In this episode of BYU-Idaho Radio’s The Spot Podcast, Savannah McCauley, Breanna Latouche, Maiya Waddell and guest host Nix Johnson talk about board games and Dungeons and Dragons.
Gaming with all types of board games can help connect with one another or in some cases, even tear things down so be careful of what you play. “Monopoly is a good one to hate,” said Savannah.
Many games like Pictionary, Settlers of Catan and even newer games like Takenoko can be a good source of making friends here on campus and also foster skills that can help with classes and more.
Some games are very unique and come with certain things to play them. Like Disney Scene-it.
“It was a DVD, but also a board game,” Breanna said.
The concept of the game is to guess which scenes are in a Disney movie and you have to guess correctly. There’s even a DVD that comes with it.
Even games that haven’t been played in years are still fun to play, like Candy Land, Twister and others.
Another good game to build up friendships and more is Dungeons and Dragons or D&D for short.
“Basically, how it works is you have like a story, you have a place, and everyone has characters that they've made, and those characters have different abilities,” Savannah said.
Over time as you play with people around you in a group and defeat enemies in your own world, you make companionships and even friends with people around you.
“So, in my first campaign, we were trying to get to this island and figure out what was causing these mysterious storms. And I was a kobold that followed this evil god. We're on this ship and wanted to fish. And so one of the other players was, like, a bird. And so they picked me up and I went. We went fishing in the sea. We decided to draw a picture of it,” Breanna said.
Overall, these kinds of activities are around on campus if you look for them. For example, every Thursday night at the Manwaring Center in the Crossroads, dungeon masters set up tables for people to play D&D, as well as other games.
Transcript
Savannah McCauley: This is the spot a BYU Idaho Radio production where we talk about what you're talking about at BYU Idaho. The views and opinions of this podcast are not that of BYU Idaho Radio or the university and are solely the opinions of the hosts. Today's hosts are Maya Waddell, Brianne, Latouche and our guest host, Nick Johnson. And I'm Savannah McCauley. Today we're talking about DD and board games. One of my favorite subjects of all time because I love actually collecting board games. I have almost actually over 40 at this. and D and D is something we do weekly, in fact, with these two ladies right here. So we've got a good group to talk about this. and we're excited about it. So anything.
When it comes to a hot take about board games, are there any ones you don't like
When it comes to a hot take about board games, guys, are there any ones that you don't like board games or D and D? Something about it that you don't like?
Brianne Latouche: Monopoly.
Savannah McCauley: Monopoly is a good one to hate.
Brianne Latouche: I played with, some family friends once. We had to stay at their house for a while and. And we were playing it and we were starting to get really angry with each other. So we were like, you know what? We'll just, we'll stop playing this game. We had like this joke that it was ruining relationships since 1935.
Savannah McCauley: No, that's a fair point. Honestly.
Nix Johnson: On top of that one, might I add Pictionary.
Savannah McCauley: Oh, my goodness. Pictionary.
Nix Johnson: A, especially in the older version, takes forever. B, almost ruined my parents marriage because they were on their honeymoon when they realized they hadn't actually played a game together. Like, just those two. And they didn't realize how competitive they were.
Savannah McCauley: Exactly.
Nix Johnson: On their honeymoon, like, ready to throttle each other. This might not last super long. So any game that makes you overly competitive, I'm like, not for me.
Savannah McCauley: Nope, nope. I'm good. What about you, Maya?
Maya Waddell: I would say the Game of Life is one that I think really tears people two.
Savannah McCauley: That's fair. That is fair. I don't know. For me, because I'm such a connoisseur of board games, a lot of the basics bother me. Like, let's play. Sorry, let's play Life. Because, like, I've played those games 50,000 times. I want to play this cool game called Takenoko. Like, come on. So it bothers me when people are always wanting to play the basic things when I want to play something kind of fun and different, you know? but I understand because people already know how to play those games, that they are more comfortable playing those games versus if I bring out Takanoko they're going to have to learn how to play it. And I understand that that's probably something why they would rather play those games. Right. So, you know, I understand the other side of it, but as far as, like, games that I really like, I'd say like Betrayal on House of the Hill or On Top of the House of the Hill on House of the At. House on the Hill. Is that right?
Nix Johnson: Something like that.
Savannah McCauley: Betrayal at House on the Hill. Anyway, it's a very good game where you kind of, like, build the map as you play, and then you're, like, going through this big mansion, and then you have to solve a mystery with your friends, and then one of your friends might turn on you. It's a really fun game. So, that's one of my favorites.
Brianne Latouche: I think a similar game like that is Small World. I think that's what it's called.
Brianna Latouche: Yes. I've only played it once, but it's really fun. Yeah.
Brianne Latouche: The board game that I really liked as a kid, it was called Disney Scene-it.
