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[Eddie would have preferred the theatrics of the drama room, but he did his best to set up an imposing angle for his message. ]

I’m thinking a lot of us could use a chance to blow off some steam, hmm? Lots of work to do around here, and weird ass monsters to fight, but not a whole lot in the way of recreation.

Back home I ran a group called Hellfire Club. Led us in some of the most epic D&D campaigns Hawkins Indiana ever saw. And I was thinking…I could offer my services as Dungeon Master here if people were interested.

Beggars can’t be choosers and I know we have a lot of people who’ve never played, so- lucky you- I’ve decided to open up admission to first timers. Little bonus- anyone who joins gets a Hellfire Mk2 shirt of their very own.

[He shifts to show off the new design he’s printed, a proud smirk on his face.]

I’ll be at the diner this week for people to sell me on their characters. If it’s your first go, I’ll have sheets prepared and can help you fill them out.

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"Heh," God, he's not wrong, but Eddie still rolls his eyes. "I mean...basically. You and the other players are the party. I'm the Dungeon Master, so I don't play the same as you, I weave together the story, play the people you meet, control the monsters you fight- you'll get it once you see it. You and your party will have some kind of main quest- a bad guy to defeat or relic to recover, and you have to work together with your various skill sets to eventually win the campaign. The dice rolls decide the outcome- so if you say your character is going to jump over the big chasm to save the day and role a 20- then I get to tell you how your character did three backflips and landed on a goddamn horse on the other side he did it so well. And if you role a 0...then you tripped over your own cape, fell headfirst into the burning chasm and dragged half the parties gear along with you."

It was just an example but Eddie has a way of making it sound funnier and more interesting than it had any right to be. Steve laughs at the idea of his character flopping into a chasm and taking all the swords down with him. He leans his chin on his hand, intrigued now.

"Wait, so you just make up these outcomes on the fly? Like what if in that same example I rolled like. A four, huh? What does a four do? Or a six?"

Is he suckered into this now? No. Definitely not. He is just curious. That's it.

Is Steve Harrington actually interested in D&D?? Hell, just having anyone interested in listening has Eddie grinning, happy and eager to supply as much information as Steve can stand.

"Mm, kinda, yeah? It depends on the dice you roll for your check. So if you're rolling the d20 like in the example-" he pauses to pass the dice over and point out the d20, "Then generally anything under a 10 would be an automatic fail. A lot of stuff will have even higher pass fail stats that only I get to see. But I basically use that to decide how bad you fucked up or how ridiculously amazing you do. Adds some real world chaos and chance into the mix, you know? So a four- you manage to jump this time, but it's super short. You fall screaming into the chasm, and get knocked out. A six- you get a running start, it looks good- ...you still come up short, you fall into the chasm. You twist your ankle take a bit of damage, and for the next two turns your rolls are -2 but you're clear to look for a way out."

Edited (sever???) 2023-05-10 21:35 (UTC)

Okay, this is sort of fun. Which sucks because Steve really wants to hear his song get played while Eddie grimaces through it. That would be a lot of fun too. Still, he can't help but get sort of invested into the idea of this game. The thought of a dice roll basically changing the whole outcome is sort of like gambling but with a story's plot instead of money. That's sort of interesting. In a nerdy way, sure. But still.

"So unless I make a ten, I am screaming into the chasm. That's like 50/50, dude. I don't know if that's worth it. So I guess in that case I would...not do that jump? Or I would?" He thinks about what Eddie said before and considers. "Is there a way to get +2 instead of -2? Like if I'm really good at jumping, somehow? Can I prove I'm a good jumper so I don't fall in the hole?"

It's addictive, Steve. And maaaaaybe, if he asks nicely enough he'll still get that song of his.

"There might be other ways across the chasm that don't involve jumping...?" Eddie encourages with a nod, but he looks pleased that Harrington's actually thinking about this, grinning as he works out things without even knowing.] Yeah, your stats can add to your roll in some cases, so you might turn a 9 into a an 11 because you have such high Dexterity, and your character manages to snatch hold of a root at the last second and hoist themselves up."

"Oh, hey! Okay! That sounds good. So maybe..." He looks over at his stats and suddenly sees them all in a new light. He frowns at the intelligence score and the relatively low dexterity in comparison.

"Why would I need to be smarter than more...dexter...y? Isn't that more important because of needing to do things? I can be dumb but stronger so that I can fight things off for the group. Why do I need to be a brainy fighter?"

"I mean, that's where the team aspect comes in. But there's more to it than just punching your way through every fight. High Intelligence means you might have knowledge to solve a problem, so different languages- like if some goblin is trying to speak to the party, maybe you can talk to it. Or if you use magic, it will determine what kinds of spells you can use. All the stats have different advantages and disadvantages, and you can be as creative as you want about using them if you know how."

Steve shrugs. "I don't need to be smart to do any of that shit for the kids so I don't think I need the intelligence score that high. Besides, fighters don't do magic, right? That was the other things like wizard and...whatever."

He takes a pencil and scribbles over the intelligence score, lowering it so he can put some extra points in strength and dexterity. Satisfied, he pushes it back over to Eddie with a smile.

"There! Now, how do I get a nail bat?"

"Pfft, you're smarter than me," Eddie says with a dismissive shrug. Steve had managed to graduate on time AND keep a herd of children from being eaten by monsters. It's pretty impressive. "But yeah, generally they don't use magic."

