Okay, so I hate to admit it, but yes, I play Dungeons & Dragons. And no, I do not own black candles or black robes. I do not have a dungeon in my basement; I don't even have a basement! I am a Christian, and no, I do not worship the devil. I am a stay-at-home-mom with two little girls, a nerdy but sweet husband, a mortgage, friends who do NOT play Dungeons & Dragons, two living and still-married parents. My list of normalcies could go on and on, but I know you get the idea at this point.

I started playing right after I met a guy I had a major crush on. We were both cast in a musical at a local theater; there was another castmate who played D&D. My "crush" had played it when he was younger. For fun (and to impress the guy I would eventually marry) I agreed to play in a new campaign.

The first few sessions, I admit, I felt like the world's biggest moron. I was supposed to speak as though I was a human cleric?! I could act onstage, but offstage? That's when I realized when I was playing D&D, I was still onstage. Just in a much smaller theater.

My first game was almost eleven years ago. We've moved from Ohio to Kansas (where we continued to play but with a new group), and now we live in Indiana and have found yet another group. Each group is different, in that each person creates and plays their character dissimilarly. But on other hand, each group is so much alike. I have never met a D&D'er who wasn't a genuinely nice person.

The first character I played was a human priestess of Myhriss named Florence. She fell in love with a human mage named Ambrosius (played by, you guessed it, the guy I was going to marry!) and when my husband and I got married in real life and moved to Kansas, Flo and Ambrosius rode off in the sunset on an elephant they had found on an adventure. Sounds like a pretty happy memory, right?

That was all second edition; we then played 3.0 in Kansas, even after they came out with 3.5. Now that we have moved to Indiana, we play 3.5, even though a 4.0 now exists. We just aren't crazy about 4.0. It seems more like a video game than a table-top RPG.

I have found that I always lean toward magic users; I prefer sorcerers. They're prettier! However, I've played my share of bards, wizards, rogues, fighters and rangers as well. The greatest factor is that you can make your character be anyone you want them to be. I once played with a guy who multi-classed and had one level of each class. It didn't really work because he was a jack-of-all-trades and a master of none. But what an interesting experiment! The game is all about "thinking outside the box," so in my mind, you are using your mind in a creative, healthful manner.

Now there's a new one: D&D--- good for your health!

The next time you hear someone (it would have to be "overhear," because we gamers tend to only discuss the game with other gamers who understand and won't judge) talking about rolling a critical or buying plate mail from the local armorer, keep an open mind and realize those people are not driving drunk or destroying the neighbor's mailbox. They are simply enjoying time with friends in a constructive, inventive manner.