My First Dragons, Dungeons & Drinks Game

Last week, I went to my first Dragons, Dungeons & Drinks game. Dragons, Dungeons & Drinks is an organization that runs monthly Dungeons & Dragons one-shots at various breweries in the area. There are some events at Brühaven, a brewery in Minneapolis. Some events are hosted at Bad Weather Brewing Company, a brewery in Saint Paul. Dragons, Dungeons & Drinks has even expanded to Duluth, which is two hours north of the Twin Cities. I have been on their Discord for some time and was able to go to their November one-shot titled “Rise of the Queen”. Without knowing what to expect, I had such a fun time.

I loved how organized everything was. I arrived at Bad Weather around twenty minutes early. There was a small registration area where you checked in and were offered a name tag. After I checked in, I saw that on the desk were a ton of free dice for those who didn’t have any. I didn’t take any because I brought my own, but I liked how Dragons, Dungeons & Drinks had that available. Once I put on my name tag, I was shown to my table. Our table was supposed to have five players, but only four showed up. I have no problem playing with people I don’t know, and this table was a hoot. For not knowing each other, I felt we all got along well. There wasn’t anyone interrupting or overstepping, and we all worked together to complete the mission. It’s nice to know more people who love TTRPGs as much as I do.

As far as the characters, there were several pre-made characters to choose from. I have no preference as to what I play, so I chose last based on what everyone else wanted to play. I picked Urla, the Witch of the Circle of the Stars. She was the Elf Druid. I like how each character has their own character art. Each character has their history, so you can understand a little about them. As someone who invests a lot into the roleplay element of the game, I liked this a lot. Urla is not very charismatic, so I chose to play that out throughout the session. Each character sheet is laminated, and each DM has a whiteboard erasable marker. I found myself using it to cross off any Wild Shape or spells that I cast.

The one-shot took about four hours. Our table was one of the last to finish as our combat went long. I say that it went long, but it definitely didn’t feel that way. I was engaged from start to finish. Normally, I’m the note taker in most of my groups, so it was nice to be able to put my journal away and pay attention to what everyone else was doing. Each Dragons, Dungeons, and Drinks one-shot is said to be standalone, meaning you don’t have to play the other adventures to follow along with this one. I would say that’s true. I didn’t feel lost or that I was missing anything by not playing in the other games.

This is a ticketed event, meaning there is a cost to play. There are several cost tiers. There’s the early-bird ticket, meaning you save five dollars if you buy ahead of time. This is $30. The standard ticket is $35. There’s the Hero-Tier, which grants admission while also donating to the Dragons, Dungeons, and Drinks community initiatives. This is $40. Finally, there’s another option called the Player Ticket Reduced Rate. This is for those who may need an extra hand. I purchased at the Hero-Tier because I like the idea of pitching in for someone else or for pitching into the organization. There’s also an option to donate to the dice goblin collection, which is how Dragons, Dungeons, and Drinks can offer free dice at each one-shot. I like the flexibility in tickets, and if I’m able to, I plan to purchase a Hero-Tier ticket every time.

If you want to find out more about Dragons, Dungeons, and Drinks as an organization, I wrote this article for Twin Cities Geek recently about how the organization came to be. I am glad that I was able to go to a game, and I hope to make it to many more in the future.

Creating a Book Series Tracker

I got this idea from Riley Marie, a YouTube book channel that I follow. She created a Book Series Tracker where she tracks which series she’s currently reading and how many books she has left. I thought this was such a great idea! I have been trying to finish more book series as I tend to read many first books in a series and then never read the rest. I recently reviewed all 805 books I have logged as read on Goodreads. My tracker is nothing fancy; I’m using a Google Sheet and created three different sheets: Series I’m Working Through, Series I’m Not Finishing, and Fully Completed Book Series.

Image is a screenshot from a Google Sheet. There are two lists. On the left it says "Name of Book Series" on the right it says "Read? Y/N" 

It then lists each series, books in that series and Y or N if I read that book.

