Author's Note: This is set in the summer of 1993 but I'm using D&D 5th Edition because the one that came out in 1989 (AD&D 2nd) looks dumb and appears to have been unpopular. Also, dragonborns weren't a thing until 2006.

Standing at the head of the living room table, Richard Granger -Dungeon Master extraordinaire- clapped his hands once in eager anticipation. "The first step to any campaign is character creation! You won't be playing as yourselves, but as characters from the magical realm in our story. In front of you are copies of the Player Handbook -that details the different races, classes and such to choose from- and character sheets where you write down which ones you'd like for yourselves. The general rule of thumb in making a group for a campaign is to be diverse in your options. Fighters, healers, and rogues, even dividing the fighters by melee and magic users."

Richard clicked his tongue once, looking over the group of semi-confused wizard teenagers, ready to see the "semi" obliterate completely. "That in mind, since for you all some of this is more reality than fantasy, I'm instigating a couple of ground rules for character creation.

"One: No one is allowed to pick the human race, or the wizard class.

"Two: Everyone has to be a different race and class from each other.

"You can discuss amongst yourselves which ones you want to be, and I can help you as well in the process; but overall it will be much more interesting to try something new than stick to what you're used to. Oh, yes Susan?"

The group turned to Susan, whose hand was raised as if they were in school. "Yes, sorry, I just want to check something. You said the human race, are you saying we won't be playing as people?"

"People, yes. Humans, no. There are a few magical races to choose from-"

Hermione cut in for an addition. "-They won't be the same as how magical races really are in real life."

"-True." Richard nodded. Though, secretly, his mind whirled in wonderment over how many of them really do exist! "The common ones are elves, dwarves, and halflings. But there are also a few rare options: gnomes, dragonborn, tieflings, half-elves, and half-orcs."

"I call dibs on dragonborn!" Harry exclaimed with a raised hand.

"No fair!" Blaise shouted. "I was going to be that one!"

Richard huffed in laughter at the sight. Muggle or magical, first-timers always go for dragonborn. "Heh! Well, like I said, you can discuss amongst yourselves, but ultimately it will be different for each of you. How about we get started on races, first?"

With one option already off the table, the five teens dove straight into the book. Richard started work with Harry since he already picked his, showing him the various stats and proficiencies to take note of. The others listened in with half an ear, but mainly stuck to reading the various race descriptions. Luna took the next pick, opting for a wood elf. Then Hermione went for a rock gnome - taking enjoyment of their creative nature. Susan followed soon after by going for a hill dwarf. Blaise, however, was lamenting with the remaining options.

"Everyone left are just half-breed outcasts. I don't want a character that's going to be hated by everyone we meet."

"Halflings aren't like that." Susan noted. "They're just called halfling because of their size."

Blaise scoffed. "So I'm just supposed to be some short little house elf, rolling on the floor with a happy smile trying to avoid getting stepped on by…" Blaise stopped talking. His mouth hung open while his eyes sparkled with glee. "Actually, nevermind. That's perfect. I know exactly who my character's going to be!"

The boy dove back to the page about halflings and started his work. Hermione and Susan, meanwhile, exchanged very confused glances with each other. Though, with only shrugs, they went back to their own character sheets.

After Blaise finished writing his lightfoot halfling, the group moved on to the class section. "I call rogue!" Blaise announced before any others could be chosen.

"You sound determined." Luna noted with an amused smile.

"Absolutely!" He grinned. "I already know what I want, so I can't let anyone else side-line it now."

Luna giggled at the proclaimant. "That's fair. I think, for myself, I'll go for a ranger or druid. I just need to read into them a bit more."

"I'm thinking either druid or cleric." Susan commented. "I'd like to be the healer, whichever one that is?"

"Cleric would be best for that." Richard supplied. "Druids and rangers are more scouting and magic-based types, though ranger is more of a fighter compared to druid."

Hermione tapped her pencil thoughtfully. "So that covers the healer, rogue and magic fighter. Harry, I take it you'd prefer a melee fighter type?"

"I am." He answered. "Just trying to decide on which one."

"So what does that leave me with?"

Her father hummed in thought. "Technically it would be best to also have a more fighting-based magic user in your group. Druids and Rangers can be good fighters, but they're not known for being powerhouses."

"Hermione is a sorceress." Said Luna. The group looked at Luna as she added. "A sorcerer, according to this I should say, isn't someone who learns magic through study or makes a pact with a higher power, but is born to it by being blessed by magic itself."

