D&D: A Spectator's Sport

We almost skipped what turned out to be the highlight of PAX. The PA kids have an ongoing D&D game with Wizards of the Coast that was originally designed to show off the new 4E system. Their podcast of the game has proven to be so popular that they have continued their adventures sporadically throughout the years. This was the first PAX where the event took place in front of a live studio audience i.e. us.

The show was Saturday afternoon, so by then we had thoroughly learned the two major lessons of ‘Go to everything that the PA kids are involved in’ and ‘Go early because the line will be epic’. We arrived almost 2 hours early to take our place pretty close to the front of the line, which quickly filled out behind us with a thousand people.

The game itself is hard to describe. It was a combination of stand up comedy, D&D, good friends, and a ton of inside jokes. Kurtz and Krahulik are in rare form for the entire adventure. If you’re steeped in the geek culture at all, you owe it to yourself to watch this 2 and a half hour game.



Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Part V
Part VI
Part VII
Part VIII
Part IX
Part X

After the show, we were slow to leave because we wanted to get a closer look at the table they were using. Everyone filed out, except for a handful of us, and the PA kids. I happened to have a first edition PA book in my bag on the off chance an autograph opportunity arose. It arose.

I scored signatures from both Mike and Jerry, and I'm now the proud owner of a piece of internet history.