Brianne Latouche: Yes, it was a dvd, but also a board game. And you'd have, like, your own piece, and you'd put in the DVD of this play, and then it would play, like, a scene or a quote from a movie, and you'd have to guess what Disney movie it was. It was so much fun, and I was not good at it.
Savannah McCauley: But it's fun, though.
Brianne Latouche: It was really fun.
Savannah McCauley: It's a really fun thing. And sometimes I'm like, where did you get this scene from? It's like, the most, like, obscure, obscure scene ever. Like, what. What is this? It is a very fun game, though. I love having the synchronization of the DVD with the board game. And you're all kind of in the same area with this big TV with all the stuff. It is really fun. Absolutely. Maya.
Maya Waddell: I would say matching games are pretty fun, too.
Savannah McCauley: Yes.
Maya Waddell: just the ability to, like, especially the Disney one. We had that when we were kids. That was fun to see, like, Mickey and Minnie and try to, like, match them up.
Savannah McCauley: So that's so fun. That is true.
Boggle is so underrated. I love Boggle. Specifically the bigger versions
Yeah. Next.
Nix Johnson: Oh, I might catch flack for this, but Boggle is so underrated.
Savannah McCauley: You love Boggle. Specifically the bigger versions.
Nix Johnson: Like, there's a five by five and a six by six, rather than just having a four by four area. You're just trying to find words and all these little things. But when you have a family that likes making up their own words, it can get really funny. Especially when you, like, only have a certain amount of Times you can call them out for it.
Nix Johnson: And so then they have to like look it up on Google. And if it's an actual words, then like you can make special rules where they get like double points. If it's not a word, then they lose points. I just, I think it's so fun. And those little word like game advertisements on your phone are the closest thing I've ever gotten to actually downloading a game on there because I just love it. It's so much fun to find these little words.
Savannah McCauley: They're so fun. I love Boggle. I have played Boggle with Nyx and I can attest she is a very good player. you know, if you play with her, just expect to know that it's going to be tough competition.
Nix Johnson: I had some practice.
Savannah McCauley: It's really fun. There are so many different games. Is there one that you guys think would be like underrated? Like something that a lot of people should love but they just don't know about it.
Nix Johnson: Ooh, have you guys heard of Splendor?
Savannah McCauley: Splendor's a good one. I think it's a good one.
Nix Johnson: Like it's not like brand new, but it's new.
Nix Johnson: Ish.
Nix Johnson: As in like the last few years. And I feel like board games take a little bit to catch on.
Savannah McCauley: They really do.
Nix Johnson: But it's like, it's a mixture card game strategy. You're trying to earn 15 points before anybody else. But it's really, it takes on.
Savannah McCauley: The cards are like jewels.
Nix Johnson: Yeah.
Savannah McCauley: So you're like jewels. You're trying to collect jewels that are worth different points, but they're worth different points if you match them with other types of jewels.
Nix Johnson: Yeah.
Savannah McCauley: And things like that.
Nix Johnson: four blue and four green ones that you can attract like at this noble person who gives you more points. So it's a very heavy strategy game. But it's, it's pretty fun. I like it.
Another underrated game that Maya feels like is severely underrated is gamer Monopoly
Savannah McCauley: That one's a really good one to mention another one I feel like is kind of underrated. Now we did talk about Monopoly, but this one's different. Gamer Monopoly.
Nix Johnson: Oh yes.
Savannah McCauley: So if you've never played gamer Monopoly because you're like, that's a Monopoly. I have shunned Monopoly out of my life. I promise you. Gamer Monopoly is different. It is very, very fun. So basically what gamer Monopoly is, is, it's kind of, it's very similar to regular Monopoly. But what is different is they have bosses that you fight every single time you go around. Go. So you can like fight this boss in the middle of the board. And you basically roll the die and try to beat the boss. Right. If you beat the boss, you get extra coins or extra points or something that will affect the game. And then after 10 rounds, you fight the last boss and then you count up points and that's whoever has the most points at that point wins. So it's not as much as a long game, more of a limited kind of time limit where you're trying to get all of this stuff in or.
Savannah McCauley: All the points in Monopoly. Another thing that you get to do in gamer Monopoly is you drop coins on the board. Like when, for example, if somebody rolls like a power because there's a power die along with the like move die if they roll a power. Yeah, it's very Mario based and you can roll something like a little pow box and that would affect everyone else on the board and have to drop physical coin pieces onto the board. And then if you pass those coin pieces while you're playing, you get their coins, you get their money. So it's really fun. A very good version of Monopoly, but I feel like it's severely underrated. People just don't know about it. And they should because it's the best version of Monopoly ever. So should try it out. And then there's. There's different ones. So there's like regular Mario gamer Monopoly. Then there's like, Mario Kart one. There are several different games too. So I think there was an animal crossing one at one point, but I haven't played that one. I have an animal crossing Monopoly, but I don't know if it's gamer Monopoly or regular Monopoly. So that's why I haven't touched it yet. But. But yeah. Anybody else about an underrated game?
