Is Dungeons & Dragons Still Relevant in the Age of Video Games?

Video games are amazing. There’s absolutely no denying that. They’ve come a long way since the Atari 2600 I started out with as a kid. The rapid advances in modern technology, combined with the gazillions of dollars the gaming industry puts into development, have allowed todays games to reach far beyond what anyone would have dreamed possible a couple of decades ago.

With all these fantastic games available, why the hell would anyone want to sit around a table rolling plastic dice and doing math like a bunch of prehistoric nerds?

There are actually a number of pretty good reasons.

Video games can’t compete with human imagination.

In a video game, your options are limited to whatever a team of programmers chooses to make available. Let’s say there’s a sword you really want, but it’s fiercely guarded by a mighty red dragon. In a video game, you might be able to go into its lair and fight it directly with whatever weapons or spells your character has. In a game like World of Warcraft, you can even assemble a team of people to go in there with you.

But what if you wanted to take a more creative approach?

Maybe you’re playing a dwarf character with years of mining experience, and you think you can exploit some weaknesses in the lair’s structural integrity with a few strategically placed fireballs from your sorcerer pal.

Or perhaps there’s a powerful wizard nearby who you’d also like to take down. You could kill two birds with one stone by planting evidence that the dragon killed the wizard’s daughter. Let those two duke it out, then finish off whichever one survives.

Or you might decide not to kill the dragon at all. Maybe you strike up a conversation and find you have a lot in common. Not a likely option in a video game because…

You’re not really role-playing.

Much like my first point, your interactions with NPCs are pretty much limited to whatever lines of dialogue the programmers decided to include.

You could offer a dungeon guard enough gold to set him and his family up for life. But if he’s not programmed to accept a bribe, you’re not getting out of that cell until you find the conveniently loose stone in the wall where the secret key is hidden.

You can explain to the weapon shop owner that the fate of the entire realm hinges on you using the Sword of Asskicking to take down the Great Demon Lord until you’re blue in the face. His home, his shop, his entire family will be smoldering piles of ash unless you and your team of heroes put an end to this cruel monster’s reign of terror. But if you’re one gold piece short of being able to afford his asking price, you’re not walking out of that store with any Swords of Asskicking.

Video games have come a long way in many respects, but I don’t think I’ll live to see the day that I get a satisfying role-playing experience out of one.

There’s no replicating the feeling of rolling a natural 20.

Yes, a multitude of video games allow for critical hits, and that’s cool. But there’s nothing quite like seeing the 20 side of a die show face up when you really really needed it to. Likewise, there’s nothing quite like seeing the 1 side of a die show face up when you really really needed it to be a 20.

These are the highs and lows you and your group still talk about years after they happen. Every tabletop gamer reading this is recalling one such moment right now.

It’s just a different experience.

I’m not trying to shit on anyone’s love of video games. I love video games. They can do a lot of things that would almost certainly not be as fun with paper and dice. I can’t imagine getting quite the same thrills from a tabletop version of Mario Kart.

But video games don’t scratch my tabletop gaming itch anymore than they satisfy my craving for a bacon cheeseburger. It’s an entirely different experience. It’s more than just a game. It’s an exercise in collaborative storytelling.

Once viewed as a hobby for only nerds, weirdos, and Satanists, Dungeons & Dragons is more popular now than it’s ever been. Celebrities are getting in on the action. There are innumerous YouTube channels and podcasts dedicated to watching or listening to people play.

In short, Dungeons & Dragons isn’t going anywhere.

How Do You Teach New Players About D&D?

Introducing a new player to the wonderful world of Dungeons & Dragons can be an immensely rewarding experience. But with so many stats and rules and books and maps and dice and math flying around, asking a novice to jump straight into an ongoing campaign with experienced players is like asking an Amish man to disarm a bomb. It can be overwhelming.

That’s not to say it can’t be done. A lot of that depends on the newcomer in question, the Dungeon Master, and the overall vibe of the group. Sometimes, things just click.

But I’m going to offer some tips and suggestions for easing a new player into the game, rather than just shoving them into the deep end and hoping they figure out how to swim.

Start with a one-shot.

If you’re a Dungeon Master who has been running a campaign for six years, and your eighteenth-level party is about to infiltrate the Mystic Mines to steal back the Amulet of Power, it might not be the best time to introduce Bumbles McClueless.

