A/N: The darkest part of the fic will be coming very soon, but it won't be here quite just yet. The last two chapters have been fairly dark in nature, and I want to give the kids a little bit of a break before I start bringing out the big guns.
Tabletop Gaming was one of my favorite things to do in college and it was one of the only reasons why I didn't go batshit insane during undergrad. Nothing gets me in the mood quite like a session of Dungeons and Dragons / Pathfinder / Deadlands / Warhammer 40K Deathwatch, etc. etc. And if Mike had as much fun with D&D in college as I did IRL (which he obviously did cause this is my fic), there's no way he wouldn't introduce his kids to that world.
I'll probably do around 3 chapters of this scattered around. One of them will be for low level, one for mid level, one for high level. Hope you guys enjoy!
Chapter 19 – Epic Fantasy Adventures, Low Level Version
"And that's the first Lord of the Rings for you!" Mike declared as the movie came to an end. The ghosts had wanted to see something a little different from what they'd already been watching, and Mike figured this was as good of a time as any to introduce them to one of the most iconic fantasy universes of all time. Unlike some of the other times, he had stayed to watch the entire movie with them. "What did you guys think?"
"That! Was! Amazing!" Fritz glowingly praised. "Every character was awesome, and that Balrog looked like it came straight from Hell itself!"
"It's so sad that Gandalf died, though…" Susie sighed. "I liked him."
Gabe shook his head. "And the Fellowship got split up at the end? Yeesh, things went to shit real quickly didn't they?"
"Why did Boromir try to steal the Ring from Frodo?" Jeremy asked. "Seemed like a real dick thing to do."
"There's a lot of context that you're missing as to why Boromir ended up doing that," Mike replied. "He's not a bad person, and he did make up for it with his life by trying to save Frodo's friends."
Cassidy shuddered. "Those orcs are scary, and those Ringwraiths were even worse," she murmured. "And that Balrog, my God…"
"It was truly a cinematic masterpiece," Mike continued. "The graphics were some of the best ever seen in a movie, let me tell you! And this is only the first movie. The next two are even better."
"I still don't know the difference between Sauron or Saruman," Liz complained. "Which one is which again?"
"Sauron's the main Dark Lord that's causing all of the problems, Saruman's the bad wizard guy," Gabe clarified, and Liz nodded at him in thanks.
"Man, I wish I could go on a fantasy adventure like that!" Fritz sighed. "I mean, take out all of the scary shit going on, and it seems like a dream come true!"
A grin slowly spread across Mike's face. "What if I told you that you can, Fritz?" he asked.
Every single ghost's attention was on him in an instant. "Wait, WHAT?" Fritz exclaimed. "You can DO THAT? I thought you said you had no magic powers!"
Mike burst out laughing. "Pfffftttt…do you really think I would have stayed 20 shitty nights at Freddy's if I had magic powers, Fritz? Nah, what I'm talking about is a new kind of game."
He beckoned for the kids to crowd around him. "I've told you a lot about what happened before college, but I never really said anything about what happened in college. And back when I was in college, one of the best things I ever did during my free time was tabletop gaming. Every Saturday, I met up with some of my best friends in college and we spent the entire day immersed in our own fantasy world that our game master created, and we helped define. It was glorious. And this was when video games were still fairly new and weren't the massive presence they are now. If you wanted to travel from fictional country to country, explore dungeons, battle against enemies who seek to ruin your journey, fight a dragon, even challenge the demons of Hell themselves, this was where you did it."
The kids' eyes were starry-eyed. "Whoa…" Jeremy breathed.
"And you guys are in luck," Mike continued with a grin. "Because I had such a hilariously large yearly income thanks to the lottery, I was able to buy my own pieces, rulebooks, and sets with 0 problems. And even though I don't play nearly as much with my friends as I used to as the years passed, I still have everything locked up safely. So the question is…" he looked straight at the ghosts. "Do you want to play?"
"YES!"
