Mike

I’ve known Babbling Bard for a long time (through D&D and other games/nerdy hobbies) and I’ve never been in a session with or by him that wasn’t memorable. Babbling Bard introduced me and our friend group to D&D a few years ago, and it was his engaging approach, excellent tutelage, and patience that led us to make D&D nights a regular part of our lives. At first, he made sure to study and understand the material comprehensively (like reading and re-reading all of the D&D source material like it was SAT prep comprehensively) – and gradually teaching us the details as we progressed through our first campaign. D&D can be really overwhelming at first, and in retrospect, I think Bard’s patience and willingness to walk us through character setup and the mechanics (as well as hand-holding when requested) made a big difference. Rather than endure lots of confusion and awkwardness between characters with unbalanced starter stats, Bard made sure we did it properly, while giving us the flexibility to explore unique designs. I ended up playing a Cleric in several campaigns, and Bard suggested some stat setups and spell ideas that led me to my current favorite idea – a Cleric with high defensive stats and good support spells, but with just enough relevant attacking spells, cantrips, and items to not feel one-dimensional. It’s hard to get people into new nerdoms – but Bard did an excellent job of making D&D engaging and fun enough to convert our entire friend group from disinterest into actively wanting more. I’d basically written off D&D as “too nerdy” for most of my life (from someone whos played TCGs for 20 years) and after playing through Bard’s campaigns, into something I’d look forward to and spend free-time researching and Googling. Much of that is due to how engaging and interesting his campaigns are – there’s a lot of references to other lores or fandoms, but lots of niche or unique D&D-esque plot points too, and it makes for dynamic gameplay. Bard’s willingness to answer questions and help slightly push the plot, but without too much forcefulness, gave our group a lot of freedom to explore and immerse ourselves, without feeling like a lack of structure. I remember lots of battles and cool level-up moments just because of the background of the story and how it progressed, because Bard’s approach made us feel like it was “our” moment, and not just the next chapter in a book or mission in a game. Finally, I think Bard’s ability to teach, and show us how to research and understand D&D (and the flexibility that comes with it) made a big difference in our enjoyment of it. Since most of us had never played before, everyone wanted to design busted characters, so we had no concept of stat balance or how spell slots worked. Bard made a point of demonstrating proper character design, then teaching us the basics and how to research classes, spells, and items so we’d find new combinations that worked with our preferences. When we started playing more and ran into shortcomings with our characters (for example, never having enough spell slots when I wanted them) Bard showed us how research items (which led me to discovering the Pearl of Power) and incorporated a series of end-boss rewards to give out specific items tailored to what was found. The fact that I was able to discover it myself with just some prodding massively increased my interested in wanting to know more about D&D, as well as keep playing. I would highly recommend Bard as a DM or Game Master, either for experienced groups or newbies just getting started. Even though COVID19 had moved our in-person sessions online, Bard immediately adapted to using Discord and Roll20, and our sessions have remained just as awesome as before. From someone who’d scoffed at D&D just years ago, and is now actively counting down the days to in-person sessions again, that drive and interest is because of Bard’s excellent work in bringing D&D to our group, and making an enjoyable and re-playable experience for all, again and again.