That’s neither fair to the seasoned players who have to babysit the novice on top of what’s already a difficult and dangerous quest, nor the novice who is under unnecessary pressure not to screw everything up.

A good way to take the pressure off a new player is to eliminate the stakes entirely. This can easily be done with a one-shot game. A test drive, if you will. Tell the player that whatever happens during this session will have no effect on future sessions. We’re just running a one-time bullshit mini-adventure to work out the nuts and bolts of game play.

You can have them arrive at a farm where they’re solicited by a farmer to go kill some rats that have been eating all the grain stores. The more generic, the better. That really drives home how little this matters, which takes the pressure off the player.

Should you start with a premade character or build one from scratch?

That’s going to depend on a couple of factors, the biggest being how much time you have.

Handing a new player a filled-out character sheet and saying, “Here. You’re Larry the Wizard” certainly saves everyone a lot of time and allows you to jump straight into the action, but it comes at the cost of denying the player the opportunity to really connect and invest emotionally in the role. That might be fine for a quick one-shot, but if you’ve got the time, I recommend walking the newcomer through the steps of character creation.

Creating a new character, for many, is almost as much fun as playing it, and it allows a Dungeon Master or veteran player to sprinkle in game mechanics to the newcomer without overwhelming them.

Rather than ask them specifics, such as what class they’d like to play, start off with more general conceptual questions. “What sort of fantasy character archetype appeals to you?”

If that doesn’t get you anywhere, give a couple of examples. “Do you see your character as the strong and stabby type? Or are you interested in practicing magic? Or would you rather be like an assassin lurking in the shadows? Or whatever.” New players often have a hard time coming to terms with the “free will” concept of the game, so it’s important to remind them that pretty much anything they’ve got in mind can work as a starting point.

As you have them roll their ability scores (or assign them) you can start to familiarize the player with how the game works by giving examples of how each might affect certain actions they might attempt. The same goes for feats, skills, spells, etc. This might seem tedious to seasoned players, but the yet-to-be-indoctrinated often find it all fascinating.

Free Will

This is a concept a lot of new players have a hard time wrapping their head around at first. When you present a player with a situation and follow it up with, “What do you do?”, they might stare blankly at you for a moment before asking, “What are my options?”

That’s a good learning opportunity, and a good reason to take them through a bullshit zero-stakes adventure in the beginning. Only present specific options as an absolute last resort. The goal here is to drive home that they’re free to do whatever the hell they want. If they come up with something ridiculous to see if you really mean it, all the better.

“Can I pick up a barstool and take a swing at the tavern owner?”

“Absolutely.”

Have them roll for whatever it is, then dole out the consequences. Good times!

Don’t pull any punches.

Another advantage of running a one-shot zero-stakes adventure for a new player is to allow them to make some mistakes. In fact, it might even be a good idea to make it a goal to kill their character, since it’s one they’re not yet emotionally invested in.

DMs and veteran players are often tempted to advise a new player as to what the “right” or “wrong” action is in a given situation, but that can get really stifling really quickly. I think it’s better to lead by example and offer some constructive criticism after the session.

“I noticed your wizard ran straight at the goblins with his dagger. You could have dropped two or three of them with a Sleep spell. Or maybe a fighter or barbarian character might suit you better.”

Start at Level 1

A lot of players and Dungeon Masters like to skip the first few character levels and start off new characters at level 5 or 6 so they’re powerful enough to kick some ass right out of the gate.

But for a new player, that denies them the joy of watching a humble first level character develop into someone powerful enough to kick some ass. That’s a gaming rite of passage.

Also, having too many spells/skills/whatever so quickly can be overwhelming. Starting at Level 1 gives players a chance to adjust their seats and check the mirrors before pulling out into traffic.

Finally, getting beaten to within an inch of one’s life by a kobold can teach players can be a humbling experience, teaching valuable lessons that they can take with them to higher levels.

Give them some homework.

“What? This whole game already feels like homework.” Don’t worry. I’m not talking about anything too heavy. But maybe suggest some D&D podcasts or YouTube channels they can listen to before your next session to get a better feel for how the game works.

And if they want to give some thought to their character’s backstory, icing on the cake.

Don’t be a douche.

Generally solid advice to follow, it’s worth addressing as I’ve seen it a number of times at the gaming table. If there’s one thing worse than being mocked and ridiculed, it’s being mocked and ridiculed by a bunch of nerds.

