As a D&D Re-Player (one who played back in the '80's under 1E and AD&D, then took a long hiatus) I'm coming back now into 5E. I am greatly satisfied with where the rules and game mechanics have evolved to. It has a lot FEWER barriers to entry. The present day and age have also availed many things that I did not have access to back in 1982-1989 (my TTRPG playing heyday). For one, D&D was kind of mysterious and secretive. Finding someone who played or a location that had gaming materials and a regular session was very difficult. Then the 'Satanic Panic' came along, forcing many parents of middle-schoolers to FORBID the practice of playing D&D. This backfired, creating more curiosity in the game and causing more folks to ask about it and go looking for it.
The biggest obstacle for me, back then, was the sheer amount of literature you had to digest BEFORE you came to the table. As a middle-schooler in 1983, the older crowd at the game stores didn't have the time to walk any kids through an actual session as a player. I was told I should buy the rule books and study them, like for a test. That test was to see if you were worthy to sit at the game table. Fortunately, I had friends that had the materials (Basic Set) and we would get together to simulate game play, practice rolling dice and doing math, and discovering together how it was played - or at least how we thought it was played.
Time went on and the gaming group changed over and over again. AD&D was definitely more detailed in what you could do and how you could do it. Dungeon crawl maps & modules gave way to campaign worlds to explore (both as DM and player). I chose the mantle of DM, as most of my peers wanted to roll up their own characters and jump into the world of being an Illusionist or a Thief or an Acrobat. We had our fun, played games during breaks at school, on trips out-of-state and college dorms on rainy days. Then, PC's and computer games came out. My trips to Bob's Games & Collectibles became visits to Babbage's and Radio Shack. Computers took a LOT more money than D&D and I was out of it before 3E started.
Fast-forward 30+ years. I have an IT career, a wife, a family, and a middle-school daughter who finishes watching Stranger Things and says, "Dad, you played Dungeons & Dragons. Can you teach it me and my friends?" I thought to myself out loud, "Yes I CAN." Next thing I know, I'm using all the online tools like YouTube to watch things like Critical Roll, Sly Flourish and the Dungeon Dudes. Using Spotify to ingest podcasts like the D&D Lorecast, DnDiscussions, and 'How NOT to DM'. I'm Googling rules and discovering how DM's operate through websites like the Dm's Guild, DriveThruRPG, World Anvil and the Mother-site - D&D Beyond. Where I reside now, there are maybe one or two "gaming stores" mostly catering to that OTHER WotC intellectual property, so not a lot of choices for TTRPG. I picked up both the Starter Set AND the Essentials Kit from @walmart. They even had a dice tower with dice!
As I re-familiarized myself with the Basic Rules and rolled up a Player Character with the rulebook contained in the Essentials Kit (which is the MUCH better set IMHO). I started playing with the DnDBeyond.com site and app. I got an account, started a Master subscription trial and created my first characters. How incredibly fun and easy! I was able to choose (from drop down lists) the things that were important to me while not worrying about the math or lookup tables. I got to PICK my race (read 'species') and my class rather than the luck of the dice as in 1E. Instead of a couple hours rolling characters, and lying to my friends about the rolls, I was able to have so much more satisfaction with the process. As I purchased sourcebooks through the site, those additional bits and pieces got incorporated to my choice list in my character creation. Outstanding!
Thanks to Amazon, eBay, and a recent visit to MegaCon, I am all geared up with dice, trays, Sourcebooks, battle mats, DM screens and keen D&D shirts from Kohls.com. The table has been set and we are almost 2 months into the Lost Mine of Phandelver (FREE on DnDBeyond.com). I am getting back into the swing of leading a party of 7th to 9th graders into the throws of battle against goblins and bugbears. It's a lot of fun and more interest is being generated now from my daughter & her friends in playing. She is even asking me to teach her how to DM, so she can lead new players. This is what Wizards and Hasbro want - a new generation of gamers, players, thinkers, imaginers, collaborators, creators, and, ultimately, consumers.
As I survey the bevy of info & instruction on how to play D&D, both from WotC and independent contributors, I find it to be somewhat sporadic, disheveled and intimidating. Having played for the better part of a decade "back-in-the-day" I was already comfortable describing a scene and doing different NPC voices. But I had to grasp the new rules for rolls. I was still new to the combat order and ability checks. These are great advancements in the game, but still a bit to put on and wear for a 5-mile hike.
I think ideally, Wizards might consider to "Layer" the game rules experience. Not just present an 'Easy' Adventure for newbies to get their feet wet, but something more like what we had in the '80's - Basic and Advanced rules. Perhaps a 3-tiered system where you are encouraged to use an entry set of rules, that can be built-upon into an Intermediate level, and then (when comfortable) add-on even more detail to present the Top-Tier 'Advanced D&D' (see what I did there?) for those who want the fullest experience both as a Player and as a DM. I realize the game is kinda setup this way now, but there is no clear roadmap for a novice. No distinct borders that allow the BEST parts of the game to come right out initially, whetting the appetite for a greater experience, and then drawing the desire to head down the 'Black Diamond' slopes of the game a la Matt Mercer, and his contemporaries.
