Dungeons & Dragons Characters

This year we came as our D&D Characters, dwarf ‘G’kar’ and half-elf ‘Lyta of the Suldusk’. Sure, no one knew who we were, but the look on people’s faces when they saw how I accomplished the ‘dwarf’ was worth it.

I bought $1 boots from the local bargain thrift store and Doug sawed them in half for me (took a lot of work!) Then I bolted (yes, BOLTED) the front halves of the boots to a pair of thrift store pants at the knees, so when he kneeled he looked like he was wearing shoes (he wore knee pads underneath to protect his knees).

The remainder of the costume was pretty basic. Doug wore his renaissance costume and the cloak used for Snape (and Ms. Death), which also served to hide his legs in back! Other adornments include a costume shield and hat, which I painted with dirt and fake ‘blood’ to add realism (Wishing Well, $5) and his Han Solo belt and two drinking cups (one purchased at a Renaissance Fair for $10, one found at a thrift store for $1). I found hair and beard wigs (after much searching) at Wishing Well, and his warhammer was a $16 splurge from Party City.

For Lyta, I put together black stretch pants and my Renaissance bodice, my 'free' black boots from my Hooch costume, the only special purchase being pointed ears (I only found green ones and thus had to paint them flesh colored). I sprayed my hair orange with the leftover spray from Ashlyn's Jessie costume, teased it in every direction possible, and gave myself suldusk markings and black eyeshadow 'burn' marks to represent my misadventures as a wild mage. (I didn’t wear contacts--the blue eyes are photoshop, sorry!)

All my character's equipment is represented: I made a headband of intellect from wire and beads, the old Darth Vader cape my mom made my brother decades ago is my "cloak of protection +3", garage sale gloves ($.50) are my 'gloves of dexterity', my conductor baton is my "wand of ice", Ashlyn's heart princess wand is my beloved "wand of fire", a mangled bamboo stick I crushed and burned the end off of was my unpredictable 'wand of wonder' (wand of blunder), plastic stem vases represented potions (a pointed-end one represented my own homemade poison), a rolled up and burned paper was one of many scrolls, aluminum foil around my arms were my bracers of defense, my wedding ring and a toy ring over my gloves were my fire resistance and ring of wizardry, a pouch with chocolate coins was my money pouch, a great moss-covered stick was my staff of air, and last but not least, a big purple spider (a Halloween decoration) represented Natasha, my 'familiar'.

Gosh, are we geeks or what?

Oct 31, 2004