"Oh, that is definitely you!" Blaise laughed.

Hermione blushed lightly. "By that logic, shouldn't I be picking something different than myself?"

Harry smirked mischievously. "Well, you can always be a bard?"

Richard joined in with a grin. "I will insist on singing and clever rhymes for that one."

"...fine. Sorcerer it is."

"Excellent!" The others chimed.

A few minutes later, Hermione groaned at their decision. "Do I really have to use this Wild Magic Surge table, though? These options are excessive and, frankly, rather ridiculous."

Curious, Blaise flipped a few pages over and skimmed the options. "17-18: You grow a long beard made of feathers that remains until you sneeze, at which point the feathers explode out of your face!" The group burst into laughter at the description, then asked to hear more. "23-24: Your skin turns a vibrant shade of blue. A remove curse spell can end this effect."

"That is brilliant!" Harry cheered.

"This is awful!" Hermione moaned. "One of us needs to add the remove curse option."

"No one add the remove curse option!" Blaise ordered with a grin.

While the group laughed and fought over the spell, Richard did everything he could to hold in his laughter. He wasn't sure which was funnier to him. That remove curse is a 3rd level spell ...or that Susan will be the only one with the option to cast it. Ah well, with how Wild Magic Surge instigates, odds are it's not something Hermione needs to worry about. Probably.

After more teasing, and Harry settling into the role of a dual-wielding fighter, Richard guided the group over to Personality and Background. "Now we get into the nitty-gritty of who your characters really are. Their names, their physical appearances, their backgrounds. Most importantly, what exactly is it that led them to the life of adventure? Also, this section adds extra equipment, languages, proficiencies, and skills so you might want to adjust your options stats and such once these are settled on. Actually, I find it best to start with backgrounds, then work on the rest."

"Well mine should be easy enough." Susan commented when she reached the background page. "An Acolyte is the perfect background for my character."

Blaise, meanwhile, sped through the options to just read their titles. "Alright, I'm going with an Entertainer."

Hermione blinked curiously at that. "An Entertainer? For a rogue?"

"It would have to be that or a Noble." Blaise explained, then scrunched up his face in a pout. "And I refuse to give him that option."

"O...kay?"

Blaise didn't explain further. Though he did lighten up upon skimming the adjacent page. "Oh look! A Folk Hero, just for you!"

Hermione glared at the cheek. "Am I allowed to pick any part of my character?"

"No!" He grinned.

Harry, at least, offered some sympathy. "What suggestion did the book give for sorcerers?"

"A Hermit." Hermione answered with a frown. "That sounds far worse."

Harry's face matched hers. "It really does."

A moment of quiet fell over the group. Finally a third (fourth?) background was chosen by Luna. "I'm going to be a former Guild Artisan."

The others looked at her in confusion. Though it fell to Susan to ask. "A guild artisan who decides to become a druid?"

"Exactly! Pandora was tired of working as a woodcarver in a city that had no respect for nature, so she decided to leave civilization to be closer to nature."

Susan blinked at the explanation. "I suppose that can make sense."

Richard nodded happily. "It makes for great storytelling, too. It's not always about what background makes sense, but how a background can be twisted to make sense."

Blaise leaned back against the couch as he considered his. "So for mine, it could be that my halfling was tired of just tumbling for a bit of gold and decided that burglary is a much easier way to earn a living."

Richard laughed. "And that disguise kit and acrobatics come in handy for that way of life."

"Exactly!"

The group chattered excitedly over the different ways their characters came to be adventurers. Though all of them stuttered to a halt when Harry announced. "I was a Sailor!"

"...A sailor?" Blaise asked incredulously.

"Yes!"

"Your fire-breathing dragonborn used to be a sailor?"

"Yeah-huh! Brilliant, isn't it?"

"H-how?! WHY?!"

"Oh, because I wasn't just any sailor." Harry leaned in closer. "I was a pirate!"

"...Explain."

"My captain kept me on because I'm strong and a hard-worker. With my dual-wielding I was a savage against my opponents. Best yet, once the other ship was completely robbed of its treasure, or a military ship came to challenge us, I had the most important job of all: setting the other ship on fire!"

The group fell silent. Blaise opened his mouth. Then he closed it. Then opened it again with a finger raised. The finger curled as his mouth closed again. It opened again. "I don't know if you're mad or brilliant."

