Anyone can play D&D, and a D&D player can come from anywhere. Our “Player Profile” series hopes to highlight the diverse backgrounds of D&D players that have passed through our doors.
Tell us about yourself, what’s your background?
I’m a rather nosy person, I think, partly because I like getting to know people, their stories, ambitions, and dreams.
Growing up in Hong Kong, a city that is as lively as it is small, I’ve sought these stories from those who’ve come from other places, how they came to be here, where they’re going, and where they would like to be going. Hong Kong isn’t everyone’s final destination, which in turn breeds a sense of urgency to spend time with people you want to, before they leave. Such is the ever-transient nature of the city I want to call home.
There is an irony, perhaps, that I work in marketing at an internet privacy company. In my spare time I scramble around Hong Kong, binge Twitter, TV shows, and lemon tea in unhealthy quantities, and enjoy good food and board games with good people.
One of these people, my flatmate Alex, plays D&D once a week. I know this because when we started living together, I began hearing bursts of laughter coming from his bedroom for one evening every week, and soon found out that he was playing D&D with some friends who were overseas. He DM’d a Halloween one-shot to give a few of us a taste of the game, and soon-after I found myself juggling two campaigns as an elf druid on a rumspringa and a strong-headed halfling monk.
Tell us about your D&D character
Art by NAVIVANnn
Go-sang Rhee is a halfling monk who has a propensity to use her head, literally, in challenging situations.
The villagers of her home town aren’t really sure where Go-sang (or Guh) comes from. Some older folk say her mother left her at the doorsteps of the monastery near the mountains, while others say she ran away from home.
She’s normally mild-mannered, but if you gave her a tankard of brambleberry meade at the inn she gets more … animated. The detestable village head, Jodrul Grubblespike, made a jab at Go-sang’s size and ended up challenging her to a drinking contest, with the winner choosing the loser’s fate. Jodrul now cleans out the pigsties.
Nursing a small hangover, Go-sang felt an odd sense of purpose after her victory. Maybe there were more people like Jodrul that she could best, with or without drink. She packed up her things and began her way through the woods, hoping to help (and drink) wherever she can.
Why do you play D&D?
I’m relatively new to D&D—I only really started playing regularly this year—but I’ve quickly grown to love many aspects of the game, from the characters’ interactions with each other to finding solutions, as ridiculous as they may be, to overcome the challenge in front of us. I especially like how off-kilter each session can get from something as simple as an interaction with a barkeep.
The one thing that keeps me coming back is the story-telling, the fact that we are collectively creating and telling a story that we are also the characters of. From mounting a flying manticore to attempting innumerous times to stage a coup in a gnome settlement, each session always manages to take wonderfully absurd, and sometimes sobering turns in the story that leaves you wondering what will come next for your band of companions.
I was hesitant at first about how to act, or role-play, because you’re not quite sure how it’ll be received by everyone else around the table—I looked to more experienced players to see how it could be done—but once you realize that there’s no pressure to be or do one thing or another, the game became instantly more enjoyable.
There’s something heartening about meeting up on a weekend around a table for a few hours, ready to face whatever foes we’ll meet on the road together, having a good laugh at our natural 1s, and collective whoops at a critical hit that ends a monster we were fending off. Spending time with people who’d like nothing better than to fight monsters and explore the new world you’re all creating—that’s what it’s all about 😉 .
Ceinwen started playing Dungeons & Dragons in 2018, and has been hooked ever since. In her free time you’ll normally find her either bingeing TV shows and movies, playing board games, or tending to her plants.