I can’t think of any faster way to drive someone away from the game without a loaded firearm. Most people would rather sit at a table with ten Hitlers than with one condescending nerd.

If the new guy tries to cast a Sleep spell on a zombie, there’s no need for you to chortle so hard that Dorito crumbs shake loose from your neck beard. Just explain why that doesn’t work, dock them the spell, and have the zombie attack them. Learning experience!

Is Dungeons & Dragons Easy To Learn?

If you’re not familiar with Dungeons & Dragons and happen to walk in on a game, you might think the strange people at the table are trying to predict the next global catastrophe by deciphering numerical patterns hidden in the Bible, or unraveling conspiracy theories about who really shot JFK… and why!

With all the books, and pencils, and white boards, and random bits of math scribbled onto scraps of graph paper, the last thing you’d suspect these people were doing is playing a game, or anything even peripherally related to fun.

To the casual observer, D&D can look pretty complicated. And it absolutely can be. The game’s fifth edition has done well to streamline a lot of the rules, but it’s still quite a bit to take in for a player new to the game.

So it would seem that the answer to the question, “Is Dungeons & Dragons easy to learn?” would be a resounding “No”. But that’s not always the case. Not even usually the case, and I’ll give you a few reasons why.

1. No prior knowledge required. If you speak the same language as the other players at the table, there’s nothing stopping you from jumping into a game at a second’s notice.

Tabletop gamers generally tend toward being patient with newcomers and eager to welcome them to their hobby.

You don’t have to know your Dex from your dicks. The Dungeon Master will explain the situation your character is in, and you tell him or her how you think your character would react. If he tells you a goblin is running at you with a dagger, you can choose to fight back, run away, tickle it, whatever. According to what you decide, the DM will tell you what dice to roll and give you the results. At this stage, you don’t have to know what any of the technical stuff means because…

2. You’ll pick it up as you go. If I were a gambling man, I’d wager that less than 5% of gamers at any table have an encyclopedic knowledge of all the rules. All those rule books are open to different pages for a reason.

Everyone starts from zero, and you can pick things up at your own pace. As you take certain actions over and over again, knowing how many of which dice you need to roll becomes second nature. Over time, you’ll find yourself consulting the rulebooks less and less often. Especially since…

3. There’s more to the game than rules. If you find yourself in a role-play heavy group, you might go an entire session without anyone rolling a single die. It’s not all about beating the snot out of orcs. You might find your character in a situation where he or she needs to solve a crime or negotiate peace between two feuding clans. In situations like those, it’s less about dice and more about imagination.

But even in more battle-hungry groups, it’s not imperative to know exactly how every little thing works, because…

4. The rules don’t matter. At least, not necessarily. You might find yourself in a group, as I did when I first started playing D&D, in which nobody really knows what they’re doing. If we weren’t sure about a rule and we didn’t feel like interrupting the game to hunt down a particular rule, we’d make it up.

It’s not like Gary Gygax’s ghost is going to haunt your house if you forget to add your Dexterity bonus to your Initiative roll. I don’t know how many times I’ve gone months - or even years - without realizing I’d been doing something or another the wrong way that entire time. But who gives a shit? I was having fun.

Is D&D A Game For Nerds?

Yes.

Absolutely and unequivocally yes.

However, to leave it at that would be doing an injustice to the matter at hand.

Some people say that the word “nerd” means something different today than it did in the past. I say those people are full of shit. It means exactly what it’s always meant, but the stigma attached to it has all but completely vanished. In many ways, in fact, it has even reversed.

Back when I was growing up in the 1990s, the game shop I used to go to was on a street on which shoppers would walk from store to store like bees moving from flower to flower, the goods they’d purchased carried in bags proudly displaying the names and logos of the shops they were purchased from… except for the game shop.

When I went in there to buy a 2nd Edition Dungeons & Dragons Arms and Equipment Guide, I walked out the store with my purchase in a non-descript brown paper bag like I was some kind of wino.

For all the younger people reading this, these were the days before Amazon. If you wanted a book, you drove your ass to the store and bought one. Niche hobby shops like that one needed all the publicity they could get. I don’t know for a fact that what I’m about to suggest was the case, but I strongly suspect someone crunched the numbers and decided they would lose more customers by putting their logo on their bags, outing their customers as nerds to random passersby, than they would gain new customers from using that logo to get their name spread around.

