The toughest part of playing Dungeons & Dragons is finding the time. I have joined several D&D campaigns that fizzled out. I joined some campaigns where I didn’t connect with the players, and another campaign that fell apart because we couldn’t find a time that worked for everyone. Professional D&D is on the rise, where you can pay a Dungeon Master to coordinate your gaming group. In Minneapolis, Badwolf Adventure Studios is a professional D&D studio that will run games for you.

I found out about Badwolf through a Facebook ad. I figured I’d contact the studio and find out what this all involves. I was contacted right away and put into a group that met every other Thursday. This was perfect for me because it didn’t feel like a full-time commitment. There was a session zero where I worked with someone to develop my character. I didn’t feel uncomfortable asking questions, and while I have been roleplaying for a while, 5e D&D rules still confuse me, so I wanted to be in an environment for beginners. Badwolf is a great place to learn how to play, whether you’re a beginner or have been roleplaying for years.

Since this is professional DMing, there is a cost. Each session costs $25. For some, this may seem expensive; however, I find that it’s worth it. When players invest in their session, everyone is more than likely to show up. The most frustrating part of D&D is when players don’t show up for their sessions. Since everyone is committing financially, this has removed this frustration from gameplay.

In my limited experience with Badwolf, I can’t recommend them enough. Everyone was kind and friendly to beginners. It’s clear our DM knows a lot about the game and doesn’t have to constantly look up the rules. Once my group is finished playing through Curse of Strahd, I immediately want to dive into another campaign. If your area doesn’t have professional DMing, it might be worthwhile to talk to a friend and pay them for their time. Professional D&D is a game-changer for roleplaying, and I’m happy to have found a long-term D&D campaign.

2022 so far has been a strong gaming year. I have set gaming goals for myself to achieve this year as I want to tackle my video game backlog. Additionally, there are a few games I’d like to re-play, such as Life is Strange, as there have been two new games released that I haven’t played yet. I wanted to share my latest gaming update, starting off 2022.

Consoles

I have been mainly playing Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy on my PS4. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but this game has been a blast to play. Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy is made by SQUARE ENIX, who produced Marvel’s Avengers, which was mediocre. I only bought Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy because the game was highly rated. This would be the perfect game to play next year before the next Guardians of the Galaxy film is released.

I have also gotten back into Animal Crossing: New Horizons. I played for two months straight last year, and then I took a hiatus. Animal Crossing can get repetitive, especially because I still owe 400,000 bells on my house. I ended up missing the game, so I have been playing regularly throughout January. I named my island MaplePeaks as I love fall. I want to make a spooky/autumn-themed island. I still have a lot of work to do to make my island what I want.

PC

I have been playing through Nancy Drew: Warnings at Waverly Academy. Whenever I play a Nancy Drew PC game, I like to play it in one sitting. I haven’t had a chance to finish the game, but I hope to in the next week. Besides Nancy Drew, I did try playing Parkasaurus, which is a simulation game in which the player builds a zoo with Dinosaurs. Unfortunately, the game lagged on my PC, so I ended up uninstalling it from my laptop. If I upgrade to a gaming computer, I may give this game another shot.

Board Games

With the current spikes of COVID-19, I haven’t been out with friends playing board games. I hope to have a board game night soon. This is the one section of my gaming updates that I haven’t been able to share anything new, which makes me sad. I love board games as it’s a huge part of my gaming identity.

Roleplaying

I shared in my last gaming update, but I’m in an ongoing D&D campaign. My group is playing through Curse of Strahd, which is a campaign centered on a cursed prince who is a vampire. My character is named Levenia Monterro and she’s a half-elf Blood Hunter. She is a blood mage, meaning she uses her own blood to cast spells. I love playing with her. I selected Eldritch Blast as a cantrip, and I have been wreaking havoc in battle. I haven’t been in an ongoing D&D campaign since 2019.

I want to get back into Adventurer’s League as well with my other character, Zehiri, a level #3 Tiefling Paladin.

Miscellaneous

My husband, for Christmas, bought me a handheld Dig Dug electronic game. Dig Dug is my favorite arcade game, and I played it a lot when I was a kid. I tend to play Dig Dug a few nights a week before I go to bed.

