Quote from Caerwyn_Glyndwr >>

Here's another question I thought up while preparing for my session today:

For those of you who play in person, what kinds of snacks and beverages do you all eat during play?

Personally, as the person who is hosting, I put out a selection of petite fours, cheese with crackers and apples, bagels, chips, and perhaps another pastry of some sort.  Drinks are D&D themed cocktails that me and my SO came up with--potions of heroism, goodberry mules, potions of giant strength, and potions of healing--served in potion bottles for a bit of some fun D&D flare.

 
Man, I wish I ate that well during a D&D game.  I play virtually/remotely so my D&D snacks tend to be 'whatever I've got laying around', with Discord's noise cancelling on so I can nosh in the background when I'm not speaking.  If I were to play in person though, little I know of beats the bonding power of a good pizza.  Not only is pizza delicious, but everybody in the game sharing alike from the same box(es) is exactly what I want from the table during play, too.  It takes a special kind of ******* to be a jerk to someone you're in the middle of sharing a pizza with.

>>>Caerwyn_Glyndwr

For those of you who play in person, what kinds of snacks and beverages do you all eat during play?

An excellent topic! 

Snyder's of Hanover pretzel pieces (cheddar or jalapeno) imagined as a food portion.

A basket of blue berries or strawberries can be Good Berries.

Any zero sugar fruit beverage cut in half with liquid aloe vera can be imagined as a potion: healing potion, potion of heroism, etcetera.

Oh, and homemade pizza!

Our group usually does food themes, and everyone contributes. The DM's wife (our barbarian) loves to host, so she always has a ton of snack foods and usually an entree. We eat before we play, and snack while we play. There are always grapes. Usually have some thematic cocktails available, and some of us bring sides, or homemade bread, or desserts. It's kinda a free-for-all potluck every time. All of us are extra, so we have to show each other up, lol.

That's a lot of effort! Sometimes my DM's wife makes cookies. Usually we don't eat anything, though we tend to play right after dinner and sometimes people bring fast food with them.

Edit: You can drink aloe vera?

The only in-person game I have right now is the one I DM for, and generally I only drink water and graze a bit on snacks while DMing because my plate's already full, metaphorically speaking

We rotate who hosts and have a couple future Italian nonnas in the party though, so there'll be some ridiculous spread -- I'll usually contribute something from the gourmet pie (chocolate bourbon pecan for the win) or gourmet cookie (they have an almond/cashew one that might legitimately be the Greatest Cookie Ever Made) places near me

>>>ChoirOfFire

You can drink aloe vera?

Indeed, you can!   

Not only that, aloe vera can even be slurped in gel form.

Google this:

Fruit of the Earth Health & Wellness Aloe Vera Drink

Quote from Caerwyn_Glyndwr >>

Here's another question I thought up while preparing for my session today:

For those of you who play in person, what kinds of snacks and beverages do you all eat during play?

 Long story short, my group rarely has snacks as we don't need them when playing in-person.

I personally tend to avoid eating while playing. I don't care what the other players do regarding snacks but I have some sensory issues with food and don't want to get crumbs or oil on my dice and pencils. Neurodivergence sucks sometimes lmao

Quote from MonteneroDomina >>

>>>ChoirOfFire

You can drink aloe vera?

 

 

 

Indeed, you can!   

Not only that, aloe vera can even be slurped in gel form.

Google this:

Fruit of the Earth Health & Wellness Aloe Vera Drink

 Wait really? Last time I accidentally ingested aloe vera gel, my mouth tasted horrendously bitter for the rest of the day

Here's my question:

Who was your first character? What assumptions (if any) did you have about 5e's (or any RPG's) system?

My first character was a Errich Tosscobble, a halfling wizard with the hermit background. He lived in the forest for several years, studying the lore and mysteries of the multiverse. I decided that he got his surname after his mad grandfather, who would sit on the site of the road, hurling cobblestones at passers-by. If memory serves, Errich had an Intelligence score of 8. I don't remember what spells I chose, but I recall spamming a lot of fire bolts after running out of slots.

Quote from deadPan_c >>

Here's my question:

Who was your first character? What assumptions (if any) did you have about 5e's (or any RPG's) system?