I’m trying to read and finish eight book series. This may feel like a lot; however, two books I plan on reading by the end of the year will finish that series. This will leave me with six book series going into 2026. I think that’s doable. The second sheet I created, Series I’m Not Finishing, is exactly what it sounds like. I read the first book in a series, and either I felt that book could have been a standalone, I couldn’t get into reading the second book, or the first book didn’t generate enough interest for me to read the others. I created this sheet to be organized and remind myself why I discontinued that series. It’s not that these were books I didn’t like, not at all! I enjoyed reading these books, but I’m not feeling a pull to go back and continue with the rest of the series. The last sheet I created is Fully Completed Book Series. This sheet is again exactly what it sounds like. I went through all my books and listed which series I had read all the books in. In total, I have finished fourteen different book series. I thought this number would be lower, so I was surprised when this number was above ten. I don’t have a set goal for this, but I’d like to see more series added to this list.

Image is a screenshot from a Google Sheet. It features two lists. On the left, it says "Name of Book Series" on the right it says "Thoughts / Comments".

This was a little time-consuming to put together, but I’m so happy that I took the time. This is going to help keep me organized with my reading goals. If I’m really feeling ambitious, I’d like to extend this to the graphic novels that I’m reading, as I want to finish more comic series, too.

Vampire: the Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 First Impressions

I decided to buy Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2. I was on the fence about the game, but once they rolled back the paywall for clans, I wanted to buy it to form my own opinions. While watching gameplay online, the game didn’t seem bad. The biggest catch about buying a game on release is whether it’s going to be buggy. I have played a few hours so far, and I haven’t had any issues with the game freezing or being glitchy. I haven’t finished the story yet, but once I do, I will write a full review. I wanted to share a few first impressions of the game.

I mentioned the atmosphere of the game, but I am enjoying Seattle as the setting. As I walk around with Phyre, it feels like this is what Seattle would be like if it were the backdrop of a World of Darkness game. Speaking of Phyre, she has grown on me as a character. When it was first announced that the main character’s name was Phyre, I thought it was a little ridiculous. I actually prefer Phyre’s Elder name of “The Nomad”. In between playing as Phyre, another character in this story is Fabien, the vampire who talks to Phyre in her head. Fabien was embraced in the 1920s and was investigating a serial killer. I’m curious to see how the story is going to play out and how Phyre and Fabien’s story relates to each other.

One portion of the game that I feel has a learning curve is combat. In my first playthrough, I decided to play as a Ventrue. Ventrue isn’t necessarily known as being a combative clan, but since I’m playing a Ventrue in my Vampire game every other Friday, it felt fitting to play as a Ventrue in Bloodlines 2. When I first started playing, I was dying a lot. As an elder vampire, I felt I could handle a few Anarch ghouls. I couldn’t have been more wrong. One thing that has helped me with combat is dodging attacks. This sounds silly because this should be obvious, but I wasn’t doing that as much. On a successful dodge, Phyre will do a counterattack with a kick. Another thing that helped me is to approach combat encounters as stealthily as possible. There was one mission where Phyre had to rescue some kidnapped ghouls. Once I took them out silently, I took on the bigger ghoul alone, and that made combat a lot easier. For reference, I’m playing on Normal difficulty. The final thing I would add that helped me in combat was using vampiric abilities. One of my favorites as a Ventrue is Terminal Decree. Terminal Decree allows you to command a mortal to kill themselves. Although if you use this on bigger enemies that carry machine guns, they get confused and drop their weapons and forget to pick them up again. This was clutch. I read this tip online, and it worked like a charm. Combat can be difficult, but once I have learned what works, it’s been easier to play through the story.

There are other minor things that I haven’t been loving about the game, but I think I will save that for my review. When I think about my thoughts on the game thus far, I feel Bloodlines 2 was worth the money. The disappointment comes in for me is that this game could have been so much more than what we got. This is something I will touch on more in a later post.

How To Seal Your Own Fate by Kristen Perrin

Image is a book cover for the book, How To Seal Your Own Fate by Kristen Perrin. It shows a black shape of a woman walking. Behind her is a green house. On top of the green house is a crow. On the S of Seal, there's a black crow holding what appears to be a knife.