"Hard to say." Harry answered. "It was a pirate's life for me. Then one day, tragically, I set our ship on fire. The ship was in harbour, so not all of the crew was onboard at the time; but I was forced to flee the scene with my captain cursing my name, vowing revenge should he ever find me again."

Leaning on the edge of her seat, Luna couldn't help but ask. "Why did you set your ship on fire?"

"It was an accident." Harry answered. Then he paused, coming up with an explanation. "I was… checking on the spices we stole, came across some pepper… and sneezed."

The girls snorted with laughter. Though, beside him, Blaise's face fell slowly into his hands. Once buried there, he mumbled out. "You're mad. You're absolutely, bloody mad!"

Watching the background unfold, Richard smiled like a kid in a candy store. "That is fantastic! Brilliant backstory, Harry!" Oh, he is ABSOLUTELY going to add this captain to the campaign! It's all just a matter of how!

When the group recovered -well, when Blaise recovered- and finished up their backgrounds, they moved on to other aspects of their personalities. Names were easy enough. The girls had already picked them from the race descriptions-

Kathra Ironfist the hill dwarf.

Nyx Turen the rock gnome. (Along with various nicknames shouted by the group like Gnomon and Clytemnestra.)

Pandora Siannodel the wood elf. (That one was half invented, and the surname was a clever re-mashing of elven names)

-Though the boys were a different story. Blaise settled on Drakko Malafide, the lightfoot halfling. A name which caused Susan to narrow her eyes suspiciously and Blaise to tap a finger against his lips.

Then came Harry who decided to go for Goldbiter Thornclaw. ...At least that's what the coven members heard. Richard, on the other hand, blinked in confusion. "Sorry, what language is that?"

"Oh!" Hermione widened her eyes as she realized what just happened. "That was… oh, how do I explain it?"

"Simple," Luna answered, "that was parseltongue. The language of snakes."

Richard's mouth dropped open. Harry, meanwhile, scratched the back of his head nervously. "I was having trouble pronouncing the dragonborn surnames; and I figured, since Common is like English, then maybe Draconic should be parseltongue?"

Blaise considered that. "Though it might be pointless since none of us speak Draconic but can understand you."

"Oh, I guess you're right-"

"Wait!" Richard interrupted. "You can all speak to snakes?"

He looked for his answer from Hermione. The girl tried very hard to think up an answer, but struggled for the words. "Well… we… back with the basilisk mystery we figured… I found a ritual to talk to snakes, and…"

"Are there any other animals you can talk to?"

"...Kind of." She grimaced.

"Kind of?"

Harry smirked as he answered. "Spiders don't exactly talk."

Dumbfounded, giddy, intrigued, but in way over his head, Richard eventually found a way to speak to his daughter. "We're going to have to talk about this later because I have so many questions! But," he pointed to Harry, "this is a great idea. Can any of you speak other languages?"

"Italian and some Latin." Blaise supplied. "So I can use Italian for Halfling and Latin for Thieves' Cant?"

"Brilliant!" Richard encouraged him.

Hermione gave a relieved sigh at the topic change. "I can use French for Gnomish."

"I know French, too." Susan added. "Also Irish and some Latin. Though I can pretend I don't for the game."

Richard shook his head. "Don't forget, as an acolyte you get two additional languages. Though Thieves' Cant isn't an option."

"Well then… How about I add Gnomish and Draconic? That way I can talk to both Harry and Hermione, and use Irish as Dwarish?"

"Sounds perfect." He answered with a nod.

"I have an extra language, too." Luna nodded. "So that can be Draconic. Plus I can use Welsh for Elvish and Scottish Gaelic for Druidic."

I might be in over my head. Richard realized as the group settled on those language options. Still, what an amazing dynamic to add to a game! He can't wait to tell his own group about it! ...Though he's really going to need some language lessons to keep up with the fledgling group.

Ah, well, at the end of the day it's all for fun. Adding to that, being able to get a new generation into the game (and young wizards at that) and spending more time with his daughter, is going to make this one of the most fun summers of his life!

Author's Note: For the eagle-eyed viewer, you may have noticed something about Drakko Malafide. Short "house elf" like character who rolls around on the floor a lot. Yes, Blaise's character is basically the A Very Potter Musical interpretation of Draco Malfoy! The suggestion came from a friend of mine, and I just couldn't resist!

I have made a "character sheet" for the coven, but it's hard to post image link on here. If you're a fan of New Blood, I'd suggest joining the facebook fan group to find a copy of the image there or look it up on my AO3 account.