My first character was a Errich Tosscobble, a halfling wizard with the hermit background. He lived in the forest for several years, studying the lore and mysteries of the multiverse. I decided that he got his surname after his mad grandfather, who would sit on the site of the road, hurling cobblestones at passers-by. If memory serves, Errich had an Intelligence score of 8. I don't remember what spells I chose, but I recall spamming a lot of fire bolts after running out of slots.

My first 5e character was for a one-shot Joe Starr was DMing -- Torkodzabhoum "Boomer" Jorgrin, a dwarf tempest cleric who's escaped prison after being convicted of a crime he didn't commit

Thus began a tradition of non-human characters with nigh-unpronounceable names that get shortened into nicknames, a tradition that currently includes my copper dragonborn Circle of the Blighted druid Aerauschatar Venebriax, aka "Wash"

Quote from deadPan_c >>

Who was your first character? What assumptions (if any) did you have about 5e's (or any RPG's) system?

My first character was Crusty, the Dragonborn Sorcerer. I assumed that spellcasters would be simple + easy to play... How wrong I was.

Next time I got to try D&D, I chose Crusty but switched his class to Fighter. We played the Sunless Citadel and I got to bash things. It was fun.

Nowadays, I enjoy a very different type of character than I did back then. That being said, it was still a wonderful and enjoyable way to start playing D&D.

Quote from deadPan_c >>

Who was your first character? What assumptions (if any) did you have about 5e's (or any RPG's) system?

Heh. My first character was a human rogue named Rue. It was 2e, so I rolled 3d6 in order for stats and absolutely everything was god-tier except Charisma. My SO at the time was helping me with my character, so I just listened to everything I was told - including that I couldn't play a chaotic alignment or a neutral alignment like I wanted. I had a blast being surly and accidentally good at everything. Only played one session, sadly, and I didn't play D&D again for another 7 years or so.

I had no preconceptions about what D&D was, and it wasn't until many years later when I picked up the game again that I realized my ex had been a controlling jerk who was jealous of the stats I'd rolled. But hey, at least one good thing came out of that relationship! 

Quote from AntonSirius >>

Quote from deadPan_c >>

Here's my question:

Who was your first character? What assumptions (if any) did you have about 5e's (or any RPG's) system?

My first character was a Errich Tosscobble, a halfling wizard with the hermit background. He lived in the forest for several years, studying the lore and mysteries of the multiverse. I decided that he got his surname after his mad grandfather, who would sit on the site of the road, hurling cobblestones at passers-by. If memory serves, Errich had an Intelligence score of 8. I don't remember what spells I chose, but I recall spamming a lot of fire bolts after running out of slots.

 

My first 5e character was for a one-shot Joe Starr was DMing -- Torkodzabhoum "Boomer" Jorgrin, a dwarf tempest cleric who's escaped prison after being convicted of a crime he didn't commit

Thus began a tradition of non-human characters with nigh-unpronounceable names that get shortened into nicknames, a tradition that currently includes my copper dragonborn Circle of the Blighted druid Aerauschatar Venebriax, aka "Wash"

I just realized Boomer also started another tradition with my characters, which was always wanting to tweak and homebrew stuff. He has the Clan Crafter background, but instead of taking any of the usual tool proficiencies I made him a tattoo artist

Quote from deadPan_c >>

Here's my question:

Who was your first character? What assumptions (if any) did you have about 5e's (or any RPG's) system?

My first character was a Errich Tosscobble, a halfling wizard with the hermit background. He lived in the forest for several years, studying the lore and mysteries of the multiverse. I decided that he got his surname after his mad grandfather, who would sit on the site of the road, hurling cobblestones at passers-by. If memory serves, Errich had an Intelligence score of 8. I don't remember what spells I chose, but I recall spamming a lot of fire bolts after running out of slots.

 My first character was a Dwarf general who faked his death to get away from his duty. The problem is he was level 1 XD Then another problem was that the DM made him an alcoholic (I had no choice in the matter, thankfully I very soon had a chance to DM myself and found I liked it more than playing). But 80% of my RPG anything characters are Dwarves and 80% of those are fighters, and that is a character I am never tired of playing.

Quote from Caerwyn_Glyndwr >>

Here's another question I thought up while preparing for my session today:

For those of you who play in person, what kinds of snacks and beverages do you all eat during play?