I read How To Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin last year, and I loved it. It was a cozy mystery that had me hooked from start to finish. It reminded me a lot of Knives Out because of the setting and the big mansion where Frances lives. After I finished How To Solve Your Own Murder, I was made aware that it was going to be a series rather than a standalone book. How To Seal Your Own Fate is the second book in the series, and the third book is set to come out next year. While I think I liked How To Solve Your Own Murder better, How To Seal Your Own Fate still kept my interest from start to finish.

From the previous book, Annie inherited France’s estate and is getting used to life in Castle Knoll. As she gets settled, she meets Peony Lane, the fortune teller who gave Frances her fortune, indicating that she would be murdered. Peony is mysterious, and Annie is left confused by their encounter. Hours later, Annie discovers Peony’s dead body on the estate. Annie is seen as the prime suspect and has to clear her name. In 1967, Frances is investigating a car accident that killed members of the Gravesdown family. Frances ends up meeting both Peony Lane and Birdy, Emily’s older sister. Annie starts to see the relation between France’s investigation and Peony Lane’s murder.

I like Annie as the main character. She’s smart and seems to think outside the box when she’s putting everything together. I find that she seems several steps ahead, and I have to re-read some of these moments since she’s able to put things together quickly. In this book, Annie invites one of her friends to come and see her, so she gets pulled into a web of all the residents at Castle Knoll. Annie also has a flirtation going on with one of the local detectives. I like how this is a slow-burning romance versus them getting together right away. I wouldn’t be opposed if Annie dates someone else because while they have chemistry together, it’s not apparent that they like each other. One of the joys of reading this series is reading about Annie’s day-to-day life in this small village.

I’m curious to see where this series goes. It feels like there isn’t much more story to tell in future books since the people in the town are winding up dead or being implicated in crimes. I was a little surprised that Frances was front and center in this book since I had considered her story finished in the previous book. I think it would be interesting for Annie to find a journal from another one of the town residents and hear from their perspective.

How To Seal Your Own Fate was still a solid book in the series. I rated How To Seal Your Own Fate five stars on Goodreads.

Twin Cities Con 2025

Last weekend I was at Twin Cities Con! I have been to Twin Cities Con several times, and it’s one convention I always try to make every year. As per usual, I was volunteering at the Twin Cities Geek table, which I look forward to. One thing I have always found interesting is that when I talk to people who stop by our booth, they mention that Twin Cities Con is their first convention. I love that. I’m happy to see Twin Cities Con bringing more people to attend conventions.

Image is a banner for Twin Cities Con. It's gold and it shows the Minneapolis skyline in the background. In big white font it says "Twin Cities Con"

At our booth this year, we were handing out Chainsaw Man hats. Since Twin Cities Geek is an online magazine, we get sent promotional items to hand out, which we usually reserve for conventions. These Chainsaw Man hats were rad. I don’t usually have a ton of interest in the promotional things we hand out, but these were an exception. I’m not sure the exact number of hats we handed out, but when I was walking around the convention, I saw people wearing them. Someone had stopped by and put a Chainsaw Man hat on their baby, which was really cute. It’s always fun to offer free stuff.

As far as cosplay, I cosplayed both Friday and Saturday. On Friday, I cosplayed as The Punisher. Several years ago, I bought this Punisher bodysuit from Amazon. I only wore it once to C2E2 years ago. As I was contemplating what I wanted to cosplay, I found this at the bottom of my cosplay dresser, and forgot I had it. This bodysuit is really comfy! There’s enough room that I could wear leggings underneath if it were cold out. The bodysuit comes with white gloves and a white belt with velcro pockets. On Saturday, I cosplayed as an NPC (non-playable character) from our D&D campaign. I don’t have permission to share her character art since I don’t own the image. She has red hair, is wearing a black bralette, tight black leggings, and a dark, navy blue cardigan. She’s a Bard, so she also has a Violin. I wore the same wig that I wore for Scarlet Witch, and instead of wearing a black bralette, I wore a black, cropped athletic top. I found a navy blue cardigan online that’s not an exact match, but I think it’s a close resemblance. I didn’t take any photos on Saturday, so I don’t have anything I can share, but I was happy with how it came together.

