Page 44 of Cosplay & Consequences

“I assume Bennet will assist me?” Daniel said, taking a seat next to Bennet.

“Crayden,” Bennet corrected, gruffly and in character. “And yes, I will help you tiny halfling man.”

“What is your character’s name, Daniel?” Bray asked.

“Oh, I get to name him?” Daniel gave me a sly grin. “Well, if that’s the case, then I suppose it would have to be Sir Roderick the Meh.”

The crowd erupted into applause, and I laughed along with them.

“Oooooo! Shots fired, and we haven’t even rolled yet,” Bray shouted with a cackle.

“Do I get to name the hag?” I asked, returning the grin to Daniel.

“Of course.”

“Kismet of the Sizzling Swamp,” I announced to the roar of the crowd.

Bray cheered and did a little victory dance. “Let’s roll initiative, people!”

“Good luck, Kismet!” Danny called out.

“I’m going to wipe the floor with you,” I growled back, in character.

I sat back in my chair, giving the entire table a smug look. I was no slouch when it came to roleplaying games. It also helped that all the players couldn’t roll above a ten all night. Daniel’s improvisation skills made him a natural for the game. However, he couldn’t roll worth a damn and had to constantly check with Bennet on the rules. The crowd loved him, which wasn’t a surprise. As an actor, he knew how to play to the audience.

“Okay!” Bray said, cueing a lighting change to raise the tension of the moment. “Sir Roderick. All of your allies are unconscious and bleeding out. You are the last one standing. Out of curiosity and above the table… How many hit points do you have left?”

Danny chuckled. “Oh, I’ve got three.”

The crowd murmured.

Bray smirked and turned to me. “How are you doing, Kismet?”

“Significantly better,” I replied smugly, not wanting to play my hand. I had twelve hit points left, which wasn’t much, but still counted as ‘significant’ in my mind.

Bray hit a music cue, and a tense drumbeat with a heavy bass line kicked in.

“Sir Roderick of Meh. It is your turn. What do you want to do?”

“One second, please!” Daniel turned to Bennet. They consulted Daniel’s character sheet. He and Bennet had a hushed conversation away from the microphones. Daniel broke into a big smile.

“Is that good?” Daniel asked, pulling back in front of the microphone as Bennet nodded. “Right. Okay then. First, I would like to use my last spell slot as a bonus action to cast healing word on Grover, as he’s next in initiative and down two death saves.”

The crowd cheered in relief. Bray smiled. “Roll for it.”

“Riiiiiight,” Danny said, scrambling for the dice and then doing the math in his head. “That’s six hit points to Grover.”

“I’ll take it!” Grover shouted, sighing in relief.

“And now for my action, I’d like to take my full movement and rush at Kismet, attacking with my trusty rapier,” Daniel announced, waving his hand like he was wielding a sword.

“Roll to attack!” Bray commanded.

Daniel smirked at me as he rolled the twenty-sided die. There was a confidence in him that made me want to melt. He looked down at the roll and smiled. Bennet peeked over his shoulder and laughed. “No freaking way! No!”

“Is it a nat one?” Bray asked eagerly.

“No,” Daniel said, savoring the moment. With a flourish he waved his hand towards the dice tray. “I believe you call this a natural twenty.”