Ms. Mehta:

AKA Milena

Fall 2021

It’s weird to think that to take a break from all the planning and writing that I do for teaching, I do more planning and writing. But I love playing table-top role-playing games and it doesn’t even register as more of the same.

Dungeons & Dragons is probably the most well-known of these games. The goal is really just to tell a beautiful story together and get lost in the world. The “role-playing” part of these games comes from the fact that you get to play as a character - it truly gives you a chance to become somebody else. My favorite character was Verna, an elderly halfling (think hobbit) who decided that if she was nearing the end of her life, she might as well go out with a bang and become an adventurer. She was full of terrible life advice and terrible jokes that nobody else understood. My friend even wrote down all of these “Verna-isms,” so we could keep record of some of the funny things that came up.

As a player, the game doesn’t require too much work - you just need to create a character you would love playing and be them during the session. As a Dungeon Master, however… I could spend hours creating little aspects of the world our stories took place in, most of which my friends/players just ignored to follow a random talking cat. It is still the thing that I love the most about playing these games, though. It’s a weird mix of improv, embarrassing character voices, and foreshadowing the few planned storylines that makes it so rewarding.

Right now, though, I’m taking a slight break from being a Dungeon Master as I find my footing here at Greenport and get to know everyone. But, every Saturday, I put it all to the side to become Milena, an assistant secretary who is surprisingly good at staging coups while being obsessed with manners and etiquette.