It could just as easily be the case that they were cheap.

Being a nerd was tough in the late 80s and early 90s, and D&D was like the Alcatraz of nerddom. It was a hobby you picked up when you finally accepted that you were never going to fit in even with run-of-the-mill nerds. You could go home after a day of getting picked on at school only to have your mom confront you about some bullshit she saw on the news about D&D being linked to worshipping Satan.

I’m not sure exactly what caused the cultural shift since then. Maybe it was the internet. Or it might have had something to do with bullies finding themselves washing the Ferraris of the nerds they used to shove into lockers. I don’t know. I was too busy playing D&D, I guess. But whatever it was, everyone seemed to let go of the rods they’d had crammed up their asses for so long about nerds.

And now things have fishtailed the other way. Nerd culture has taken over. Everybody want a piece of that hot nerd action. From blockbuster Marvel movies to celebrity scientists to hit shows like Stranger Things and Big Bang Theory. Sure, the latter is unfunny pandering garbage, but the fact that it’s intentionally and successfully capitalizing on the public’s thirst for nerd-centric content is… Well, it’s something I find comforting.

I would argue that D&D remains the standard bearer for what it is to be a nerd. A lot of Marvel movie fans might just be into well made action movies with a bunch of quippy lines. Big Bang Theory fans may simply enjoy a half-hour of brain rot that makes them feel smart. There’s nothing inherently nerdy about any of that.

But if you enjoy spending time sitting around a table with your friends, doing math while you pretend to be an elven wizard, you’re a fucking nerd.

And that’s awesome.

Can I Play D&D Alone?

Much like the aforementioned question, “How do you win in D&D?” this is a question I’ve heard often by those not familiar with exactly what Dungeons & Dragons is.

Is it a game you can play alone? The simple answer is yes! Or no… or yes.

To explain that a little better, I should probably elaborate.

Dungeons & Dragons, besides being a game, is a collaborative storytelling experience between a Dungeon Master and one or more players. If, by “playing alone”, you mean “being the only player” (not counting the DM), then the answer is yes.

It’s not always easy to get a group of players together due to scheduling conflicts or things that come up out of the blue. But as long as you’ve got one DM and one player, you can still have a satisfying adventure. I’ve spent many long nights on solo quests. If you use your imagination, the challenges involved with going it alone can provide opportunities to think outside the box to solve problems.

However, if by “playing alone” you mean something akin to sitting in your apartment playing Solitaire while you cry into an empty Cheetos bag and think back on the choices you made in life that brought you to this place, then the answer is no. To play the game as it was designed to be played, both a Dungeon Master and at least one player must be creating the story together.

Then again, I’m not here to tell you how to live your life. If you want to play alone, don’t let me stop you! Just be aware that there’s a more commonly used term for what you’re doing, and it’s one with which I am intimately familiar. It’s called “writing a fantasy book”.

Depending on your reason for asking this question in the first place, there’s one more option that could help alleviate your soul crushing despair. If it’s simply a matter of geography keeping you from finding other gamers to play with, you might have a go at playing online.

Sites like roll20.net have made it possible for players and DMs alike to not have to settle for whatever deadbeats they can lure into their basement on a Tuesday night. They’ve been popular with podcasters for years, and found a massive increase in popularity among casual gamers during the Covid pandemic.

So chin up! There’s hope for the likes of you yet.

How Do You Win In D&D?

Having grown up playing this game for most of my life around people who are only peripherally aware of it, this is a question I’ve heard quite a number of times over the years.

I’ll give you the Hallmark Channel answer later in the post, but the short answer is… You don’t.

Dungeons & Dragons simply isn’t that kind of game. It’s not Monopoly, where the game stops as soon as all but one player runs out of money or your cousin Ronnie flips the table over because he landed on your Boardwalk hotel for the sixth time.

D&D isn’t about winning or losing so much as it’s about participating in a collaborative storytelling experience. Your characters might slay a troll, acquire a ton of treasure, or save the kingdom from the magical plague set on the people by the evil wizard, but none of that ends the game. Life goes on, and with it come more challenges for your characters to overcome.

Even a character’s death doesn’t equate to losing the game. Resurrection is often an option, should the surviving members of your party be willing to spend the resources and effort required to have your character brought back to life.

If they choose instead to take all your stuff and leave your festering corpse to be devoured by carrion crawlers, you always have the option to roll up a new character. The story isn’t over, and neither is your part in the telling of it.