I am so excited to be back into tabletop roleplaying again after the time away from it. I'm even more excited to be sharing this adventure with my daughter, who seems to have the interest and enjoyment that I had 4 decades prior. Looking forward to seeing where One D&D takes the game, as well as what is on the horizon into the future.
From another old fart, welcome! Though I'm not ready to take on the expense and study time to become a DM again, I'm lucky enough to be a player at two table games. One we gather around monthly, for six hours, and the other we gather around weekly, for three hours. I have tried doing the online gaming scene, but that scene just doesn't seem to work well for me.
As a way of introducing new players to the rules I have chosen a different approach to what you suggest. I have written a series of adventures where the DM's role starts with a degree of steering (by making the episodes more linear, first this happens, then that) and gradually open up to a more sandbox style campaign where the players have more free rein.
By gently steering the first sessions you can make all understand the mechanics of play, direct their creativity towards set pieces and then once knowledge has seeped in. set them free.
Having multiple versions of the same rules would, imho, onle confuse players in the transitions - heck, the group I'm in has played 5e for four years now and we still manage to confuse ourselves with 4e stuff
My party is made up of 4 girls and one boy. Amazing! Back in my day, there were NO girls at the table, unless it was someone's mom telling us that "Game-Time is over!" It's definitely a new experience from playing with 8th grade boys "Killin' & Lootin'" now to girls who want to parlay with the goblins to find out why they're so angry to want to hurt the party. So much fun!
Thanks for chiming in. Being a 'computer guy', I'm already online and gaming. I don't know if I want to move to Virtual TableTop yet as it was the whole "People-at-a-table" experience that I came to love. DnD Beyond definitely streamlines the time at the table, and the time wasted looking up stuff in the sourcebooks. Watching these kids, who are all raised on technology, (with their heads down in their laps), turn off their phones and engage each other, solving problems is just SO rewarding to me. All 5 of them (4 girls, 1 boy) each LOVE the sessions we have played and one of the dads has stayed to watch, then play. He was an old-school 2E player, too. More of us old-guys should get pulled out of D&D retirement.
Welcome back! I can attest that learning to DM all on your own is a difficult process which was still difficult 10 years ago when I started, but nowadays it is much easier with this site and all the channels.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
DM for life by choice, biggest fan of D&D specifically.
Welcome back! I firmly believe that when our generation goes to the retirement community we’ll be playing D&D instead of bingo. As someone who went directly from AD&D to 5e I certainly understand your sentiments. I regret I missed out on things for 30 years. I enjoy DMing the old 1e modules for my group and you can find conversions for them online. The design differences are really stark (just what is that troll doing in an empty room in a dungeon next to another room with an ochre jelly?) but the younger players have never seen any of it. And it’ll be a warm fuzzy for you. And enjoy gaming with your daughter. As a girl-dad myself there’s no better way to spend time together.
Thanks for chiming in. Being a 'computer guy', I'm already online and gaming. I don't know if I want to move to Virtual TableTop yet as it was the whole "People-at-a-table" experience that I came to love. DnD Beyond definitely streamlines the time at the table, and the time wasted looking up stuff in the sourcebooks. Watching these kids, who are all raised on technology, (with their heads down in their laps), turn off their phones and engage each other, solving problems is just SO rewarding to me. All 5 of them (4 girls, 1 boy) each LOVE the sessions we have played and one of the dads has stayed to watch, then play. He was an old-school 2E player, too. More of us old-guys should get pulled out of D&D retirement.
[Damn, just wiped all of my previous reply!] Online gaming (D&D) has been less than satisfying for me. I have spent some time on a Discord server platform and have learned a few things. Though this one in particular is well-considered, and thoroughly, thoughtfully set up, and the folks there, especially the creators of the platform, are great people, I have found that I spend too much time there for what I get from it. With the [literally] hundreds of site-specific commands required to play there, and the lag time between players getting 'pinged' for their turns, then responding, I have found that a combat encounter, which would take 45 minutes to an hour at a live table game, can take 3-4 hours online. As someone who does not wish to go mobile and play the game piecemeal and 'on the fly', so to speak, I have found that online play sucks up too much of my time for my enjoyment. Granted, I am not an accomplished multitasker, and never want to be, so there is that. For those people who like doing several different things in a given block of time, this might be acceptable, even fun. Just my experience; food for thought, for going online.
I love that you have more females than males engaged in play. That in itself is a wonderful accomplishment. As a passionate role player, puzzle solver, and one who loves to interact with the environment that the DM has provided us players most of all, I salute you!
