Why Dungeons & Dragons is Good for You (In Real Life) | Ethan Gilsdorf | TEDxPiscataquaRiver 

until you have to kill their first pc :D

DummyUrD I've come close a few times. The reaction of my youngest when her rogue went to grab those 'hovering coins' and got enveloped by a gelatinous cube was priceless.

captcorajus And today, life lessons by the townguard is. Don't steal, or at least dont get caught.

You're so cruel! I love it

I wanna you speak with my relatives and teach them about rpg man.

You roll a one, your mother acts first and excuses a family member of doing something terrible.

+Deathbringersora your cousin that nobody likes prepares an action: take far too many biscuits if the plate comes to him.

you roll a 2, when the mashed potatoes comes to you it's gone and your little brother grins because he knows he took your favorite food.

you roll a 20, everyone is actually decent human beings, and decides that tomorrow, instead of indulging in black Friday, just decided to chill at hope, playing D&D.

You roll a 20! The plates come around to you first, and you get a nice helping of all your favorite foods.

I'm glad you didn't let your group stick you with playing the healer!-Ryan, Registered Nerdarchist

Nerdarchy Hey! healer can be fun. Artificer healing may not be the best or the most efficient but when the chips are down I can usually pump out 3d8+13x2 heals at (3rd level). Plus if you're an arty, you can make homunculi for cheaper and make them much stronger than usual

Lovely words. Got upvote for the Nursomancer.

I teach 5-12 year olds. Always need to be organized, patient, flexible, understanding, etc. I've never played a non-chaotic character. Equips +2 weapon of math instruction.

Niki Bird lol !!!! Anger management

chaosincarna your legend has crossed the infinite Multiverse to now be told at the many taverns scattered across the continent of Arton

may his memorie live through eternity

chaosincarna That story is beautiful. You are a legend worthy the great fictional pacifists like Vash the Stampede.

... Holy... I usually like to play magic characters. I max out my casting stat and get all the awesome spells I can muster. But only one time have I had something like THAT happen to me. I was a catfolk scout, second level, and we walk into this small dwarven town. We're tasked with trudging to a kobold warren to clear them out so the dwarves could get to the mithril inside, offered a nice reward to do so. So we walk for a half day and come upon the warren. Something is immediately off. There are guards standing by the entrance, but there's children playing outside. So my character stands up and walks straight towards the entrance to the warren. Weapons sheathed, the guards don't react threateningly. one of the other party members joins me and together we go inside. we are introduced to the chief of the warren of between 100-200 kobolds of all ages, and come to find that the dwarves are evil worshippers of Tiamat and want to murder them all in cold blood for material gain. I begin to cry because of the shame of my intent in coming here to murder these kind people. The chief lays his hands on my shoulders and whispers to me, "It's alright my child, no harm was done, no atrocity committed. You now know the truth behind the intent of the dwarves, and you're cleansed from all sin." We explained everything to the rest of the party and faced off against a small band of dwarves, fully classed NPCs of our level, and with a hard fought engagement we defeated them. We ended up literally blowing the town sky high because the idiots had barrels of Alchemist's Fire in the catacombs beneath the city, and we lit those up. Also, I died later and was resurrected as an Aasimar Paladin (in-game cursed-disease that all PCs had), and my new friends the kobolds helped me almost fully complete a suit of Mithril Full Plate armor in two weeks. I invented the assembly line. All stemming from making friends. I am so going to play a more diplomatic character next time I play!!!

... Holy... I usually like to play magic characters. I max out my casting stat and get all the awesome spells I can muster. But only one time have I had something like THAT happen to me. I was a catfolk scout, second level, and we walk into this small dwarven town. We're tasked with trudging to a kobold warren to clear them out so the dwarves could get to the mithril inside, offered a nice reward to do so. So we walk for a half day and come upon the warren. Something is immediately off. There are guards standing by the entrance, but there's children playing outside. So my character stands up and walks straight towards the entrance to the warren. Weapons sheathed, the guards don't react threateningly. one of the other party members joins me and together we go inside. we are introduced to the chief of the warren of between 100-200 kobolds of all ages, and come to find that the dwarves are evil worshippers of Tiamat and want to murder them all in cold blood for material gain. I begin to cry because of the shame of my intent in coming here to murder these kind people. The chief lays his hands on my shoulders and whispers to me, "It's alright my child, no harm was done, no atrocity committed. You now know the truth behind the intent of the dwarves, and you're cleansed from all sin." We explained everything to the rest of the party and faced off against a small band of dwarves, fully classed NPCs of our level, and with a hard fought engagement we defeated them. We ended up literally blowing the town sky high because the idiots had barrels of Alchemist's Fire in the catacombs beneath the city, and we lit those up. Also, I died later and was resurrected as an Aasimar Paladin (in-game cursed-disease that all PCs had), and my new friends the kobolds helped me almost fully complete a suit of Mithril Full Plate armor in two weeks. I invented the assembly line. All stemming from making friends. I am so going to play a more diplomatic character next time I play!!!

