Welcome to Tavern Talk Thursday! We are expanding! What started as a column dedicated to chatting with members of the TTRPG community is growing to talk about all things TTRPG. We aim to continue sharing all the things we love about the community and all the content within. So, consider this a little peek into our favorite worlds and creators as we explore everything we love.
What do school budget cuts, the drama program, friendly neighborhood game stores, Dungeons and Dragons and young love have in common? A whole lot of hilarious moments mixed with nerd/drama culture references. On this week’s Tavern Talk Thursday, we discuss Kristy Boyce‘s young adult romantic-comedy, Dungeons and Drama. After watching nearly two hours’ worth of BookTok-related content featuring the book, we needed to determine if this is a must-read for TTRPG fans.
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Dungeons and Drama
Dungeons and Drama follows Riley, a high schooler who loves all things musical—so much so that she takes her mom’s car without permission to sneak off with her best friend to see a show. Now, she is grounded and stuck spending all of her free time after school and on weekends working at her dad’s game shop. Toss in that her school has canceled the spring musical, and things are looking down for Riley.
One would think things couldn’t get worse until Riley’s ex comes into the store with his new girlfriend. To avoid looking sad and lonely, Riley lies about dating her coworker, Nathan. Now she has to convince him to go along with the ruse long enough so she doesn’t look like a liar and he can win over his gamer-girl crush.
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If you think this will be packed from beginning to end with D&D references, you might be a bit disappointed. However, the references are fun little Easter eggs that help tie together the story’s theme. The same goes for the reference to board games, musicals, and nerd culture. There is just enough to get the nostalgic heart pumping, but it doesn’t feel like every other sentence is packed with them, either.
The story in Dungeons and Drama is cute, as a high school romantic comedy should be. The fake dating trope with miscommunication makes sense when considering teenage high schoolers who don’t know how to express their feelings. The story also manages to navigate the world of divorced parents and a child’s struggle to find common ground within both worlds. Toss in the typical high school drama and it rounds everything out.
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One thing that constantly stuck with us throughout our time with Dungeons and Drama was how well Boyce managed to tie in some of the things we love most about the TTRPG community. The idea of found family can be seen as Riley connects with the group her father has built in his game store. We also see where Boyce is able to build in working as a team to achieve a common goal, something TTRPG players know all too well.
We know that this isn’t going to be every TTRPG player’s cup of tea. In fact, we would go as far as to say that it is definitely meant for a very specific audience. TTRPG players who enjoy romance will find something to love. And those who love romance and want to get a taste of the TTRPG world will surely enjoy Dungeons and Drama. We recommend checking out the audiobook version featuring narration by Eva Kaminsky. She does a phenomenal job bringing the characters and world to life.
Dungeons and Drama is available now.
https://www.geekgirlauthority.com/april-ttrpg-kickstarter/
Who I Am: A nerd by the strictest definition. I enjoy diving straight into my favorite fandoms without a care in the world. I live on video/board games, fantasy movies and TV, and all things geeky.
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