Personally, as the person who is hosting, I put out a selection of petite fours, cheese with crackers and apples, bagels, chips, and perhaps another pastry of some sort.  Drinks are D&D themed cocktails that me and my SO came up with--potions of heroism, goodberry mules, potions of giant strength, and potions of healing--served in potion bottles for a bit of some fun D&D flare.

My group doesn't do anything fancy. Or at least, we haven't so far.

Normally we get chips, sodas, and sometimes doughnuts. If the session goes until dinnertime, we get pizzas. 

Quote from deadPan_c >>

Here's my question:

Who was your first character? What assumptions (if any) did you have about 5e's (or any RPG's) system?

My first character ever was a premade High Elf Wizard that came in the Starter Set. I named him Theren Liadon, and he proceeded to die in the first session, because our DM hadn't read the rules and didn't know how most spells worked. So whenever I tried to cast a spell that he wasn't familiar with, he just winged it without looking at the rulebooks (which he did own) and made something up based on the spell's name. Take a guess what he ruled happened when I tried to cast burning hands on a lion? (Hint: it ended up with my character on fire with a lion biting me to death.)

Before I first played 5e, my only knowledge of the game came from the few Studio C D&D sketches and my cousin who described it as "you get to play as Lord of the Rings characters", both of which are pretty inaccurate descriptions/depictions of the game, so I really didn't know what I was getting into. And the first few sessions I played through were unimaginably frustrating because our DM refused to read the rulebooks (which he did own) or let us see the rulebooks, so I had to buy them all and then teach myself how to DM using the core rulebooks and several dozen Matthew Colville videos. 

I actually "pre game" my main group by making dinner for them (it's literally a mix of family and close friends, so...).  Usually it's hot dogs and traditional sides like potato salad, but I did chicken marsala not too long ago.  Anyway, there's usually no need for snacks after that.  Curiously, I've noticed I'm the only one who takes caffeine as game fuel (my Mountain Dew allowance), everyone else seems to be drinking plain or carbonated water variants.  

New venue I'm starting at has a no food/drink policy in the play spaces, so will need to figure out how to work my calories, caffeine and hydration needs around that.

The PbP group I think is aware I usually post while halfway through one of my two cups of coffee a day ... and they definitely know which are the days I've spiked the coffee with some more worldly/mundane than fantastical (but still fantastic) spirits.

My normal snack is whatever's on sale, but usually chips (crisps) and some wine. Or whiskey mixed with espresso.

My first character was about 30 years ago in AD&D, an elf called Pyros Pathfinder. Now I don't have a character, just a whole world of NPC's!

The first character I remember making was called Veishakra, and they were a Nomad Psion (3.5e). They were an amalgamation of the tortured souls of a village of barely psionic people who were massacred, back from the dead to get revenge. They had a big sword made of crystal and could hover inches above the ground at will and teleport behind you, but I did that classic new player behavior of deciding my class would be a secret from the party, so I pretended I was playing a Fighter for a few sessions, and got away with it. The payoff was a lot of vague confusion about why I would bother doing that.

I say that's the first one I remember, because it's such a weird and specific idea that I can't believe it was actually my first. Still, it does amuse me, looking back at how many of my characters have screwed with gender before I really had the idea to question mine. Veishakra was a collective, so they got to use the "they/them" pronouns the *other* way. ;)

Anyway I had the idea that you could make anything you wanted in 3.5, and that obviously wasn't totally correct, but I was still pretty impressed with the range of options. Of course, I would later discover just how few of those options were actually any good, and come to value total mechanical customization less and less, in favor of curated material that guides both play and narrative to meet genre conventions. But I digress.

My first 5e character was called Nolzur Two-Eyes, a goblin Fighter who hid in human society long enough to learn the art of whittling, and then opened a shop where he sold Marvelous Miniatures. It was not a viable business, even as a front for various illicit activities, so he had to go on adventures to keep it open. Fun guy, probably running on some antisemitic stereotypes looking back on him though. There's so goddamn many of those lurking around, you don't even notice them sometimes.

Quote from theologyofbagels >>

Usually have some thematic cocktails available,

 Since I’m always looking to learn more of others’ cocktail tastes, I have to ask—what thematic cocktails do you go with?