How to dungeon master parenting A guidebook for gamifying the child-rearing quest, leveling up your skills, and raising future adventurers

Shelly Mazzanoble, 1972-

Book - 2024

"Gather your party, moms and dads; it's time to level up your parenting game. For years, millions of fans have looked to the beloved roleplaying game Dungeons & Dragons for fun, friendship, and entertainment. And now parents and parents-to-be can use it to gain inspiration and how-to when it comes to their most challenging and rewarding role yet. Dungeon Masters are not just expert storytellers and arbiters of the rules, they're compassionate, creative, quick-thinking leaders who embody the same traits that make great parents. Where do you find an adventuring party that will have your back? What must-have starting equipment should you own before bringing home baby? How does your gaming style influence your parenting style...? What even is a parenting style? You don't have to know how to be a Dungeon Master to master parenting-just think like one. With candor, humor, and a dragon's hoard of real-world tips, this "elf-help" guide is the perfect gift for the gamer, fantasy lover, or anyone with a sense of humor ready to master the role of a lifetime. Knowing your toddler's alignment is half the battle! A little magic missile doesn't hurt either. Babies may not come with rulebooks, but now their parents do"--

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1 copy ordered
Subjects
Published
Iowa City : University of Iowa Press [2024]
Language
English
Main Author
Shelly Mazzanoble, 1972- (author)
Edition
[Paperback edition]
Physical Description
187 pages ; 23 cm
ISBN
9781609389819
  • Prologue: session zero clue
  • Parenting at 1st-level
  • The thirteen traits of highly effective dungeon masters (and parents)
  • To market, to market we go!
  • Let's party!
  • She needs a long rest
  • The other five S's
  • Parenting by the (rule) book
  • Know thy game, know thy player
  • I think we're aligned now
  • Hey, you've got style!
  • To the best of their ability scores
  • Kids play the darndest things
  • Emotional baggage of holding
  • The dice made me do it
  • Building character the old-fashioned way
  • Tears of play
  • What's left of the ruins
  • Changelings in the air
  • We never left the tavern
  • Epilogue: the quest continues.
Review by Booklist Review

You and your band of adventurers are embarking on a perilous journey filled with unpredictable foes, and you must rely on your wits, weapons, and a fair bit of good fortune to see your way through. Sound like Dungeons & Dragons? This humorous and heartening parental guide applies the massively popular fantasy role-playing game to raising small humans. Mazzanoble, cohost of the official D & D podcast, Dragon Talk, brings her love of the game to a fun-filled exploration of the travails of parenting, starting with newborn Shrieking Enchanters up through Toddling Terrors, school-aged Bewitched Betwixts, and the dreaded adolescent Lurking Oozes. While geared toward D & D fans, this rollicking playbook will delight even the least experienced wizards learning to safely install a car seat. By gamifying parenting and sharing her own pitfalls, Mazzanoble offers a fresh take on everything from defining discipline styles to making friends as an adult and classifying a child's moral attitude (watch out for chaotic evil). Children seem to shape-shift before our eyes, and we must learn to equip them for their own adventures. Like the best kind of Dungeon Master, Mazzanoble will make any player in the hazardous game of parenthood feel more supported and less alone.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review

Mazzanoble (cohost, Dragon Talk; coauthor, Welcome to Dragon Talk) is the senior brand manager for Dungeons & Dragons and the mother of a tween. Her book envisions parents as dungeon masters responsible for designing the framework that enables their children's life journeys to advance smoothly. Parenting doesn't fit neatly back into the box, she asserts, and there are no official rules, so she urges readers to keep their sense of humor and find a great group to experience life alongside. She urges readers to hold "party" sessions with others to discuss parenthood, expectations, and boundaries before giving birth. Surprises add to this game, so parents/players must expect the unexpected. The book presents 13 traits of a great parent (and Dungeon Master too, for that matter) alongside fun extras, such as sample game cards whose titles parents might relate to, like "Shrieking Encounters" and "Toddling Terrors." VERDICT Readers of all styles of parenting book and gaming fans will find solid advice and humor in abundance in this wonderfully unique resource.

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