Dungeons and Dragons

"I want to be a dwarf. Wit a giant two-sided Lockaber. Mad killing machine, etc etc"
"You need a name"
"Dopey"
Random scribblings in the computer lab. The dice rolled secretly while Raja drones on about something or the other. Use your imagination. Dice. Paper. Photocopies. Two big fat books.
"Read them"
"Sure"
Like anyone ever did ::)
"I wanna be an elf. And elf prince. With magic. And my parents must be missing, eventually. Great ruler. Unlimited power. The chosen one.... Rayinzar Stormcloud."
The name stuck anyway.

A party of orcs appears over the horizon. The elf, the dwarf and the halfling stand with a giant half-giantish thing with them. Green warriors. The dwarf and the giant move forwards. The elf tries to hide behind one. The halfling...
"I roll to hide under the donkey"
"You can't do that"
"I can, I roll under its saddle"
"Ok, roll"
Rolls. But it's insignificant. Some things are just not meant to be.

The gods don't play dice with the universe. They only throw the dice where you can't see them. Probably from a Pratchett book. The only real mistake was saying anything is possible. Sometimes excessive creativity can cause a lot of mayhem. That, and a general lack of enthusiasm when it takes a hundred dice rolls to kill a giant. But if rolling the dice ever decided fate, seeing how they land was no consolation when the numbers could be manipulated by higher powers.

It's just a far-fetched thought. Comparing D&D to real-life would undoubtedly make for some exciting theses, and probably already has. It would also be the same as comparing life to a bottle floating with the question toe the life, the universe and everything floating across a wide ocean. That too, can be justified. And would be of unparalleled interest. If writing it up could get me a doctorate I'd do it. The maroon fluffy hats were ever so appealing.

I believe now, setting aside the heavily geeky tones of this write-up, that D&D is flawed in its basic design. If played by friends, it causes as much contention as any game, because no game is just a game. And the poor feller in charge must watch a perfectly good plot fade away to nothingness. Yet without the unlimited ability for manipulation present in such a close knit scenario, all the fun is gone. Like all observations, this too is greatly skewed by my own particular approach to all things fantastical.

As the party moves away from the orc onslaught, two giant ogres appear on the top of the hill. One swings a giant club and knocks the elf flat. The gnome lets fly his weapon...
... and proceeds to knock this poor elf on the head. I must say that having blood flowing in the midst of a fight really helped add to the realism. I couldn't believe it was there till lookied in the mirror. For a gnome, Adeel can be quite dangerous.

Off to ze library tomorrow ^_^