Why You Should Play D&D

Disclaimer: This is not meant to be a guide on how to play D&D and may not fully explain the entirety of how the game works. It is only meant to be a reason why the reader should look into the game.

Good day to you kind people, and to you unkind people as well. I have no way of knowing the personalities of the people who will read this, but I can at least hope you don’t go and commit something illegal like robbing an Tesco. And if you do rob a Tesco, please record it and send me the video.

The reason you are reading this article right now is because I have made a bold proposition: you should give D&D a try. You might be wondering why. Even with its recent boost in popularity, Dungeons and Dragons still seems to be one of those things that most people avoid in fear of being seen as, for lack of a better term, a sun-fearing antisocial nerd boy. This is a completely untrue description, for the most part. Unless your character is a drow or kobold, D&D has nothing to do with heliophobia. 

D&D is a social game, in which you and your friends gather around a table and immerse yourselves in the world being created by your personal slave dungeon master. Getting started isn’t too expensive. Only a full 30 dollars for the Player Handbook and another 30 for the Dungeon Master’s Guide, plus some more money for RPG dice. Each player takes the role of an adventuring hero that they personalize from the ground up. On the other side, the dungeon master’s role is to control literally everything else in that world and spit out constant improv in hopes of entertaining their friends for the next few hours. It is a great game for escapism, an activity we can all benefit from while a microscopic grandma killer composed of a bundle of proteins continues to hide inside people’s lungs.

D&D is an excuse to get a bunch of your friends and get lost in conversation with each other for multiple hours, learning about each other and having fun in the process. Imagine monopoly game night but with a decreased chance of irreparably shattering friendships and families.

“But wait!” you shout at your computer screen, desperate for answers, “How am I supposed to play this game without helping that grandma killer kill more grandmas?” Fortunately for you, I have proven time and time to be a paragon of knowledge, and I will bestow this sacred wisdom onto you, in hopes that you use this ancient truth for good and not unspeakable evil. 

Just use Microsoft Teams. D&D is usually played with just words. Alternatively, there is a free website called Roll20 if you want to use a map to see where your characters are in battles. 

I’m running two games of my own currently. I don’t mean to step on the D&D club’s toes, but you should specifically message me and only me if you’re interested in playing. Just kidding, do what you want and be free, you beautiful creature.

You can message Nicola Sbrocca on teams if you want me to DM for you. I have open slots. No pressure, do what you want.

I’m not going to explain all the rules to you because the Player Handbook has 320 pages in it, and even considering the fact that only like 10% of those pages are the actual rules of the game, that’s still a lot of pages. The easiest way to get started is to find someone with experience in the game, preferably someone who can also DM like me for example. They can guide you through the process of starting and playing the game, and hopefully they won’t suck at it. You don’t have to do this of course, but if you do give the game a try, you just might find something you enjoy, and something you can look forward to doing every week.