I’m a writer. I have five books published and am working on the sixth. I am also a professional blogger… so when my grandson asked me to be a Dungeon Master, I thought… piece of cake…Right? HELP!
The Quest
I am going to post this blog as a campaign. I have been appointed Dungeon Master by my adult grandsons. The reason I accepted this challenge is that my six-year-old great-grandson, who has been fighting stage 4 of the rarest of cancers for three stressful years, absolutely loves playing Dungeons & Dragons with his father and uncles.
Landon, in my opinion, is living his own version of Dungeons & Dragons in his battle with ARMS. His own body makes ARMS. Think about this for a second. Your very own cells-genome-DNA is working overtime to kill you.
Landon had already, from the age of three, suffered through sessions of chemo and radiation TWICE, only to learn that the monster had returned a third time. So here we go again with six weeks of daily radiation and three different types of chemo. The radiation this time has caused him to lose half his body weight, and he is on a feeding tube until he gains some of the weight back.
Landon loves watching his dad play D&D on the computer with his uncles and friends, but he also loves playing the game whenever I come over to visit, and we use his sisters’ “Little People” toys as props as his dad takes the role of Dungeon Master and walks us through a campaign.
Last week, while visiting, I gave Landon a gold dragon incense burner (no incense) to keep as a decoration for his room. His mom had just hooked him up to the feeding tube food. It takes two hours for the feeding to go through the tube and into Landon’s belly. He gets four feedings a day. That’s eight hours of being fed through a tube. The feedings supplement the normal foods that he eats during the day.
Landon wanted to play D&D, and his dad did an impromptu game. It was fun, and the two hours flew by quickly. I was telling my grandson, Joshua, about the book I was working on to close my Roof Oasis sci-fi series when he suggested that I write a campaign for him and his brother to play with Landon.
I could not say no. Landon was overjoyed and expressed his desire to be the character of the Golden Dragon. I thought to myself, well, I write books, blogs, and protest signs. How hard could a campaign be? Right? LOL
I need to remind you all that I am almost 80 years old. I have done my share of daring adventures, but creating a believable imaginary world for a very special six-year-old was a feat that I needed help with. I began with a campaign, but I was writing it as a book. I didn’t know the rules of a Dungeon Master.
I didn’t know the role of the players, and I sure as hell was unfamiliar with the multitude of races, classes, and abilities that existed. As a writer of novels, I tell my characters what to do… except…for that pesky robot in my sci-fi series…she does what she wants.
I needed advice, so I went to the Empress of D&D, Suzanne Woolslayer (my daughter-in-law), who has been playing D&D for almost forty years. She also teaches online classes. Sue gave me books. Lots of books, and my own dice. I then went home and ordered my maps and a Dungeon Master screen.
Conclusion
I have my campaign. I have my players. I have my maps… and for now…we will continue using the “Little People” to move on the maps until I can find some cool miniatures. Wish me luck. A special little boy is waiting for his dragon to go on a quest, and this great-grandmother will be doing her best to make it so.
