What is it about D&D?
I’ve always been a gamer. I played mostly
cards and kiddy board games when I was just a lamb. As a teen it was
all about Nintendo and Super Nintendo. In high school I was
introduced to Dungeons and Dragons (AD&D second edition) and then
the World of Darkness games in the years that followed. For a long
time it was some combination of those until about 10 years ago, when
I was introduced to the German style board game. I was in an
exclusive relationship with Eurogames until in this last year I
played the fifth edition of D&D. So what is it about D&D
that has me wanting to play my human variant archer more than I want
to play a favorite euro like Castles of Burgundy?
To answer that question six unique aspects
stick out to me. Character Creation, Character Development, Problem
Solving, Socializing, Teambuilding, and all the Pretty Dice.
1 You can be anyone you want to be!
There are so many choices when deciding what
kind of character to make. There are all the classic archetypes.
You can make a character close to you your own personality traits so
the role playing part comes more naturally. You can make someone
that is the exact opposite of you keeping you on your toes. Try
playing an opposite gender character or no gender at all. Make a
very well rounded character but I usually find those play boring.
You can max and min your stats to be the strongest one out there but
so uncharismatic that is can be a problem for you party. Making a
character that plays to all its strengths is great but sometimes
making one that is a class that uses its weaker attributes can be
really fun to play. My best character is a Kobold Barbarian Fighter
that uses a Great Sword. Now it only works because I have a belt of
giant strength, but because I am small I always roll attacks with
disadvantage, unless pack tactics or attacking recklessly. But when
I pull off that critical hit though, there is no stopping me and it’s
awesome! Although, if I run into a no-magic zone things will get
interesting.
2 Accumulating the most precious resource,
Experience Points!
To multiclass or not to multiclass? I’m
pretty sure there is a great debate on how to optimise your
character. I used to just make my character based on what race and
class seemed cool at first level. Now that I am more experienced I
tend to look at all the options of a class. Would I be ok if my
level 20 character didn’t get those last three class upgrades to
get three levels in another? Also planning out my character’s
stats, how many hit points will they get each level, should I
increase an ability score or take a feat? Of course some decisions
will be based on if you are on a long term campaign with a regular
group or do you just play adventures league modules at your FLGS
(friendly local game store). And there is also the treasure! The
more gold you can accumulate the better gear you can buy, or do you
save it because you rush in without thinking and need a lot of
resurrection services? What about if your DM uses the Critical Hit
table and you lose a hand? That is going to change how your
character develops and make for some interesting work arounds. And
finding just the right magic item for you character can feel like
hitting the jackpot. Getting the Bracers of Archery for your Archer
or the Gloves of Thievery for your Thief can make your night and get
you so excited to play your next session you’re asking, “So,
who’s up for another game tonight?”
3 Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?
I recently read a comment about D&D asking
“Why is D&D so empowering?” It’s the problem solving for
me. In the real (world) you can be presented with waaay more
problems than you can solve. In your character’s world you and
your party have a variety of skills to draw on to solve any obstacles
you may be presented with. Sometimes you don’t have the skills on
your character sheet to deal with the present problem. That’s ok,
because you have the chance to roll the dice to see if you have an
inkling of what to do, or gain some clue as what to do. And there’s
always they option of just fight your way out. You usually feel like
goal accomplished, that was awesome, how empowering! In the real, if
you run out of things to try to solve the problem you could be poo
poo out of luck with no roll of the dice for help.
4 Yikes I’m a social phobic introvert!
Here we are at the socializing part. I’m not
good interacting with people. I sweat, I stutter, I blush, the more
one happens the more the others happen. I tend to relive
conversations and analyze and reanalyze what I said and what I should
have said, it’s exhausting. The first thing that D&D helps
with in socializing is that I’m not me, I’m Nala Jenkins the
Kobold Barbarian Champion, or Riswynn the Dwarvin War Cleric, or
Payella Tealeaf the Halfling Sword Swallowing Bard. Also the Players
Handbook is an instruction manual on how to interact with friends and
foes! That is great because there is no one manual for how to
interact with people in the real. It really would be helpful if
there was just one standard manual instead of 7.6 billion individual
ones. That being said the FLGS that we mostly play at is really
inclusive. All ages and genders play with rarely any issues. I
always feel comfortable and welcome. Comfortable to the point that I
am now a Dungeon Master! I know, who would have thought?
5 Here my opinion counts!
Because of my excessively shy and introverted
nature I never can get a word in edgewise when conversing. I’m
also a soft talker, so when I do speak it’s often not heard due to
being chronically “talked over.” Yes it’s a hot topic, but
here’s the thing when you are part of the adventuring party, we
each get a TURN to speak! When coming up with a plan to defeat that
Beholder I might come up with a vital part of the plan. I may only
be the sword juggling distraction but you still feel like without you
the group may not complete the task presented.
8 Dice Dice Baby!
There are so many dice to choose from. There
are clear, opaque, speckled, sparkled, swirled, marbled, layered,
solid, pearlescent, translucent, or glow in the dark. They can be
made from acrylic, wood, stone, gems, or metal. And the colors, you
can nearly get any color you can imagine! It’s really hard not to
have a dragon’s hoard size of dice. You can go classic and just
have dice in your favorite color. Sometimes you need to use a
specific set for a certain character. Sometimes you need red swirled
with yellow for you Flame Tongue Great Sword or sickly green for your
Yuan-ti acid spray or electric blue for your character that took all
the lightening spells! Sometimes you need enough sets that when one
starts rolling 1s you use the next backup set. And then there are
all the superstitions surrounding dice so you need sets for those
circumstances, but that would be a whole other write up.