I love sharing these gaming updates. Gaming has been one hobby that I have found decreased over the past few years, and I feel that sharing these updates has helped get me back into gaming regularly.

I started playing through the Nancy Drew games by Her Interactive during the height of the pandemic in 2020. My husband gets a kick out of watching me play because either there’s a jump scare or I’m stuck on a puzzle for a long time. While playing through Nancy Drew: Secret of the Old Clock, my husband peered over my shoulder and started offering suggestions for a word puzzle. He and I sat there for a bit until finally, we were able to solve it together. He asked me why I liked these types of games, and that’s exactly it. The Nancy Drew games are some of the most challenging PC games I have played, yet once I finish a game, I feel a sense of accomplishment. Nancy Drew: Secret of the Old Clock wasn’t my favorite Nancy Drew outing; however, this is the perfect game for beginners to the Nancy Drew PC games.

Nancy Drew is summoned to Lilac Inn by a mutual friend named Emily Crandall. Emily alerts Nancy to strange happenings at Lilac Inn and the fear of running the inn by herself. Emily’s mother passed away, and Emily was banking on receiving money from Emily’s mom’s friend, Josiah Crowley. However, in Josiah’s will, he leaves his money to Richard Topham instead. Nancy decides to investigate not only the occurrences at Lilac Inn but also the whereabouts of Josiah’s real will, if there is one.

The mystery in Nancy Drew: Secret of the Old Clock was okay. There were only two suspects who could be responsible, so it left little to the imagination of who could be causing all of this. Although the reveal wasn’t all that, I did like the finale. In each Nancy Drew game, there’s what I call a finale, where Nancy has to chase after the suspect in some way. In this game, Nancy has to hop in her car and chase the suspect to ensure they don’t escape. I can’t help but enjoy a little car chase every now and then.

One of the best things about playing Nancy Drew: Secret of the Old Clock is the mini-games. There’s a Shakespeare-themed mini-game requiring Nancy to slide various wooden blocks into their proper place. I found this mini-game to be fun. Another mini-game was found in an old clock where Nancy has to slide a bird through the clock, along with pushing blocks out of the way. It was basically a version of Rush Hour except with a bird and various obstacles. Finally, the last mini-game was a miniature golf course where Nancy had to hit par on each hole. This mini-game took me a bit because the last few courses were difficult. I think I played through this mini-game at least seven times before finally hitting par.

Another important aspect of the Nancy Drew games is the setting. In this outing, most of the in-game story takes place at Lilac Inn; however, Nancy often needs to drive around town to progress through the game. Another Nancy Drew game similar to this was Nancy Drew: Alibi in Ashes, which took place in Nancy’s hometown of River Heights. I liked this aspect of the game because it shakes up the story, and it shows how each location in the town serves a purpose to Nancy at some point in the game.

Out of all the Nancy Drew games I played, I would recommend Nancy Drew: Secret of the Old Clock as a great game to start with. It’s one of the less convoluted games in the franchise. Some of the Nancy Drew games have mazes, which I don’t like as much because I always get lost. Nancy Drew: Secret of the Old Clock features none of that, and it’s a straightforward game.

I’m all for a Steam sale! Steam had a Holiday sale from December 22nd through January 5th. This worked out perfectly for me because I’m planning my year, which includes determining what games I’m going to play in 2022. In addition to purchasing new games, I organized my Steam wishlist to ensure it was filled with games I wanted to play. Here’s what I purchased during the sale.

An Abundance of Nancy Drew Games

I purchased so many Nancy Drew PC games to play. The first one I played and finished this year was Nancy Drew: Secret of the Old Clock. I’m writing my review for this game, which should be posted sometime next week. I also purchased Nancy Drew: The Final Scene, Nancy Drew: Last Train to Blue Moon, Nancy Drew: Treasure in the Royal Tower, and Nancy Drew: Warnings at Waverly Academy.

Blacksad

Blacksad is a video game adaptation of a best-selling comic series. Blacksad follows John Blacksad, a private detective who gets involved in some nefarious investigations. I have high hopes for this game as it seems like something I would like.

Calico

Calico is a simulation game where the player helps rebuild the town’s cat cafe. How cute does this game look?? As a cat lady, I was immediately intrigued.

