Dungeons & Dragons & Sneezing

[MidnightCatK]

Hi everyone!

So, I play D&D with a group of 4 guy friends once or twice a week. It’s a super fun hobby, but lately we play it over Discord so we can be safely at our own homes. Still, I’ve noticed one or two of these guys have some great sneezes, and I just wanted to share a few memorable instances from the last few months:

 

So one of my guy friends, who we’ll just call Blake, has bad allergies. Blake has a slim build, with tan skin, brown eyes, short chocolate-colored hair, and is a total sweetheart. If one thing is for certain, it’s that he sneezes pretty often. This dude literally carries around a handkerchief with him.

Anyway, the other night he messaged our group saying he wasn’t going to be able to join. He had accidentally pulled a muscle in his back and just wanted to rest. We wished him well, and continued to play without him. Towards the end of the 4 hour session, we noticed he was on Discord and invited him on just to hear the last bit of what was happening. He was still in pain and drowsy from a muscle relaxer he had taken, but he was happy to listen to what we were doing.

All was going well, but then I heard an “Oh no...” from his end, immediately followed by a loud “Hih’shhhht!” and a pained groan. We asked if he was okay, and he said that his allergies were acting up and that him sneezing didn’t help his back at all. One of the other guys jokingly said “I’ll come over and give you a massage.”, to which Blake replied “Good, I’ll let you massage my nose so then I won’t have to sneeze!” which made us all laugh. The conversation ended there, but I suggested that perhaps he should sleep it off. He agreed and said “I was dozing a bit, and then THAT snuck up on me, but that does sound good.” and hopped off. Super innocent, and super cute!

Also, like he changed his server nickname to OneSneezyBoi afterwards!

 

 

~ Fast Forward to more recently ~

 

 

I didn’t think Blake could be topped, but then the other night another guy among us sneezed. This guy I’ll refer to as Liam, and I already wrote a short one about him before (I’ll put the link at the bottom of this). He’s around 5’6”, late 20s, and a little on the chubbier side with a scruffy beard and near-shoulder length hair. His sneezes are MUCH more intense than Blake’s, and with a more noticeable buildup, so I find them to be a bigger treat!

We just so happened to be playing his campaign, and somehow the topic of sneezing came up (I believe Blake was complaining about his nose itching). Most of the guys were tossing up how they hate it when they feel like they need to sneeze, but can’t. Liam, on the other hand, said something along the lines of “I prefer it that way. My sneezes hurt.” 

The conversation died down soon after that (I was kinda grateful, because I was getting redder by the second), but then something awesome happened an hour or so later. Amidst some roleplaying between two characters, I saw Liam pull his shirt up over his nose. Knowing this is a telltale sign that he feels a sneeze coming on, I immediately locked on. His eyes fluttered before closing, and his breath became shallow. It was only a couple seconds before he pitched forward with a loud “HRUH’SHOO!” that made everyone stop for a moment to make sure he was okay before continuing. I kept sneaking small glances at him as he recovered, watching as he massaged his nose with one hand through his shirt fabric. He then slowly pulled his shirt back down and wiped the residual mucous off his beard and mustache as he did so. It was a lovely thing to behold, my only wish is that it could’ve been more than one!

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That is all I have for now, guys! I’ll continue to update this as more things inevitably happen! 

 

Link to previous obs about Liam:

 

[HankyDrawer]

Hey MidnightCatK

Wow! Amazing obs, Blake sounds fantastic, a guy that carries a handkerchief! What sorta age is he? Does he ever blow his nose too? Maybe I need to get into gaming. Thanks again for the great obs.

[MidnightCatK]

Thank you for your sweet comment! Blake is 25-27, and yes, he does blow his nose! He’ll often mute himself so we don’t have to hear him, but he has forgotten to here and there! If I had to describe those moments, I’d say he does a few strong, quick blows resulting in some decent honks!

[HankyDrawer]

Wow MidnightKatC, thanks for answering, that sounds so cool. A young guy who uses handkerchiefs is hot! I’m guessing it’s pretty rare where you are as it seems rare everywhere! 

[MidnightCatK]

Hi everyone! It's been a bit since I've added to this. The reasoning is that, even though we are still playing twice a week and sneezes happen, none have really felt noteworthy in terms of me taking time to write them... but then this happened:

We were doing a bit of rping as a group regarding how best to approach a situation. Should we murder a character who has been tainted by Asmodeus, the D&D equivalent of Satan, in the hopes of saving the world from an impending doom? While I checked my notes, Blake and Liam continued having a discussion as their characters as to if something less drastic could be done first.

This continued on for a minute, and then I noticed Blake trailed off in the middle of replying. Instinctually, I look up at him first to see if something went wrong. All I found was that he was smiling teasingly at Liam. Thinking I missed something, I looked at our DM, Adam. He, too, was smirking a little and looking towards Liam. Finally, I turned to look at the culprit himself, only to find him gearing up for a sneeze. His breath hitched a little, but was pretty silent. Rather than pull his shirt up over his nose like he often does, he chose to twist and duck into his right elbow with a forceful "HEHT'SHOO!" 

