- You should be playing
Dungeons and Dragons.
Or you should at least try
playing Dungeons and Dragons.
And this is why.
Dungeons and Dragons or D&D is a tabletop
role-playing game.
A few fiends sit around a table.
One player, called the
dungeon master or DM,
describes a scenario and
the rest of the players
tell the DM what they want to do.
To figure out what happens
when they try to do
what they wanna do, they roll a die.
The DM tells them what happens.
Wash, rinse, and repeat.
Simple, right?
Except there's a big old
scary player's handbook
and even more supplemental
rule books to scare people off.
And D&D has a reputation
of being for the most
socially incompetent of nerds,
the most hopeless of the social hierarchy
or downright satanic worship,
but don't worry about all of that for now.
All you need to know is
that you don't have to read
the whole scary book if
you just wanna try playing.
D&D's for absolutely everyone
and the game can involve as much Satan
as you do or do not want.
Much like in real life,
you can worship Satan,
you can fight against
Satan, or you can have
absolutely nothing to do with Satan.
D&D has four decades
heading negatively nerdy
basement dwelling
reputation because it was
invented by nerds and
is a warm, welcoming,
and thrilling place to
be with and make friends
because it is for
everyone and because it is
most often set in a
classic fantasy setting,
it has become a safe haven for nerds.
D&D is a game by nerds, for nerds,
but not exclusively for nerds.
Anyone can and everyone should play D&D.
Here are just a few familiar
faces you might recognize
who have mentioned liking D&D.
You'll see a lot of creative
people on your screen
because D&D is about
stretching your imagination
with friends to build
an epic story together
and the story could be anything.
It could be just fighting and cutting down
monster after monster.
It could be just interacting
with interesting people
or creatures in the world.
It could be uncovering a mystery,
building a relationship
with the other players
in your party or ideally, in my opinion,
all of the above.
One of the biggest ways D&D
will help you in real life
is by putting you as your
own fictional character
into all of these scenarios
and giving you the option
to handle however you want.
It's like a video game
with endless possibilities.
Presented with a conflict,
you could fight it out,
you could talk your way out,
you can trick your way out,
you can run away, you can
throw a gosh dang glitter bomb
at the problem if you want,
anything you can think of, literally.
You've got to problem solve
on your feet and with friends.
It's a collaborative
game that doesn't always
have a clear cut ending or winning point.
So, just by virtue of
playing, you improve your
problem solving and
improvisational skills.
In my opinion, two of
the most important skills
you can learn in life.
Finding confidence in
improv is helpful to every
single person who interacts
with other humans.
It's what grounds your ability
to carry a conversation
and be a generally likable
person to interact with
and it's absolutely
something I struggle with.
But D&D gives you the
freedom to pretend to be
an entirely different person.
You don't have to worry so much
about saying the right thing
because it's not you saying it.
So you learn instead what it's
like to just say something
and see how people react
in a safe environment.
You can use this to build humor skills
because D&D leads to some
seriously funny scenarios
and you can use this to just build general
conversational skills and confidence.
D&D was invented in the
70's, but in the last
five years or so, it has
experienced the biggest
surge in popularity it's ever seen.
This is thanks to
inclusion in popular media
and this being the age of live streaming.
Popular live stream shows
like Critical Role have shown
millions of people the amazing
potential this game has
and I think, this being
the age of live streaming
in the digital age lines up
with the fact that so many
of us are primarily connecting
through social media.
That is amazing and
revolutionary and so convenient
but because of that, deep down, most of us
are longing for an IRL
connection with friends
and D&D is a great way to achieve that.
Now, I only just started
playing about a year
and a half ago but since
then, I have had a consistent,
scheduled game with friends
that meets in real life
in my apartment once a week
and now, I have two of them,
and there are exceptions,
of course, when most of the
group is out of town but,
almost every week without fail,
I have four to eight
friends over for four hours
of conversation,
storytelling, and laughter
and that does the soul good.
It really, really does
and if you glean nothing
else from this video,
please understand that
regularly scheduled time
to have a healthy, meaningful connection
with friends in real life
can be life-changing.
It fights off loneliness,
builds meaningful friendships,
brings a temporary escape
from the stresses of life
and it gives you something
to look forward to.
While I strongly believe
that sitting around
an actual table with friends
is the best way to play,
it's not the only way.
Websites like Roll20
and programs like Skype
and Discord can bring people together
from opposite ends of the world to play
Dungeons and Dragons.
So, if you've never played D&D,
I encourage you to
invite your best friends
or even your family to play.
If they're hesitant, send them this video!
Promise them that while it's just a game
invented by nerds, it's
changed the lives of millions
and there is nothing to
lose in giving it a try
just once, ya know?
And if you have to be
the one to take charge
and no one has played before,
you'll probably have to DM,
which can be intimidating,
but I'll include lots of
YouTube links in the description
to give you a better idea
of what to do, what to
prepare, and what to expect.
I was terrified before I started DMing
but it instantly became
my favorite part of D&D.
I don't know, I just, I
love knowing all the secrets
of the world and watching my
friends try to figure it out.
You'll want at least the DM of your game
to know mostly how this game works.
So, if you are DMing and
you've never played before,
you will want to read most
of the player's handbook
and/or watch a few videos about the rules.
If that's really, really scary for you,
try your best to find
someone who has played before
and can take the lead and guide you.
Because D&D is for everyone
and so many nerds play D&D,
it's in general an extraordinarily
welcoming community.
For the most part, D&D
players just want more people
to play D&D.
I mean, why you think
I'm making this video?
So, ask around, see if you
know anyone who has played
and is down to welcome a newbie.
I mean, some D&D players
just wanna play with veterans
and that's fine.
So just be clear that you're
new and you wanna learn
how to play.
In the description, I'm gonna
link to a Twitter thread
and a Facebook group for
people who watch this video
and wanna find people online to play with,
so no excuses.
And there's always Adventurers League.
At comics and game shops across the world,
there are organized games
of D&D with strangers
that you can sign up for
with your own character
or with one of their pre-made characters.
It's a great option if
you're looking for people
in real life who know how to play.
I've linked in the description some videos
about Adventurers League and their website
so you can learn more.
At the end of the day, I
encourage you to get out there
and play a game.
Trust me, it sounds way
scarier than it actually is
but if you're still really
anxious, if you have
the attention span for a long
forum livestream content,
I encourage you to watch
episode one of campaign two
of Critical Role.
That is (smooches) D&D at its finest
or if you're a fan of me,
you can watch episode one
of Dark & Dicey, an official
Dungeons and Dragons
livestream that I was part of last year.
If you have a lower
attention span for these
sorts of things, you should
listen to the podcast
DNDND which edits out
all the um's and ah's
and what was that rule for
a much more streamlined
version of D&D with shorter episodes.
These shows can help get your feet wet
and give you an idea of
what a game is really like
and how it works.
I'll link to all of
them in the description.
If you're going to play
with friends and none of you
have played before, I recommend getting
the official D&D starter kit.
It comes with a super
fun pre-made adventure
that's in theory very
basic, easy to run and play,
but has endless potential
for fun and hijinx.
It's the first adventure
I ever played in D&D.
So, walk into your nearest game shop
and ask for the Dungeons
and Dragons starter kit
because supporting brick
and mortar game shops
is important, but if you
don't have one nearby,
Target also sells the starter
kit and so does Amazon,
so I'll put my Amazon affiliate
link to the starter kit
in the description.
Okay cool, that's it.
Play D&D, watch or listen to D&D,
and check out all the
links in my description
to help you get started
and I'll see you next week
with a brand new video, bye!
