STRANGER THINGS: MY GATEWAY INTO DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS
Not my favorite show, but it still made an impact.
Last week, Daniel and I finally finished Stranger Things, which had been running for 10 years! When I looked it up, I couldn't believe it. I knew it was on for a long time, but 10 years? Damn.*
* I don't know why I was so shocked, considering the main actress has a kid of her own now.
Introduction
The first season aired in July 2016. I was still in Hong Kong then, preoccupied with my move to Switzerland†, so I must've missed the buzz. Daniel got me into the show and we met in 2017, when season 2 aired.
† My first visa got denied so I was concerned but had already moved out of my apartment and was crashing at friends' over the course of 2 months. So yeah, I was mentally elsewhere.
Since the show featured kids, I thought it would be more scifi/suspense. I wasn't expecting eldritch horror. Back then, I wasn't accustomed to watching horror, however the show was intriguing enough that we continued onward.
Dungeons and Dragons
I didn't know anyone who played the game growing up, and the closest I knew of roleplaying was World of Warcraft because my older cousins played it. (I would become obsessed with WoW later, for a time). I guess, back in the day, you'd probably know about these things if you had older brothers, of which I had none.
Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) was one of the main references in Stranger Things. We see the boys play it during season 1. I had heard of D&D before this as I'd seen it represented in other shows like Freaks and Geeks, but Stranger Things was somehow THE show that put it on my radar.
Around 2018, I learned that the husband of one of my co-workers was desperate to organize a D&D campaign. I was curious, so I joined with two other co-workers and invited Daniel as well. Our Dungeon Master (DM) was a seasoned player and an amazing storyteller. He opened my mind to this wonderful world led by our imaginations. We played once a week after work at his place. When half of the office moved to Zürich a year later, we met up at cafés in town that would allow us to play our game for a few hours‡ (after buying some drinks, of course).
‡ This was before board game cafés became popular. During that time, there was only one in Lucerne and it closed down shortly after we started playing together. Now there are two!
My first-ever character was a tiefling warlock¶ named Biest. I miss her.
¶ My first WoW character was an undead warlock so I went with something familiar.
We played together for about one year, until our DM and his wife moved back to the US. The group disbanded and I lost touch with the other members (except for Daniel, of course). Since then, I would play in two more campaigns, both short-lived.
Becoming the dungeon master
At this point, I had been away from my LA friends for 9 years. My work allowed me one paid flight ticket home per year which was awesome, so up until I lost that job in 2019, I was visiting regularly.
Then the pandemic happened and remote hangouts became a thing. Funnily enough, we never really considered that before 2020. So we took advantage of this and started hanging out via video calls more often. Then in 2021, I proposed that we start a D&D campaign in which I would be the DM.
The campaign has been running ever since.
We play about once a month and are now spread across THREE time zones: Pacific Standard (UTC-8), Central European Summer Time (UTC+2), and China Standard Time (UTC+8). Thanks to Vince being a night owl, I meet at a comfortable 7 PM, my LA friends at 10 AM, and Vince at 1 AM.
Due to these time zones and schedules, we play for 2 hours at a time. I run a homebrew campaign with 5e rules, because I didn't want the pressure of following a story and failing (lol why am I like this), so I thought it'd be "easier" to just make stuff up on my own. Plus it's fun! I use Notion to keep track of the campaign, character backstories, and the multiverse I'm creating.
My party has coined themselves "The Blood and Guts Brigade," and I'm happy and grateful that after all these years, they still want to play with me. ʕ♥ᴥ♥ʔ
FUN FACT:
"I suggested the 'Blood & Guts Brigade' name from a wrestling match type where two teams fight in two rings covered in a steel cage. It usually happens once a year." - Vince
Stranger Things, the finale
Spoilers ahead.
Back to the show. As mentioned, it's not my favorite because the story started to get complicated enough where I spent more time trying to think about the logistics than enjoy it for what it was. And since I'm not an OG D&D fan, a lot of the references (e.g., the Mindflayer or Vecna) were lost on me.
That's why I thoroughly enjoyed the final season, because it was very clear that the show was inspired by the roleplaying game, with episode titles like, "The Crawl," "Sorcerer," and Mike telling Holly that she's a cleric. It also made me visualize my party battling it out with a boss, and realizing that my imagination was not BIG enough.
That final boss is gargantuan. (Source)
I was gobsmacked seeing the tiny humans fighting a spider-tree as tall as a skyscraper. It was something I'd never imagined, since my imagination is only limited to what I know. It made me realize that I have so much more to learn! Perhaps it would be worth it to read official Dungeons & Dragons adventures.
Another season 5 highlight was the end credits. Considering it's the end of the series, they went all out and included illustrations by Sam Green, where it looked like they were straight from the pages of a D&D Players Manual.
I would love to see the text on this page! They should make this into a real manual. (Source)
Imagine turning your homebrew into an actual book?! That's what this felt like. I got emotional seeing this one. (Source)
Check out Sam's portfolio to see more images and his other works!
Oh, last highlight: "A Wrinkle in Time" was another big reference in the final season. That was one of my favorite books growing up, and now I want to reread it.
Conclusion
The show is over and I'm glad, because it's been a long and arduous 10-years in the making. I don't think I'd rewatch this again because I like to revisit feel-good shows, but it still deserves a mention as it was the show that piqued my interest in D&D.
At the end of the final episode, Mike, now a high school grad, concludes his campaign with his friends, who all tearfully say goodbye and put away their binders one-by-one. As his friends head upstairs, his kid sister, Holly, runs down with her elementary-aged friends. They eagerly sit down at the table and chatter about the game. Mike looks on, as if passing the torch to another generation while he goes off to become an adult, I guess.
In this scenario I'm Holly, (still) discovering the magical world of my own creation.