Merry Christmas, my ten of readers!
Our holidays and gifts will always be a little nerdy just because of who we are, but this year’s felt even more so than usual.
Audrey got me this cute Dice Dungeon, so I can incarcerate dice that fail me as a player.
Bryce and Sara gave us this wonderful personalized decoration for our tree, and gave the girls some scented candles shaped like polyhedral dice that I forgot to photograph.
But I was very happy with the gift Audrey and I put together for the group of us, and gratified that it was well received.
A couple of years ago, Bryce and Sara asked if I could teach them to play D&D, which I was only too happy to do. And although I had no intention at the time of running yet another campaign, we eventually folded the Tyranny of Dragons campaign I was running with the family and started Rime of the Frostmaiden with Bryce and Sara.
Bryce’s sister Jenni, a doctor doing her residency in Vancouver, was curious about playing and then her boyfriend Joe (another doctor) asked if he could watch one time. Obviously I refused, rolling up a rogue with him instead and he seemed to enjoy himself as well. Now the group has eight players, but it is rare that everyone’s schedule allows them to attend at the same time - possibly for the best!
Not too far into the campaign, set in the far North of Icewind Dale, Bryce suggested giving their group a name - something very rare from when I started playing, but increasingly common nowadays. I appreciated it because referring to the group as “the party,” “the adventurers,” or “those guys” and so on can get pretty tiresome. His suggestion of “Icehawks” met with the group’s s approval and was thus adopted.
Then I started noodling around with Word (my graphic design program of choice, solely because I don’t know any others), I came up with a logo, and Audrey and I decided to get it printed on some baseball shirts a la The Hellfire Club from Stranger Things.
We got them done up by Print Machine in Old Strathcona (delightful people to deal with), picked them up in November and somehow managed to hide them and not spill the beans until Dec 18 when we got together in Fort Saskatchewan. Bryce, Sara, Bobby and the girls were instructed to open their differently wrapped gifts at the same time, and the response upon the reveal was very positive indeed!
Joe and Jenni got theirs Christmas Day and were quick to share another group picture. Joe’s testimonial was succinct but articulate: “Team shirts are dope.”
So! The next time you are stuck for gift ideas, consider custom nerdwear - it worked out very well for us!
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