Well, one of the most hilarious things of my 40s is suddenly loving and playing D&D.
I mean, I’m not UNUSUAL in this, given the rampageous success of shows like Critical Role and Dimension20, which, yes, we watch.
My main job–other than writing–is voice acting, specifically as an audiobook narrator. But I was never into RPGs before Carlos. In fact, I was mildly repelled enough by them that he proposed co-designing a TTRPG I’d like to play with me so that I WOULD play RPGs with him. Yadayadayada, look at me now. LOOK AT ME NOW!
Designing an RPG was, in fact, A TOTAL GATEWAY into a whole world of gaming I now love. I’m sorry now that I ever felt any other way about gaming… but fandoms are complicated, and hospitality is a long game. Sometimes we bounce off things if we don’t feel actively welcome in the spaces those things are loved. Sometimes it’s just a matter of exposure and social circles, etc. I’m here now. I’ll do my best to invite others in.
I have some personal goals as a gamer, which are:
1.) Be less anxious about learning new games and playing games in general
2.) Playtest a lot of NEW games-in-development by brilliant designers, be in the conversation, learn the vocabulary
3.) Lean into the fun and YES, AND!
One of my “Yes, ands” is, when Dr. Gregory A. Wilson asked me to be one of his cast for the Heathglow podcast, I said yes. AND now I’m in a podcast, lol.
Greg wrote a 5e adventure and sourcebook called Tales and Tomes from the Forbidden Library, published by Alligator Alley entertainment, and available as a PDF and a hardcover.
I thought that playing Mog Rizz, a Hyena-shifter trickster and student at Hearthglow Academy was a one-off thing for the Damon Runyon Foundation charity that Greg was running a couple of years ago.
First, we performed live at the Klein Auditorium and the tickets benefited cancer research. Artist Hannah Flaherty made character art for all of us. But THEN there was a follow-up performance at the Klein (along with a level-up of our characters) last year.
And THIS year, the Klein is letting us record on their second-floor mezzanine for a third adventure… in fact, a series of them! This is the Hearthglow Podcast.
When Greg proposed this to us, I looked at Carlos, blinked a few times, and then said, “Well, yeah. I guess I’ll do it. That sounds like something I want to have done in my 40s.” I already knew Carlos was in. He was getting that glinty-eyed thing again.
A D&D LIVEPLAY PODCAST! LIke the COOL KIDS. Here’s a link to the Hearthglow page, with all the episodes so far. More coming, since we just recorded a session, which is enough material for 2-3 more episodes, I think.
Carlos, who’s always been a cool kid (as defined in this blog as a cute-patootie gamer who loves D&D, which Carlos has been since he was 13), is playing Ally Needy (pronounced Nee-DAY currently), a fairy dragon with a confusion breath weapon. I’ll try to get a pic up of her later.
ETA (LATER):
In the new Hearthglow podcast, Ally’s introduced a new CONSTRUCT companion: MR. ROUND CLOWN! Carlos asked Bek, the illustrator of our Negocios Infernales cards, to create character art for her.
Carlos did up all the specs for Mr. Round Clown, and created this character sheet for him that looks, you know, like something you’d find in a campaign setting or something.
I know I linked to the Hearthglow page above, but just in case you don’t fee like clicking, here are the first few episodes, as well as the YouTube link.
If you’re into this kind of thing, I hope you enjoy this! I know, for my part, it’s fun to participate. It was an honor to be asked.
C.S.E. Cooney 
Hello, I am Lilium, commenting in place of Mary Crowell, who has regrettably been stymied by 2-factor authentication and other wicked tools.
Let me start by saying this: I LOVE Round Clown. The art! The actions! The fast heal! The name! Absolutely sublime.
Mog Rizz too! That’s such an excellent character design, both in concept and in execution! Arcane Trickster makes me smile too, I adore Rogues. Get into trouble all-day, everyday.
Your story definitely resonated with me. Getting a poor welcome to a hobby, even if it is absolutely your jam, is the quickest way to slide off it.
What’s more, with something like tabletop, I have always advocated that tabletop with a group that doesn’t click is worse than no tabletop at all. The hobby is the kind of thing that involves extended intermingling with these people over a period of hours and weeks.
There’s a couple of really cool systems I wanted to play (hello Exalted) for years and am only recently actually making a serious go at. And the thing that changed is I found people I liked and trusted who were also into it! And now I get to put my players in all sorts of situations, and everyone is having a lot of fun. It was absolutely worth the wait.
So, it really makes me smile to see someone else get to properly enjoy tabletop. I hope you continue to enjoy your amazing adventures, and roll well enough to get out of all sorts of high-stakes situations.
Oh, I love this! Thank you for ALL OF IT!
TTRPGs is a bit like Shakespeare. You see it when it’s good, and it’s mouthwateringly good (“I didn’t know what the words meant, and I didn’t care, but it was Shakespeare, and it was like having jewels in my mouth” –Frank McCourt”). But you see it when it’s bad, and it’s bad forever.
I’ve now had some mediocre experiences, but I’ve had some absolutely TOP NOTCH, like UNBELIEVABLY GOOD ones, and a lot in between. What I hope is that the ACT of gaming becomes more and more fun, and less and less… nerve-wracking. Like, I’ll be able to treat it like any improv game, which I always loved–or a good puzzle. And to remember (especially with TTRPGs) that it’s collaborative so I can’t, and shouldn’t, have to do it all on my own.
Trying to get better at board games too, which have their own set of anxieties inherent… But there’s something about some of them that’s so good, that scratches an itch I didn’t even know I had! I like the way they make me THINK.