Mike grinned. "I thought you'd say that. And I think that with 7 people, including Mary, that will be a perfect number to create a balanced party."
"Wait…" Gabe interrupted, "what about you, dad? Aren't you playing?"
"Me? I'm the Game Master. I'm the one who will be creating the world, defining its rules, making up the enemies and situations you'll be facing," Mike explained. "I'll need about a day to get everything ready, and then we can begin. In the meantime, you guys talk amongst yourselves to decide which type of characters you want to play. You guys okay with that?"
"Take as much time as you need," Mary replied. "Better to wait for something great than to demand something mediocre."
"Yep, we're in no hurry," Liz agreed.
Mike smiled as he got up from his chair. "All righty. Gonna go talk to one of my friends for some advice on how to GM, and then we can let the fun begin!"
ONE DAY LATER…
"All right, guys!" Mike spread the map out of the table. "I gave you a description of each character type and how they work. You guys ready?"
"Yep!" As each ghost described their character, Mike couldn't help but wonder at how a lot of them simply made sense with regards to their personalities. Mary had decided to be a Cleric, Gabe an Assassin, Jeremy a Fighter, Fritz a Barbarian, Cassidy a Wizard, and Susie a Druid. The only one that was a noticable mismatch was Liz, who had decided to be a Fighter. But eh, whatever worked.
"A nicely balanced team, one with a lot of variety and few if any weaknesses," Mike nodded approvingly. "Good job, kids. I was worried that you might all pick the same role, and then we would've had a problem."
"Is it such a bad thing if we're missing a given character type?" Susie asked.
Mike shrugged. "It depends. You could probably get away with not having an Assassin or a Ranger. But you pretty much need a Cleric and a Wizard. Not having a Cleric or Wizard in your party is like starting Night 5 at Freddy's with 50% starting power or one door already jammed open. You just can't do it."
"Well, we've got everyone we need." Jeremy said. "So how do we start making our characters?"
"Normally, I'd let you guys roll your stats and manage your own character creations," Mike said. "But since this is your first time and this is probably more complicated than any game you've ever played in your life, I already have some level 1 character sheets prepped for you guys." He handed them out, and also gave each of them a couple of dice, including a D20. "You all have above average starting stats and HP so that I can give you guys something more challenging to fight than a single goblin."
"Thanks, Dad!" the ghosts gratefully replied. "But how are we going to start this adventure?" Gabe asked.
Mike grinned. "Well, only with the most cliché opening to any D&D adventure, of course!" he answered. "You all meet in an inn…"
/
"So let me get this straight," Jeremy said to the stranger. "You want us to escort you through the countryside to the city?"
"That's right, kind sir," the stranger replied. "I'm a merchant who came to this town to pick up some of my more important wares. But the part of the countryside that I need to travel through is rumored to be incredibly dangerous, and I do not think I can safely go through it alone. I will pay you handsomely for your troubles."
Jeremy looked over to his friends. "What do you guys think?"
Gabe shrugged and nonchalantly spun a knife in his hand. "Hey, good chance to explore the countryside, right? This backwater town was getting boring anyway."
Fritz grinned as he hefted his battle axe. "Hey, if anything needs killing, I'll be down!"
The other mages and warriors gave various noises or statements of agreement. "I think we're all in," Gabe summarized to the merchant.
The merchant sighed in relief. "Thank goodness. We will leave immediately, while the sun is still up. I trust that you have all the equipment you need?"
Liz nodded. "Yeah, we're good to go."
The merchant guided them over to his wagon, a decently sized object that could easily fit all of them. He hit the horse with the harness and they quickly left the town behind. For the two first days, the journey through the country was relatively uneventful, and they didn't really interact with anyone else apart from the occasional greeting to other travelers. But on the third day…
/
"Roll," Mike said, his eyes narrowed.
The ghosts looked nervously at each other. "Why?" Gabe asked.
Mike didn't blink an eye. "Roll," he repeated. "You'll see."
The ghosts did as they were told. Liz groaned as she looked at her result. "I'm guessing a 3 is not going to pass whatever it is you're making us do."