Brianne Latouche: This one really isn't. It's not really underrated, but I feel like I don't hear about it a lot. It's the game Risk.
Savannah McCauley: Yes.
Brianne Latouche: My brother loves that game and he's really good at it and it makes everybody else mad so we don't fail. But it's actually like a really fun game, like trying to conquer other countries. And I don't know, I feel like it's not talked about a lot anymore. But like Settlers of Catan is.
Savannah McCauley: I know. And I would say those are probably similar, right? Risk and Catan, they're a little bit. Yeah, kind of a little bit.
Brianne Latouche: Sellers of Catan. You like, build roads and you get movies.
Savannah McCauley: That is a good point though. I don't know if we've talked about Risk or Catan yet. In this episode. Like, both of those are great games, so that's a great one to point out. What about you, Maya? Is there one we haven't talked about yet that you're like, come on, people.
Maya Waddell: What about Apples to Apples?
Savannah McCauley: Oh, that's a good one.
Maya Waddell: Pretty fun game.
Nix Johnson: I feel like it depends on the group.
Savannah McCauley: It can be fun or it could be awful. That is true. Like, if you play it with your, like, fhe group, it might be not as fun as if you're playing with your besties. Right. That is like, Like, I don't know. I've had it at fhe before, and it's kind of like I don't know you well enough to know whether you're trying to be funny or if you just, like, don't know me, you know? And it's like, do I laugh or am I trying to be sympathetic to you because you're trying to get to know me? You know, it's hard to decide in that specific scenario, but I do think it's a great one.
Maya Waddell: Oh, yeah.
Savannah McCauley: Yeah, absolutely.
Is there one childhood game you miss but don't play anymore
What about. Is there one that you guys played as a kid that you, like, don't play anymore, but you kind of miss for me? Candyland?
Maya Waddell: Oh, yeah.
Savannah McCauley: Haven't played it since I was really little. I mean, I probably did at one point, but, like, I don't remember. Very rarely have I played it since I was a kid.
Maya Waddell: Does Twister count?
Savannah McCauley: Yeah, absolutely. Twister's a great one. That was really fun. But, yeah, I can't see myself doing that right now. I'm almost 30. I can't handle that anymore.
Nix Johnson: There was a Monsters Inc. Match card game that we used to play as kid.
Savannah McCauley: Oh, that's so fun.
Maya Waddell: Adorable.
Savannah McCauley: Monsters Inc. Is the best, too. Like, I. When Monsters University came out, I was like, I have to watch this. But anyway, that would be cool if they made a Monsters University one, too. And you could play it now. Like, they made it for adults because the people who watched it, like, grew.
Nix Johnson: There's more than 10 cards you had to make.
Savannah McCauley: That would be cool. What about you, Brianna?
Brianne Latouche: It would actually be live.
Maya Waddell: Oh, really?
Brianne Latouche: my family played that sometimes. We also had, like, a video game version, but, yeah, we loved playing Life and Candyland. Oh, shoot. and ladders.
Savannah McCauley: That's a good one. That's a good one, too. There was a lot of games we play as a kids, and then I just don't play them as much anymore because they're more for kids, you know. They're so fun to remember, though, because there's so many good, like, family memories, right?
Maya Waddell: Yeah.
Any crazy memories about board games from your family
Savannah McCauley: Speaking of memories, any crazy memories about board games? I remember playing for just an example from my family. I remember playing Monopoly with Them. Of course, it's Monopoly. And my older brother, he is this like great historic, like he loves history, he loves like the finances of history and like, tactics and stuff. So if you play with him in Monopoly, you're going to lose. And so every time as a little kid, because he's like eight years older than me, so like completely different, like ages whatsoever. Right. So I'd be like, you know, eight and my brother's like 16 and he's just like dominating the board. And of course I get upset because I, you know, I'm an 8 year old and I want to win Monopoly and I can't because my brother is so good at it. And so I remember doing that so many times and like, really wanting to beat him. And I never did, obviously, because he was so good at it and he was so much older than me and knew how to do things, you know, so it was just, it was a lot of fun, but also a lot of like, chaos. You know what I mean?
Nix Johnson: Yeah, yeah.
Savannah McCauley: yeah. What about you guys?
Nix Johnson: Goes back again to Pictionary, where it's just kind of a crazy story.
Savannah McCauley: Yeah.
Nix Johnson: I don't know why we ever play this game as a family. Considered what happened the first time my parents played, but my mom, bless her heart, loved the woman to death. Cannot draw to save her life.
Savannah McCauley: Oh, no.
Nix Johnson: Play Pictionary. And she's sitting there and she's like trying to draw. And it's one of those where, like, the teams are competing against each other to draw the same thing and, you know, have the one team guess it first. And so she's trying to draw. It gets to the point where she slaps her hand down on the table, like traces her hand, but she's like drawing all this stuff and we're like, it's a geyser. Like it's all this stuff. And the other team just goes, it's a turkey. And we're like, what, mother? What on earth is that? Like, it was the most horrific drawing. Like, you couldn't try to make it worse. It was hung up on the fridge for months.
