Fill: Challenge #545 (Doctor Who)
Feb. 2nd, 2026 11:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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tenminutesadayI haven't actually done one of these in a long time, but the prompt was something I've been meaning to do for years now, so I thought, why not do a bit? It's David trying to run a session of D&D for the Doctor and Jenny, at Jenny's request. I'm not particularly happy with how it came out and I probably won't use it in the final story (if I ever write it), but hey, it was something.
“All right,” David said, scrubbing hand down over his jaw as he checked his notes. “If that’s all of your questions –”
“No, not at all,” Jenny said, pointing at something on her character sheet. “This bit here says –”
“Wait.” David exhaled heavily, then smiled at his sister to let her know that he wasn’t angry. “If we look at every single thing, we’ll be here all night and never actually play the game. Why don’t we start playing and I think how it all works will come clear.”
“That’s a plan,” said the Doctor, and Jenny nodded along.
“Okay.” Paging to the beginning of the adventure in the booklet, David began narrating the story.
It’s been a long and perilous journey, on foot through the Forest of Apathirel, with barely a dirt track to follow and both wild animals and bandits considering you prey. In the late afternoon on the fifth day, you were relieved to finally break out of the thick trees and behold the town of Bridgeton, aptly named as it sprung up around the only bridge across the River Chawlig for twenty miles in either direction. The forest continues beyond the town, but at least from here, you’ll be on a proper road with at least a few infrequent patrols from the king’s seat.
“Why?” asked the Doctor.
“Why what?”
“Why are we here? Or perhaps, why are we going to the capital?”
David threw his hands up. “I told you, this is just a packaged adventure, and this is just where it starts. Why you’re here doesn’t matter.”
“But you also said this is a role-playing game. We’re supposed to be playing these characters. So shouldn’t we know why we’re here?”
“Well, aye, ye’d know if this were a real campaign and you’d created the characters yourselves. But this is just a single adventure.” He held up a finger to stop the Doctor from interrupting. “Just go with it, all right?”
“All right.”
David continued reading.
“All right,” David said, scrubbing hand down over his jaw as he checked his notes. “If that’s all of your questions –”
“No, not at all,” Jenny said, pointing at something on her character sheet. “This bit here says –”
“Wait.” David exhaled heavily, then smiled at his sister to let her know that he wasn’t angry. “If we look at every single thing, we’ll be here all night and never actually play the game. Why don’t we start playing and I think how it all works will come clear.”
“That’s a plan,” said the Doctor, and Jenny nodded along.
“Okay.” Paging to the beginning of the adventure in the booklet, David began narrating the story.
It’s been a long and perilous journey, on foot through the Forest of Apathirel, with barely a dirt track to follow and both wild animals and bandits considering you prey. In the late afternoon on the fifth day, you were relieved to finally break out of the thick trees and behold the town of Bridgeton, aptly named as it sprung up around the only bridge across the River Chawlig for twenty miles in either direction. The forest continues beyond the town, but at least from here, you’ll be on a proper road with at least a few infrequent patrols from the king’s seat.
“Why?” asked the Doctor.
“Why what?”
“Why are we here? Or perhaps, why are we going to the capital?”
David threw his hands up. “I told you, this is just a packaged adventure, and this is just where it starts. Why you’re here doesn’t matter.”
“But you also said this is a role-playing game. We’re supposed to be playing these characters. So shouldn’t we know why we’re here?”
“Well, aye, ye’d know if this were a real campaign and you’d created the characters yourselves. But this is just a single adventure.” He held up a finger to stop the Doctor from interrupting. “Just go with it, all right?”
“All right.”
David continued reading.
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Date: 2026-02-03 04:40 pm (UTC)Why do I feel like they wouldn't get very far even after a couple of hours?