Todd Kenreck: I spoke with Satine Phoenix about what she loves about the D&D community, as well as her advice for anyone planning on playing a magic user.

Satine Phoenix: Maze Arcana is a group of orphans, lost characters who are trying to find their way in the world. None of us are playing humans, actually. I play a Kalashtar Scion. We have a Warforged, a Shifter, an Aasimar, and we're just trying to figure out where we belong and have not, in a year, figured that out.

I got started in D&D ... I was about 8 to 10 years old. I found one of the old starter boxes in my dad's basement, and I opened it up. And I've always loved fantasy and stuff, and this was just ... I get to play ... And I was kind of a loner, even though I'm an exhibitionist and wild child, but I was really drawn to the magic, so I basically made characters and played in my head by myself for like five years or so. And then in high school in drama club, I found that some of my friends were playing. So five years later, I was like, "I'm playing with you guys!" And they were like, "Uh, okay." And, yeah, I've been playing ever since I was 15.

Honestly, I think that people have been playing forever. We've all been, or we've been interested in playing. We're giving each other permission by talking about it, by streaming about it. We're giving each other permission to play again. And the world is a nutty place, like everything is crazy-pants right now, and we are used to playing video games to get out of our skin, but we don't wanna be alone anymore. And Facebook, even though you're around everybody all the time, you're completely connected, you're actually separated. So D&D and tabletop games actually brings people together. You can actually touch and laugh with the person next to you.

I think there is a class for everybody, and for me, I am drawn to the quieter, the ranged weapon class. But I don't really just want a bow, I want magic. I like the idea that I'm playing something that is completely different than anything I could play in my real life. So wizards, warlocks, like that. Assassins are kind of cool, too, 'cause I wouldn't be an assassin in real life.

My advice for people who want to play a magical class of some sort is start low, because if you start at too high a level, there's just too much to figure out. So start low, start at first level, and then gradually learn the class from there, whether it's wizards, warlocks, sorcerers. Make your way up, because there is just so many things, so many actions, reactions, bonus actions, and different features that you can weave into your character and stories that you can use to play and backgrounds. There's so much in each of the characters you can play with, but really start small. Learn it, build up to the next level, learn of all that, build up, build up. Unlike what we do for our shows, which is just start at fourth or sixth level and then have to scramble to remember where everything is.

I mean, I wanna cry every time I think about how amazing it is that we have a community. Dungeons & Dragons has been a part of my life for so long, and I have always kind of been able to bring people out. Like, "Oh, yeah, I've been interested in it." But now we play online, and Ruty and I have meet-up groups, and we've got I think like 1600 people in the Greater Los Angeles area that are like, "We are flag-waving members of the Dungeons & Dragons fanatics." And it's amazing.

We went to Gen Con, and I have never experienced anything like that before. It was direct response. I do all these things with Ruty and Geek & Sundry and Maze Arcana and Dungeons & Dragons, but we're all doing it together, 'cause we're all obsessed and we know it. But then walking in a convention and somebody saying, "Excuse me, I really love your GM Tips," or, "Excuse me, I'm really appreciative of what you do." I'm like ... It's the most magical thing. I actually cry it's so amazing.