Savannah McCauley: Like, it was just so funny. See those kinds of things. Even though Pictionary can be quite annoying sometimes it's funny to see those kinds of things and then like the guesses you have and then you're like, that's not at all what that was like. Not at all.
Nix Johnson: Reference to the scene too. Like, if we ever play again and we. We can't guess it, we just go, it's a turkey. And then the person knows that we have no clue what's going on.
Savannah McCauley: I guess for me, the turkey also. I was gonna say turkey, because when you trace your hand, it always reminds me of when you're a little kid and you make the turkeys for Thanksgiving and like, what, first grade, you know what I mean?
Nix Johnson: She only got like, halfway and she was on top of her already drawn drawing.
Savannah McCauley: Oh, no. You would think she'd erase it or something.
Nix Johnson: Grab a new piece of paper.
Savannah McCauley: Or a new piece of paper. What about you guys?
Maya Waddell: I don't know about, like, crazy memories, but I just remember, like, especially in Uno, I'd lose all the time. my brother would always win and I'd be sad because I'm like, always losing.
Savannah McCauley: Such a savage game.
Maya Waddell: I know.
Savannah McCauley: Oh, we had one of those Uno.
Nix Johnson: Things as a kid where, like, if.
Savannah McCauley: You smack the top of it, it's like, attack Uno.
Nix Johnson: Yeah, Attack Uno. So you wouldn't know how many cards you're getting. Sometimes it would be one and sometimes it'd be like six. It just spits it out at you like super fast.
Savannah McCauley: Yes.
Nix Johnson: And it's like, well, let's see how much you're actually getting death.
Savannah McCauley: Like, like, what the heck? That's amazing. Those are always so crazy, though.
Brianne Latouche: For my family, we have this game called Anomia. It's where you, like, battle each other. So if you have. If your card has the same symbol as somebody else's, you would, like, battle, I guess. And. And each card has, like, a different topic to say your opponents like a subject from that topic first. And so my dad, what he does is he'll just shout out random words and confuse you so that he gets the word right. And then you're just like.
Savannah McCauley: Like what?
Brianne Latouche: He shouted out, like, cat, big cat, tiger. And that wasn't even the word that saved the subject. He was supposed to say he just grabbed the card. We're like, no, no.
Savannah McCauley: Like, no. It has to be related to the topic.
Maya Waddell: Put that back.
Nix Johnson: Oh, that's great.
Savannah McCauley: Board games are the perfect family night game thing, you know, like, absolutely love it. But then there's the strategical board games, like the ones that, like, people like me who collect board games will play, but only with other people who, like, really love board games, you know, I feel like now I know that catan is pretty easy for people to understand, but it is one of Those things that strategically, if you play with the right people can be very fun and competitive. Like I absolutely love catan. Do you guys have any fun catan stories?
Maya Waddell: I've never played.
Nix Johnson: The first time I played was with you a couple years ago.
Savannah McCauley: Really?
Nix Johnson: I only ever played with Yona, so I think it's been like three times and I think I managed to win once just cuz we decided to do teams.
Savannah McCauley: You did, you did. Who, who were you on a team with? Do you remember?
Nix Johnson: I do remember. I'm not going to say that.
Catan is a strategic board game that's easy to learn
Savannah McCauley: Okay, that's, that's okay. You don't have to. But yeah, I don't remember that particular instance, but it was a really, really fun game. So that's one I recommend to anybody who hasn't played Catan because if you're somebody who, who does like to stick to those games that you already know, I will say Catan is one of those that, that's fairly easy to learn. As somebody who doesn't play strategic, like extra strategic card games with more like board gamers who love board games. But Catan is strategic. Not hard to learn, but strategic. And it's kind of fun to learn that little process with your friends and actually have something different to play that you haven't played before. That's not the same game that you play with everyone. so that's one. One I would suggest, if you haven't done so play Catan this week, do it. Find somebody with catan. I promise you it's super fun. Especially on campus. I would say a lot of people here on campus probably have catan. It's very popular around here.
Another game we want to talk about tonight is Dungeons and Dragons
So, well, another thing we want to talk about tonight or today, not tonight, is Dungeons and Dragons. So Dungeons and Dragons, if you don't, if you're not super familiar, you probably have heard about it. But if you're not super familiar with it, it's a tabletop game. It's not really a board game. It's more like a imagination kind of game where you improvise with your friends and it's a long term game most of the time. So you're playing like with the same group of people once a week for a good chunk of time on the same game. And basically how it works is you have like a story, you have a place and everyone has characters that they've made and those characters have different abilities and things like that. And the rolled ice to say something happens where, you have to see something. You would roll a die to see if you have seen that in character in the game. So it's very much an imagination game, an acting game. but also, there are specific rules, and you gotta follow the rules, as well as follow the person who is running the campaign, which you call the Dungeon Master. And that person is the person who's made the story, who's made the world and is running the game and playing everyone who isn't a character. So. And that. That person currently is me in our gambing. I'm that person. And then I've got these two lovely ladies that are part of the campaign as well. and Maya, if you want to join, you're welcome to join as well.
