Baby's First D&D Campaign!

Yesterday, we took Family Game Night to a whole new level. Yesterday, Emily played her first Dungeon and Dragons game!

Emily is only six but she has a great imagination. Even though the starter pack I got off Amazon said "12+" I figured we should give it a try.

Todd and Emily picked out characters from the pre-generated ones that came in the starter pack. Emily played a High Elf Wizard, who she decided was male, named Skeleton. Todd was also male, he picked a Cleric Hill Dwarf named Thanagard the Healer. I was the Dungeon Master.

I had read through the rules before we started but I was a little rusty. All the years of playing Hero System games had Todd and I a bit confused for a bit. I honestly fudged some of the finer points - like how many hit points to take in battle. It's something I'll have to look up before our next game session.

Even so, Emily had a blast. She played her character pretty well, even adopting a male sounding voice for when her character talked. We helped her at the beginning but by the time we got to our 3rd combat, she was lobbing magic missiles at goblins like an old pro.

I had been a little afraid that Emily would be bored and want to stop playing. But when we got to a good stopping point, she wanted to keep going! She's looking very forward to our next game.

The starter pack adventure should get us through quite a few more sessions. It's originally divided into five game sessions but we stopped in the middle of the first game session. Once we finish, I'll see how we can branch out!

War of the Seasons Book 2: The Half-Blood – A Fantasy Novel

Image: http://www.ailionora.com

In the second book of the War of the Seasons trilogy, readers are taken back to the magical world of Ailionora.

The Half-Blood takes place a few months after the events in The Human. Story has stayed in Ailionora to be with the love of her life, the elf, Eirnin. But things are tense as the elves prepare for war with the fae. Things get even worse when Eirnin is poisoned which propels Story on a quest to save him.

The Half-Blood is a great sequel that I enjoyed even a little more than the first book, The Human. Story grows as a character as she finds herself between a rock and a hard place as she tries to get an antidote for Eirnin. She even enlists the aid of the Spring Prince, Morrigann. He is, in my opinion, the most interesting character in this book as some of his past comes to light in the story.

I would recommend The Half-Blood to anyone, but especially for people who enjoy fantasy. War of the Seasons Book 2: The Half-Blood is available in paperback, Kindle and Nook formats.

Note: I received a copy of this book for review purposes.

War of the Seasons Book 1: The Human – A Fantasy Novel

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The Human is the first book of the War of the Seasons series byJanine K. Spendlove. This book is an engaging fantasy novel that follows a young girl named Story as she journeys to a strange new world and the quest she embarks on to save it.

I love fantasy books, and the ones that involve someone from our world going to a fantasy world are some of my favorites. I think this may have something to do with the fact that I would love to find myself magically transported to a magical world.

The Human is this type of book as it follows 17 year old Story as she finds herself in the world, Ailionora, after falling in a cave while spelunking. She gets drawn into this strange, new world finding that she is in the middle of an ancient feud that exists between the elves and faeries of Ailionora.

Story is quickly joined by an elf named Eirnin. This book, in part, revolves around the relationship between these two characters as Eirnin helps Story along her way, teaching her about Ailionora as they go.

This is a tale that has many levels. On the onset, it seems like most fantasy novels, but it does have a deeper layer as Story tries to discover who she is, what her strengths are and how to deal with extreme loss. I enjoyed this book immensely.

Note: I received a copy of this book for review purposes.