Now for the promised Hallmark Channel answer.

What’s the object of any game? To have fun, of course. If everyone comes away from a gaming session feeling pumped and excited for the next one, then congratulations. You’re a winner!

If, on the other hand, your cousin Ronnie flips the table over because you smudged your Dorito-stained fingers all over his brand new Player’s Handbook, that can safely be considered a loss.

What Do I Need To Play Dungeons & Dragons?

One of the best things about Dungeons & Dragons is that you don’t need a whole lot to play. It’s a hobby you certainly can spend quite a lot of money on if you choose, but very little is required to have a fulfilling gaming experience.

When you get down to the bare bones of it, all you need are some people to play with, some paper, a pencil, a set of dice, and the rulebooks. When I was a kid, my friends and I burned through entire summers without much more than that. Even now as an adult, I tend to keep things pretty simple.

If your style leans more combat heavy, a map and some markers to represent your characters can come in handy. A map can be easily drawn up with a sheet of graph paper or be as complex as a 3D model of a village. As for me, I’ve always favored a nice big whiteboard with graph lines.

As for markers, you can use coins, pieces from other board games you’ve got tucked away in your closet, or even spare dice if you’ve got enough of them lying around. If you’re using an upright whiteboard, different colored magnets make nice character tokens. I was big into Legos as a kid, so my friends and I liked to use Lego minifigures to represent our characters.

But if you really want to dive into a money hole, there’s no shortage of miniatures available for any combination of race and class you can think of. You can buy them painted or unpainted. For some, collecting and painting miniatures is as satisfying a part of the hobby as playing the game is.

As technology advances, even the aforementioned bare bones equipment isn’t strictly necessary. If you’ve got a stable internet connection, sites such as roll20.net allow you to play online. With a digital character sheet, gone are the need for paper and pencil. Easily customizable buttons and macros obviate the need for a physical set of dice.

Hell, you don’t even need any friends! Do a little digging, and you’ll be able to find groups all over the world who are willing to welcome a stranger to the party.

What is Dungeons & Dragons?

Dungeons & Dragons (also referred to as D&D) is a fantasy role-playing game created by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson and published by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TSR) in 1974.

It’s an interactive storytelling experience between players who play the role of characters and a Dungeon Master who arbitrates their interactions with the world around them.

The Dungeon Master (or DM) presents the players with a situation, and the players declare their responses to it. They can choose to fight, flee, negotiate, or whatever they want. Unlike a conventional board game or video game which constrains players to a finite selection of options, D&D players are limited only by their own imaginations (and the discretion of the DM).

Typical characters follow fantasy archetypes including (but not limited to) Fighters, Wizards, Sorcerers, Clerics, Barbarians, Rogues, and even Bards. They can be any of an assortment of races, such as Humans, Dwarves, Elves, or Halflings. The rulebooks provide the nuts and bolts involved in creating a character, but it’s up to the player to bring that character to life. Two players with identical character sheets could play extraordinarily different characters, depending on their personalities and how much development they put into those characters’ motives, backstories, etc…

Together, the players and DM go on imaginary adventures, fighting monsters, solving problems, gather treasure, and earn experience points.

When a character earns enough experience points, he or she goes up a level, acquiring new skills according to their chosen class, and improving their existing ones. Fighters hit harder, spellcasters learn new and more powerful spells, and rogues further develop their ability to sneak around.

The outcome of decisions players make for their characters is often determined by rolling one or more of a variety of polyhedral dice. The twenty-sided die has become a recognizable symbol of the game, and tabletop role-playing in general.

Over the past 40+ years, the game has gone through several revisions. Now owned by Hasbro Subsidiary Wizards of the Coast, it is currently in its fifth edition.

The game enjoys wide appeal due in part to its versatility. There’s no one right way to play. Some groups engage in serious campaigns, while others prefer a more lighthearted or even silly approach. Children play it after school with chips and juice, but it’s certainly not unknown for adults to enjoy a few beers during a session.

The history of Dungeons & Dragons is not without some bumps in the road. During the Satanic Panic of the 1980s, it was falsely linked by many to Satanism and suicide. That was on top of it being widely regarded as a hobby for outcasts and nerds.

Fortunately, however, nerd culture is all the rage nowadays, and D&D is more popular than ever with the estimated number of worldwide players in excess of 13 million.