Taken aback, I'm pretty sure I just said "Oh!" after it happened. He straightened back out a bit, but sniffled and still had the distant look of having an internal struggle with a tickle. What do the other two, who are some of his best friends, do? Well, they start saying "ah'choo!" repeatedly in small, high-pitched voices to tease him. These goobers literally started a small chant until Liam finally turned to his side again with an even harsher "HERHT'CHOO!", to which they both gave a little cheer before we all blessed him. He was a little red in the face from their teasing and chose to just acknowledge it all with a nod before diving back in to where they had left off. I did not contribute to the chanting bit myself (I don't think anything would've even came out of my mouth if I opened it), but did speak up afterwards to remind them that they're a bunch of weirdos. 

Bonus: I thought that would be it for the night, but at one point Liam was returning from the bathroom behind me when Blake looked up and shouted "GESUNDHEIT!". I didn't whip around to look, as I didn't want to be obvious, but there were a few seconds of silence before Liam said "Goddammit Blake, you scared it away!" His tone and the little laugh he gave after saying it showed he was not truly frustrated, and Blake simply replied "My bad!" Overall, it was an eventful night, both in and out of character for me.

[Dingle]

Do you know where I can find ways to put sneezing in dnd

 

[MidnightCatK]

On 4/29/2023 at 8:56 PM, Dingle said:

Do you know where I can find ways to put sneezing in dnd

 

Good question! If you're thinking of something rp-wise and DM, I have two suggestions:

 

1.) Dust of Sneezing and Choking: Definitely look this up! It's a wondrous item that I haven't implemented in my campaign yet, but I'm definitely planning on it! Also, it has the potential to affect the user and EVERYONE within a 30ft radius, meaning A LOT of potential.

 

2.) Failed checks and saves: We've seen it over and over in movies. A group of characters are hiding, when suddenly one has to sneeze and blows everyones' cover! They call it the "Sneeze of Doom" trope, and this sort of thing can very easily take place in any setting if someone rolls a Nat 1 on a Stealth check. 

 

Also, you can have them roll a Constitution saving throw when entering an area filled with dust. That can just add a little fun to exploring ancient places!

 

3.) In-game illnesses: Say a character is exposed to something nasty, but not life-threatening. They could very feasibly come down with symptoms that include sneezing, on top of other things, that may stay with them for a few days in the game. It would likely also affect certain things, like giving them a point of exhaustion.

 

4.) Give characters allergies: I made a friendly, adult bronze dragon NPC who regularly appears human and works as a blacksmith (nobody will try to kill him if he blends into society, and he likes helping others). The kicker? He's allergic to most furry creatures. He wears a mask when he knows he's going to be encountering races with fur, but if not.... let's just say my characters have heard and literally seen explosions go off in the distance when they're not around. They still have yet to connect this to the fact that he's got his nose and mouth covered every time the firbolg party member gets within 30ft of him.

 

Hope these help you a bit, or give you ideas! If you don't DM, but are a player, you could still at least use #4! Happy gaming. 😊

 

[MidnightCatK]

So, quite some time has passed since my last obs, but I'm happy to say that, other than the occasional hiccup, our D&D friend group is still going strong! The sneezes have been as well, but they've been rather isolated incidents that I didn't feel were noteworthy… until last week!

We were all playing remotely over Discord. I and Adam had our cameras on, as we're super casual and prefer that. Liam and our fourth friend, Kat, had their cameras off. This is kinda normal for Kat, who likes to relax in his underwear, but Liam normally has his on. I noticed he was a little more quiet than usual too, but didn't have time to ponder this until the unprecedented took place:

"HRUH'CHOO!"

Being that we had no visual, nor any verbal buildup that was picked up by his mic, we abruptly stopped talking for a moment to register what the sound was. It was deep and throaty, which is very characteristic of Liam's sneezes. Of course, with my attuned ears, I resisted the urge to pop up straight in my seat like a red-faced meerkat on alert.

"Bless you, Liam." Adam said.

"Yeah!" I chimed in, finding it easier to say than anything else that came to mind.

"Thanks…" Liam replied, sounding tired and a bit embarrassed. I'm sure he wished that was the end of things, since he hates sneezing, but it wasn't. Within the 3-4ish hours we played, he sneezed about 3 more times. With each blast I felt like I was going to fall out of my seat (I am VERY jumpy), and we blessed him. After the third, I finally had to ask.

"Hey broski, are you feeling alright? You've been sneezing a lot more than usual tonight."

"I don't really know. I've felt off today since I woke up. I took a Covid test, and it's not that, so I was hoping it would just pass." He replied, sounding worn down and frustrated. I had listened to him talk here and there all night, and he hadn't sounded congested, but something was definitely bothering him and his nose.