"Ha, so are we just done pretending this isn't you?" he asks, but he considers a moment, "Fuck it, we can make you one. We just need to find something close in the book to base it off," he concludes with a grin, flipping through the manual. "You're getting into this, aren't you Steve?"

"I graduated before you. And probably because my dad bribed someone. That doesn't mean I am smarter than you by any means. You know way more shit than I do."

Steve gets out of his seat to stand behind Eddie as he goes through the manual. He doesn't know what he's looking for but assumes a bat will be on some page and he can just figure out magic nails to shove into it. That's a thing, right? Gotta be.

"And I'm not getting into it. I just. You know. If I'm gonna play, I wanna not be shit at it." He was totally getting into it. "The character isn't me either, by the way. It's Evets. Super different."

Eddie scoffs, but arguing over which one of them is stupider is not an great use of their time when they're both stubborn idiots.

"Okay, uh...oh there's a club, that's like a bat. You just need to work up some backstory for why your character decided to hammer a bunch of nails into it. And I'll add a chance for bleeding. That'll add damage over time if you roll well."

He gives Steve a knowing look, grinning smugly, "Super different," he agrees, "Wouldn't be Evets Notgnirrah, would it?"

"A club? Like a caveman thing?" For a second he's not sure that will work but then Eddie is mentioning bleeding and damage over time which sounds promising. He thinks a second and then snaps his fingers, pointing at Eddie in excitement.

"Oh! The nails could be like. Pieces of the swords from people I defeat in battle! Total badass, right? Crack one off and hammer it in? Trophies!"

At the dig he gives Eddie's shoulder a shove.

"Like you can talk Mr. Charm and Charisma."

"I mean it basically a bat, isn't it? Not sure how much baseball we're going to find in this thing," Eddie starts, but then Steve's really getting into it, and his excitement makes Eddie beam. It's kind of hot. "Uh- y-yeah, we could totally make that work, that's a good idea."

He laughs, shoving back lightly.

"Hey, I never said my guy wasn't me. Charming bard. Big hit with all the villagers. We're like twins."

Eddie's smile is really nice. Steve finds himself just looking at it and mirroring it back a second longer than he really meant to.

It was cute. For a guy. Or. Whatever. It was cute.

Steve rolls his eyes when he's done staring. "Big hit with all the villagers? Uh huh. That's how I'd describe you when they ask about Hawkins; completely in love with Eddie Munson."

Is Steve staring at him? Oh? Oh, obviously it's not that.

"...oh right," Eddie remembers with a frown, then laughs at himself. "That part uh...may be slightly fictionalized."

"That's only because they're stupid and don't really know you. If they did then I bet it would be true. You're annoyingly hard to not like."

He nudges Eddie again, sorry he'd brought it up at all. The frown wasn't a good look.

"Really, really, stupidly likeable."

"Heh, you liiiike me," Eddie teases, purposefully making himself annoying and getting right up in Steve's space, feeling a stupid warmth in his chest.

"It's my blessing and my curse, Harrington," he laments dramatically, hand to his chest, "I'm so charming it overwhelms people."

Steve smiles even as he uses his elbow to shove Eddie away. Not far, just away. The proximity made him oddly warm. "I take it back, you're horrible."

He is smiling and opposite of his actions, he leans toward Eddie.

"I'll give you 'overwhelming' though."

He grins happily, backing off but still staying as close as that elbow will let him, enjoying his teasing until it's suddenly turned on him.

He laughs in surprise and gives Steve another shove of his own. "Not the first time I've heard that, shockingly."

"Yeah, I bet. And still just stupidly likeable. I bet that's why people think you're like, Satan's best friend. Not the clothes or music. Nope. It's all that weird attraction."

Steve realizes what he said a second after he does and blushes just a bit. "Like a magnet, you know?" He makes his hands into two U-shapes and demonstrates magnetism complete with buzzing noises.

God, why's Harrington got to be so cute when he blushes? And why does Eddie have to enjoy provoking that blush so much when he knows Steve's strictly into the ladies?

"I could totally seduce Satan," Eddie agrees with a smirk and a teasing wink.

"I bet you could," Steve says in a voice that's just a shade lower and a shade more playful than normal. Which is fucking bizarre because that would be the voice he has when he's flirting. Which he's not, of course. And yet...

He leans back a little, surprised at himself and blushing just a little pinker. Maybe the conversation just felt like one he should flirt in? Maybe it was just muscle memory?

He clears his throat and pushes his hair back, out of his face.

"So. Uh. That's it? Character made?"

It really does sound like the voice Harrington uses with the girl. But obviously he's just playing along. They're both just playing...

Eddie likewise coughs and nods, rubbing at the bridge of his nose why he tries to will away the heat from his cheeks.

"Uh- yeah, pretty much. You can work up a backstory for him if you want, but you're pretty much set."

"A background..." Steve thinks but he's not as good at that sort of creativity. All he can come up with is an orphan who was a jerk and then decided not to be and protects people instead. Saying that outloud would be just inviting more teasing. It has to be something else.

"Your bard has one?"

Eddie nods, not that he gets to trot it out very often since he mostly plays Dungeon Master these days.

"He was part of this trope of entertainers who rob their customers- run cons, pickpocket, seduction- that sort of thing. But he falls in love with one of their marks. He warns them, and there's this big fight. People die on both sides, including his girl. The trope banished him, and now he travels alone, cynical and jaded, swearing he'll never love again. But then he falls in love in basically every campaign ever," he adds with a smirk.

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steve :(