Rescuing a princess from an evil king. Stealing an amulet from a crypt. Befriending a dragon. All of these are possible within the forgotten realms. Created by Gary Gygax in 1973, Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) has been a staple of nerd culture that millions of people have embraced. In D&D, players gather around a gameboard and roleplay as characters they’ve created. One of the players is the Dungeon Master (DM), whose role is to create the world the players interact with. There is no one way to play D&D, and the variety of characters you can play and adventures you can have is endless. However, there are tips to make your experience the best it can be.
1. Play to your style
D&D offers players a variety of classes and characters to choose from. Each one has their own unique histories and characteristics, so when you first make a character, pick one that is your style. Would you enjoy playing a stoic and stubborn dwarf, or a focused and cunning elf? Maybe you’d just want to play a human with “the Destroyer” after your name. James the Destroyer: badass.
Playing to your style also helps determine what class your character will be. Do you think talking is boring and just want to split skulls with your +3 battleaxe? Then you’d make a perfect barbarian. Do you like to sneak around undetected and steal treasure? Well you’d want to be a rogue. And if you like acting out and talking to different characters, then bard is the class for you. Plus, you get to play guitar.
2. Actually roleplay
This can be difficult for first time players. Roleplaying is when you take on the persona of your character and act as they would act. By staying in character, you can immerse yourself in the world the DM has created. It makes you actually care about your character and adds to everyone’s experience. Roleplaying can get frustrating at times. You as a person might be smart enough to solve a puzzle or assume there is a hidden passage somewhere, but your character might not be. It wouldn’t make sense for a wizard to enter a jousting competition, so have the person playing the fighter do it.
3. Don’t be a backseat player.
There are few things as annoying as a backseat driver, except for disease, starvation, and all the other horrible natural and man-made disasters humanity has to endure. So why would being a backseat player be any different? Trying to play someone else's character for them is a quick way to ruin a session and make you the most hated person at the table. If someone isn’t playing their character properly, then just let them fail. They will realize their mistakes and fix them. Telling them how to play will stunt their roleplaying growth and destroy a lot of their fun.
4. Read everything
This might intimidate some people. Not everyone is into reading, but reading is a big part of D&D. You need at least three different books to play the game, and each one is over 200 pages long. Players will benefit from reading as much as they can, but it is only critical that they read the things pertaining to their character. It’s a different story for the DM. The Dungeon Master has to know all the in's and out's of the game. They need to understand the money system, leveling system, phases of combat, types of mounts and vehicles, treasure, monsters, histories, and so much more. Honestly, it takes a while to learn, and you will make mistakes- every DM does. Just keep working at it and reading, eventually, you’ll be a walking Player’s Handbook.
5. Steal stuff
Creating an entire world from scratch can be a challenge, so why bother with it? If you love Harry Potter and want to play in a world like it, then just have your game take place at Hogwarts. Did you think The Lord of the Rings should have ended with a sick rap battle between Frodo and Sauron? Well you can tell that story! There are no licensing rights in mom’s basement.
6. Die
You will make tons of mistakes in D&D. You’ll fail to clear a jump and fall 500 feet. You’ll think you can make it back to the raft before that shark gets you. You’ll think a level 3 Bard can take on six goblins at once. You will die, and that’s okay. It teaches you what you need to get better at and how the game is played. Plus, finding a cleric to revive you gives your friends a new quest.
Dungeons and Dragons is a game for anybody. I hope these tips help any new dungeon delvers in their quests. In the words of Gary Gygax, “There is no winning or losing, but rather the value is in the experience of imagining yourself as a character in whatever genre you're involved in, whether it's a fantasy game, the Wild West, secret agents or whatever else. You get to sort of vicariously experience those things.”
