Cohost of the TransMissions Podcast. Writer, Blogger, Musician.
Yesterday I was looking at the Wizards of the Cost website and discover a new link “New To D&D Videos“. They have a great YouTube video on that page called “Introduction to D&D”. It is one of the better videos for people who are just learning about Dungeons & Dragons. So if your new to D&D, have never played, or just want to understand why i keep writing about it on my site here, Take a minute and watch this video. Hopefully it will answer some questions.
To Be Continued…
I don’t know. But when I watched the following videos found on the GameScience website it’s hard not to drink the Kool-Aid.
Being a Dungeons and Dragons player, and Dungeon Master, it’s a scary thought to think that all the games you have been involved with have not bin fare. On the other hand, I (and my friends) have had a lot of fun playing D&D and would a set of dice that cost a few bucks more really affect our game play in a positive way at all? I don’t know. If I ever am lucky enough to be at GenCon or find a set of GameScience dice at gaming store I am sure I will pick up a set for myself. But I don’t know if they are worth the price to order on-line and have them shipped to Juneau Alaska.
In the mid-1970’s parents were nervous about RPGs. Concerns were fuelled by inaccurate and sensational media reports that re-branded D&D as a cult. This may have increased sales of D&D at the time but it also left tabletop RPGs with a reputation of begin a bit ‘out there’ or ‘niche’. Any school or library that tried to encourage RPGs risked complaints from parents.
Thirty years on most parents would be delighted to see their kids unplugging themselves from super violent console titles to read rules books, meet up face to face with real friends and enjoy imaginative storytelling.
What do I love about Dungeons & Dragons? It has to be the socializing. The funny banter between friends. That is by far the best thing about Dungeons & Dragons. Getting together on a lazy Saturday afternoon to hang out and talk with friends. Maybe having a BBQ. It’s just all in all good times. That aspect alone makes up why I love playing Dungeons & Dragons.
I find that the week or two I have to prepare for a game as a DM (Dungeon Master) is a great creative outlet for me. I draw and plan out maps, encounters, battles, and wars. I even find myself sometimes picking out the background music I would like to have playing when the game actually starts. If the weather permits I will try and sit outside with a couple of rule books, some colored pencils, graph paper, my iPod and just go to town.
Since Hannah and I started playing Dungeons & Dragons it has become one of the big highlights of our weekend. It will be a great distraction for us here in Juneau when the weather turns cold and we enter the darker months.
From the pictures I took of my Dungeons & Dragons game last week, I got a pretty good shot from behind the Dungeon Master Screen. I thought I would explain a little about what I have going on here.
This last weekend I ran my first game of Dungeons and Dragons ever, and it went so well! I don’t think it could have gone any better.
Six of us, including Hannah and myself gathered at a near by friends house to setup and play. Snack food was being layed out as I setup the battlemat (I wrote about this battlemat earlier) on the dinning room table along with my Dungeon Master Screen, note books, scratch paper and dice. Soon everyone gathered around the table to play.
I began the game by telling the story of Sir Robert Tembelton who was protecting the small village of Crowking. The adventures in my group where hired by Tembelton to help him protect the village from a growing evil. But when my group of new adventures arrived that found that Sir Tembelton had left to investigate a local cole mine as reports of undead threaten the farming community.
The game lasted two days. The players even used a mine cart with the dead Sir Robert Tembelton strapped to it to plow through the mine.
I had so much fun and there was so much roll playing!