Coffee Talk

Coffee Talk follows a barista who works at a coffee shop in a fantasy world where this shop is frequented by elves, orcs, and other fantasy creatures. This seems like a D&D-inspired coffee shop video game, and I’m here for it.

Pumpkin Jack

This was a game that I saw and purchased because I thought it was a cool concept. If you have followed BizarreBrunette for a while, you would know that I’m a big fan of anything spooky and Halloween. I’m excited to play this!

Vampire: The Masquerade – Coteries of New York

The final game I purchased was Vampire: The Masquerade – Coteries of New York. Last year, I played Vampire: The Masquerade Shadows of New York, and I liked it a lot. Coteries of New York was released before Shadows of New York, so I’m not sure if this serves as more of a prequel. Regardless, I’m looking forward to getting back into the darkness of a vampire-populated NYC.

Through the Steam sale, I ended up with ten new games to play in 2022. I’m looking forward to seeing what I can play throughout the year. As mentioned, I already played through Nancy Drew: Secret of the Old Clock, so I intend on posting my review in the next week or so. Did you pick up anything in the Steam sale? Let me know in the comments below.

Two weeks ago, I played in my first Adventurer’s League session for D&D 5e. Adventurer’s League is an ongoing campaign where you can play at any game store that runs an Adventurer’s League session. The benefit of playing in Adventurer’s League is not having to commit to a weekly game and being able to take your character to each session with the experiences from the previous sessions. I specifically created Zehiri, a level #2 (now a level #3) Tiefling Paladin, whom I intend to play anytime I play Adventurer’s League. In the session I had two weeks ago, the party almost died, and I wanted to relive this because it’s a funny story now, since my character ended up being healed.

My group was securing a payload of a statue and transporting it across the plane to a woman named Chandra. During our journey, we encountered two sets of enemies. The first set of enemies featured goblins and a wolf. Within the first round of combat, the Dungeon Master (DM) had his goblin attack me. The DM rolled a natural 20, which doubles the damage my character would take. This led to me taking 11 damage from a goblin who threw a rock at me. How rude. I eventually killed the goblin with a Divine Smite, which may have been overkill, but the goblin deserved it. Divine Smite is a spell specific to the Paladin class, which allows for extra damage to be dealt to a creature if that creature was hit by a melee attack. I ended up killing one more goblin before combat ended. It was the second round of combat where things were intense.

After surviving the round of goblins, our group was attacked by another wolf and two Bugbears. One of the Bugbears kicked a log at my group, and I rolled poorly to move out of the way. I was dealt 11 points of damage there. In all of my turns, I kept rolling so low that I wouldn’t hit any of the enemies in our way. One of the party members rushed into battle and was knocked down within a turn or two. As the only healer, I was going to heal him, except I got knocked down in battle because I rolled poorly. Two out of the five members were unconscious, including the only healer, and I genuinely was concerned we were not going to get through this. There were several turns where the remaining three heroes rolled so low that they didn’t hit any of the enemies. Eventually, the battle turned to our favor when two of the remaining players cast several cantrips with a natural 20 to help kill the remaining enemies. Eventually, I was healed with medical supplies from the payload we were guarding, and I was able to level up Zehiri to level #3. The DM felt so bad for us because we kept rolling so poorly.

As I review this session, I realize things could have gone way worse. I ended up rolling well on my death saves and didn’t roll a failure. When a character loses their hit points, they roll a death save. Rolling a 1-9 is a failed roll, while rolling 10-20 is a success. If you roll three failed saves, your character dies for good. If you roll a natural one on a death save, it counts as two failures.

Overall, it was a fun session, and now I want to find more Adventurers’ Leagues to play in. In the meantime, I want to write a thorough backstory for Zehiri, so I can have it prepared when playing in future sessions. Being new to playing D&D 5e, Adventurer’s League was a great place to get back to in-person roleplaying, and I’m looking forward to roleplaying Zehiri in the future.

Since starting this blog series, I find that I’m gaming more, which is a plus. As a bonus, we have been getting snow in Minnesota, and I love gaming in winter. There’s something cozy about playing a video game while snow is lightly falling outside. My husband is the same way; he has started his Minecraft Friday night ritual with his friends. Let’s roll into my latest gaming update.

