I Put On My Robe and Wizard Hat

[Emprexx Plush]

((Garrett Wilde continued from Walk slow, talk slow, keep yer head low ))

Garrett sat idly rubbing his sore jaw at a reserved table in Devil's Dice. He'd nearly forgotten this appointment due to the absolute chaos of the day, but his trusty alarm had reminded him to leave Alexander's grave with plenty of time to spare. It would have been a shame if he'd missed his weekly lesson.

He was a frequent customer at Devil's, to the point that he knew nearly every staff member by their full name. He even played with some of them when they weren't working. Generally he came in to buy miniatures, look at new strategy games, and talk shop with anyone who happened to be around. It was a far more relaxed environment than he was used to, and the nature of the customers generally meant that he didn't seem so out of place.

Recently though, he'd been coming in for very different reasons. He'd encountered a student at Aurora with a knack for a different type of table-top game that he found fascinating, the RPG. It felt like an extension of what he and his father already did when they went hiking, except instead of simply making the character, he *was* the character. While he didn't understand most of the rules yet, Michael was being remarkably patient. Communication could be difficult given their need to rely on texts, but it was something he was willing to work with for the company. He'd already been familiar with Michael through their time in the book club, and he was a pleasant fellow to speak with.

He winced as he gave the bruise on his face one last brush and set about re-examining his notes. It was time to make some magic.

[dmboogie]

((Michael Mitchellson continued from HEAVEN OR HELL? LET'S ROCK!))

Devil's Dice was an incredibly badass thing to name a tabletop gaming story. Sending a big, beautiful middle finger to all the stick-assed moral crusaders preaching about how Dungeons and Dragons is secretly the work of the devil and shit was definitely something Michael could get behind. Sadly, that was pretty much the majority of what Michael knew about the store. Pretty much all of his gaming was done online, though he had stopped in a couple times to pick up handbooks.

Today, however, he had a different reason for visiting: tutoring a poor lost soul who did not know a Paladin from a Cleric. Garrett. All-around cool dude, and a member of the book club. Michael had been teaching him in the holy ways of DnD for the past few weeks. The dude may not know much about RPGs, but it was Michael's sacred duty to spread the glory of roleplaying as much as possible. Probably. Wasn't really anything sacred about it, now that he thought about it.

Michael took his phone from his breast pocket and started texting Garrett. "Fear not, my friend, for the master of all things that take place in dungeons-" Michael glanced up and narrowly avoided running into another mall patron, then continued typing. "That tend to contain dragons is on his way!"

Michael reached the entrance of the store, nodded at the clerk, and headed over to the table where Garrett was sitting. He waved, sliding into the chair across from him. "Yo, Garrett. Ready for another grueling session of game mechanics?"

[Outfoxd]

((Leona Van Kamp continued from For My Next Trick)) )

Leona had planned her trip to the mall in search of some particularly cute tops she'd seen were on sale at JC Penney's; she usually bought from her dad's own store, but if somewher else had something of interest, she was all for it.  Especially on sale; daddy fronted her a healthy allowance, but not even that lasted forever.  A job this summer was starting to become more and more attractive a prospect, at least until the magic career took off.

Shouldn't be too much longer, that.

That part of the trip had only taken a half hour.  What she wanted was in stock, and while she normally spent time looking, she hadn't seen much of interest on the way in.  There were a few purses on the clearance that made her almost regret carrying everything in her grandfather's coat.  Almost.

But Leona wasn't about the waste a trip to the mall just because she'd gotten what she needed.  There was at least one other store that was good for some unnecessary spending.

So Leona found herself strolling across the threshold of Devil's Dice, the assault of colorful, fantasy-laden imagery drawing a smile from her lips.  She regularly came in from time to time, despite not being a tabletop gamer.  However, this place was true to its title.

It had some bitchin' dice.

