A few thoughts on DnD and news about Extra-Life

Thursday, March 6th, 2014

Some of my best “Dungeons and Dragons” memories are from high school. A funny note about that, my friends and I used to code-name our sessions as “football practice.” Another side note, all of our other friends knew we were playing “Dungeons and Dragons.” For those who didn’t know, it made for quite a laugh. “Those guys are on the football team,” some would ask. I guess you had to be there in person.

We had some epic adventures. Although, there are times if we actually played the game right. What do I mean? Well, thinking back on some of the things we did, I’m not sure if the game allowed for them. We used a lot of logic and reasoning. In fact, we used a lot of the stuff we were learning at the time and applied them to our gaming. What kind of things? How about high school advanced physics.

I remember some of my friends coming up with some really crazy solutions for problems our DM would throw at us. The “Player’s Handbook” and “Dungeon Master’s Guide” were there for a reason. They were there to help players progress through their games and answers any questions that may come up. It was just nice to had additional sources, but I wonder if the game ever intended for use to actually use our text books. I’m certain we overrode some of the rules because some law prevented or allowed us to perform some wacky action. I can’t remember anything specifically off of the top of my head, but one thing I definitely remember was that we loved to use the Pythagorean Theorem. This was extremely useful when we had to figure out if we could use a ranged spell or weapon. In fact, I think we used it more defensively than offensively. There were plenty of times our DM tried to shoot us from the ground upwards at our faces. Many of those attempts failed because of our applied mathematics. It still frustrates him today.

In the end, it doesn’t matter too much if we broke a rule or two. The experience and stories are what really matter the most. For a future post, I plan on telling the story of one of my favorite moments from that campaign. It involved me dressing up as a woman and killing a high government official. He worked for a neighboring city we were trying to negotiate peace with. There was also this one time where I played a Psionic and brain locked this character my DM had spent some time making up. Long story short, all his hard work was for nothing as we made a joke of his big, bad boss.

Extra Life is a go!

In other news this week, I have officially signed up for the Extra-Life fundraiser I wrote about a couple of weeks ago.

I am really excited to take part in this, and I am hoping all of you will be as well. I am also excited to say that Battleground Games & Hobbies in Abington will be hosting the 24-hour event in October. I would really like to thank Derek for allowing this to happen. It’s still many months away, so, obviously, we have to work out the fine details, but I will let you all know when the time comes. So get ready for 24-hours of board games, card games, miniature gaming, and more!

Like I said before, the event is not just about the 24 hours of gaming, but the work leading up to the event. In case you missed it, the Extra-Life fundraiser helps benefit the Children’s Miracle Network hospitals. All proceeds that I help raise will go towards the Boston Children’s Hospital.

Now that I have started the groundwork, I need your help. I understand that we all have expensive hobbies. I mean, come on, I play “Magic: The Gathering.” I have firsthand experience with this stuff.

Unfortunately, there are kids who are sick in hospitals that don’t have the benefit of experiencing our “first world problems.”

So this week and the next, and maybe the next one after that, instead of buying a booster pack, a bottle of paint, or some new models, think of making this the week you donate to Extra-Life. You only need to do it once, then you can go back and splurge on more gaming supplies. Every dollar counts.

If you would like to donate today then click on the banner below. It will lead you to my Extra-Life page. Just click on the “Support Me” button and it will take you to a page where you can set up your donation. All major credit cards are accepted as well as PayPal. Also, Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. All donors will receive an IRS compliant tax receipt.

Something you’ll notice, if you visit the page, is that I’ve set a high goal. Why did I set such a high goal you ask? It’s because I believe in all of you. I believe that you all have what it takes to help me out and I’m hoping you prove to me that the goal I set is actually too low.

This next part is important. I know I’ve been talking a lot of game (no pun intended), but there is no pressure to make a monetary donation. In fact, the next best thing you can do is tell a friend or family member about what’s happening here. If they have a computer, then please point them in this direction. Maybe you could ask them to make a donation or, at the very least, tell their friends as well.

I want this thing to spread like a wild fire. Once we start getting the donations rolling, we can have some fun and I’ll come up with some perks for hitting goals and such.

If you or a family member want to donate, but do not want to go through the process online, I am able to take donations offline as well. I’ll have more information regarding that once I have it all set up.

That’s it for now. I promise not to make every post about the fundraiser. See you all next week.

About the author

Simeon is an avid gamer who loves to play board games and video games. He graduated college with a degree in Political Science, and now serves the public by writing about games. You can check that out here. Don’t forget to “like” him on Facebook as well. It’ll update you on all of his newest content. Best of all, you can follow Simeon on Twitter (@SimeonCortezano) for some real time hilarity. Thanks for reading!

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Tags: Dungeons and Dragons, extra life, Magic the Gathering, Simeon Cortezano
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