Consoles

I’m still playing through LEGO Harry Potter 5 -7. I’m almost finished with the story, and after that, I will replay all levels to unlock the collectibles. I’m a completionist, meaning I love collecting trophies and achievements, depending on what platform I’m playing on. I wish I weren’t because I want to play Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy; however, I want to play LEGO Harry Potter first.

PC

I tried to play Sims 3 a couple of weeks ago, but I ended up getting bored after thirty minutes. I also tried playing Death and Taxes. Death and Taxes is a game where you play as the Grim Reaper, deciding who lives or who dies. It’s an interesting premise; however, I’m itching to play something else. I’m going to review my Steam wishlist and library and purchase a few other games to have on hand. I like having options in my Steam library.

Board Games

I haven’t played board games at all. I want to host a board game night sometime soon with friends or family.

Roleplaying

I have two exciting roleplaying updates. The first update is that I joined a new Dungeons & Dragons 5e campaign. My character will be a half-elf / half-human Blood Hunter with ties to an otherworldly god. I picked Eldritch Blast as one of my main attack spells. I haven’t named my character yet, as I’m still trying to find the perfect name. Our first session will be before the Christmas holiday.

The second update is how much fun I had at Adventurer’s League. Adventurer’s League is an ongoing campaign where you can play anywhere. Players can take their character to any game store hosting an Adventurer’s League. It’s a great concept because I could play at one store in Minneapolis and level up, then take the same character to a game store in St. Paul with my newly leveled-up character. I had a blast. Zehiri is my level #3 Tiefling Paladin, who looks demonic, yet she’s a complete sweetheart once you meet her. This session was intense because my character and our group almost died! It’s the closest I have ever come to seeing my character die. I’m going to write a separate post summarizing that session.

Miscellaneous

In my last post, I mentioned how I wanted to play Magic: The Gathering Arena for the new set, Crimson Vow. I haven’t played Arena as I ended up uninstalling it from my phone. The app version takes forever to load, and it seems like every time I open the app, there’s a new update. I have been very disconnected from Magic, and I have even debated giving up the game altogether. I hope Crimson Vow is just what I need to get back into the game.

Besides Magic, I bought a new wireless mouse for work, but now I intend to use it when I play games on my laptop.

I have been writing a gaming post at least once a month, which is perfect. It gives me enough time to play and have something new to say. As mentioned, I’m going to write a post about the Adventurer’s League session where my character almost died because that’s a funny story.

I wanted to create a new series on BizarreBrunette that serves as a gaming update. I can talk about what I’m currently playing, if I played any new board games recently, or if I have any new roleplaying stories to talk about. Gaming is a big hobby of mine, and now that the wedding and our mini-moon trip are over, I have free time to devote to gaming. I didn’t know what to call this, so I ended up naming it “Controllers & Coffee.” I found this fitting because I usually write my posts while drinking my morning coffee. I may end up changing the title as I continue this series, but for now, this will stick. I have five categories in this update, they are as follows: Consoles, PC, Board Games, Roleplaying, and Miscellaneous. I feel these sections encompass my gaming interests; however, these are subject to change if I find I’m missing something. Let’s get into the latest “Controllers & Coffee” gaming update.

Consoles

I’m currently playing through LEGO Harry Potter. I finally 100% Years 1-4, so I have moved on to Years 5-7. I went through a gaming slump, and LEGO Harry Potter pulled me out. Playing through a LEGO game has been stress-relieving. If I had a tough day at work, I could play through a game that doesn’t require my whole attention span. It’s worked for me, and I plan on unlocking all the trophies in Years 5-7 as well before moving on to the next game on my PS4.

Originally, I said I would play Far Cry 5 next. However, I saw an advertisement for Square Enix’s Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy game. The reviews have been excellent. I’m skeptical because Marvel’s Avengers was mediocre. I’m a sucker for Superhero games, so Square Enix drew me in. I’m planning on playing through Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, followed by Far Cry 5.