I would give a d10 for that.

roll for initiative!

*rolls*...Dammit, wasted a good Crit on initiative...there goes my rolls for the evening. :)

I'd give 300 experience points.

Natural 1 -1 for me wearing heavy armor.

The Stitch I have rolled almost all twenties and ones. Those numbers between one and twenty are just there for aesthetics.

I've had Advantage in 5E a couple times with shocking grasp with my Moon Elf wizard, and two times with Advantage I crit failed...

In my first session I was DMing 3 players. One of then got 6 consecutive nat ones. 1/64,000,000 chance.

HistoryIsLove RNGsus has abandoned you Weep alone for you are boned

Aye, first game, frist action, rolled a 1 on a Str check to break in a huge double door and broke my arms.

And a ten foot pole

And the holy water. Don't forget the holy water!

And the Warhammerse

ALWAYS CARRY SILVER!

or a ten foot pole

LMAO.. great reference.. the mental image of them throwing turkeys from a helicopter still makes me laugh

As someone on the spectrum myself this always makes me so happy, because sometimes it's really stressful to find other ways of going out and interacting, but so far this game has been perfect.

I got my sister on it, and she's also on the spectrum. She was non-verbal aside from a few grunts and hums if you don't have her interest. Got her into it, and now she plays online with a few friends and she's a chatterbox so long as she's in the mind of her character.

WKRP in Cincinnati!!! baby!

@Scott Whatever this is an amazing idea. I am surprised that no-one looked into it. Glad that you do. After all, don't we all play a character all day long?

That sounds amazing. :D

I presented my mid-level (8th & 9th level) players with a scenario. They came across a goblin caravan. As mid level characters they immediately began slaying goblins, laughing with amusement at how weak they were and how easily they were winning. They went on laughing right up to the moment when they looked in the back of one wagon and saw the caravan was a group of refugees, women, children, the elderly, the sick and wounded, all noncombatants and all fleeing war, forced conscription, and genocide. Ever since that encounter, whenever my players come across a gathering of any sort, regardless of how it first appears, they try to find out what is actually going on before taking action.

I love presenting players awful dilemmas (Skyrim style - so you never know which thing is the right thing to do), but also add both good and bad consequences of their actions.

That reminds me of the first time I played an RPG. It was set in a post-apocalyptic world where many humans had turned into mutants and many animals had mutated into intelligent and anthropomorphized versions of their original species. Technologically, the world was largely at a late 18th/early 19th century level, with some scavenged Old World tech thrown into the mix here and there. I was a cyborg, a 'remnant' from the pre-war civilization who had recently stepped out of a bunker after waking up from a long cryo-sleep, carrying upwards of half a dozen advanced weapons in addition to my greatly enhanced strength etc (including a funny gyrojet pistol). I came across a small town where there was obviously something strange going on. I decided to investigate... for some reason. I heard rumors of strange things happening at a nearby cemetery and headed over there. When climbing over the wall surrounding the cemetery I accidentally ruined the home of a mutated squirrel who was living inside the wall. I helped repair the damage and decided to ask him if he'd noticed anything unusual going on in the area. In exchange for some booze I had bought earlier I got the information I sought and could proceed with my investigation. After the session the GM told me that I was the first player to have resolved the encounter at the cemetery in that fashion. All my friends who had played the scenario before me had responded in the same way: they immediately killed the squirrel.

HideousConformity The game you describe sounds a lot like "MUTANT - Undergångens Arvtagare", a game I've played and loved for a long time. I like it when players don't immediately butcher everything on sight. I usually play characters who won't fight unless they have to. Talking can lead to so much more interesting things, killing is a one-way trip.

I see a lot of half-orcs running around, but that's about it. Just humans and half-orcs. Most boring campaign ever.