Maya Waddell: Yeah.
Savannah McCauley: Cool. We also talked about a little My Little Pony game coming up.
Speaker E: Ah.
Savannah McCauley: Too. So that might be a little fun too.
Any fun memories or moments about D and D? Any fun memories
But we're talking about D and D.
Savannah McCauley: And not my love.
Savannah McCauley: So. Yeah. Any fun memories or moments about D and D?
Brianne Latouche: So in my first campaign, we were trying to get to this island and figure out what was causing these mysterious storms. And I was a kobold that followed this evil God. We're on this ship and wanted to fish. And so one of the other players was, like, a bird. And so they picked me up and I went. We went fishing in the sea. We decided to draw, like, a picture of it.
Savannah McCauley: It was so funny. That is awesome.
Brianne Latouche: And then I sacrificed the fish.
Savannah McCauley: Oh.
Maya: One of my favorite D and D stories involves kobolds
Savannah McCauley: To your guys. So to people who don't play D and D, can you explain what a kobold is?
Brianne Latouche: It's like this little dragon creature, but without any wings. And they're like four feet.
Savannah McCauley: Yeah. Bigger than a lizard, but definitely smaller than a dragon. They're kind of like dragon people that are really small without wings. Yeah.
Brianne Latouche: My character is basically just like that weird character that just randomly does weird stuff. Why?
Savannah McCauley: Like, why? Because fun, that's why.
Brianne Latouche: I think I was either Waffle Evil or Chaotic Evil.
Savannah McCauley: It's always fun to play those characters that are completely different than yourself because you're like, I would never do this in real life, but it's kind of fun to play it out in an imaginary game where no one gets hurt. You know what I mean? Like, it's always fun. What about you, Nyx?
Nix Johnson: Oh. How many do you want? I got so many stories.
Savannah McCauley: At least two. At least one.
Nix Johnson: All right, let's see. one of my favorite stories. It was in my very first campaign I ever played 10 years ago. We had gotten. We ended up playing this game for, like, four years straight because we started in high school, and then we ended up reconnecting after our missions, and we're like, we need to finish this.
Savannah McCauley: So we did.
Nix Johnson: So, I was this elf monk person. Doesn't really matter. because what matters is the fact that we had a bag that could hold anything. Bag of holding. And we had a boat that can compact to the size of Q.
Savannah McCauley: Of course. So you put your boat in your bag, right?
Nix Johnson: We put the boat in the bag. We added wheels to it, and then whenever we wanted to in town, we pop open the bag, use a little magic spell to release the boat that now had wheels and became land pirates. We would be right. A boat through town. we never really stole anything.
Savannah McCauley: It was more of just a show.
Nix Johnson: Of we have a boat and you don't. And we're in the middle of land because we also had, like, this teleportation spell. So we also used the boat to, maybe drop it on a couple people. So we had. We had some good, fun times.
Savannah McCauley: See, this is the kind of chaos you can create in a D and D campaign. Have you ever played D and D, Maya?
Maya Waddell: Never.
Savannah McCauley: Have you like, what we're com. What we're talking about and communicating about? Is it making sense to you? We talked about it in a way that makes sense to somebody who hasn't played.
Maya Waddell: Yeah, I would say so.
Savannah McCauley: Good.
Every character in the game has a race and a class
Have you heard of, like, the type of characters you can play in the game?
Maya Waddell: I know there's, like, wizard, elf, and different kinds of characters.
Savannah McCauley: Yeah, so there's all kinds of different ones. So you. You named a race race and a class there? Oh, I did two completely different things. So every character has a race and a class. So you could be an elf that's a wizard.
Nix Johnson: Oh, really?
Savannah McCauley: Okay, So a wizard is a basis. The classes are, like, what your character does. It's kind of like a profession in a sense. Yeah, like, you have, like, a specific purpose. Right. And the. The race is just what your character looks like and how they. Their culture would have been, in the game, that kind of thing. So there are all kinds of ones, but one of my favorite races is the Tabaxi race. And the Tabaxi is a cat people. So they're like, basically like standing jaguars, you know, like, really, really cool people. and they're really fun to play, but the class that I like to play is a monk. And the monks, they get to fight a lot, and they have. They're almost like ninja in a sense. Like, they can do a lot of really fun quick jabs and stuff. And they don't really have weapons. They just use their hands. Like, they're really fun characters to play.
Can you explain your favorite types of characters to Maya, who hasn't played before
What about you guys? What are your, like, favorites? Can you explain your favorite types of characters to Maya, who hasn't played before?
