TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOURSELF
I'm Darva Shriver. I'm a librarian by trade, specializing in children's literature. Originally from Poughkeepsie, New York, I've spent most of my life in and around Naples, Florida, though a move out west to California or Arizona is in the works. I'm an avid role player and reader, and sometimes enjoy watching history or fantasy genre movies with my pet ferrets, Bilbo and Samwise.
HOW DID YOU GET INTO GAMING?
I actually came into the hobby fairly late. While still attending college in 2004, I was at a local Harry Potter release party, though I don't remember now if it was one of the books or one of the films, where I met some guys and gals that had a D&D game going. After kind of badgering them to let me come check it out, I soon joined the game, an old school Basic D&D campaign set in the Greyhawk campaign world. That whole group doesn't get together much anymore, but I've been hooked ever since, and taken to getting some of my D&D fix through my blog.
WHAT IS IT YOU FIND SO APPEALING ABOUT GAMING?
I most enjoy the social aspect of getting together with good friends and spending a few hours having fun, but I also really enjoy the immersion into a fantasy world. I've been a huge fan of fairy tales and fantasy stories since I was a little girl, and the chance now to play out stories of my own with friends is cool to pass up on. In a similar way, I really like introducing some of the kids I work with to role playing, encouraging them to exercise their imaginations and create stories of their own based on whatever stories, movies or shows they enjoy.
SHARE A FAVOURITE GAMING MOMENT WITH US
My absolute best memory comes from playing through the classic adventure Keep on the Borderlands, for Basic D&D. Our DM can be pretty tough and strict at times, and for a number of sessions, we'd had trouble with the owl bear and minotaur encounters in the Caves of Chaos. Close to 20 dead PCs by the end of it all! When we finally defeated them, it was my poor first level thief left as the only PC still standing and with a last valiant roll of the d20, I managed to hit and finally kill that pain in the butt. The tension and smack talking that built up to it and the payback of finally being the one player out of six who was able to bring down a challenge that had vexed us for weeks is something I'll never forget. It's even better now when we happen to visit the keep as higher level PCs, or as a different party of younger PCs altogether and get to hear the local bard and minstrel types sing praises of our old exploits.
WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY PLAYING?
Between my impending move, and the recent loss of one of our fellow players to cancer, actual play is scarce right now, but it's given me time to work on material to catch up on posting on my blog.
CAN YOU TELL US WHAT YOUR FAVOURITE GAMES ARE?
Hands down, my game of choice is Basic D&D, Frank Mentzer's BECMI (Basic, Expert, Companion, Masters, Immortals) edition. I pick and choose options and add-ins from tons of other games, with old school Runequest and Arduin being favorites. I'm also a big supporter of the OSR “clone” games, notably Swords & Wizardry, Labyrinth Lord and Lamentations of the Flame Princess.
WHAT WAS THE LAST GAME YOU PLAYED?
Until very recently, I was running a low level Basic D&D campaign set in the Mystara campaign world.
WHICH PRODUCTS HAVE YOU HAD YOUR WORK PUBLISHED IN?
Nothing beyond my blog, and the forums at Dragonsfoot.org, ThePiazza.org.uk and Canonfire.com
ARE YOU WORKING ON ANY GAMING-RELATED PROJECTS AT THE MOMENT?
Just my blog, Stocking the Dungeon. My current ongoing project is an adaptation of characters, locales, magic and monsters from the old D&D Animated Series cartoon show to the Basic D&D game.
DO YOU HAVE ANY WEBPAGES OR SOCIAL NETWORK ACCOUNTS WHERE FANS CAN FIND YOU?
My blog, Stocking the Dungeon, is at http://stockingthedungeon.
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