Author’s Note: The following blog post about playing DnD online, was originally written in April of 2021. The campaign mentioned below has a postscript. See the footnote at the end.
I’ve been playing Dungeons and Dragons with a group from “across the pond” for about a month now. I can’t get enough of it. For me — a middle-aged midwesterner — the accents, slang and swear words add such a marvelous flavor.
Playing with the UK
Through a random “looking for player” post on Facebook, I ran across a group that was a few sessions into a Tyranny of Dragons campaign when someone got ate (or dropped out). It happens. The timezones matched perfectly with my schedule, so I offered myself up. It’s the first campaign where I didn’t know anyone before joining.
I seriously lucked out. They are so damn nice. And their accents are to die for.
POND CROSSING – The accents that come with playing D&D can be extra exciting. Oui?
Manchester and Derry
The DM is from Manchester, as is his girlfriend who plays a kind-hearted cleric (Valda). She is relatively new to the game, like me. She is so sweet! But get her and our druid together, and they’ll do anything to save a tree. So we’ve done a little .. sidetracking.
We have two rangers. Jon, the talkative one, is from Northern Ireland. His accent is thicker than the one from Manchester — and has more of a “roll” to it. He said it’s a combination of Irish and Scottish. All I can say is I love it. When he reads this, he is gonna give me all kinds of flak — which I am greatly looking forward to. He curses so well! An F-bomb rolling off his tongue is delightful. He’s got some other curse words that are equally eloquent.
GOOD FRIENDS – Lizzie (a school-teacher from France/ mushroom druid) and Jon (a ranger from Northern Ireland) are shown here engaging in a friendly, private conversation.
Manchester and France
The other ranger, Clintos II, is pretty quiet (so far). But when he does talk, his accent tells me UK somewhere. He may be on the shy side, but apparently he can get up to some tricks — as evidenced by the “II” in his name. Prior to my arrival, there was an incident involving a naked Clintos I unexpectedly showing up at the entrance to an armed camp of bad guys. That Clintos died. I hope to get the full story some day.
And there is Lizzie — nature-loving Lizzie — our druid. She’s utterly obsessed with mushrooms. She’d take a mushroom grove over a dragon hoard any day. Which is good for us, as she makes a mean mushroom stew. She’s French, and her accent is just as delightful as the others’. When she turns into a bear (which she does often), it sounds like she is going into a bar. It turns into a full-blown bear bar brawl.
SPECIAL SKILLS – Lizzie, a spore druid, had all kinds of special skills in both the kitchen and in her ability to concoct ‘shroom-based potions able to encourage others to succumb to her charms.
Clueless me – Playing DnD Online
As for me, I am a paladin named Magna. Like my midwestern accent, she is painfully boring. Why did I pick a paladin?? It was a rookie mistake. I asked what classes were already in the party and picked my class so as to “balance” things.
Gaming-wise, I hate melee stuff. I can’t even pronounce “melee.” But here I am with a longsword in one hand and a shield in the other, praying. I have something called “smite” that I haven’t actually used yet. It’s supposed to be good.
Before D&D, the only role-playing I did was in Skyrim. I was the Archmage in there. I’d stand about 300 feet away, shoot my fire blast, and knock the bad guys into Oblivion.
STORY TELLING – I have learned a lot since I started playing D&D with this group from across the pond.
Author’s Footnote
It was playing with this group from across the pond that resulted in my falling in love with D&D. This passion ultimately resulted in the creation of this site. The group from across the pond has since broken up. Playing D&D online has some unique challenges – a subject for future commentary.
Carla Bumstead
Publisher/Managing Editor