There was a huge assortment of them, in all the colors possible.  Cubes, pyramids, dodeca-whatever the hells were packed together in blisters along one section of slatwall.  On the counter were piles of loose dice, begging her to run her fingers through them and enjoy the smooth plastic of their construction.  She didn't need the dice for anything, of course.  She just loved having them.  They were great little objects for sleight-of-hand.

And so many of them were just pretty.

Leona headed to the slatwall, and her hand closed around a pack that held d6'es, all colored in a light, polished blue that caught the light and reflected beautifully.  She smiled, admiring them.

[Emprexx Plush]

Garrett felt his phone vibrate and briefly worried that he'd double-scheduled meetings this evening. It was rare, but with as absent-minded as he'd been lately it wouldn't be unlikely. He grinned as he realized it was Michael's opening text. The man had a flair for the dramatic that he found quite amusing in the most respectful way possible. It lent itself well to his role as a teacher.

He looked up from his notes to watch for Michael's entrance, and found himself idly surveying the other patrons. Frank was working the counter today, which meant he should stop by and argue the finer points of Waaaaaggghh after he was done with this session. There was a vaguely familiar girl browsing the dice. Perhaps another regular? He couldn't seem to place her.

He noticed Michael slip into the shop and waved back, picking up his phone so that they could communicate properly. Always, friend. I've been looking over the notes we made last time, and I think I'm really getting the hang of this wizard business. He squinted at the sheets a little more closely. Er, sorcerer I mean...or possibly druid. There's a difference, right?

[dmboogie]

Dammit, being confused over character class? Not a great start. It's time to built a house built from pure, motherfucking knowledge.

To be fair, the approximately twenty thousand and a fucking half spellcasters could get a bit hard to keep straight.

"Padawan, there is still much for you to learn." Michael typed, briefly looking up and examining his surrounding as he thought about what to say next. The store wasn't particularly busy, except for a girl who was intently examining the dice. Michael couldn't blame her, those were some bitchin' dice. Worthy sacrifices to the fearsome random number gods.

He turned his attention back to his phone. "Kay. Wizards and Sorcerers aren't that different, their major difference is how they cast spells. Sorcerers have a limited selection of spells, but they can sling those fuckers around without any preparation whatsoever. Wizards can know an infinite number of spells, but they need to prepare them beforehand. Both can only cast a certain number per day.

Michael idly adjusted his hat before typing again. "Druids are all about nature and shit. They cast different spells than wizards and sorcerers, but they prepare them the same way as wizards.

[ChainmailleAddict†]

((Joseph Chaplin start))


    The Mall is a busy place. People conversing, going throughout their lives. Joseph Chaplin wasn't exactly a social creature, but he figured that he needed an excuse to get out every now and then, if only because it was "normal". Recently, Dungeons and Dragons had begun to intrigue him. A game that focused just as much on storyline as mechanics? He was very intrigued, indeed.

    Before going to the mall, Joseph had read up on Dungeons and Dragons, concluding that it was worth his hard earned money to at least give it a try. He needed something to do this summer, after all. He had gotten the gist of it within a few weeks time, learning more about it than "that game with the crazy dice". When he was younger, Joseph would frequently buy things frivolously, not saving, trying to justify it with "What good would that money do in the bank?". He had grown since then, however, and learned to control the pesky habit.

    Despite being of age for a car, driving school was in the back of his mind, and as such, he had to pester his mother to go to the mall in the first place. Once he was there, though, he wasted no time in looking for the map of the mall, soon finding where he needed to go; Devil's Dice. Quite an ironic name, he thought. Joseph chuckled. Walking for several minutes, he soon reached his destination.

    Upon entering, Joseph felt a sense of awkwardness upon first entering, but this soon subsided when he thought to himself "Why should I feel awkward? It's just a new thing.".  He was here to become a more social person, after all. Who knows? "Perhaps," he thought, " I could even find a group to play with. I don't even think I'd even NEED to buy anything then.". This was a quick but smart thought. He decided that he should only buy some dice for now. "No use buying all the expensive manuals if you aren't going to be the Dungeon Master."