The final thing I wanted to mention was the changes from this year’s Twin Cities Con and last year’s Twin Cities Con. I wrote about this last year, but the security line wasn’t set up the best. This year, the security line was set up differently. Once you walked through security, you had access to pretty much everything. The exhibit hall, panel rooms, and the gaming room where Badwolf Adventure Studios was set up. The only thing outside of this area was the main panel room. I was reading posts online, and everything was really positive. People said that everything ran smoothly. I’m glad that Twin Cities Con made these changes, and the changes made a difference.

It was another successful Twin Cities Con, that’s for sure. I can’t wait for next year.

Batch Crafting in Animal Crossing – New Update

I was pleasantly surprised to learn that there would be a new update to Animal Crossing! On top of that, this update isn’t exclusive to the Switch 2, so those who haven’t upgraded yet will still be included. While the update includes better graphics, I’m personally excited for the batch crafting feature. Normally, in Animal Crossing, you can only craft one thing at a time, but this update will allow gamers to craft multiple tools or items at once.

I don’t have anything else to say except that I’m excited! The update is set to release in January of next year.

Mysteries & Renaissance Festival – November TBR

As of writing this post, I have nine books on my Goodreads TBR (to-be-read) shelf. Since I started using Goodreads in 2014, I have never had this few books. I have shared this before, but my goal is to finish my TBR, and then restructure my reading differently going forward. I don’t want to add hundreds of books and have it take four years to finish them all. In August through October, I had a huge list of books I wanted to read. I’ll share how I did and then share what books I plan on reading this month.

My original list of books that I wanted to read in August through October was:

  • Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff
  • Haunted Ever After by Jen DeLuca
  • The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden
  • The Honey Witch by Sydney J. Shields
  • One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig
  • The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst
  • The Crescent Moon Tearoom by Stacy Sivinski

The only book from this list that I read was Haunted Ever After by Jen DeLuca. Lovecraft Country, The Warm Hands of Ghosts, The Spellshop, and The Crescent Moon Tearoom were all books I DNFed —meaning I started reading but didn’t finish. I don’t have anything negative to say about these books; I simply couldn’t get into them.

Here’s what I ended up reading:

  • The Amalfi Curse by Sarah Penner
  • Haunted Ever After by Jen DeLuca
  • The World of Critical Role by Liz Marsham
  • The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley
  • Not in Love by Ali Hazelwood
  • Tusk Love by Thea Guanzon
  • Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
  • Every Last Fear by Alex Finlay
  • Dating and Dragons by Kristy Boyce
  • People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
  • Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez
  • The Only One Left by Riley Sager

While I completely flip-flopped on the books I’d read, I ended up reading way more than I originally anticipated. Out of this list, I liked The Amalfi Curse, Haunted Ever After, Fourth Wing, and Yours Truly. Those were my standouts from what I read. My favorite audiobook I listened to was The Only One Left. It had been a hot minute since I last read a Riley Sager book. The Only One Left was interesting to listen to as an audiobook. I think I might start listening exclusively to Riley Sager’s books. The book I rated the lowest from this list was The Midnight Feast. It pains me to rate a Lucy Foley book one star, but this book was not it. It felt like I was reading a book that was written by someone else. I’m really hoping that book is a one-off.

With all that said, here are the two books that I’m planning on reading this month.

Image is a stack of two books on top of each other. The first book (on the top) is Well Traveled by Jen DeLuca. The book on the bottom is How To Seal Your Own Fate by Kristen Perrin

How To Seal Your Own Fate by Kristen Perrin

Annie Adams is getting adjusted to her new life in Castle Knoll. Since she solved her Great Aunt Francis’s murder, everything of hers was left to Annie. Annie meets Peony Lane, the same fortune teller who predicted Francis’s murder several years earlier. After receiving advice from Peony, Annie investigates only to discover that Peony was murdered shortly after meeting with Annie. Annie is thrust into another murder investigation with even more secrets being revealed about the town Annie lives in.

I read the first book in this series and loved it! I compared it to the movie Knives Out. I started it and so far I’m enjoying it.

Well Traveled by Jen DeLuca

Lulu Malone is invited by her cousin, Mitch, to come to the Renaissance Festival that he works at. From there, Lulu meets Dex MacLean, a guitarist for the performing act, The Dueling Kilts. Lulu travels with Dex as they perform at various shows. Dex is a flirt, but Lulu doesn’t seem to entertain him. Lulu is forced to think about what she wants out of life and if she is truly happy.