"Nope," Mike shook his head.
Cassidy, on the other hand, breathed a sigh of relief. "I rolled an 18," she commented. "That has to be good, right?"
Mike nodded. "Well done." He quickly looked at each of the kids' dice. "Okay, then. Cassidy, Mary, Gabe, Susie…you see the attack coming."
"Attack?" the kids gasped.
"Fritz, Liz, Jeremy…you don't."
/
"Ambush!" Gabe shouted as he drew his sword. "We're under attack!"
"What?" Liz gasped. "Where are they?"
"They're in the trees!" Mary pointed at a few shadowy figures that were skulking in the cover of the forest.
"I can't see them!" Fritz looked around frantically. A knife suddenly flew from the trees and grazed into his shoulder. "Agh, dammit!"
Gabe's eyes narrowed as he took out his bow. He fired into the trees, and smirked as he heard a panicked shriek echo into the air. A goblin fell out of the trees and collapsed onto the ground, dead.
"They're coming out now!" Susie noticed. It was a small horde of goblins, with three orcs following closely behind. They snarled and rushed towards them with their weapons, crudely made swords and daggers.
"I see them now," Jeremy muttered. He took out his sword and glared at the creatures. "What do you think we should do?"
"Well, keep Cassidy safe, for one thing," Mary answered immediately. "She won't last very long if they get to her."
"I'll stay in the caravan," Cassidy decided. "Let me know if you want me to fire a Magic Missile or something, but I can only do one."
"Sounds like a plan," Jeremy grunted as he readied his sword. Mary, Jeremy, Fritz, and Liz all raised their weapons as the goblins rushed closer, Fritz having exchanged his bow and arrow for his own sword. One of the goblins leapt forward and swung his blade at Mary, but the blade simply bounced harmlessly off her heavy armor.
/
"I roll to attack," Jeremy declared, having gotten the highest initiative out of everyone after Gabe, who had elected to go into stealth. He rolled his dice. "Does a 15 hit?"
Mike nodded. "Yep, you're good."
"Sweet!" he grinned as he rolled his dice. "That's what I like to see!" he commented happily as he rolled a 7, the second highest result possible. In response, Mike took the goblin piece off the pedestal and tossed it back in the box.
"He's dead," Mike declared. "Good job."
"Yes!" Jeremy whooped. "My first kill!"
Mary shook her head. "Don't get too excited, Jeremy. There's still plenty more where that came from."
/
"Take that!" Fritz snarled as he smashed his axe straight into a goblin's head. He grinned viciously as his attack split the goblin's head in two, leaving nothing but a bloodied corpse. "How are you guys doing?"
"I'm fine," Liz responded curtly. She had been ganged up on by two goblins, and it was only thanks to her heavy armor that she hadn't been cut to shreds. She yelled as she swung her own sword down upon one of the goblin's heads. She swung wildly at one of the goblins, but while the sword connected with the goblin's body, it had hit the beast's shoulder instead of its head and didn't do enough damage to kill.
/
"Only 1 damage?" Liz gaped, before she threw her hands up into the air. "Oh, come on!"
"Hey, at least you hit," Fritz replied. "These goblins seem pretty weak. You'll probably get him with another try."
"That was on purpose," Mike added. "If I went too hard on you guys at the early levels, especially since you're new to all this, you'd probably get TPK'd. Total Party Killed. That's not my goal here, my goal is to introduce you to how combat works. Now, I'll certainly try to create encounters that will kill as many of you as possible later on down the road, but that's later. Not now."
"Is that why the goblins are ignoring me and Cassidy?" Susie asked.
"Yep," Mike agreed. "You should probably try and cast a spell or two since I won't be targeting you at all for this battle, unless you do something REALLY stupid like trying to go out into the front lines. You have some spells. Why don't you try and use one?"
/
"Let's see…" Susie murmured as she went through her list of spells. "I cast Produce Flame!"
