
Dungeons and Dragons: The revival of a 'geeky' pastime - pmoriarty
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-42874044
======
FranzFerdiNaN
If people want to see what D&D can be when done by good players, don't look
further than Critical Role. It's a bunch of voice actors playing D&D, who
finished their multi-year campaign at the end of last year and started a new
one at the beginning of this year. So they are dedicated to The game. The
playlist is here [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7atuZxmT955Cw-
fFS-_3...](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7atuZxmT955Cw-
fFS-_3IQvaCpQgDzWA)

~~~
ourmandave
I can't get into Critical Roles style of play.

Where every hit is described in exquisite detail and one combat encounter
feels like watching 9 innings of baseball.

Seriously, if it takes longer to "buy a torch" in a game than in real life,
you're doing it wrong.

~~~
busterarm
I don't mind that style of roleplay much as I've always gamed with
improv/actor types, but the guest appearances are what ruin it for me...
(unpopular opinion warning) I find Wil Wheaton, Felicia Day and most of the
other folks in their orbit to be unbearable. I physically cringe when they
start talking.

~~~
ourmandave
I'm from the Mirror universe.

Felicia Day could play solitaire and I'd probably watch.

Wil Wheaton can never atone for Wesley Crusher, so there's some common ground.

~~~
krapp
>Wil Wheaton can never atone for Wesley Crusher, so there's some common
ground.

I know this is more or less a Trekkie meme, but to be fair, Wil Wheaton didn't
create Wesley Crusher or write his lines, he just had to make due with being
Gene Roddenberry's Gary Stu.

~~~
txsh
Will Wheaton to someone calling for prayers for shooting victims:

“The murdered victims were in a church. If prayers did anything, they'd still
be alive, you worthless sack of shit.”

He’s more despicable than the character he played.

~~~
krapp
>He’s more despicable than the character he played.

Despicable? He broadcast an emotional outburst and apologized for it later.
That doesn't make him despicable, only human.

And besides, I think he's right.

And you left out the context[0] - that "someone" Wil was replying to was Paul
Ryan. Calling for prayers for the victims of gun violence when you oppose
attempts to address that violence in any practical manner is an insult to both
the living and the dead. To me, _that_ is despicable.

[0][https://twitter.com/wilw/status/927284357609353218?lang=en](https://twitter.com/wilw/status/927284357609353218?lang=en)

~~~
txsh
[https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bigotry](https://www.merriam-
webster.com/dictionary/bigotry)

You and Wheaton.

~~~
krapp
I mean, _you 're_ the one who decided to bring up a tweet he made a year ago
and call the man despicable in a thread about how disliked a fictional
character he played on tv was, but ok... I guess _we 're_ the bigots...

~~~
txsh
Yes

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reidrac
I could be wrong, but I follow few podcasts about "the hobby" and seems like
people my age got into it on early 90s and stopped playing on by the end of
the decade.

Now we're in our 40s and technology makes it easier to get back into it. For
example, there's a healthy gaming community in Google+ and hang outs are great
for playing without moving from home, because finding a group to play in the
same room is one of the factors that made me drop off.

Then there's all the DIY part of it, with lots of people releasing new games
and modules. I guess that creativity was already there back when I started,
but now is easier for people to share it.

One of the best communities in Google+ is "The Gauntlet". Look for it.

~~~
JKCalhoun
Or got into it in the 80's — and now our kids are into it.

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nostalgeek
Table top role-playing was never dead. It's just hip right now for some reason
like anything "geek", since "geeks" now have money brands and the media try to
cater to their tastes, the same media who painted them as "idiots with a
useless hobby" for 30 years.

~~~
ekianjo
idiots? that would have been gentle. Most media painted geeks as antisocial
and having serious mental issues.

~~~
jdonaldson
Antisocial? The media tried to link D&D to satanic murders for years.

~~~
ekianjo
Yeah, before moving to video games as the new culprit.

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cyberferret
I used to play it a bit about 25-30 years ago. One of my best friends owns a
comic shop, and we (a steady group of about 10 of us) used to go down there
every Friday night and play various board and strategy games, D&D included
every so often.

Then it all stopped when we started getting busy with work, getting married,
transferring interstate etc.

But last year, one of our group passed away suddenly from cancer, and we were
all at his funeral. We agreed then that we should start up the regular gaming
nights again, even though we are all in our 40s and 50s now. Just last week we
set up a Facebook group to start organising the games and to start planning
characters for the next D&D night. It is good to play like carefree kids
again.

~~~
distances
It definitely gets a bit harder as people get busy family lifes et cetera. Our
weekly games turned into perhaps monthly sessions at best, but we kept at it.
One person moving to another country was also a hiccup, but it turns out it's
quite doable to dial in with a good video connection if the will to continue
is there.

------
DanielBMarkham
In the 80s, I wrote at least four different versions of a character generator,
all using the various PCs available at the time. For me it was like FizzBuzz.