I had this book on my TBR for a long time. This book, I’m predicting, will be my least favorite of the series because Dex was always described as a flirt, so I’m curious if I will actually buy into this romance or not.

I am excited to get back to TBRs every month.

Is Xbox still Relevant?

I was having a conversation with my husband last week, and he mentioned how several retailers are pulling Xbox from their stores. This was news to me, and when I asked him why, he said it was because Xboxs aren’t selling like they used to. After a brief search, Microsoft denied that retailers were pulling Xbox consoles from shelves, but Costco apparently has. I may be out of touch with console gaming in general, but I find it shocking that Xbox isn’t selling well. Will Xbox remain competitive as a console? Or will Xbox become a thing of the past?

Xbox will always have a special place in my heart as my first console was the Xbox 360. I received it as a Christmas present in 2007, and I wouldn’t be the gamer that I am today without Halo 3, Gears of War, and Bioshock. Back in the day, Xbox had exclusive games, meaning games that could only be played on the Xbox. Halo is the most obvious, and I believe Bioshock was an Xbox exclusive at first. Exclusive games help sell consoles. There’s a reason why PlayStation has sold consoles since they have Uncharted, Marvel’s Spider-Man, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, and Last of Us. Last of Us technically isn’t a PlayStation exclusive, since it can be played on PC, but it can’t be played on Xbox, so I consider it an exclusive game in that way. If there aren’t any games that are specifically tied to Xbox, why would gamers buy an Xbox when they can play that game on PlayStation, amongst the other exclusive games?

The other thing Xbox had going for it was Xbox Game Pass. Xbox Game Pass is a subscription that allows gamers to download games from the game library. I used Xbox Game Pass quite a bit myself. Xbox Game Pass recently increased the price from $19.99 to $29.99 a month. You might say to yourself, It’s only a $10 price increase, who cares? However, it’s a 50% price increase, which feels like a lot even if the dollar amount isn’t. Gamers were cancelling their subscriptions as a result. Listen, I’m more than happy to pay for subscriptions or services that I feel are worth the money. If something undergoes a price increase without anything to justify it, consumers have every right to cancel. I believe PlayStation might have its own version of Game Pass, but I have never used it, so I can’t speak to it. As someone who has barely played Xbox, I will be cancelling my Game Pass subscription, but not because of the price increase.

I’m wondering what will happen from here? Will Xbox cease to exist? Or come back with new rebranding? It would be the end of an era, that’s for sure.

Aramán – Critical Role’s Fourth Campaign

In between watching Bells Hells, I have also been watching Aramán, Critical Role’s fourth campaign. The campaign recently completed the Overture, comprising four episodes designed to introduce the characters and establish three individual tables: Soldiers, Schemers, and Seekers. Everyone was waiting anxiously to see how this campaign would be. There’s a lot of change, with a new DM and a new world. I’m happy to say that this campaign has been interesting to watch. I wanted to share what I’m really enjoying about this new campaign.

There may be spoilers for Campaign #4 below. I will try to keep spoilers to a minimum.

The Campaign Feels Fresh

I like how this campaign takes place in a new world. I loved Exandria, but it’s nice to have a break. As I listen to Bells Hells, it hasn’t gripped me as much as other Critical Role campaigns and one-shots have. When I compare Bells Hells to Aramán, it feels different. I’m genuinely looking forward to Aramán each week. With Bells Hells, I can go days without watching an episode because I know the episodes will be waiting for me; however, I also don’t feel compelled to do so. With Aramán, I don’t want to be spoiled, so I watch the episode the next day, which has worked for me.

Matt as a Player

Matt is popping off, especially in the fourth episode. There’s a combat sequence, and Matt completely tanks. It’s nice to see him as a player and also being knowledgeable about what his character does. He understands the mechanics, and it makes him a powerful ally for the players to have at the table. Matt has played as a player character in Exandria Unlimited, but I felt his character was a dud. Dariax was around, but he didn’t have a personality. Sir Julien Davinos is making waves. Matt has taken to being more combatative with the other players as Julien and I’m here for the drama.