Nix Johnson: I think my favorite character, probably the one we're playing right now in our campaign, it's a druid. So she's magic, but specifically within the realms of nature. So there's different types of magic users like wizard and sorcerer. Which wizard is more like a, book nerd magic user? Sorcerer is like a born with magic kind of user, and druid is nature based. and I'm having a lot of fun with her. My character's name is Twig. Twig. it's a homebrew race. So if there's nothing that you have this very specific idea in your head of a character you want to play, you don't have to follow along with the exact race. Is kind of fun. You can make up your own if you want to. and so she's just this little gal who currently kind of sucks with magic. And it's really funny right now because we were fighting, some spiders in our last campaign. And when I say spiders, I don't mean, like the little guys. I mean, like, they were like four.
Savannah McCauley: Like, as big as this table. Big, big, big spiders.
Nix Johnson: Huge spiders. And so she's trying to, like, take care of things with her magic, but she keeps getting bitten, and so she keeps getting poisoned, and then she can kept missing on her attacks. So she's just this little thing running around trying not to die via poison, which I thought was hilarious. And I've never played a magic user before this time. So druid with the nature base is kind of fun for me because I just, I love nature. I'm a nature gal. So, the spells make more sense to me, which is kind of nice.
Savannah McCauley: Another fun thing about druids is they can change into animals, which is really cool, which is a good part of a big part of it, but not always. A lot of times they just really like nature being spells, but they can change into different animals. Like, if you can't get into a tight quarter, they can change into a mouse and go underneath that little tight quarter and then look on the other side of it. Like, it's just a cool thing they can do.
Bran is also, uh, a druid in this campaign
Bran is also, a druid in this campaign. You want to tell us a little bit about her Druid?
Brianne Latouche: She's like a halfling, like really small and. Yeah. Enjoying the creek. You're good I think we were at one part where we were getting something, and we fell, and there was, like, spikes at the bottom. And since I'm a drew, to make it less heady, I turned into a mouse, and so I just, like, pulled up.
Maya Waddell: That is so cool.
Savannah McCauley: Twig caught her hand while they were falling down in the trap. And to make herself less heavy, that's. That's what happened.
Maya Waddell: It was so cool.
Savannah McCauley: It was cool.
The funny thing about my character is he didn't know his God was evil
Brianne Latouche: I haven't been in a lot of campaigns, but I definitely liked when I was a kobold because I was a paladin, which is like, you belong to. It's like this monastery, I guess, kind.
Savannah McCauley: Of like a church. Yeah.
Brianne Latouche: Yeah. And you follow, like, one God. The funny thing about my character is he didn't know that his God was evil. He just brought up that it was a good God, and so he, like, thought he was good, but he actually wasn't. And so part of the journey was him figuring out that.
Maya Waddell: Oh, my word.
Savannah McCauley: Like, this isn't a good thing.
Nix Johnson: Well, because typically, paladins are on the good kind of side, so to have. You can always switch it around for the comedy or whatever effect you want.
Savannah McCauley: Exactly. Change it up a little bit.
Introduce your character, your race, and your class there
Well, we actually. Since you haven't played before, we have a fun little activity that our buddy Megan decided to put together for us. And so we have characters in front of us here. Introduce your name, your race, and your class there.
Maya Waddell: So my character's name is Alaric Swiftfoot. She is a half elf, and her class is Rouge.
Nix Johnson: A rogue.
Maya Waddell: Yeah, rogue.
Savannah McCauley: So kind of like a thief. Nyx.
Nix Johnson: my character is Eldrin Brightspark. I am a gnome sorcerer.
Savannah McCauley: Okay.
Brianne Latouche: And mine is talent. I'm a Widow Ranger.
The objective is to steal an artifact from behind the counter of a store
Savannah McCauley: All right. And we're actually going to. For this little activity, we're going to try to do an objective as these characters, and the objective is to steal a little artifact from behind the counter of this store. And the store is owned by Lady Mirabel. Lady Mirabel is right there. And you're trying to get this tiny little ring from behind the counter that will help you be able to be more charismatic in the field. But you can't get it without sneaking in and taking it because you guys don't have the money. Money to buy it.
Nix Johnson: Oh, okay.
Savannah McCauley: So the way we're gonna do this is you guys are gonna walk into this shop, but you're gonna try to be stealthy about it. And the only way to be stealthy about it is to roll for stealth. So we need those dice nicks.
Nix Johnson: You mean these dice?
Savannah McCauley: She has 72 sets. 72, yeah. 72 sets of dice. And if you guys aren't aware, those who are listening on Spotify, we have a YouTube channel, BYU, ID radio. And you go on that YouTube channel, you can see this ginormous bag in our video of dice that Nick's has. So she's giving each one of the players a D. Ah, 20. which looks like this. Anybody can zoom in there. Looks like this. And it has 20 sides. And you want the higher numbers. That's what you want. each person has kind of a strength, a couple strengths on their pages. And it looks like a couple of them have some stealth on there. So they've got different things because they're different characters.
