Why Should You Play Dungeons and Dragons

Imagine a world different from our own, with unknown tasks, perilous adventures, and heartfelt departures within your grasp. Imagine the freedom to roam a fantasy or science-fiction adventure, with a character personalised to your specific requirements.

Dungeons and Dragons is nothing like the regular tabletop board game or the video games that have stories laid out for you. D&D is an immersive experience allowing you to feel the raw emotion that one would feel in day-to-day life, but that of your character instead. Immersing yourself in a world that brings breathtaking and sometimes grotesque descriptions of various places and species you may meet along your journey. Alongside yourself, you will travel with a small group of adventurous heroes completing tasks and missions to gain wealth, experience, and skills that will further your character progression and in turn, your relationship as a party of adventurers. When you begin to play the role you create, it's as though you're watching a film or a TV series, as you are the main protagonist trying to quench your thirst for action and adventure. Whether that be a thirst for glory, revenge, hatred, or even just the simple act of gaining bounties to complete your hoard of treasure. You slowly become more attached to your PC (player character), as you progress through one perilous task after the next.

Dungeons and Dragons allows you to hone in on a wide variety of skills and attributes for what the dice roll decides for you. You may use some of these skills and attributes in day-to-day life such as storytelling, whether your the runner of the game (dungeon master/game master) or a player of the game (PC), you each have components of telling the story. After all, there is only so much a Dungeon master can plan for that the characters may or may not do. The game gives the players a chance to find out simple solutions to what could seem to be the most intricate task making the players' intuition stronger throughout gameplay. The game also helps with "putting yourself in another's shoes", not only does it force you as a player to get inside your characters head it also forces you to consider what the non-playable characters (NPC's) would do in response to your Player characters' (PC) action. Therefore creating a constant cycle of actions and reactions in the ever-changing story you all create together.

Not only is there the fun RP (roleplay) aspect to the game there is also the mathematical side to the game, making the more analytical player have just as much fun as the rest of the more roleplaying aspect of the party. As your character progresses you gain experience points, which leads to your characters to gain further levels, features, equipment and, attributes that enhance the capabilities of your character to overcome more obstacles within the game.

D&D allows any type of person to enjoy the gameplay, whether you want to sit back and plan before a mission or encounter, or charge full force into the danger up ahead, this game does not disappoint! Your six dice of various numbering decide the fate of your actions making the usual tabletop game or video game seem boring compared to the suspense you feel when rolling your die for the outcome.

Instead of the usual "Press x to Jump." You get the process of "I jump in the air with my rapier above my head ready to slash down upon the beast below me, hoping to slice it in two with my sharpened already bloodied blade, I roll..... a Natural 20!" It definitely makes the experience of participating in an RPG (roleplaying game) more exciting and suspenseful than the average video game.

The game allows for you to be free with your expressions and passions and judgment is non-existent (unless, of course, there is a particularly judgemental NPC you come across during your session) this is unlike many games out there that are preset with a story and response. Simultaneously you can get creative with your roleplaying capabilities, as the dungeon master explains your surroundings as you journey into forgotten realms, cities of the past, enchanting fey forests and many, many more experiences that await you.

But how do I play? I hear you ask, as you get excited about the many adventures you may be included in in the future. All you need are six dice (of various numbering, or use online dice rollers), the players to play with, and a campaign book. You can even build your own world from scratch! I myself have played both campaigns and created my own world for players to explore, albeit lots of work for homebrewing a world, the items, and the deities that come along with it, the end product of getting to watch my players explore something new and of my own creation, really makes me happy.

The game is quite simple, although there are a lot of rules, the rules are more like guidelines, as not only do the players get the freedom to roam or explore the world of Dungeons and Dragons, the Dungeon Master also has the freedom to create exciting rules that may change the fate of how your character plays or in turn, dies. There are countless pre-made adventures on the official D&D website so if you want to get started, your best place to start would be there! Luckily the D&D community gets bigger and bigger as the game gains more popularity, there are Discord groups, Reddit posts and groups. There are also many websites such as Roll20 that you can create games online, for those people that don't live by one another but still want to have the fun experience of gaming with one another.

The community is forever expanding and always welcomes novice players into the wonderful world of escapism that the game creates. It's so easy (and quick) to learn the basics of the game especially with the help from the Dungeons Masters Guide and the Players Handbook which are two of the core rulebooks within the game. One thing I would suggest to you novices if you are too nervous to play a game or don't have the time or money to play, you should check out some of the awesome Podcast, Twitch and Youtube streamers you can find online that post their live streams regularly. Such as Yorkshirerolls and or even a D&D podcast such as Waylays and Melees and The Dirty 20.

There are so many streamers and podcasts out there that I could write an endless list of all the many people that actually play this game, there are celebrity games such as those from Critical Role that share the laughs and action-packed scenarios of various celebrities (and Matt Mercer, who he himself is a D&D God), and many Dungeons and Dragons parties that show the diversity of fans from the new to the old legends.

The best way to get into D&D is to just start doing it, as it is to start any game, the more you play, the more you learn, and the more fun you have the easier it is to learn about something that you may grow to love. So get your crew of adventurers that are just as excited as you to play, get passionate about your characters and the world you're going to explore, the world of Dungeons and Dragons awaits your presence.