Some of them got quite involved, with full-page printouts with all kinds of
stuff on there. I even rented a booth at one of the early cons and attempted
to sell them. (Along with another program that made custom crossword puzzles)

D&D was a happy part of my late childhood. Many good memories.

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johnchristopher
I don't know. I don't like the new DD (4 and 5 versions) which seem to emulate
online mmorpg game mechanics with no emphasis on storytelling. I'd like to
play an good old DD session (hacking, slashing, adventuring and mystery
solving) but nowadays when I and the gang play we go diceless with almost no
rules.

~~~
caseymarquis
I think most groups just ignore 90% of the rules and focus on interactive
story with chance elements. I've met very few people who play tabletop RPGs
for the mechanics. It's actually a lot like scrum or lean manufacturing in the
sense that blindly following the rules is the worst way to actually use the
system. Though, I think nearly every D&D book says you're doing it wrong if
you're not having fun.

~~~
JKCalhoun
Agreed. The rules are there just to settle disputes or to corral players that
want to test the limits of the DM's generosity.

~~~
Fjolsvith
As a DM, I kept the players in check by telling them that if they wanted to do
such-and-such rule/thing, that the NPC's and monsters would also be able to do
it. They backed down when they realized the rule would unbalance things.

------
SuperPaintMan
I'm going to go out on a limb here and attribute the spread of tabletop RPGs
to easy access to beginner friendly materials such as D&D Beyond & Roll20.
When I started playing one of my classmates fingered me for a nerd and asked
if I'd like to play, they needed a Wizard to round out the party. I had heard
of D&D but didn't know of anyone who played or had the books, a few weeks and
a bunch of new friends (and Fireballs) later I was hooked. 10 years later I'm
still playing and DMing, have dumped an ungodly amount of cash into
books/minis and love a good Sorcerer. If that guy in chem hadn't of asked, it
probably wouldn't have happened.

Simply having access to all the materials and content destroys one barrier to
entry, the character builders streamlining and simplifying the arduous
character creation process with all the Handbook & DMG content available for
free. I love that with Beyond DMs can purchase various sourcebooks and share
their books out to members of their campaign, unlocking different classes and
content. It's reminiscent of everyone bringing their random modules/bootleg
PDFs and getting doe-eyed over some new variant. With Roll20 there are so many
groups from all skill ranges looking for players/DMs and while not as bonding
as sharing a table loaded with snacks, It's enough to get a foot in the door.

If you're curious about RPGs start with something simple and easy to learn the
rules of such as Modempunk or Paranoia. Get some friends together, chuck on
the Hackers Soundtrack and unleash your inner Joey [1] :)

(Page 27)

[1]
[https://1d4chan.org/images/e/e8/JnJ_Modempunk_rightways.pdf](https://1d4chan.org/images/e/e8/JnJ_Modempunk_rightways.pdf)

~~~
KozmoNau7
My group is playing Savage Worlds, and I've found it very easy to learn. The
other guys are RPG veterans, but this is my first PnP campaign. The reason I
feel SW is good for beginners is the high focus on storytelling and
creativity, rather than endless stats and dice rolls. They're obviously still
a part of the game, but the GM can really work with you if you are able to tie
your actions to a good bit of storytelling. It makes it feel more like a
shared story than a game, to me.

~~~
SuperPaintMan
>It makes it feel more like a shared story than a game, to me.

And that's the entire crux of why D&D is special, it's not just grinding along
squashing mobs and ripping through dungeons it's creating that shared
experience in novel non scriptable ways. I feel like Paranoia takes this to a
extreme where I can DM sessions where only a handful of die are even cast and
the rest is all interactive storytelling!

A DMs style must fit the player, this is one thing that will make or break a
players RPG experience.

~~~
walshemj
G&S did a one off of a paranoia game Felicia day is scary good
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWEDpT1gByI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWEDpT1gByI)

------
sudosteph
Always happy to bring more people into the fold.

My friend group pooled our money in middle school to get a single copy of the
3.5 players handbook, and boy did we make use of it. I loved that you could
play nearly anywhere, we usually played in the library (the librarian was nice
and let us chat quietly) because we were broke though. We made some amazing
stories, and still joke over all the dumb stuff we did that had ridiculous
consequences (ie, "remember that time you forgot that burning hands had an
area effect and got the whole team killed b/c you angered the Ranger's pet and
then it started attacking everyone?")

I actually still play with two of those friends every week, more than a decade
later. It kinda stinks to have to use Skype, but it's better than not playing
at all. So yeah, Dnd is a wonderful, friendship strengthening hobby that I
recommend to anyone with some patience and creativity.

------
jeffbax
Another recent, fun take on the history of D&D
[https://reason.com/archives/2018/04/07/the-radical-
freedom-o...](https://reason.com/archives/2018/04/07/the-radical-freedom-of-
dungeon)