As a D&D Re-Player (one who played back in the '80's under 1E and AD&D, then took a long hiatus) I'm coming back now into 5E. I am greatly satisfied with where the rules and game mechanics have evolved to. It has a lot FEWER barriers to entry. The present day and age have also availed many things that I did not have access to back in 1982-1989 (my TTRPG playing heyday). For one, D&D was kind of mysterious and secretive. Finding someone who played or a location that had gaming materials and a regular session was very difficult. Then the 'Satanic Panic' came along, forcing many parents of middle-schoolers to FORBID the practice of playing D&D. This backfired, creating more curiosity in the game and causing more folks to ask about it and go looking for it.
The biggest obstacle for me, back then, was the sheer amount of literature you had to digest BEFORE you came to the table. As a middle-schooler in 1983, the older crowd at the game stores didn't have the time to walk any kids through an actual session as a player. I was told I should buy the rule books and study them, like for a test. That test was to see if you were worthy to sit at the game table. Fortunately, I had friends that had the materials (Basic Set) and we would get together to simulate game play, practice rolling dice and doing math, and discovering together how it was played - or at least how we thought it was played.
Time went on and the gaming group changed over and over again. AD&D was definitely more detailed in what you could do and how you could do it. Dungeon crawl maps & modules gave way to campaign worlds to explore (both as DM and player). I chose the mantle of DM, as most of my peers wanted to roll up their own characters and jump into the world of being an Illusionist or a Thief or an Acrobat. We had our fun, played games during breaks at school, on trips out-of-state and college dorms on rainy days. Then, PC's and computer games came out. My trips to Bob's Games & Collectibles became visits to Babbage's and Radio Shack. Computers took a LOT more money than D&D and I was out of it before 3E started.
Fast-forward 30+ years. I have an IT career, a wife, a family, and a middle-school daughter who finishes watching Stranger Things and says, "Dad, you played Dungeons & Dragons. Can you teach it me and my friends?" I thought to myself out loud, "Yes I CAN." Next thing I know, I'm using all the online tools like YouTube to watch things like Critical Roll, Sly Flourish and the Dungeon Dudes. Using Spotify to ingest podcasts like the D&D Lorecast, DnDiscussions, and 'How NOT to DM'. I'm Googling rules and discovering how DM's operate through websites like the Dm's Guild, DriveThruRPG, World Anvil and the Mother-site - D&D Beyond. Where I reside now, there are maybe one or two "gaming stores" mostly catering to that OTHER WotC intellectual property, so not a lot of choices for TTRPG. I picked up both the Starter Set AND the Essentials Kit from @walmart. They even had a dice tower with dice!
As I re-familiarized myself with the Basic Rules and rolled up a Player Character with the rulebook contained in the Essentials Kit (which is the MUCH better set IMHO). I started playing with the DnDBeyond.com site and app. I got an account, started a Master subscription trial and created my first characters. How incredibly fun and easy! I was able to choose (from drop down lists) the things that were important to me while not worrying about the math or lookup tables. I got to PICK my race (read 'species') and my class rather than the luck of the dice as in 1E. Instead of a couple hours rolling characters, and lying to my friends about the rolls, I was able to have so much more satisfaction with the process. As I purchased sourcebooks through the site, those additional bits and pieces got incorporated to my choice list in my character creation. Outstanding!
Thanks to Amazon, eBay, and a recent visit to MegaCon, I am all geared up with dice, trays, Sourcebooks, battle mats, DM screens and keen D&D shirts from Kohls.com. The table has been set and we are almost 2 months into the Lost Mine of Phandelver (FREE on DnDBeyond.com). I am getting back into the swing of leading a party of 7th to 9th graders into the throws of battle against goblins and bugbears. It's a lot of fun and more interest is being generated now from my daughter & her friends in playing. She is even asking me to teach her how to DM, so she can lead new players. This is what Wizards and Hasbro want - a new generation of gamers, players, thinkers, imaginers, collaborators, creators, and, ultimately, consumers.
As I survey the bevy of info & instruction on how to play D&D, both from WotC and independent contributors, I find it to be somewhat sporadic, disheveled and intimidating. Having played for the better part of a decade "back-in-the-day" I was already comfortable describing a scene and doing different NPC voices. But I had to grasp the new rules for rolls. I was still new to the combat order and ability checks. These are great advancements in the game, but still a bit to put on and wear for a 5-mile hike.