They see spiky ears as a difrent race tho

I see Dwarves, Gnomes, Halflings, Jann, and even Half-Elves and some Half-Orcs as humanities brother's and sisters. I see Orcs as brutes for raiding and pillaging even themselves. I see Elves as arrogant turncoats. I see Dark Elves as barbaric versions of their cousins. The rest I view neutrally. But I'm willing to view anyone as a potential ally and friend if they're willing to treat me likewise. Also, screw the fey, preferably with iron.

One of my players asked me what race the human n.p.c. was, and I said, “Human. You just said it...”

@@leyd1642 Weird! Never heard that question in 40 years of playing!

Complacency is a sad sight to behold indeed.

I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with that, but it's certainly beneficial to supplement them with storytelling born from our own imagination.

Prepackaged if you’re a chump who doesn’t homebrew campaigns

Do it the way my campaign did: use "disguise self" to seduce him as a lady troll.... Or don't. Actually, long story short we ended up having to castrate him. :-/

Mimi Sardinia you ain't got no pancake mix!!!

same here

Not Quite Dovahkiin Counts as lawful neutral in my book!

+Amanda Lee Dube LN in the Harmonium's book! (Planescape reference)

Bahahahaa! I thought the exact same thing x3

Fr!

Riley Scott a mantra as old as dice themselves...

Played a game where someone ran off with a baby...😅 We're all sitting back as she hurtles into the cave tunnels towards grumpy rats saying ' come back! You don't split up the party!'

Looks at horror movie and scooby doo characters

Unless your a DM like Chris and want them to suffer 🤣

Riley Scott a truth indeed

YOU CAN PLAY ONLINE? :D Thanks

roll20

With either roll20 or Tabletop Simulator you have an actual playing field too.

Kuroda Cursus wanna play? Message me on twitter @joshjmack or email mack.joshuaj@gmail.com

Kuroda Cursus Same... that moment you realize you're too nerdy and asocial to even play D&D...

Dont forget to add proficiency

He was multiclassing both in nerd and in entertainer.

Aaron, He said that he is a level 17 Nerd

not scientifically possible, unless you treat the average bonus/malus of advantage/disadvantage as flat modifiers and don’t have any other modifiers.

Benny Blue would you like to roll to loot the recommendations again?

Man, I always roll nat 1s in my recommendation feed. My search rolls tend to be high though

+DIYEyal Not with that attitude

+DIYEyal yeah be eSTATIC

Try running your fingers in our hair and then touching a balloon

+Darkbash ...or flying kites with keys tied to them in lightning storms- the results may be shocking! -Ryan

When you’ve mastered the bow, the ultimate step is transitioning into a girl.

geoffrey lewis and... Natural 20, the room floods 😀

Dillon Hartwig curse you counter rolls *waves fist angrily at the sky*, lol

geoffrey lewis have you played 5e? Fortitude isnt a part of the game anymore.

Austin Swindler I know that. Figured it would sound better than a constitution check or anything like that. It was purely for the funny, nothing more

geoffrey lewis ah. Sorry. Just being sure. Sorry if it came off as rude.

I think the coolness would be sucked out if teachers who didn't really care about tabletop culture tried teaching it. I have an awesome teacher in my school who actually runs a game club, focusing most on the tabletop, but card, board, and video games are played too. From what I can tell though he doesn't bring it into the classroom.

Not to mention basic math and reading comprehension. And percentages.

Some people do this, teachers who have a passion for the game.

I'm a trainee primary teacher and former EFL teacher, and on my last school placement I started working on an RPG-themed gamification programme. It was really successful and am currently in the process of writing up what I did as a resource for other teachers and parents.

