Hello all! It’s a pleasure to meet you, virtually that is My name is Kiana Lee, they/them/theirs, I’m 23 years old, and this is my first term at Lane. I’ve been in college for a while and am working on getting a BA in English Literature as well as a design degree.

The love of storytelling and writing that motivated me to study English Literature has also lead me to the world of tabletop gaming. Games like Dungeons & Dragons, Monster of the Week, and Vampire the Masquerade have been what I dedicate my spare time to for the past 3 or so years. Being a fantasy nerd, I have loved Tolkien, Robert Jordan, Terry Prachett, and many more authors since I was young – being able to use that knowledge of fantasy worlds while storytelling with my friends encourages me to play tabletop RPGs even more frequently.

It is my interest in tabletop gaming is what has lead me to Lane’s design program. As Twitch has allowed D&D to gain more popularity with game streams like Critical Role, and podcasts like The Adventure Zone, this form of game is becoming a format for collective storytelling that an audience can enjoy. The stories that are told in these games can also be taken to other mediums; animated series, comic books and even novels.

Creative writing was a hobby of mine through high school and my first few years of college, but admittedly the blank page has always terrified me. So using tabletop games as a form of rough draft has become a wonderful tool for me. Below I have included an excerpt from a piece of mine which is based around a D&D character I played for 2 years.

“Near Donnavern Harbor, a small shop sat crammed between tall buildings cluttering the cobblestone street before it. A weathered wooden sign that hung above the door read The Vanguard’s Voyage, the yellow paint of the lettering cracking and flaking away. Inside the shop, sitting in the center of the large front desk, was a small ornate chest with silver swirls decorating the corners.
Across from the chest, behind auburn bangs, bright teal eyes focused sharply on the chest. A small bead of sweat rolled down the pale, blue-freckled forehead.
‘Ugh! I can’t do it Vic,’ she growled in frustration, pushing back from the desk and glaring at the man standing next to her. The man was dressed in a loose tunic and high collared plum frock coat, with his silver hair falling in braids past the tips of his pointed ears.
‘Yes Ari, you can,’ he replied, and putting a hand on her shoulder, ‘You’re too tense. Calm yourself and reach out with the magic. Try again.’
‘Okay,’ Ari said, pushing her hair back from her face revealing more navy freckles and her small pointed frost-blue tipped ears.
She took a deep breath and centered herself, looking again toward the chest. She held up her hand and snapped her fingers. She held her hand aloft for a moment, watching the chest and, as she flicked her wrist a silver shimmer, like mist, collected around her hand and lifted off, like a glove. The spectral hand floated over to the chest, flipped the latch open, and tossed back the lid. With a small wave and thumbs up to- wards its owner, it dissipated into the air.” — an excerpt from Vendren’s Landing by Kiana Lee

I look forward to getting to know you all through this term!
Stay sane, stay healthy and we’ll all get through this together

-Kiana Lee