But what IS Dungeons and Dragons even?
You’ve seen it before in TV shows and popular media, a bunch of kids sitting around a table with dice, figurines, a bunch of character sheets and a DM (Dungeon Master) who meticulously narrates their every move as the party fight through a dungeon. It’s the final round, everyone is in death saves or about to be and one of the plucky heroes rolls the dice, they hit a nat 20 and the DM topples the bad guys mini, declaring that the party has defeated the villain! The players jump with excitement as they end their years long campaign in glory.
This is the image new players see in their head when they look for people to play with, and frankly its not a bad depiction of what playing TTRPG’s (Tabletop Roleplay Games) is like, but I am here to tell you a secret. That’s not all playing TTRPG’s are about, it’s all that and so much more. And you don’t even need to buy all the books, dice, and minis or have all the friends either. All you need is your IMAGINATION.
Now I do need to note that I will be using D&D in place of TTRPG going forward because most people are here for D&D and we won’t really be discussing systems like Pathfinder, Call of Cthulhu or any of the thousands of systems out there. But if you’re interested in other systems I highly recommend looking them up, there are so many content creators who talk about them online.
So let’s talk about what Dungeons and Dragons is and what it is not.
What D&D is NOT
D&D is NOT a board game.
Board games are played on a confined space (the board) with a set of strict rules that help determine a definite winner or winners. If the rules are broken or “bent” that’s considered cheating and games of this type often only last a couple of hours at max.
While D&D does have a defined rule set, those are more to do with the physics of the world and what creatures can do based on their experiences and physical make up. And even then, the rules are often left to interpretation or for the DM to make the final ruling on them. There is no winner or even a way to “win” D&D. Much like in real life D&D is a series of actions that lead to consequences that lead to other actions. In short it’s make believe with rules.
D&D is NOT a video game
I think this ties in to the last statement as well. D&D is not a video game that has a specific outcome at the end or a way to build your character to just one shot everything and speed run the game. A D&D game is an ever evolving series of actions being taken by a group of people who can think, and who breath life into a world they share inside their collective imaginations.
You could start out a campaign with the goal of defeating an evil Lich who took over your homeland, but in 3 months find that you’ve all decided to help Maximus the murder hobo wereraven find his shiny bauble because somehow he is the most precious thing the DM ever gave you and you would die for him.
D&D is NOT a movie or a bed time story
D&D is a collaborative exercise, which means everything that the DM describes or says can be questioned, inspected or built upon. As a player you have agency over everything YOUR character does, says, thinks or knows. This may seem very intimidating to first time players, but you don’t need to be a theatre kid or even a gamer to describe that your character smacks the rude elf at the bar over the head with an ale mug.
What D&D IS
D&D is a Table Top Game
Like a board game, D&D is played at a table, some times there are maps and minis for dungeons and encounters, some times there are not. Some times there is roleplay, sometimes there is not. There is almost always some form of dice involved and the tracking of a storyline or events that happen between the PC’s (player characters) and the NPC’s (non-player characters) and/or the world.
With such a vague description of what actually happens during a session it’s no wonder people don’t really understand it. But I’ll try and break it down beyond just dice throwing and battle mechanics below.
D&D is Collaborative Storytelling
Playing a game of D&D is just like playing pretend on the playground. Only this is the adult version where rules and common curtesy allow you create a coherent story in which you get to be the hero, or the villain, you always wanted to be.
D&D is Problem Solving
Aside from the rules and the roleplay D&D is mostly about solving problems around you and moving forward. Whether that is figuring out how to cross a 100 foot cavern with nothing more than rope and some pitons, or finding a way into the heavily guarded castle to kill the kings evil twin brother, D&D is all about finding a way. And you would be surprised but that’s probably the thing players love the most about the game. The chance to feel like absolute gods when they come up with a funny, smart way to outwit the problem they are facing.
D&D is Roleplay
Playing pretend, or roleplaying as adults call it, can be an incredibly cathartic experience that we often overlook because it can be embarrassing to do. Now, most games are not going to have you roleplaying actual scenes and doing improve, but just the act of describing what your character is doing will be enough to make you feel the power of your own agency in the game. There is something so exhilarating about coming up with a clever idea and having it all play out at the table with your friends around you supporting you. Or even strangers. The amount of support I’ve seen shown at tables of random strangers is always inspiring and it blows my mind how quickly and eagerly people are willing to bond when they have a common goal in mind. Especially when that goal is stealing some wealthy bastard’s coin purse and making them embarrass themselves in front of the local Duchess with a command spell.
D&D is Emotional
This doesn’t just apply when a character dies, this applies to everything. Remember that plucky street kid who tried to pick your pocket, who you made friends with? The one who became your informant? Well he just died because he was caught spying on the cartel you’re after. Oh you’re sad and want revenge? Well he wouldn’t have been there if you hadn’t asked him to spy. Boom! Regret and revenge served up by your DM to motivate you to take down the cities crime bosses.
Emotion IS how the game, and the DM, push you to perform a task. This is not a board game. You do not have a rule that says “collect the most money and win”. Because you cannot win D&D there is no trophy to motivate a player. Instead characters are motivated by personal goals that give players a sense of achievement; even the most mundane motivations, like being paid, can be propped up by the emotions of survival or greed. So no matter what you do, you are going to experience some form of emotion at the table. This is also a tricky subject as it can lead to something called bleed, which is a subject for another article.
D&D is Consequence
D&D is a very complex game of chess. It is a series of actions and reactions that are strung together like a pearl necklace that tells a story.
Let’s take the king’s evil twin brother as an example. There are any number of ways you could kill the king’s evil twin.
You could sneak into his room and poison his cup, he would die quietly and you’d be able to replace the evil king with the good one, no-one would be bothered and the kingdom would thrive.
You could barge in and kill all of the guards, making a scene and the whole kingdom would know that the king was killed. Some might support you and others might think the good king was the evil one who manipulated the party into killing their king.
You could just leave the city and go on holiday and the kingdom could suffer under a cruel king.
These are the consequences of YOUR actions and in a game like D&D, any one of these actions is a valid option.
And that is a basic look at what D&D is. But that doesn’t even touch on the mechanics of D&D and how one actually starts PLAYING D&D.
Good news is that I’ll be covering that in my next few articles, where I discuss how to actually start playing, where to find a DM and players. What different styles of play there are and what you should be looking for as a new player if you are looking to start your first game.
So go ahead and follow me if you want to find out more about this beloved hobby of mine.