I have a very thoughtful, talented and funny husband and I’m very lucky that when he’s not working, he’s mostly a homebody.

However, I have a bit of a confession. My husband is a nerd. Now, I’m not cutting him down with that term and if you ask him, he will readily admit that he is indeed, a nerd.

Some husbands spend hours and hours on the driving range trying to perfect a shot. Some like to play video games, devoting hours of time to virtually racing or fighting or stealing cars.

Then there are those who tinker with cars, returning vintage or classic autos to their former glory. Others are into fantasy football and spend hour upon hour devouring game stats and data.

My husband likes to play fantasy games as well, but his games involve elves, barbarians, paladins and quests. He is a dedicated Dungeons and Dragons enthusiast who has never grown up.

He started playing the tabletop role playing game when he was in high school and has continued to look for games right up to the present time.

If you have never played one of these games, here’s thumbnail description:?A dungeon master (the game leader), weaves a story taking players through dungeons, forests and villages, presenting them with tasks to complete and challenges to meet. The players’ success in the game is determined by the roll of a multi-sided dice.

Unfortunately for my dear hubby, there’s apparently no local tabletop groups or gatherings. So, he’s devised his own system online. Every Saturday night, he leads a group of players from all over the U.S. through their paces. With a virtual map, graphics and headsets so they can talk, it’s about as close to a face-to-face game as one could get.

He’s spent hours and hours developing the story line this adventure group – a hardy band of misfits including elves, halflings (kind of like a hobbit)?and dwarves, all played by friends from around the U.S.

Apparently, the greatest appeal of D&D?games, at least for my husband, is the storytelling aspect. He almost always steps in as the dungeon master. I’ve listened to him take players on quite exciting adventures, using a variety of voices and sound effects. He spends hours of time in the evenings preparing stories, building online maps and dungeons, conjuring creatures and conferring with his fellow players.

It’s interesting, because I remember people in college who played D&D. We kind of teased them about the game. But guess what, many of them grew up to be game designers, computer engineers, scientists, authors and inventors. They’re in very good company. Lots of well-known people play tabletop role-playing games – the late Robin Williams, action star Vin Diesel and even talk-show host Stephen Colbert.

He’s found his creative niche with this game and he’s forged some great friendships. After a long and stressful week at work, I guess there’s nothing quite as exhilarating as slogging through a dungeon with six good friends.