Her hand instantly burst into flames, and she turned her attention to one of the goblins. She hurled the flame straight at the goblin, and it shrieked pitifully as its entire body was consumed with flames, leaving only a charred corpse behind. Susie grinned at the sight, but her joy faded as the flames on her hand died down.
/
"Wait, what?" Susie asked. "That's it?"
"That's the thing with spells," Mike explained. "At early levels, they're fairly weak. Melee classes like fighters are better in the early-game. But when you hit level 20, you can literally destroy entire armies with one spell without even blinking. So that's why classes like Druids and Wizards start off weak, but end up just short of godly."
"Now I'm starting to regret picking a fighter," Jeremy admitted.
Mike shrugged. "You're still an important role regardless of what level," he assured him. "If tanky guys like you didn't exist, then it doesn't matter how powerful a wizard is if a barbarian can just run at him and slice him to death with an axe. Do you have as much fun as wizards to in the late-game? Admittedly, no, but after we finish one campaign you guys can and should always change roles."
"If our characters die, can we make entirely new ones?" Gabe asked. "And is death even permanent?"
"Eh…the answer to that is…yes and no," Mike explained after a few seconds' thought. "There ARE spells that can resurrect the dead, but those are mid-high level spells. Plus, resurrection tends to screw around with your combat capabilities, at least temporarily. But you'll have to wait to get access to those, and if Mary's the one who ends up getting killed…"
"…then we might have a problem," Mary finished. "Well, that's plenty of incentive not to die right there."
"Honestly, Clerics are the most overpowered class in my opinion," Mike commented. "They get heavy armor, they can fight in melee with things like maces, AND they get some of the most important spells in the game. But anyway, where were we? Ah, yes…if you die and decide you want to make a new character, I'll let you make that call. Sound good?"
"Yep!" everyone replied.
"Great!" Mike grinned. "Now back to the game."
/
"Gotcha!" Jeremy snarled as he sliced a goblin's head off with his sword. "And stay down!"
Mary raised her mace and swung it down onto another one's head. This was her second attack on the same goblin – the first one had missed. This time, her mace hit its mark, and the goblin died with a pitiful yelp.
"How many are there left?" Gabe asked as he took his blade out of a goblin's sliced-up corpse.
"Think we got almost all of them!" Fritz replied as he finished one off. To his great consternation, he had missed one of his attacks and had taken a hit as punishment for his screw-up, and had to wait til next turn to finish the job.
"Uh…guys?" Cassidy asked nervously. "I think you're forgetting something…"
The three orc warriors had been watching their forces battle their target. They growled angrily as they realized that their warriors were being effortlessly slaughtered, and now advanced to finish what their pathetic subordinates had failed.
"Think these guys are gonna be a bit tougher than their friends," Fritz muttered. "What's the game plan?"
"Have Liz, Fritz, and Jeremy take on each orc," Mary decided. "I'll back up Fritz since his armor isn't as high as Liz's or Jeremy's. We keep Susie and Cassidy safe like before, and have Gabe sneak attack and maybe try to kill one of them while they're busy."
Gabe smirked and went into stealth. "They won't know what hit'em," he promised.
The three orcs charged, and the front liners rushed to match them with steel. The Orc swung an axe at Liz's head, which she was able to block with her shield in time. She retaliated with a sword of her own, and this time she was able to get in a nice, clean hit on the orc. But to her surprise, the creature merely growled instead of collapsing in pain or death, and responded with another axe swing that would've killed her had it not been for her armor.
/
"Crap!" Liz exclaimed. "I rolled a 6 for damage and that didn't kill him?"
"Welcome to boss fights," Mike nonchalantly replied. "Would be a pretty shitty boss fight if it went down in one hit, wouldn't you agree?"
"Yeah, but what if we're not ready for this?" Cassidy asked worriedly.
Mike shook his head. "Keep in mind, this is level 1 D&D gameplay. This shouldn't be too hard. Just use Mary's strategy, and trust that things will work out for you. She is approaching this correctly from a tactical perspective."
