The time will soon come when we will sit beside one another around the late night campfire, raise goblets together as we feast, or cross swords on the field of war, and all of us are looking forward to the day where we are safely and responsibly playing Realms together again. Thinking of the better days are just around the corner, we asked you some questions about getting back to playing Realms.
Answers by: Alex Cannamela and Brookelyn Gingras
In your time away from Realms, what have you been spending your hobby-time on instead of going to or preparing for events?
Alex: I spent a lot of time getting back into music. I bought a synth, acquired a clarinet, and have been playing pretty much daily. I've always been musically inclined, but it has been really good to consistently sit down and really practice instead of just futzing around for an hour or two every so often.
I also was able to get more into brewing; while I was doing that before the pandemic, I was able to branch out more and do different drinks and larger batches as I got better.
I've also had more time to do some projects around the house, and have been working on that. The biggest one was putting a pond into the backyard; we also cleared some space for a garden. I've learned a good deal about taking care of plants (or, perhaps more accurately, what NOT to do) and hope to have an even better garden this season.
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| Spiced mead starting on the stove and prickly pear wine ready to drink. |
Brooklyn: What HAVEN'T I been spending my time on? Crotchet, bee school, gardening, weaving, fostering kittens... oh, you mean the LARP-supplement hobbies? Well, I've had a lot more time for table-top role play games for starters. Turns out, it's a lot easier to coordinate schedules for regular sessions when nobody has much going on. I'm playing my first-ever druid character in DnD (I know, it's been a LONG time coming). She's an eco-terrorist, it's great. I've also started playing Rangers of Shadowdeep - highly recommend that one (no DM required!). So I'd say I've been keeping up with the murder-hobo life.
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| One of the 50 million pictures of cats on Brooklyn's Facebook wall. |
Accepting as fact that there are lots of things that we have all missed, what have you missed the most about being at Realms Events?
Alex: I've missed the community the most. Most of us are still in contact over the internet, but for me at least it's not the same. I've made some really great friends playing Realms, and I miss them all.
Brooklyn: Dungeon Masters don't typically throw their players a feast, so that's surely to be missed! But even more than good food and good people, I miss the action going down over to the side. Shady deals, secret passageways, an undiscovered puzzle, or maybe even a story. The best times I've had at events were the unplanned schenanigans inspired by opportunity or even boredom. I have particularly fond memories of sneaking into a speakeasy...
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| A face that says "I'm up to shenanigans". |
Are there are plots or specific events or anything that you are particularly looking forward to for after the Realms gets going again?
Alex: While I love PCing in plots, I'm looking forward to getting back to staffing events. I'm looking forward to those inevitable moment of the PCs trying something unexpected, and rolling with it as an NPC maybe a little bit too much. I'm looking forward to having to deal with player shenanigans as a magic marshall.
And while this is a ways off, I'm looking forward to Leviathan prep with Rhiassa again. As much as we jokes about how labor intensive it might be, it's something I look forward to each year.
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| A sample of what is waiting for Alex when she shows up for Leviathan prep. |
Brooklyn: Returning to explore new and exciting lands! Many seasoned adventurers know the Realms like the back of their hands, but once we step through a portal or onto the shore of a new place, we all see it with fresh eyes. And what wonders we have seen! I have learned so much of Teng Hua's rich culture, and yet I know that I have only scratched the surface (I have the BINGO card to prove it). And Gi - what mysteries lie within those starved lands? To learn even a little of an unexplored place like that is to know more than most.
Have you concocted any grand plans of any kind for once we can get back to Realms? Events you are planning or things you are going to do with your character? Any secret projects you've been working on that you want to give us a hint about?
Alex: While I have to figure out a new date, I still plan on throwing the "Labors of Rawonam" event I announced right before we had to shut down. The event is going to be war tournament with some mechanics that I think will be really interesting. We've worked pretty hard to create a system that offers something for everyone while still firmly centering the war tournament aspect of the event.
Brooklyn: Well if I were, I wouldn't be dropping spoilers now would I?? But I can shed light on one particular weaving project that I'm hoping will see the light of day at an event - if I can keep the sigil from ending up looking phallic, that is...
Although even if I don't finish it in time for events to start up again, I'll at least have the pleasure of bringing the loom along to show off around camp.
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| What mystery is being plotted here on Brooke's loom? |
Anything else you'd like to say to the Realms about this past year we've spent apart from each other or in anticipation of us seeing one another again?
Alex: This year really put into perspective just how important Realms is to me. I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way. So many of my friends are from this community, and even for an introvert like me it's been tough.
At any rate, I hope to see you all soon. After all, one of my pandemic hobbies was getting more into brewing. I have a lot of mead but haven't had friends to share with and fire pits to share it around. I'd like to fix it.
Brooklyn: I'd like to make big shout-out to the resiliency the Realms community has demonstrated in the past year, particularly with the quality and variety of virtual-event content produced. Some say Necessity is the greatest inventor, others say it is Boredom. And when there was a necessity for entertaining virtual content, the Realms delivered! (And by that I mean a certain few dedicated EHs and their talented teams - you know who you are). But cheers also to the players who have stood by in patience while their favorite hobby was put on hold. Here's hoping we can all return with fresh eyes once the wait is over!