[Outfoxd]

Leona had replaced the pack of blue dice on the wall and started to move toward the baskets of loosies.  The ones in the pack looked nice, no doubt about it.  But she couldn't really decide whether or not to buy them without feeling their weight in her hand, the sensual touch of skin-on urethane contact.  She didn't think the owner would appreciate her just popping open a pack and going to town.  Besides, there was a real big kid looking like he was about to start browsing her space soon, and she wanted to retain her solitude for a minute.

Leona reached the counter and reached into the basket, coming up with 2 six-sided dice and a d3.  the sixes were a solid, boring purple, the three was a gorgeous swirling mixture of reds, oranges, and white.

She tossed the two sixes back into the basket, and slowly, then picking up speed, walked the d3 across the back of her knuckles.  When the die reached her pinkie and ring finger, she reversed directions, walking it back toward her thumb.  A few cycles of that, and she palmed it, then transferred it to her left.  She enjoyed the feel of the die, and started hunting for more like it.

As she did, she chanced a glance over her shoulder.  A couple boys she thought she might have recognized from school were hunched over a phone and some of that tabletop stuff.  It seemed moderately interesting, especially to a girl with no plans.

She looked back to the dice, finding it harder to get the twins of what she held in her hand already.

[Emprexx Plush]

Garrett compared the text to his notes and quickly realized his mistake. "Ah yes, definitely wizard then. They're the ones that can specialize, correct? I've been looking at the spell list in the book, and I think I want to do that for Illusion, but I'm not really sure what specializing does. Also, it seems to indicate here that wizards can learn draconic innately? How does that work?"

He noted the girl buying dice glancing at them as she toyed with a dice back and forth between her fingers. Her movements were quick and impressive, clearly she had practiced this sort of thing. He struggled to remember exactly where he'd seen her before. Usually he was good with faces, but the vague memory kept digging at him without any context or meaning.

Another patron entered the store, breaking his concentration. Garrett recognized that he wasn't another regular. He seemed a bit unsure exactly what he was looking for. The staff eyed him carefully, always wary of newcomers unfamiliar with store etiquette. Still, how much trouble could he be?

He flipped back down to his notes. "I can select a familiar as a wizard, correct? I think I'd like a raven. They seem to be the only ones that can talk in the beginning, and having a communicable witness seems like it'd be handy. Is that a good idea, or am I completely off base?"

[dmboogie]

Michael nodded. "Wizards can totally specialize. Basically, what you do is choose one school of magic to get extra spells per day in, and two other schools to kick right the fuck outta town. Not welcome anywhere near you, no sir. Divination is one clingy son of a bitch, though. Ain't no getting rid of that jackass. On the plus side, if you specialize in it, then you only have to lose one other school. He paused a moment to collect his thoughts.

"If you wanna buddy up with dragons, you just need to substitute Draconic for one of your race's bonus languages. Not much else to it." His attention was caught once more by the girl by the dice, who appeared to be doing some sacred ritual to appease the almighty RNG. May she be blessed with many a natural 20. Some other kid had entered the store as well.

Michael resumed his ultimate knowledge beatdown. "Yup, Wizards ain't wizards without some small animal to boss around. Ravens are pretty badass, though they get pissed if you ask them to say 'Nevermore'. Man, that was an embarrassing death. Anyway. Small, flying scouts are nothing to casually diss, but don't be too entranced by their natural ability to speak. Any familiar can speak with you when you hit level five, and since your DM would have to be a real prick to start you off at level one it isn't that big of a deal." He paused, stretching his fingers. Phone keyboards were a bitch to type long blocks of text with.

"Remember, familiars give stat bonuses, too. Like, cats make you more sneaky, and who wouldn't want to have an adorable little ball of furry death as their servant?"