You're trying to get a ring from behind the counter without her seeing you
So we're going to start this out. All three of you are already in the shop, currently hidden behind some clothes. And she doesn't know you entered the shop. You're trying to get that ring from behind the counter without her seeing you. The shop. All right, this shop is a cute little wooden shop stall in the middle of a town. And you see clothes, you see all kinds of armor, all kinds of little tiny weapons. Not big ones. And of course, little things behind the counter, like that ring that you're looking for. It's not dark. It's daytime. She's behind the counter. So you can see there's lots of windows, lights coming in.
Nix Johnson: Can I cast? Let's see what I got. Three spells. I'm gonna try my little prestidigitation. That spell is so hard to say. Prestidigitation.
Savannah McCauley: Prestidigitation. Yep.
Nix Johnson: I've been playing this for 10 years and I still can't pronounce spells. It's okay.
Savannah McCauley: that one's a hard one.
Nix Johnson: That one is a hard one. So if we're in the little stall, I'm going to create a little harmless sensory effect as described in my little thing that I have in front of me. For those who are listening, I'm going to make the sound like somebody is ruffling through the clo. Are the clothes farther away from us?
Savannah McCauley: There are some behind you and some in front of you. Like, different racks.
Nix Johnson: Different racks.
Savannah McCauley: Okay.
Nix Johnson: The rack that is farthest away from us. I want to make it sound like there is somebody, like, ruffling through them.
Savannah McCauley: Okay.
Nix Johnson: Trying to be sneaky, but failing. I want. I just want to make that sound to see if it will distract the shot.
Savannah McCauley: All right, let's see. I'm going to roll to see if this. This, Is persuade persuading the lady to move. That is a 19.
Nix Johnson: Do I need to roll as well?
Savannah McCauley: I got persuasion, so yes, you got a plus to your persuasion. So let's try this.
Speaker E: O.
Nix Johnson: So I rolled a magnificent four plus.
Savannah McCauley: Your six plus six. So that's my total 10.
Nix Johnson: But that's less than 19.
Savannah McCauley: So she notices that this is a trick and does not go to check it. Anyone else have any options? Any thoughts?
Brianne Latouche: This is hard.
Nix Johnson: Can we per chance see the thing we're after or we were hiding behind something?
Savannah McCauley: Give me a perception check, all of you. So you don't have extra perception, but you can go ahead and just roll this.
Maya Waddell: Six. So M. 12.
Savannah McCauley: So you've got 12. You've got 23. 15. 15. All right, you two see it? You did not see it, unfortunately, but, we. You guys see it behind the counter on the left hand side. She is currently rummaging through some other things on the right hand side right now.
Nix Johnson: Is anybody particularly good in what's called dexterity? Do you see that on your sheet?
Savannah McCauley: Yeah, she's got a plus four.
Nix Johnson: Oh, nice. Okay, so if you want to try something, something. Ah, these different things are listed. Aren't things like charisma, wisdom, dexterity? Those all lead to different specific abilities that your character is good at. Characters with high dexterity tend to be really good at moving around quickly and quietly. So you might also see stealth on your page.
Savannah McCauley: Yes. she's a rogue for sure.
Nix Johnson: Rogues specifically are very good at this. So if you wanted to try something like sneaking around without her noticing, that is something you could try. I would try that.
Savannah McCauley: Yeah, go ahead and roll. Woohoo. Plus you're six because you're stealth. So she rolled a 21, which means she's able to sneak up to the counter. Now if you want to try to steal that ring while she's distracted.
Maya Waddell: Do I roll again?
Savannah McCauley: Give me another stealth check.
Nix Johnson: Ooh. Can I do something to possibly give her what's called advantage?
Savannah McCauley: Absolutely.
Nix Johnson: She did really, really well.
Savannah McCauley: She did really well.
She rolled a 25. Great encounter, guys. So fun. So that's just a little example of what Dungeons and Dragons is
She rolled a 25. But if you still want to try to help her.
Nix Johnson: Okay, so I also have a spell called Mage hand, which for those who don't know, basically means that I have this little floating hand that can do things within range. it can manipulate smaller objects. So I'm going to cast my mage hand to physically lift the thing I was trying to distract her with earlier. Actually lift a piece of clothing up and just float it away to distract her.
Savannah McCauley: Okay, that's perfect. And I'm going to say that she did get distracted by that. And you're able to take the ring with no problems. Great encounter, guys. Great encounter.
Maya Waddell: So fun.
Savannah McCauley: So that's just a little example of what D and D is, Dungeons and Dragons. So if you've never actually played. There you go. That's kind of how it works. A little thing like that.
There is a Lazyman Ironman happening this November
And then of course, it's a bigger story at the time. We do need to wrap up a little bit, but we would like to spotlight a little bit about what's going on on campus this week and things that people can go to here on campus.