"All right," Gabe agreed. "I trust her and I trust you. Let's get to it."
/
"Gah!" Fritz growled as an Orc warrior's axe embedded itself into his shoulder. The orc ripped the axe head out, and Fritz gritted his teeth. Another attack like that and he could kiss life good-bye."
"I've got this," Mary assured him. She placed a hand on Fritz's shoulder, and the Barbarian felt his wounds heal up and fade. Fritz nodded in thanks and swung his axe at the Orc's stomach, and grinned in satisfaction as he felt his axe connect with bone. The orc snarled in fury as it stumbled backward. It narrowed its eyes at Mary and moved to attack her instead, but her heavy armor deflected the blow.
In all of the confusion, nobody noticed that Gabe had disappeared. The assassin had entered stealth and crept around the three orcs, none of whom noticed him. He grinned as he snuck up behind the one attacking Jeremy, and readied his sword.
"You should watch your back, buddy," he muttered with a grin as he lunged forward, and…
/
"Oh, crap!" Mike exclaimed at Gabe's roll. "That's a 20! You just crit him!"
"Crit?" Gabe repeated. "What does that mean?"
"Oh, right, you haven't played any video games yet that incorporate the concept of a critical hit," Mike realized. "A critical hit is basically an attack that does a LOT more damage than a normal attack. There's a small chance of one of your attacks being particularly deadly, represented by a 20. And, oh God…"
"What is it?" Liz asked.
"Gabe entered Stealth to do a Backstab, which he succeeded in. Backstabs already do a lot more damage than a normal attack since the enemy can't see it coming," Mike explained, "and when that Backstab happens to be a crit..."
Fritz grinned. "I'm liking what I'm hearing already…"
"Roll your dice, Gabe," Mike ordered him. The ghost child did as he was told, and…
/
Jeremy stared as a sword suddenly erupted from the orc's heart, the creature clearly just as surprised as he was. It barely had a chance to cry out as a second blade sliced the creature's head cleanly off, revealing the face of a smug Gabe.
"Geez, man," Jeremy commented as the decapitated corpse collapsed onto the ground. "Overkill much?"
"So?" Gabe shrugged. "As far as I care, dead is dead. He pointed at the other two orc warriors. Now let's go help our friends!"
The two of them rushed at the orc warrior battling Liz, while Mary and Fritz continued to deal with the third. Cassidy decided to try out her Magic Missile, and while the damage from the spell wasn't high enough to kill the Orc Warrior, it weakened the creature just enough for Mary to finish him off with a blow to the head from her mace. Liz had been keeping up with the third warrior for the most part, but with reinforcements from Jeremy and Gabe, the orc had no chance of surviving and it was only a matter of time before the final orc warrior was killed.
"All right!" Fritz whooped. "We killed the raiding party! Man, are we good or what?"
The merchant peeked out from the wagon, where he'd been keeping refuge along with Cassidy and Susie. "Are they gone?" he asked. "Is the road safe again?"
"It is!" Mary confirmed. "None of us have been seriously injured, and we may now continue."
/
"You continue to travel along the road, and no other noteworthy incidents occur until you arrive at the city," Mike narrated. "The merchant thanks you for the security you provided, and gives to you the gold pieces that he has promised. The city is much larger than what you expected, and you instinctively understand that here is where you can truly get started on your adventures. And that," he finished, "is a good place to stop for today. What did you guys think?"
"That was so much fun!" Jeremy exclaimed. "And you described everything so well! I felt as though I were actually in there, fighting those goblins and orcs!"
"It felt like I was actually in something that could come out of Lord of the Rings!" Gabe fervently agreed. "And I can really understand why you enjoyed it so much in college, dad!"
"I can't wait to get more spells!" Cassidy gushed. "I want to be as cool as Gandalf!"
Mike chuckled. "Gandalf? What Gandalf did in those movies is party tricks compared to what you'll be able to do at level 20, Cass." Both Cassidy and Susie looked at each other excitedly, and even the normally subdued Mary was noticeably enthusiastic about the idea.