Finally, I bought Super Mario 3D World Bowser’s Fury. I wanted to get back into playing my Nintendo Switch, so I figured a new game would help. I have been taking a break from Animal Crossing as it got too repetitive. I want to get back into it, but I still need a break. Super Mario 3D World has been a blast.

PC

I had been playing the older Nancy Drew PC games. The last two Nancy Drew games were more frustrating to get through, so I ended up staying away from them. The Nancy Drew games are older, and as such, some of the graphics could be updated. In one game, I was lost in a series of underground corridors, and each corridor looked exactly the same. I couldn’t figure out how to get to the end. I want to go back to the Nancy Drew games, but not right now.

In Minnesota, we recently had our first snowfall. In Winter, I find myself gravitating towards playing Sims. While everyone is playing Sims 4, I’m still playing through Sims 3. I missed out on Sims 3 as most of the expansions were released while I was in college. I like how Sims 3 has achievements, so it allows me to come up with my own Sims challenges to keep me entertained. I have one challenge of having one Sim completing all six degrees, while another Sim is trying to become a celebrity psychic from the Supernatural expansion. Setting challenges makes playing the Sims more upbeat and less mundane.

Board Games

I don’t have any new updates as far as board games. The last board gaming event was when I played Mysterium. I hope to schedule a board gaming day sometime soon.

Roleplaying

Currently, I’m not in any active campaigns. I joined a Vampire: The Masquerade campaign in the summer, but due to wedding-related planning, I had to miss several sessions. In my absence, I found the other players in the campaign didn’t want to continue, so the DM let me know that the campaign was permanently on hold. I’m optimistic about finding a new campaign to join.

To keep my love of roleplaying alive, I have been watching the first campaign of Critical Role while also watching the new episodes of their third campaign. I also purchased tickets to the NADDPOD live show in January next year.

Miscellaneous

The newest Magic: The Gathering set, Crimson Vow, is out. This set is centered on Innistrad, a spookier Magic: the Gathering plane. The lore behind Crimson Vow features a Vampire wedding, so many of the creature cards in this set will be Vampires. I am a casual Magic player. This set is one that I’m looking forward to. I’m not sure if I will get back to in-person pre-releases, as my experiences have been a mix of positive and negative in-person gameplay. I’m going to try to play Crimson Vow on Arena.

For “Controllers & Coffee,” I want to write a post at least once a month or ideally every other week. Gaming is a hobby I put on the back burner, but now I want to get back into regular gaming. I’m looking forward to what games I can play through from now until the end of the year.

I started watching Critical Role in 2021 and quickly became enamored with the world Matthew Mercer built for his players. Although Critical Role wasn’t the first Dungeons & Dragons podcast I listened to. My first DnD podcast experience was NADDPOD, which I started listening to back in 2018. I realize that the Mercer-Effect impacted me when I started playing Dungeons & Dragons because I had such high expectations from my DM. I wanted to talk about this experience and share something I learned from it.

My friends and I started a Dungeons & Dragons group back in 2019. My friend wanted to try to DM and create his world. As mentioned, I had high expectations for what I was hoping for from the story. I wanted a high-intensity story with real-world implications. I realize that I set myself up for failure. I set this campaign on a high pedestal when in reality, Dungeons & Dragons allowed me and my friends to goof off and have a great time. I reflect on this campaign as a way that all my friends were able to get together regularly, even though we all live busy lives.

I think the biggest way around the Mercer-Effect is setting little to no expectations when playing Dungeons & Dragons. Playing through a campaign with an open mind can allow random events to happen during gameplay. Besides the expectations, I think it helps to have a gaming group that clicks with each other. I have played in campaigns that I grew bored with, but when I reflect on these sessions, I didn’t connect with the group I was playing with. In my most memorable and fun sessions, I think of all the random events and how much laughter was shared between friends.

Dungeons & Dragons is supposed to be a fun and interactive game. It’s also completely valid to be a fan of Critical Role, NADDPOD, or Ain’t Slayed Nobody and not want to play TTRPGs. Many fans of these podcasts like interactive storytelling, but don’t enjoy roleplaying. The Mercer-Effect can create a negative environment in a gaming group, but that doesn’t have to be the case. Roleplaying is one of my favorite hobbies, and thanks to Critical Role, it’s become more accessible.