What We Talk About When We Talk About D&D

Juno and Jupiter would have Minerva over to play 2nd edition AD&D in the basement of their parents' house. They played all through high school. Jupiter was the DM, who hacked the system for "realism" and homebrewed his own fantasy kingdom. Juno played a Cleric and was mostly interested in growing her religion in the city. Minerva played a Fighter and was the driving force for adventure. She would drag Juno into dungeons and relish in the strategic use of space and violence. Juno would mostly hang back and play support, but she would step in during encounters that could be resolved by talking. Once, in a parley with one of the settings villians, she got concessions that would bring respite to many suffering folk of the realm. After returning to the city from a dungeon delve, Juno would use the party's considerable spoils to spread her religion. In the city, Minerva would mostly hang back until she discovered the fighting pits, but they never really held her interest. As Juno's following grew, they drew the attention of a rival cult who eventually sent assassins after them. In the campaign finale, the party raided the cult temple and defeated the arch-priest in a climactic battle. That was the summer that Juno and Jupiter left for college, going to opposite sides of the country. No one played D&D after the party split that year.

Many years later, they made plans to play again when they were all back in their hometown for the holidays. They would play at Minerva's place. She had never left town, and was now a welder and married with kids. Jupiter worked in sales and Juno worked in Silicon Valley. 5th edition D&D had been out for a while and Jupiter had been listening to actual plays, and had been crafting a new setting set in the original kingdom of their high school days, but hundreds of years in the future. He could never sleep in the hotel beds he stayed in while visiting customers across the Midwest region, and often stayed up late feverishly writing the new campaign. Unfortunately that year COVID-19 hit and they called the game off to avoid flying. Soon after that, Jupiter was promoted and relocated to the company HQ in England. The three had a group chat for years, filling it with Critical Role memes, but Jupiter eventually dropped off the map getting absorbed into his new career. Juno and Minerva stayed friends and sometimes visit on the holidays. They like to talk about the latest Soulsbourne game.