"I hope it's nothing, but I know there's some bad head colds and stuff going around right now." I said gently. Adam gave an "Mhmm" in affirmation, as he had just recently gotten over something himself. We ended our session a little early that night, as he wasn't the only one that was tired, and I'm pretty sure he went to bed soon after.

[jensenkate]

I’m in love with this thread!!! Hopefully there will be more to come!

[webmeistro]

 

[MidnightCatK]

On 5/27/2023 at 7:49 PM, jensenkate said:

I’m in love with this thread!!! Hopefully there will be more to come!

Thank you so much! There's always a bit of sneezing, but it's the memorable ones that I try to share!

 

On 5/27/2023 at 8:40 PM, webmeistro said:

 

Thank you for linking this, as I had no idea it existed! It's amazing how, if you dive deep, the older forum posts can be a goldmine!

[MidnightCatK]

Hooooo boy! Allergy season is HEAVILY upon us, and so is sneezing at the D&D table. Almost ALL of the guys have been sneezing to some capacity lately, but the most notable is Blake.

Blake has hayfever, one of those things I just find delicious. While he takes some meds and plays remotely from his basement (we all still play remotely due to changes in location), there have been some developments. Lately, he's been keeping his dark green handkerchief on his desk for use. When he's not speaking in character, he's often picking it up to dab at his nose or the corners of his eyes. Whereas he would mute himself in the past to blow his nose, we've assured him we're not grossed out by it or offended. As a result, he's begun to simply just turn a bit away from his microphone to do so. His voice never comes off as congested, but I can hear the stuffiness in his blows. Sometimes it's a quick honk and wipe, and others it's slow and gentle. I'm not even into that sort of thing as much, but there's something about how he uses a hankie that just gets me!

Just the other day, we were playing and he was speaking in character. In his fake, posh voice he uses for his elf character, he was just finishing a sentence before he chased it with a sneeze. It was something along the lines of:

"-and so we'll turn in the completed job, and then acquire the money-T'Choo!" 

He not only managed to finish the statement before sneezing, but he didn't even have a noticeable buildup. Also, he had caught it perfectly in the hankie, which he brought up to his face just in time. This level of control astounded me.

"Bless you, my dude." I verbally tossed out, to which the others added their similar statements.

"Thanks. Ugh, my allergies are friggin horrid today." He replied, giving his nostrils a quick pinch through the cloth before we continued. It was just so darn endearing!

[Not Telling]

Wow! I'm so glad that this was so recently edited, bumping it to the top. This thread is amazing!! I greatly appreciate how descriptive and illustrative your observations are, I just love the visualization! I also appreciate the context and the interactions you include, sounds like a fun group. 

[MidnightCatK]

On 6/2/2023 at 9:17 AM, Not Telling said:

Wow! I'm so glad that this was so recently edited, bumping it to the top. This thread is amazing!! I greatly appreciate how descriptive and illustrative your observations are, I just love the visualization! I also appreciate the context and the interactions you include, sounds like a fun group. 

On 6/2/2023 at 11:05 PM, jocrosb said:

I agree, I also really enjoyed :-)))

Thank you both so much! I'm just happy to be able to share my amazing group of guy friends and their sneezes! As of lately, I'm playing two nights a week with them group. In addition, sometimes we just hop on Discord to chat while playing separate games. During all of this time, I've recently been witnessing a ridiculous amount of sneezing from Blake. I also say "witnessing", but I'm almost always not looking at the screen when it happens! This is mostly because I am simultaneously working on art or something else to help my focus, and he just sneezes singles 95% of the time. A couple days ago, however, I caught him right where I wanted him.

I'm playing my character, a timid, soft-spoken, female Druid that fancies his character a bit. We're all huddled together and coming up with a plan in roleplay to get through a scenario or whatnot (I don't 100% remember, so this is an approximation of our dialogue).

"What if I turn into something? I could be sneaky and not be detected while still spying?" I offered in my fake, soft voice while cleaning my desk.

"That's not a bad idea." Adam commented

"Ye- Ah'SCHROOO!" 

Blake had suddenly sneezed. I physically froze like a deer, but I glanced over to see he had caught it in his handkerchief. My mouth kept moving as if everything was normal.

"A shrew? I could do that." For some reason, my comedic autopilot kicked in and decided we were going to just pretend that sneeze was part of the game. I gave myself an internal high five as everyone laughed a bit, including Blake who gave his nose a quick blow before responding as his own, posh character.

"No, not 'a shrew!', 'achoo!'. I sneezed, Chae."

"Oh my, it is dusty in this cave. I'm sorry, and blessings be upon you!" I squeaked, only partially acting my embarassment.

[Céline]

Very good description would have been bette rif it wasnt over discord

[solitaire-au]

Aww, that’s cute an funny! (Fellow roleplayer here, and my friends almost never sneeze when we play! :()

Thank you for sharing!

[Lacrima]

That’s so nice that you keep updating after so long! Those are amazing obs. 
Must be nice to RP, just got started and I like it so far