I think ideally, Wizards might consider to "Layer" the game rules experience. Not just present an 'Easy' Adventure for newbies to get their feet wet, but something more like what we had in the '80's - Basic and Advanced rules. Perhaps a 3-tiered system where you are encouraged to use an entry set of rules, that can be built-upon into an Intermediate level, and then (when comfortable) add-on even more detail to present the Top-Tier 'Advanced D&D' (see what I did there?) for those who want the fullest experience both as a Player and as a DM. I realize the game is kinda setup this way now, but there is no clear roadmap for a novice. No distinct borders that allow the BEST parts of the game to come right out initially, whetting the appetite for a greater experience, and then drawing the desire to head down the 'Black Diamond' slopes of the game a la Matt Mercer, and his contemporaries.
I am so excited to be back into tabletop roleplaying again after the time away from it. I'm even more excited to be sharing this adventure with my daughter, who seems to have the interest and enjoyment that I had 4 decades prior. Looking forward to seeing where One D&D takes the game, as well as what is on the horizon into the future.
From another old fart, welcome! Though I'm not ready to take on the expense and study time to become a DM again, I'm lucky enough to be a player at two table games. One we gather around monthly, for six hours, and the other we gather around weekly, for three hours. I have tried doing the online gaming scene, but that scene just doesn't seem to work well for me.
Have fun!
Welcome back!
As a way of introducing new players to the rules I have chosen a different approach to what you suggest. I have written a series of adventures where the DM's role starts with a degree of steering (by making the episodes more linear, first this happens, then that) and gradually open up to a more sandbox style campaign where the players have more free rein.
By gently steering the first sessions you can make all understand the mechanics of play, direct their creativity towards set pieces and then once knowledge has seeped in. set them free.
Having multiple versions of the same rules would, imho, onle confuse players in the transitions - heck, the group I'm in has played 5e for four years now and we still manage to confuse ourselves with 4e stuff
Thanks for the input. I custom-tailored LMoP that way (to some extent) and I found a great "Prequel" adventure for it on the DM's Guild (Before Phandelver - A Tutorial Adventure - Dungeon Masters Guild | Dungeon Masters Guild (dmsguild.com)) which basically shows new players (and a rusty DM) what combat looks like in a controlled situation.
My party is made up of 4 girls and one boy. Amazing! Back in my day, there were NO girls at the table, unless it was someone's mom telling us that "Game-Time is over!" It's definitely a new experience from playing with 8th grade boys "Killin' & Lootin'" now to girls who want to parlay with the goblins to find out why they're so angry to want to hurt the party. So much fun!
@first_rolled_a_die_in_1976
Thanks for chiming in. Being a 'computer guy', I'm already online and gaming. I don't know if I want to move to Virtual TableTop yet as it was the whole "People-at-a-table" experience that I came to love. DnD Beyond definitely streamlines the time at the table, and the time wasted looking up stuff in the sourcebooks. Watching these kids, who are all raised on technology, (with their heads down in their laps), turn off their phones and engage each other, solving problems is just SO rewarding to me. All 5 of them (4 girls, 1 boy) each LOVE the sessions we have played and one of the dads has stayed to watch, then play. He was an old-school 2E player, too. More of us old-guys should get pulled out of D&D retirement.
Welcome back! I can attest that learning to DM all on your own is a difficult process which was still difficult 10 years ago when I started, but nowadays it is much easier with this site and all the channels.
DM for life by choice, biggest fan of D&D specifically.
Welcome back! I firmly believe that when our generation goes to the retirement community we’ll be playing D&D instead of bingo. As someone who went directly from AD&D to 5e I certainly understand your sentiments. I regret I missed out on things for 30 years. I enjoy DMing the old 1e modules for my group and you can find conversions for them online. The design differences are really stark (just what is that troll doing in an empty room in a dungeon next to another room with an ochre jelly?) but the younger players have never seen any of it. And it’ll be a warm fuzzy for you. And enjoy gaming with your daughter. As a girl-dad myself there’s no better way to spend time together.
It'll be D&D & Magic: The Gathering for me!
[Damn, just wiped all of my previous reply!] Online gaming (D&D) has been less than satisfying for me. I have spent some time on a Discord server platform and have learned a few things. Though this one in particular is well-considered, and thoroughly, thoughtfully set up, and the folks there, especially the creators of the platform, are great people, I have found that I spend too much time there for what I get from it. With the [literally] hundreds of site-specific commands required to play there, and the lag time between players getting 'pinged' for their turns, then responding, I have found that a combat encounter, which would take 45 minutes to an hour at a live table game, can take 3-4 hours online. As someone who does not wish to go mobile and play the game piecemeal and 'on the fly', so to speak, I have found that online play sucks up too much of my time for my enjoyment. Granted, I am not an accomplished multitasker, and never want to be, so there is that. For those people who like doing several different things in a given block of time, this might be acceptable, even fun. Just my experience; food for thought, for going online.
I love that you have more females than males engaged in play. That in itself is a wonderful accomplishment. As a passionate role player, puzzle solver, and one who loves to interact with the environment that the DM has provided us players most of all, I salute you!