Dungeons and Dragons

 The original RPG.

Of all the plethora of gaming experiences that I've never had the pleasure to partake in, one which I'm most bummed about is that most influential and long-running of games; Dungeons and Dragons. Now don't get me wrong, it's not as if I'm a stranger to that game, I've been watching games of it and reading about it for years now, but I've just never had the social circle to support a game. It sucks for me because I recognise D&D as just one of those ideas that will never get old no matter how many innovations are made in the realms of storytelling or technological leaps towards total fidelity. Because no matter how wild games get, they'll never rival that which can be dreamed up in the realms of one's own imagination, at most they can feed such a beast. now with the release of the Beta for Baldur's Gate 3, I thought it'd be fun to talk about the game to which it, and indirectly so many others, owes it's existence. Which, to be clear, doesn't mean I'll be talking about Baldur's Gate itself, if that's what you were expecting.

So what is Dungeon's and Dragons? Well, quite simply it is a pen-and-paper role playing game wherein players create fantastical characters and embark on journeys guided, narrated and sometimes even constructed by the person who assumes the role of 'Dungeon Master'. But more than that, D&D has become a culture that represents imagination driven role playing and high fantasy of all facets, drawing inspiration from all and going on to inspire so many others. Pick out your favourite fantasy property and chances are there'll be a bit of D&D DNA in there, and that's because it's a game that's touched so many hearts and stoked so many flames that entire worlds were spawned from it. There are now many different types of D&D games to the point where it's a genre now, including other legendary titles such as Warhammer and Cyberpunk; each with their own take on the concept and revolutions upon the formula. For the purposes of this blog, and because I know more about it, I'm going to focus on the D&D of old.

What makes D&D so appealing, at least in my eyes, is the breadth of freedom that it offers for every player who takes part. Whether you're a player or a dungeon master there's no end to the races, classes and stories you can dream up, particularly because the game keeps getting reiterated so that new things are added all the time. But for my money the most interesting games of D&D are those that don't necessarily take the texts and rules as gospel, but merely as guides from which to mount one's own, wholly unique, story and experience. The fun of the game is really how flexible it is, with the latest edition you could feasibly even get rid of the board and just play with character sheets if your management skills are good enough. (Although that'd be placing a lot of responsibility in the DM's hands.) Obviously that means even in this socially distanced Corona times people can still live out their medieval fantasies over the Internet with one another.

At it's most base level it's hard to deny that what most people seek out of D&D is probably a pure form of that escapism that fuels the entire role playing genre. The typical image of a D&D group is, afterall, a collection of middle-aged nerds with boring jobs who become heroes and villains in the Forgotten Realms or Night City. Cliché though it may be, there's still a truth to that image as vicarious living has practically always been an aspect of the human experience, this just represents a more imaginative, and more active, expression of that. Whilst it's likely not true that most D&D players are depressed loners who desire to spend more time in the world of the game than in real life, as the outdated perception insists, I wouldn't be surprised if someone out there is in that positions and uses the game as a relief. I could certainly imagine myself as a shade upon that stereotype if I'd ever got the chance to play.

Of all the many different campaigns that I've looked in on, all featuring vastly different folks of vastly differing familiarity with the game systems, there's one commonality that I've noted; humor. That is to say, a lot of people like to bring comedy to the fantasy worlds and oftentimes even expand that to an air of flippancy about the adventures. I find this curious as, for what I can read, there's a certain dryness to the material that spawns D&D which would make one wonder why so many express the game in the same way. I mean there are some jokes in the manuals and various informations, of course, but never is it a focal point of the game itself. The creators seem to want players to take the game at least subconsciously seriously, else it would be hard to appropriately immerse like one would hope. Now maybe that's just a natural side effect of performance, or maybe the modern day has enshrined a aura of ridiculousness upon the act of playing D&D itself which mirth helps dispel, I couldn't tell you, but it sure makes for entertaining viewing.

I've also begun to notice the difference between the types of players of DM's that partake, and I'm almost fascinated at the differences they can bring to the game. Some of the most dry, yet usually most dramatic, campaigns I've witnessed have come from the very mathematically driven players and DM's who agonise over min-maxing equipment and the purity of roles. These are the folk who'll put down hard limits for checks and will refuse to fluff a role for storytelling purposes, and thus when things come down to the wire these are the people who can really get invested up to those final moments. Though I think these sorts of games look restricting, I've never seen another type of game which had me counting damage points in my head to to keep up with the action. Boardless matches, on the otherhand, tend to be some of the most creative and funny to watch. In these game you can almost sitback and listen to the thing like a podcast, letting the world come to life in your head, and for a player that can really loosen up play potential. These are the sorts of games that birth actions you just wouldn't get otherwise, like circumventing an entire scary boss battle by barrelling into the room and accidentally knocking the enemy out the window. (if the rolls says it happened, then it happened.)

The biggest barrier to entry for D&D is, in my opinion, a fabrication. People tend to look at the stats and the sheets of paper and think there's some huge intellectual barrier to entry for the game, as if you have to read tones and tones of knowledge to comprehend the general concept, whilst in truth it's as simple as can be; you simply need to be pliable enough to immerse yourself. Even if it's just a little bit. Sure, in practice there's a lot of number juggling that goes into it but a good DM takes the brunt of that themselves, the player only has the responsibility to tell the story, nothing more. In all honestly it's actually quite easy to get into the game and that's what makes it so addictive, it is however, a huge time commitment. (There's one myth I can't dispel)

And that's my unsolicited crash course on Dungeon's and Dragons, a timeless game that spawned a thousand more. Even though I'm generally no fan of board games and their ilk, D&D remains one of my favourite things to observe and I hope one day I'll get the chance to give it a go myself. (Though I probably won't, I'm a single player for life sort of person, afterall.) Luckily for folk like me there is the medium of videogames to bridge that hole and thus Baldur's Gate 3 is already out and ready if you're the kind of person who like playing the first act over and over. (Full release is gonna be a while out.) Maybe later I'll go into specifics about D&D if the mood ever strikes me again, there's a lot to cover afterall.