Day 54: If you don’t play Dungeons & Dragons, YOU’RE the loser.
In spite of a pretty darn nerdy upbringing, that was one subculture that eluded me in its purest form: Dungeons & Dragons (DnD). I never played as a kid. The closest experience I had to it were role-playing computer games in MS-DOS that I usually played by myself.
Come to think of it, I didn’t grow up with anyone who had multi-sided dice or a mind for creating challenging, fantastical scenarios. I grew up in the dawn of the computer age, where probabilistic encounters did not require the processing of a dungeon master (DM) or even … another human being.
I discovered DnD well into my 30s, and I am HOOKED.
Here’s my pitch to those of you who seem skeptical towards a game culture often relegated to be strictly for nerds. DnD is for people who like to play, perform, improvise, calculate, collaborate, narrate, and transcend. It takes a certain type of spirit to truly enjoy it.
While spending time in the trenches of the Hollywood scene, an filmmaker buddy of mine told me that he and his girlfriend are active DnD players, which makes perfect sense. Who better than creative storytelling, performing people by trade to apply their skills to an environment without limitation?
I’m currently in a campaign now, just my third ever. I’d still consider myself a beginner, but I’ve learned a few ways to keep the game fun:
“Yes, and…” (The first rule of improv)
DnD requires its player to build off one another, to take a scenario and run with it. If you respond negatively, even if its within a presumed alignment with your character’s motivations, it disrupts the overall flow of the game.
Don’t break character… unless you must
Creating a virtual experience requires a lot of faith. Handle meta-information with care, be true to what your character would do in that moment, and even allow yourself to be ignorant of everything. If you have to break, however, make sure its all in the spirit of building upon the collective experience.
Work together from the onset
I made the mistake of playing a distrusting, disengaged character at the start of the campaign. My hope was to create someone intriguing, but by the end of the session, I was worn out by the failed attempts to get them to participate. Lesson learned: let the DM handle the dialectics early on. The level of intrigue at the start of a campaign is already high enough.
Diversity, balance, and versatility
You need a little bit of everything to increase your chances of success, and it’s just not as much fun if everyone is doing the same thing. Try to do something different compared to your teammates — you have a wide selection of races, classes, spells, feats, and other attributes. Don’t worry if you can’t do everything — your DM will find opportunities for you to participate.
Just “role” with it
You’re going to get some bad breaks from time to time. If this game were truly predictable, it wouldn’t be any fun. Accept the possibility of failure. Stay positive. Support your party and talk openly about how to navigate a tricky situation. Worst-case scenario: you can always be revived at an inn… right?
I’m already anxious about the next session with my crew. Let me know if you want a seat at our table.
— Lee
PS: If you like DnD but want to find a better way to set up characters, settings, and combat experiences, check out Expedition: The Roleplaying Card Game. Developed by Todd Medema and Scott Martin, Expedition has been a terrific way for me to play a quick session on my own or test out my DM skills on my younger cousins. Check it out, buy it on Amazon, or help create your own quests to share with their community here!