[ChainmailleAddict†]

((Sorry it took so long to post, everyone. Time kind of slipped.))


The moment Joseph entered the store, he felt almost awkward and unwelcome. Everyone else in the store appeared to be off doing their own things. He knew there had to be some sort of etiquette, but heck if he knew what it was. He assumed that people would understand that he was a "newbie", but then again, who knew? He had spent the last few weeks looking up things about Dungeons and Dragons, sure, but he was still about as new to the game as new could be.
    "Focus, Joseph. Really. It's a game. Just buy some dice to start, go to the counter, introduce yourself and leave. That's all you need to do.". Holding a conversation was never a hard thing to do for Joseph, but over the years of social loneliness, it was only natural that he would feel weird joining something new, especially a social group so tightly knit. Snapping himself back to reality, Joseph quickly moved over to one of the shelves, so as to feel less out in the open.
    It took a minute or so, but he soon found the dice section. Several other people were around the aisle, and it was a rather large one at that. Joseph never knew that there could be so many kinds of dice. He had heard of the d20, d12 and friends, but the sides on some of them would even make most Dungeons and Dragons players turn their heads in confusion. He saw a d3 dice, d5 dice, d7 dice, d14 dice, d30 dice, and finally, a d100 dice all packaged together. Such dice made Joseph wonder why they even existed. He saw dice of many colors, shapes and sizes. More dice than he thought possible. Last but not least, he saw what he was looking for: A basic Dungeons and Dragons Dice bag."The perfect way to start out", thought Joseph. "Perhaps I should buy the "weird dice" set too. That would create some interesting rolls, right?".
    Now that he decided which dice he was going to purchase, it would now only be a matter of finding a group of people. That, however, could wait for now.

[Outfoxd]

After she had made her purchase, nabbing the D3 and a couple 20 sided die with absolutely gorgeous red sheens, Leona found that curiosity had gotten the better of her.  With a small bag with the store's logo emblazoned across the front holding her purchases, Leona somewhat-casually-and-somewhat-clandestinely strode by the boy's table where they had been set up.  There were small racks of miniatures next to them, so she made like she was examining them.

She stole a glance over her shoulder at the pair's game, and saw the words "wizard" and "sorceror" somewhere on one of their papers.  

Her interest had been piqued.

[Emprexx Plush]

Divination. That seemed familiar. Garrett looked back through his notes and saw that it was the other school he'd been looking into. "Oh, Divination, I had a question about that as well. You can't give it up, which seems to imply that it's kind of essential, but you also only have to give up one other school to specialize in it, like you said. Is it weaker than the other schools, or just constructed differently?"

He paused to examine his notes as the girl from the dice bin walked by. The fact that he couldn't place her was really starting to eat at him, but there was no helping it. He could ask her, but how would he even begin that conversation? 'Hey, I've been watching you for a few minutes because I think I might have seen you somewhere before, but I have no idea where and no reason why it'd be important but my own curiosity?' That wouldn't be creepy at all, no sir.

The skills aspect was something he'd only vaguely considered. He could be on the wrong track with this familiar business, but he still felt strongly bent towards the raven. "Well, here's my thought process: All familiars can talk with their wizard and vice versa, correct? But it didn't look like any of the other familiars could talk to other people. So, if I were to observe something in a bar or an alley way away from whoever I was traveling with and I wanted to alert them discreetly, my only option with most familiars would be to have them wander away and Lassie the rest of the party to me. With the raven though, it could fly off and say something like 'Master thinks he's being followed by a man in a red scarf," or "Master saw the little girl we're looking for being dragged into a tent, he's there watching it now,' and there's no chance for miscommunication."

He shrugged and tapped out another message. "Perhaps I'm over-thinking it. I'd just feel like a silly commander going out without a reliable scout at my command. Plus, I think it'd be fun to have a sort of Iago-Jafar dynamic going with it that the rest of the party could see and play into if they wanted. I might just be crazy though, does that seem stupid?