This week’s blog post is a little different! Co-Quest Master Stephen here, and I’m going to divulge my background in Tabletop Role Playing Games! The year was ~2005; I was ~10 years old. My dad offered up the idea to my older brother, younger sister, younger brother, and me to play a little game – Dungeons & Dragons. Aramil Amastacia, an elven sorcerer, was my first character. This was the first time I truly understood the magic of TTRPGs. Over the next ~10 years, playing D&D with my family and hearing stories of my dad and his friends when they played at a young age, I was just completely enamored with this game and the art of storytelling. Hearing these stories as if they were lived experiences gave me the yearning to “live” my own epic tales, and I got to do that with the people I lived with! Which is a rare thing to have today. I have fond memories of my littlest brother’s character wanting to hit everything we encountered with his mace, and my dad pulled no punches! At least it felt like he didn’t. Later, I realized we were playing D&D modules he grew up with, and I was just ecstatic that I would be “living” the same experiences my dad did.
After a decade of playing D&D with my family, I met my Co-Quest Master Charles Woody and he asked if I ever played D&D. With a scoff I said “chyeah I do!” And then I finally got to experience what playing D&D with my friends was like. We trudged through 4th edition and shortly after that, 5th edition came out and I took over the Dungeon Master title and ran through a couple of multi-year campaigns. Around that time (2014-2015) Actual Play D&D was on the rise and it was during that time that I truly respected what it meant to tell stories and share them with others. The Adventure Zone was a huge inspiration for me, because not only were the stories funny and epic, but it was three brothers and their dad playing! Critical Role taught me the importance of roleplaying and how that could facilitate a great narrative. They also displayed a master class in caring about the characters that they play. This modernization of tabletop role-playing games took the world by storm, and it was only fuel to my passion that flourished into what tabletop role-playing games I like today.
After roughly 19 years of Dungeons & Dragons, Woody came to me and introduced me to a YouTube channel called Quinns Quest. This channel was dedicated to spotlighting other tabletop role-playing games that are not D&D. The floodgates were blown wide open. There are so many ways to tell a story with good company around a table. D&D was the tip of the iceberg, and Quinns Quest was the Titanic. That is how we got the idea for We Took The Quest. We Took the Quest that Quinns shared and played most of the tabletop role-playing games he discusses. The journey, or quest, I have been on with Woody the last couple of years has been incredibly rewarding. Not only because of the different types of stories I now have of my own, but also because of the people I get to share them with. That is what it is all about.
The typical reason one may play tabletop role-playing games is to escape or play in fantastical worlds. Don’t get me wrong, that is a huge draw for me too – but the true magic of tabletop role-playing games does not come from the magic you can cast, but the fact that they create memories that feel real because they are emotionally charged, firsthand experiences that are processed like personal memories rather than narrative ones. When playing these games I am constantly thinking back on when my dad shared his stories and if this game or campaign will do that for me. Would I be able to recall events as my characters—surviving a battle or forging relationships—making the imagined, collaborative, and non-scripted stories feel more tangible than a pre-scripted tale?
I will leave you all with this tale from the table. It was the end of one of my two-year-long campaigns. My players were fighting the big-baddie and it came down to my dad’s character’s turn. I gave him two options: risk fighting the bad guy until they were defeated, or stop it all right now by sacrificing his character’s life. To my surprise, my dad went the epic heroic route and sacrificed his life in one last act of defiance. It rocked me to my core as I narrated what followed, and I got very emotional and teared up as the campaign came to a close. The feelings you could experience at the table are so real. The journeys you go on with the people you choose to be with are very real. Will you take the quest?
We Took The Quest 