Like with videogaming it would require sacrifices that teachers (reasonably) are not willing to make. In the case of D&D, the big one is time. You'd be spending an enormous amount of time dealing with things that are not related to what you are trying to work with. Want to teach math? Well you'll quickly find that an inordinate amount of time is spent with the story and character decisions. Want to teach storytelling? What are you going to do when "I attack the ____" is their solution to everything (something totally legitimate in D&D)? Characterization is probably the only thing that will work. I applaud teachers for looking into these things, but as someone once looking to become a special education teacher myself, and a gamer in terms of both videogames and D&D, I would never use these as a primary means of teaching content. The existing educational framework is incompatible, and you won't be building the specific skills you are expected to build at a fast enough rate. These games are successful because of tangential learning. You can think of it almost as RNG learning: roll the dice and see what they learn. Problem is, teachers are expected to teach students in a very specific order, and stick with their specialty, the metaphorical equivelent would be that you need the results to be specifically 2, 4, 6 on a d6 roll, in that order. That's not how D&D or videogames work. You get greater enthusiasm, yes, and you will definitely learn, but what you learn when cannot be controlled, and attempting to control it destroys the engagement you were seeking in the first place. That said, I believe games absolutely have a place in the school system. Extra time after school for a D&D club would be very appropriate, or letting kids play whatever videogames their parents will allow during their breaks (with a rare exception for games with few to no redeeming qualities, but I feel most teachers would take that way too far in their definition). But not as a primary means of teaching content. There are a few exceptions, like Oregon and Amazon Trail. But even educational games are usually to rigid.

Hah, sounds like a feat to me! -Ryan

There is a feat in 5e that's based around making an inspiring speech.

my fiance plays as well! Me and her have grown closer due to DnD! It sucks media only pans it out as men being lonely nerds who only play it :(

That's why Critical Role is so great imo, you've got a pretty balanced cast of men and women of all kinds!

DMing for a group involving 2 female party members/players. I've never been in an all male campaign. (Well there was one but the guys were... not the most likeable.)

You are a rare sight. Most people don't last a week DMing.

I was lucky enough to have had an amazing and supportive DM that helped to train me in DMing. I prefer playing but DMing is rewarding if you give it a while.

HE DID you just rolled a nat 1 on perception my dude

That's something truly beautiful, and my local games store is trying to make this a reality here.

I think his lessons were pretty well, I do not agree with him still putting RPGs into the "Nerd" corner alone, he refuted that argument earlier by showing a lot of "non-Nerds" who had to do with RPGs

Oh you here :D

DummyUrD It is indeed not just in the 'nerd' sphere alone and as much as we dislike labels and so on sometimes it is easier for the sake of time. I know plenty of non-nerds who roleplay. Also isn't being a nerd or a geek about having passion for something, whether you are a boardgame geek or a football nerd, you have a great passion for it and want to be involved with it. Think he did it for ease of use considering he only had a short time to talk and we for one can talk about Roleplaying for days lol :)

Oh my gosh you're here

+How to be a Great Game Master hell yeah man i try to tell people about my game and i can go for hours on one game but their eyes glaze over and they slip into comatose.😜

Nice!

there is a video on here of him playing with the Critical Role guys, should check it out.

@@TheN9nth Isn't it just with Matt and a few more? Still pretty cool though.

I think there is a clip of him on DVD if you ever watch the Chronicles of Riddick where he talks about how he has a really big role playing fan and he likes to play DND...

He has written the foreword to "30 Years of Adventure - A Celebration of D&D". :)

@@bladeshards5065 Vin Diesel also told that DAME Judy Dench are GM for her grandkids. I think he even told that she GM'ed a game for him, Carl Urban and a few more of the cast on Chronicles of Riddick. My mind was blown!

You, and how to be a great GM on the same vid? This must be good...

yo

And Joe Manganiello

You're definitely weakminded if you're that easily swayed.

+Prowly-b Weak minded? He just simply loves the game...

+Prowly-b nah, he just failed his will save

Cool. How is it going so far? Are you having fun? :)

Everyone is loving it. Having our third session this Saturday. D&D feels like pure creativity and imagination - it's awesome.

Awesome :) Have fun!

@@Daemus_TV I wish I had people to play with. Kudos to you man. Enjoy it for both of us!

Cool. What's your party made of? What do you play?

How do I wanna do this? -Matthew Mercer

Truth, half my RP group is female, and as a guy I can say without a doubt role-playing is something that is 100% gender equal and is only limited by the individuals imagination.

Jenivere S Nicke to hear. Hope I meet a nerdy girl someday... (As a friend)

UltimateToby 17 they are literally everywhere. Step 1 to meeting more nerdy girls is to stop thinking we are a rarity ;) Step 2 is never question or test our geek cred. It's hugely off putting and doesn't make us feel friendly towards people who do this but sadly some still do :( Step 3 try conventions - many geek girls don't always wear it plain in sight all over the place (unlike me with a wardrobe full of nerd shirts and a penchant for merch everywhere), so try places where nerds go. Conventions, websites, video games, comic shops, etc etc. Step 4 is simply just remember to treat us a people not as specifically girls. I have a pet hate for other video gamers who refer to us as "girl gamers" as if being female somehow makes us different to any other gamer. We are all equal in our passion for geeky pursuits :)

