A few months back, my fiancée Danielle said she would learn how to play Pathfinder if I made an adventure for her that was themed after Candy Land. I told her I was game, but never quite got around to making the adventure, having not found, I suppose, just the right inspiration to get the creative process started. But two or three weeks ago, our friend Bryan heard about our bargain and, with my permission, decided to step in and make the adventure himself. Last night, he ran that adventure.

Let me start by saying what a great guy Bryan is. He’s one of those guys you really like having around because he always brings such positivity, and he’s just overall a very considerate human. That’s not especially relevant to this story, but I feel it’s worth saying, because good people deserve recognition now and then.

We were joined in this adventure by Andy and his fiancée Shannon. Andy, Bryan, and I play Pathfinder together without the candy flavoring (so to speak), but Shannon was also new to the game. Truthfully I wish we could have found more first-timers.

Bryan is no greenhorn to D&D or Pathfinder, and I was incredibly impressed by the little touches he put into the adventure. As Candy Land themed Pathfinder adventures go, it had more or less what you might expect in the way of re-flavored mechanics, such as some type of humanoid (possibly goblins, but I never asked) being used as Sour Patch Kids villains, and mechanically human characters referred to as “mintmen” and the like. There was even a language called “Gumdrop” that a couple of the party members spoke. But my favorite part was the character sheets, which prominently featured large pictures of our characters. Only about half the sheet, in fact, included (streamlined) stats for the characters.

This approach was great for Danielle, who quickly latched onto the backstory that her parents were carried away by candy golems, deciding that her character, Mr. Mint, was a cross between Wolverine and Batman. Sure enough, when a cotton candy golem showed up, she charged him and power attacked him, shouting for vengeance. I think if we had never even found the adventure’s BBEG, Lord Licorice, she would have still been happy. At the conclusion of the adventure, she declared that she would continue to play Pathfinder, but only if she could play Mr. Mint. She reiterated this to me later that night, so I’m fairly certain that she’s serious.

I enjoy very much introducing people to new games, and Danielle has promised to try every game I play at least once, so I’m glad we finally got this one under her belt. Maybe there will be more to come!