Hello, this is Eric, your DM, and welcome to the Punch Bowl, the third episode of our interview segment on Join the Party.

Even on our off weeks, I'm thinking about D&D, like what class Roman Mars probably would be. I'm going to go with

sorcerer with an audiomance origin and a feat of a really, really deep gravely voice.

But I'm also thinking about what it's like to be a player in 2017 and beyond. So I figured I'd put that to good use and talk to those who are pushing the game forward, creatively, communally, socially, just doing good work.

The game store is the heart of any gaming community.

Yeah, you can buy your books off Amazon or someone can send you a ripped PDF from the web, but a game store gives

you more than just a DM screen at a reasonable price.

It is a homing beacon for gamers, a real life place that exists by the sheer power of gaming excitement.

It is a center, a base, a home.

And no one takes this homecoming more seriously than Lauren Balanco, the co-owner of 20-sided store

in Brooklyn, New York.

We sat down in the gaming play space in the back of 20-sided store and talked about the rebirth of fifth edition

community building for all players and had to sell Dungeons and Dragons without

scaring away the customer. This is Lauren and I at the punch bowl.

Walk me through where you found D&D.

I never played in like grade school or high school or anything. I have all younger sisters,

but you know I've always been a storyteller. I've always made movies, I've always like kind of of written even you know playing things with my

sisters like you know things that like now I'm like we're definitely role playing

we just didn't have like official rules for them and I moved to New York and my first group of

friends we used to all sit around a table at what we called Fort awesome was a

big loft apartment here in Williamsburg and my friend friend, a run is like, you've never played D&D.

You would be so amazing.

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