A Campaign like No Other
By: Hoochie Coochie
Characters (C) Arania


It was a quiet evening. A Thursday, to be precise. Outside, beetles ran blindly into lights and continued on their mindless paths. The streetlamps glowed a stale yellow that soaked the occasional passerby’s. But the focus here is on the Duvert home. Samantha and Alex were having a girl’s night out of sorts leaving the two males of the household sitting around the kitchen table. The air was very sticky and hot, but the ceiling fan was keeping them cool enough. However, the cool breeze did nothing to stop the muggy atmosphere from making both of their hair frizz in ways it wasn’t meant to.

Eric in particular already had the appearance of questionable hygiene with the pubescent grease layer that covered his skin and brown hair so curly that it almost looked unkempt and mop-esque. The humidity wasn’t helping with his situation. Not that he noticed, though. He was in the middle of something important. Eric whisked through his copy of the Dungeons and Dragons Players Handbook. He was scanning the classes indecisively. He wanted to try spell casting, but he assumed his father wanted that role, so, to avoid party turmoil, he just stared at the description for sorcerer with a sigh. Eric glanced up towards the other side of the table to see how that father of his was progressing.

Sabin’s character sheet was basically filled out after he wrote “Lawful Good” in the alignment space. He was tapping his pencil on the table like a drum looking back and forth between the sheet and some notes he was taking, occasionally writing things down. There was a look of concentration and gleeful excitement in his eyes. Sabin quickly gave his pencil a break, tied his hair back with his daughter’s unattended scrunchie, and continued his notes undisturbed by hair. Upon closer observation, Eric sensed there was something amiss. He rolled a real life spot check and noticed a mysterious absence of a spell sheet.

“Dad, shouldn’t you list your spells out before you write your back-story?” Eric asked curiously.

Sabin rose up from his notes with a perplexed look. After a few seconds, he gave a small smile and replied, “I don’t need a spell sheet for this character. He is a paladin.”

“I thought you hated being a paladin.”

“I don’t. I’d rather not be one, but this time…I wanted to do something different. And I thought of a good story for him. I’m really happy with it.”

“Cool. What’s his name?”

Sabin closed his eyes thoughtfully, “…Ambrose Maurlias.”

“I like that name.”

Sabin’s eyes gained a happy glow, “Oh, you’ll like him,” he began to shift into story telling mode. He used hand gestures and his voice sounded more excited with each word. “You see, Ambrose comes from a very rich family. However, he is the younger of two sons, so he feels he has to prove himself and-”

Eric interrupted, “I think I’ll like him too, dad, but uh…I kind of haven’t started my character yet…”

Sabin froze for a moment. Realizing what he was doing, he said “That’s ok. Ambrose can wait. I don’t have the kinks in the story worked out yet, anyway.”

“Um...Dad?”

“Yes, Eric?”

“Since you’re not doing it…can I be the sorcerer this time?”

Sabin smiled, “Of course. Here, I’ll help you with your spell sheet.”

Sabin joined his son on his side of the table. He casually patted Eric on the head and drummed his pencil while preparing him for the campaign ahead.