"Was that enough for us to level up?" Liz asked.
Mike thought for a moment. "Level ups can be incredibly complicated," he answered. "To keep things simple and to make it so that nobody feels like they're getting the short end of the stick, I'm going to have all of you level up at the same time. I probably will have you guys level up after this, but I'll probably take care of that next session. Do you guys like how your characters played out?"
Various noises of agreement emanated from the ghosts, though both Cassidy and Susie admitted that they would probably have to wait until a higher level to properly answer that question.
"I personally can't wait til we get you to higher level combat," Mike said with a smile. "I can really up the stakes then, and you'll need a good strategy to beat them. Enemy characters with their own class types, more powerful monsters, dragons, stronger undead, it's going to be great!"
"Nothing's fun without a little challenge behind it," Gabe commented.
"But everyone starts small, and Dungeons and Dragons is no exception to that rule." He started picking up everyone's character sheets, while the ghosts started putting away the other pieces. "Now, then, let's head over to my bedroom. I'll tell you all about this really out-of-control campaign that I played with my friends in college. A real clownfiesta, let me tell you…"
/
A/N: Unfortunately, that tale is for Mike and the ghosts to know, and them alone. Sorry :P
I tried to match the ghosts to each character type based on their behavior as animatronics or their actions in the past.
Mary - Cleric - This one should be obvious. I mean, come on, the Puppet who gives life? Hello? And wizards can't normally heal or raise the dead, so yeah. Besides, I firmly believe that the Cleric is the most important party member in a D&D campaign, and Mary is arguably the one of the most important animatronics in FNAF. 'Nuff said.
Gabe - Assassin - Despite being the leader of the Freddy Fazbear crew, Freddy is actually very sneaky and uses stealth very effectively in FNAF 1. And unlike the other animatronics, you CAN'T see him coming with the East Door light before he gets in and kills you. Just ask anybody who's ever done or attempted to do 4/20 mode.
Jeremy - Fighter - Bonnie is an animatronic that's a constant danger, but he's still relatively controlled and reserved in comparison to Foxy, who tries to bumrush you out of Pirate's Cove in FNAF1 and is incredibly dangerous and aggressive in FNAF2.
Foxy - Barbarian - Less restrained and more aggressive than the other animatronics, at least when he actually goes in for the kill. Plus, Barbarian is the basic class I think is the closest to being an actual pirate.
Susie - Druid - Chica likes to make or eat food, and druids can make food :P Okay, in all seriousness though, I'm not sure how to justify this one. I just had her as a druid since somebody needed to be one for the party.
Cassidy - Wizard - Golden Freddy is all about hallucinations and weird arcane behavior in FNAF1. And have you SEEN Golden Freddy with AI 20 in FNAF2? Dear God, that shit is insane.
Liz - Fighter - ...yeah...to be honest, there isn't really much justification for this one. The reason why I had her as a second Fighter is because I talked to my friend who's an expert in D&D, and he said that a party works best with two fighters or a fighter and a paladin for straight up front-line fighting. That's all there is to it...or maybe that's what I want you to think.
Dungeons and Dragons and other such tabletop games were some of my favorite weekend activities to play in the weekends at college. Forget studying, forget the looming science tests. On Saturday, I could just kick back and relax with barely a care in the world. I was channeling my enthusiasm for them through Mike this chapter, and I hope it showed.
I apologize if I didn't truly capture the essence of D&D to your satisfaction this chapter. Keep in mind that this was low level tabletop gaming, and things really aren't all that crazy at low levels. Especially for a party of level 1 characters, controlled by kids who have never heard of the game before and are completely new to the mechanics and how it works.
There will be other chapters like this in the future, one at high level for sure and at least one for medium level, if not more. Those battles will be far more intense than this one, with much more powerful enemies and with the epicness cranked way up.
A welcome reprieve for the ghosts, I think. But the darkness looms ever closer, and it shall not be kept waiting…