A Review of Soup for the Soul's Evening of Dungeons & Dragons: A Critical Hit

 I discovered this event advertised on Facebook about a month ago and was highly curious.  A Sidequest-triggering experience.

They advertised that this event was being hosted at St Andrew's Church in Brantford, Ontario by an organization called Soup for the Soul.  To give you a bit of context around them and their work, they are a volunteer, fundraiser and donation driven arm of St Andrew's United Church (95 Darling St in Brantford: St. Andrew's United Church Downtown Brantford, Ontario).  To quote their website: "Soup for the Soul gives all people the opportunity to a free, nutritious meal and social support services. We provide a safe, caring and trusting environment that allows people to enjoy their meal in peace.  Our volunteers ensure that the meals are prepared fresh for our guests each day".  But what in the heck does this have to do with Dungeons & Dragons???

There was the promise of multiple GMs, many NPCs, prizes, food and fun.  Tickets were priced at $50.  I encountered advertisements on Facebook but what drew me in further was the creative video that they made advertising the event.  In true Sidequest Loot collaboration style, we Liked and Shared their content - much of our early set of Followers are fans of this type of thing.  Personally, I hadn't played these games in almost 25 years but a good history before then and a bit of an understanding of the community.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1186453376946583

We reached out and arranged a meeting with Jeanine.  We donated a small prize package and hoped just for some cross-shares on Facebook advertising and the opportunity to sneak a peek at their show.  Ever the opportunists, they offered me an NPC position for the night.  If you know me, I reluctantly accepted.  I was glad to be disappointed at my apprehensive approach.

Assigned the role of Alchemist in the Black Market (TWO LIVE MARKETS AT THE SAME EVENT?), I was provided with a list of potions with an animal theme (except Poison which is simply a classic).  We were allowed to choose our own names.  My first choice was Allan but I eventually settled on Anim (Anim Alchemist... animal-themed potions? Anyone? It's okay, I'm used to it)

The players, GMs and NPCs gained quick entry through the main entry and were greeted by a goblin.  Because who else would you put at the door.  From observation, I saw this gentle-goblin put everyone at easy with a goblin voice, accent, expressions and goblin self-deprecating humour.  From before to after this introductory exchange, I saw many players lose their nervousness within minutes of being at the event.  There is a common experience of being new to joining a group, so not really unique to this community.  But there are always the insecurities of not knowing the rules well enough or the potential  of having to demonstrate a heroic action in front of strangers or worse yet, having your character die in embarrassing fashion.  After a 60 second exchange with this Welcome Goblin, the players became visually the confident players that they are back home.

Before the games started, there were several of us taking pictures to show off the event and the community that it took to pull it off.  Out of courtesy, I gave the chance to opt out.  Out of a everyone? Not a soul - they were delighted to be there and part of this experience.

The 5-hour long roleplaying session had many opportunities to grab food and drink (Licensed and carefully selected to appeal to a Dungeons & Dragons crowd), visit the Market and Black Market to exchange coins for items that might help or hinder their quest, gossip and an excellent chance to regularly stretch their legs. There was a bit of a rivalry between the legitimate and black markets - I doubt the Armorers in both locations are on speaking terms any longer.  A small selection of roleplaying craft goods were available for sale for $3 or less.  A magnet sold in the Black Market alluded to one of the possibilities if you failed in one of the interactions while shopping there.

So, the humour for the evening was firmly in the PG area of things but hardly the focus.  The level was very much in synch with every teenage hangout gaming experience to which we can all relate, whether we were D&D nerds, sports-playing kids, pals in the neighbourhood or well in line with those sleepovers that involved too much pizza, too much soda, too many scary movies and nothing in the line of actual sleep.

As shown, the NPCs and volunteers running the kitchen, bar and everything that it takes to keep the event running smoothly were elaborately dressed, full of personality and embraced their roles.  Some were scheduled to attend as players but gladly left this behind to ensure that every element of the successful evening was in place.

Jeanine's organizational skills were well-exhibited for this event.  It is clear from inception that she had a plan for the one-off adventure that involved over 50 players.  From a managerial standpoint, no micromanagement was evident and there was a wide latitude for everyone in the building to have some fun.

Compliments from those in attendance flowed early, often and with great persistance.  A common feeling that this should be done more often.  The bar that has been set with this event is quite high for those intending to duplicate this kind of event or the associated success.  But that should not serve to be a deterrent to try.  Funds were raised for a worthy cause, those in attendance were entertained and those that didn't get the chance to attend this sold out event are definitely feeling left out.  There should be more events and more opportunities of this nature.  There is definitely a thriving market, a friendly community and a common skill of improvising a campaign when things don't always work out like in the book.

Congratulations to Jeanine, everyone involved and everyone who took a chance to try out something new.  Something great was accomplished with the first of hopefully many such events.

Keep Lootin'!

Sidequester James

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