D&D General Ever overhear someone talking about D&D outside of a gameshop/con/etc?

[DarkCrisis]

Like waiting in line at Wal-Mart or while eating your Burger in the McDs or buying a candy bar at the gas station or whatever?

Today I overheard, in a coffee shop, a girl explaining D&D (5E) to her friend and they seemed to agree her first character should be an Elf Beastmaster Ranger.

While I know D&D has achieved a status it's never known before where I come from I'd say we are still on the lesser side of it all. The one big game shop we have is like the one of two in probably 50 miles and the other is a third its size.

Warmed my old D&D playing heart.

I am reminded of a younger guy who works near me that I run into on occasion who I knew I could talk D&D with because he's not shy about tattooing his hobbies onto his arms.

 

[iserith]

On a call at work an IT guy was explaining something about rules and processes and then related what he was talking about to a druid summoning animals in midair or something like that.

I was thinking nice try, nerd, I'm not taking the bait and exposing myself on the call as a D&D player.

 

[DND_Reborn]

Yep, when I was getting groceries Saturday morning I overheard two Walmart employees talking about D&D and leveling their PCs.

 

[Mad_Jack]

Ran across a couple of kids levelling up their characters while sitting in a McD's one time, and got to bust out some obscure rules knowledge as one of them was asking a question as I walked by.

At work a couple years back, a couple of the kids up in the QC lab were talking about D&D, which is how I found out they played. And I got to bust out my "I have dice older than you..." line, lol.

Another time, a new temp at a different job showed up with one of those D20 "These are Natural" shirts on.
I kind of snickered and shook my head at having worn a shirt like that to work, and she puffed out her chest and asked me, "These don't look natural to you?"
To which I replied, "Madam, a gentleman would never imply that a lady's dice were loaded..."

 

[Stormonu]

When checking out at a grocery store recently, had the cashier ask me what version of D&D I liked best, because I had on a B/X cover t-shirt (She was too young to know what version it was from, and my son had a Dragon Ampersand shirt on). When I got outside, I broke down laughing - something like that would have never happened twenty years ago (of course, I wouldn’t have worn such a shirt in public back then…)

 

[Audiomancer]

About a year ago, I was rehearsing a play for a local community theater. After rehearsal one Friday, most of the cast and crew went out for a drink, and we learned that almost half of us were current or former D&D players, and one cast member had a husband who played (and I think only two people were in the same gaming group). That led to an animated conversation about characters and campaigns, while the non-players kind of watched on with very puzzled expressions.

 

[David Howery]

years after I'd been out of gaming, when I was a manager of a retail store, I overheard one of my cashiers talking about what could only be D&D. When I asked her about it, she said yes and asked if I'd ever played it. I said "Yeah, a long time ago" while thinking "Kid, you have no idea...."

 

[HippyCraig]

I over heard some kids in there early teens a couple of people in front of me in line for Star Wars ride in Disney. The one girl was telling the others about so cool thing there DM did. It was great to see a new generation of players

 

[aco175]

I work at a local college and have seen books around the dorms and have heard some talk about playing. Have not seen any playing in the lounge or such. I have seem Magic being played though.

 

[Mort]

Not D&D exactly, but close:

Walking to office in downtown Chicago, I see a 20 something woman wearing a jester backpack (critical role). So as I'm passing I say " Nice Jester backpack." The look of utter shock on her face, likely from hearing these words from a middle aged guy in a suit, was hilarious.

 

[DarkCrisis]

Not D&D exactly, but close:

Walking to office in downtown Chicago, I see a 19-20 something woman wearing a jester backpack (critical role). So as I'm passing I say " Nice Jester backpack." The look of utter shock on her face, likely from hearing these words from a middle aged guy in a suit, was hilarious.

Had something similar happen with a girl wearing coat with a critical role patch on it.

 

[Charlaquin]

A ton of my coworkers play D&D, so I hear people talking about it there all the time.

 

[TarionzCousin]

The used bookstore I used to frequent when I was a kid (70's - 80's) was run by two "old guys" with long hair and mustaches who would regularly peruse the 1E PHB while behind the counter. I remember ten-year-old me thinking "That's a kid's game!"

 

[Brotton Goodfellow]

At work, those of us who play only talk about it in hushed tones in dark corners of our office. From these shadows I’ve pulled in more and more unsuspecting victims to the game.

 

[jdrakeh]

I used to have a Red Box t-shirt.

One day when I was waiting at the downtown bus station on the outbound bus to go home, the guy who owned the Thunder Dogs hot dog stand saw my shirt and asked if I played D&D. I said "yes" and he went on to say that both he and his wife of 40 years played D&D and that it's how they met. That was cool.

Much less cool was the time when I was wearing that shirt and a lady manning the register at Walgreen's asked me if I'd seen that "Tom Hanks movie" and that "It showed what D&D is really like!" - I just responded that, yes, I had seen it and that Tom Hanks was "a fine actor".

 

[Dioltach]

One of the guys in my gaming group heard a group of his IT co-workers talking about D&D, so he wandered over to join the conversation. "You play D&D? But ... you're old!"

 

[J-H]

The accounting manager at work had his 5e PHB sitting out on his desk a couple of years ago. I think the group he was playing with fell apart due to somebody being a jerk, though.

 

[MNblockhead]

Mostly among kids at my son's school. I never talk about it with them. I don't want them knowing 50-year old men play it and thereby making it uncool.