Jay Cumming It can vary. The mentality of "people who play D&D are lonely socially awkward guys who eat cheetos and drink mountain dew" still exists in those outside of gaming quite heavily putting some potential gamers off the hobby. Thankfully we are seeing a bit more of a shift now with board games becoming more popular and places like Roll20 making RPGs more accessible to everyone, but there have been awkward times like when my friend and I walked into a local game shop and one of the customers sat at a table was saying "woah but they are girls what are they doing in here!" - needless to say both I and the store owner who we know shot him down a bit there, but it was still an odd moment. Sorry I do have a tendency to ramble, in short while most of us don't there are still some who treat D&D as very much a guy thing, and I think those who are in the spotlight talking about our favourite hobby have the power to start changing that. Like Geek and Sundry, they do an awesome job

Jenivere S Thanks for responding. I don`t really have opportunities to go to conventions though. And the only girl I can think about that might be a gee in my school just has a straight awful personality.

suprising actually.

Me too! We had a make over episode when the orc barbarian wanted a prettier character portrait :p

My party as well! And surprisingly enough, the girls are far more eager to toss some fireballs while the guys are scheming behind the scenes to overthrow evil empires

Of the girls in my party, one of them is CE (the player, not her character. She plays CN mostly) one is a total wimp. Her characters are all usually push overs, and one is...well, she's the DM's GF. She's learned a lot from him. She plays a wide variety of characters but as a general rule, they're usually pretty young and innocent.

I had a group recently that, barring me, was all female. And they were all no-good, scheming, murder hobo munchkins. And they were all awesome.

Avon Bärnthal what class do u like to play and what race? haha

Roger Sy Hello Roger, my favourite class is the wizzard in combination with an elf race. :-P

Mark Smyth You are totaly right but I can't do anything to solve your/that problem.

+Avon Bärnthal Be a good person. Be better than the people that let those events transpire.

You do realize that the sins of the father are not the sins of the son, correct?

Excactly what i thought when i heard it i was like: illuminad&d

Pizza

My state of mind improves whenever I brainstorm SOMETHING...ANYTHING for my potential campaign.

Man, that would be exhausting though. You'd need so much Mountain Dew to keep up with his level of energy!

Man... He might've been able to have his own Critical Role

That's awesome! Good on ya!

I roll to pick-pocket

A rogue needs to keep his hands moving

Jeremy Ellwood I roll to negate. Paladin's gotta keep the law.

I roll to take your cupcake, pelt the Orc with it, pick-pocket him, and leave you all to fight it out. Chaotic Neutral's gotta stay in character.

Who's D'Ming this clusterfuck?

Logan same but I'm playing on Sunday. nerdom forever.

Go meet some new friends at roll20.net and play online. :)

roll20.net, check out their 'looking for group' section. They have amazing digital maps (even some fancy stuff) and native voice and video chat for the group. I suggest playing a few games, and making a list of the people you enjoyed playing with. Get them together for a full campaign.

app.roll20.net/lfg/search/ here's a direct link, the site is a tad fiddly.

thank you

Have you tried Adventure league? You get to meet new people in person, but roll20 online is good too

I know this was from a couple of years ago, but...brilliant move! 😂

Oh another thing try a one off game where no one is the DM and everyone is. Some one starts with "We're in a tavern and..." off you go. yes combat is wonky, what you fight you all know the stats of but its very entertaining.

Virgil Levinger Congratulations. You have effectively integrated all of that into role playing. It's still there but its so fun you don't notice anymore.

Some of our best moments in d&d are when we roll a fumble (1) and get to describe the damage to ourselves or party. Always comical!!!

I very much agree with you. Most of the people I play with are not interested in dungeoneering anymore. We like more intricate intrigues, that require investi and the odd fight. My favourite thing is when we force the DM to improvise because we are taking a crazy approach.

Joachim Winckler he should have taken 20

I wish he put a little time into the D20, and the Lawful/Chaotic-Good/Evil chart. If I was new to DnD and watched this I would still be asking myself "so whats up with the crazy die?"

