, he now faces both characters and gives a solid thumbs up and a wink.

Inspired by his style, both stacked characters jump backwards to perform a beautiful back hand-spring while both firing off an arrow of their own. The arrows launch through the air in quick succession and slam into 2 of the remaining Kobolds poised ready to attack not far from Seabass. The arrows fly true and puncture through their hastily put together armor. Two more screeches ring throughout the cave as both Kobolds drop to the ground and remain motionless.

Cheers ring around the table as 8 Peace Corps volunteers have just finished their first Dungeons and Dragons (DND) encounter.

           This is the absurd creativity that can only be described as DND and I absolutely love it.

           Needless to say the village life is slow. The world of international service appears glamourous and dedicated on social media, but often neglects to show the often-slow monotonous time spent waiting for the next thing to happen. If I were to talk about all the hours, I’ve spent in my home listening to podcasts or cooking then this blog would start to sound more like a Rachel Ray episode than about Peace Corps.

In these hours’ boredom overcomes me and it’s all I can do to try and keep my mind from going stale. Ever tried to count the number of random holes in your ceiling caused by the bats in your attic? I have and it’s about 5. So, to prevent myself from going stir crazy and turning into a mindless beast with a college degree I’ve thrown myself into a world totally separate from the one I’m in currently. Enter the world of DND.

           Whether it’s sitting around a table in a dingy tavern or fighting demons that threaten the safety of the city, DND is a world about expressing creativity. From the very start you are free to create any character you can imagine. If you want to be a green halfling (aka a hobbit) who was raised by a giant eagle and casts spells from a stick, then you can do that. Or if you want to be a Half orc who can’t read but know how to swing a giant axe then you can do that! There are limitless options for creativity and the character you create are an extension of your own design. Not only that, but when you play with others, you’re wrapped up into a community of other people who are also geeking out with you.

           In all honesty I’m worried that if I continue talking about Half Orcs and casting spells, a Comicon event will spontaneously manifest here confusing the entire village of Kazungula. To that I say, so what?

So what, if it’s nerdy and totally absurd? So what, if half my hard drive on my laptop is now comprised of DM (Dungeon Master) materials. When I play DND with my Peace Corps friends I feel those long hours of lonely boredom begin fade away. I can express all the pent-up creative energy as a catalyst to bring our characters into wacky situations totally unattainable in our reality. I can live in this temporary world of fantasy not to escape my service, but rather to reinvigorate my mind to new possibilities. Just maybe, this creative action can spark within me a new possibility, a new idea never considered before. Because in a world challenged by HIV/AIDS, War and the new Coronavirus, a little bit of DND creativity can go a long way.