Maya Waddell: Yes. So there is a Lazyman Ironman happening this November. If you participate, it's kind of like Ironman. If you participate, you get a shirt, and you're supposed to run 26 miles, bike 112 miles and then swim 2.4 miles. So that seems like.
Savannah McCauley: Is that over a semester or over a couple days or one day or. Cause that sounds like a lot.
Maya Waddell: It's Friday, November 8th from 8am to.
Savannah McCauley: 9Pm so one day. It's for the whole month. Okay. Okay. So our cameraman, Jesse, he said that for the whole month. So, for those who are at home, that's who we heard.
Maya Waddell: Awesome.
Savannah McCauley: So that's really cool.
Maya Waddell: So that's happening. And then there's the choir concert, which is also Friday, November 8th from 7:30 to 9:30pm at the Snow Building. and it's just going to be featuring the women's choir, the Bella Vosa ladies and the university choir join forces for an evening of choral music featuring music of faith and inspiration. It's $5 with iCard and $8 without.
Savannah McCauley: That sounds like a fun performance to go to.
Nix Johnson: Yeah. The choirs here are so good.
Savannah McCauley: Oh, my goodness.
Maya Waddell: So true. And then there's the BYU versus University of Utah football broadcast, which is at Saturday, which is on Saturday, November 9, from 8:15pm to 11pm and it's at the Manwaring center. So.
Savannah McCauley: So right here in the Manwaring center, where we're actually recording right now. Yes, you'll be able to see the football game. So. And I've heard there's a lot of really fun activities as well when you come to those, to watch the watch party. So. Super fun. Super fun.
Maya Waddell: And then there's actually one more.
Savannah McCauley: Yeah, absolutely.
Maya Waddell: There's a. Adopt a grandparent. There's eight spots left as of filming this. It's, Sunday, November 10th from 3:30pm to 5:15pm at the MC West Roundabout off campus. It says, and, you can just visit with nursing home patrons. Meet in the roundabout closest to Dempsey and Ice center. And there's like a group chat. You can join so you can communicate with fellow students who attend the events and ask questions to those running the event.
Savannah McCauley: So, yeah, that sounds like fun. There's always really fun things on campus to do. And we would be. It would be a bad thing not to mention the D and D club here on campus. Brianna, do you have written when they actually meet? Yes.
Brianne Latouche: They won't be meeting. Well, actually it will be. This will come out after. So They moved every Thursday, Thursday night at 6 and it goes to.
Savannah McCauley: 10Pm all the way to 10pm that's great.
Brianne Latouche: And I forgot to get on vacation. But yes, every Thursday, I believe it's.
Savannah McCauley: Here in the mc. And, the tables here in the.
Brianne Latouche: Mc you can also go to I. I Belong. And it should have the location.
Savannah McCauley: Yeah. And I know the way they function. They actually have, the Dungeon Masters at the tables. And then random. You kind of randomize the groups each week. and that's kind of how they do things. So if you play here on campus, that's, that's the best way to do it on Thursday nights here at the mc.
Nix Johnson: Can I add a little note about that?
Savannah McCauley: Yeah, absolutely.
Nix Johnson: Trying to get into D and D and it's something that you're like, it sounds cool, but I'm like, little nervous about that. That's totally fine. Because there are different levels for different people. It's like, for example, I'm the kind of player, I kind of struggle to do like character voices or things like that. So I'm. Enjoy groups that are a bit more chill on that side of vibe, more about hanging out and creating a story. But if you're more about like getting into character, like making voices, maybe even like dressing up, there's different levels for each person. So if you're nervous about going, it's totally, totally fine. And you just got to find a group that kind of meshes with your vibe. And the chances of you going to a group and somebody is in absolute full costume, full character, and that's every single person there is kind of low. So if that's something that makes you nervous, it's all good. You can.
Brianne Latouche: Don't stress.
Nix Johnson: Go.
Savannah McCauley: Yeah.
Nix Johnson: Have a fun time.
Savannah McCauley: Find the right group. Well, thanks, ladies.
The Spot podcast is a production of BYU Idaho Radio
This has been a fun podcast. You've been listening to the Spot, a production of BYU Idaho Radio.
Maya Waddell: Today's hosts were Maya Waddell, Brianna Latouche.
Savannah McCauley: Our guest host, Nix Johnson and I'm Savannah McCauley. The views and opinions of this podcast are not that of BYU Idaho Radio or the University and are solely the opinions of the hosts. This episode was edited by BIA Matos. Producers were the hosts with supervision by Brandon Isle and Natalia Hepworth. Our theme music is Finding Happiness by DJ Quads and the Perpetual Ticking of Time by Artificial Music. To listen to more episodes of the Spot like and follow us on social media or Visit our website BYUI.edu radio and click Podcasts. Be sure to subscribe to the Spot Podcast wherever you get your podcasts, including YouTube, and leave a review of the show and leave a comment on what we should talk about next.