As a autistic myself, I love that you're doing this as I just got into D&D myself and I'm loving it. Although I do find the word suffer here is one you probably shouldn't use, as it's offensive to many people all across the spectrum and is a commonly talked about thing. But that's another talk for anther video. Glad you found something fun for him.

thanks for letting me know this. I guess a better phrase is suffers the social stigma that others put on him because he's so wonderfully, quirky and different.... please note I've also learned that the phrase "you are autistic" makes you a label, not the beautiful person you are. Words, no matter how they are arranged will still offend someone. So no matter what you run into a wall of sorts. :)

Sj Powol Sj Powol Actually, around 3/4ths of fellow autistics I've spoken with (who knew about the different sides of the discussion instead of only being introduced to the person first perspective by parents and such) prefer this. It's because it affects all aspects of our lives. I can't be separated from my autism and still remain myself. Our brains would have to be completely rewritten, and even if we could just be turned neurotypical we'd have to adjust to the world all over again. Being autistic has caused issues, especially up until about four years ago. However, I've been hurt far more by how others treat me and how hard it is to be understood in a world constantly expected me to try and understand, not realizing it should be a two way street. It's come with double standards and misunderstanding and the way I never feel like I belong. Yet, in accepting myself and the fact autism is a part of who I am, I've gained a lot of confidence and connected with many others on all parts of the spectrum. Nonverbal. Quote on quote "high functioning", ones who are dependent on others, those who have college degrees and amazing jobs. Just like nuerotypicals we come from all different abilities and personalities, but we're all autistic. I respect the decision of someone on the spectrum to want to use person first language. I've seen it quite a few times in people who've been bullied or treated horribly because of who they are. I can understand that. However, most I speak with, and again who actually know both sides of the discussion, usually choose to identify as autistic. I don't want to feel shame in who I am. My autism has caused issues, but I've also found ways to turn some of those into strengths. My hyper focusing has introduced me to lots of interesting subjects that I've been able to connect over. I've been able to see a different perspective than most people (it's a very interesting thing to study. Apparently we're less prone to group think, which is why it's so hard to just take things as they are with some of us), I use my sensory issues to improve description in my writing, I use cases where I've experienced discrimination to connect to other groups who are in need. I just had to realize that was actually something I could do. If I kept thinking about being autistic only having drawbacks, then there's a lot I wouldn't be able to contribute. I've seen this trend all over the board. I'm not damaged by this anywhere near as much as I've been damaged by societal perceptions. The meltdowns caused by the bullies thinking it was funny to push me into them. The people who made me think I was just lazy and uncooperative. The ones that made me feel like I was broken. Less human. For many of us first person language is actually extremely offensive, because it pushes forth the thought process that many of the people who refused to understand us held themselves. The ones who put us through painful therapy thinking they could bring out the child that had been "stolen" from them. The doctors who just shoved more medication at us instead of listening to what we say. Parents who always thought they knew best without taking our thoughts into account because we, despite being the ones to live as we do, "wouldn't know as much as the professionals". If your son doesn't wish to use this, that's HIS choice to make, but I made mine and many others have too. Though, sadly, many don't seem to want to listen. Unless you hang around autistic communities, I'm not surprised you might not have heard this before, cause there's another common topic we discuss. The fact we're constantly talked over by those outside of the spectrum who believe they know better. I am autistic, and I'm not ashamed. Everything I do is affected by this, and there's no beautiful human to shine through beneath. Because there is no beneath. Everything is fused together, unable to be pulled apart. There's no insult in embracing that. And it's true that no matter what you do someone will be offended, but I've found the best policy is to listen to those who it directly affects, and listen to their voices first.

Every one of us is a critter. Unless you mean those who habitually score critical hits.

That would be an amazing spell right?! Never pay for rations again.

There is a spell for that, it's called "Create Food and Water".

Doesn't that create fairly bland stuff, though?

Ya, but then Prestidigitation can make that taste better.

The Druid water stuff is pretty useful when your DM likes to poison every well in the realm

Totally agree. A man of great courage, almost assuredly feeling he would be scorned to go onstage and spill the inside world of D&D, but he used great wit, intelligence, and lingual dexterity to slay the dragon of public scorn and actually turn some people's thinking around. He rolled a Natural 20 on stage for the D&D community and we thank you for it, Ethan G!

Robin Smith gildorf just sounds like a dwarven fighter with a bad temper to me

I once wrote and GM'd a campaign with players' usual characters of intrigue -- and one friend playing a farmer named Joe. When I wrote a rhyming prophecy naming all the chars, I didn't name Joe; I named his cow. $E^ D