All the Characters are Intriguing in their Own Way

There isn’t a character that I have been introduced to that I haven’t liked. With there being thirteen characters to follow, it seems obvious that someone would show up that I forget about. That hasn’t been the case. With Taliesin, his characters are a hit or a miss for me. Bolaire has been a hit for me. I think it’s a nice blend between the characters that Taliesin wants to play and setting Bolaire up for success in this world. The cursed mask is fascinating and as someone who had cursed masks pop up in the campaigns I play in, they can have major consequences to a story. Other favorites have been Occtis (played by Alexander Ward), Julien, Tyranny (played by Whitney Moore), and Wicander (played by Sam Riegel).

The New Cast

I mentioned earlier about how this campaign feels fresh and I think the new cast is one of the reasons why. I watched Private Nightmares with Alex, Aabria, and Luis and if you haven’t watched it yet, you need to. I knew these three would be great. Robbie Daymond is back and I think he brings this excitement to Critical Role that is fun to watch. Whitney Moore, I had no idea who she was before she was a cast member. I knew she narrated a few of their panels at comic book conventions, but that’s about it. I mentioned Tyranny already, but I think her chemistry with Sam has been great. Their stories are linked together and I’m curious to see how that develops in later episodes.

Aramán has been a blast to watch. I am curious to see how things develop in later episodes. If you have any theories or thoughts, I’d love to hear them.

Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez

Image is a book cover for Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez. On the letters, there's a dog sitting on the R in Yours. There's a woman sitting on the T in Truly and a man sitting in an office chair underneath the Y in Truly.

CW: Miscarriage – I will discuss a little bit of this, but not in graphic detail. In the book, this is detailed in the last thirty pages or so.

This year, I have read a lot of books that were simply okay. They weren’t bad, they weren’t great, they were okay. That is, until I read Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez. I’m biased when it comes to Abby Jimenez. She lives in Minnesota and owns a local bakery here, so I feel a personal connection to her and her books. I read Part of Your World last year, and I loved it. I bought Yours Truly soon after I read Part of Your World. Yours Truly was amazing and honestly what all five-star romance books should be like.

Dr. Briana Ortiz is going through a lot; her divorce is being finalized, her brother is battling renal failure, and waiting for a donor. When Dr. Jacob Maddox started at her hospital, their first run-in together did not go well. Briana immediately writes Jacob off. Jacob, feeling bad about it, writes her a letter. From their letters, Briana realizes that she immediately misjudged Jacob. Now, Jacob asks Briana for her help, pretending to be his girlfriend, so he can have a date for his ex-girlfriend’s wedding to his brother. Briana and Jacob put on a good show, except when it starts to feel real.

I loved Briana as a character. We get a glimpse of Briana in Part of Your World, but this book feels like her story. She’s been through a lot, and I love the level of petty she stoops to when she finds out her husband cheated on her with her best friend. She doesn’t put up with a lot, and she’s well respected amongst her peers. Jacob feels real. His social anxiety is something he struggles with, and some of the people in his life refused to work with him, which is really sad to me. I love how he writes Briana a letter, as it’s a way he can say what he wants to say without feeling overwhelmed. The letters take on a life of their own, and the exchange between Briana and Jacob through the letters was a highlight of the book.

I like how this book prioritizes Briana and Jacob’s relationship as they fall in love with each other. Having dual perspectives helped show both Briana and Jacob’s insecurities and how they felt about each other. It made the story feel more real to me. The other thing I’d add, Briana and Jacob don’t start hooking up until the last sixty pages, so the rest of the book is focused on them slowly falling in love with each other. If you’re someone who doesn’t like a lot of smut or detailed descriptions of sex in the romance you’re reading, I’d recommend this book.

The last thing I wanted to touch on was miscarriage. I won’t go into detail, but I was crying throughout the end of this book when this is revealed. The book ends happily, so I want to make that clear right away, but if miscarriage is something you want to avoid, feel free to skip the last few pages of the book. Leave it to Abby Jimenez to leave me crying over a book she writes.

Yours Truly is one of those books that will stay with me for a while. It’s a book I would re-read if I needed a reliable book to get me out of a reading slump. I rated Yours Truly five stars on Goodreads.