Teen-led Dungeons and Dragons

We had our first Dungeons and Dragons group last week, and for myself, it was my first time playing. We had 4 players and the Dungeon Master. This group was initiated by one of our youth - we worked together to organize and bring in other interested community members to create a group to play.

If you don’t know what D&D is as a newbie, I will explain it in simple terms. Perhaps sometime, one of the teens will expand on it for me.

D&D is a game where one creates a character with clearly defined races, species, abilities, equipment and earned skills. Before the game begins, people create their character following the traits explained in the D&D handbook. An experienced player can work with you to help you create your character. The descriptive language can be complicated, but it becomes clear what you’re choosing once you play. Because I was new and barely understood I was choosing traits at random, I realized how I could have selected differently for my next character once I played. D&D players have multiple characters they’ll use and work with. They also tend to have pre-made characters because it’s fun to weigh how skills interact with other features.

During every game, there is a DM who is responsible for carrying the story. The DM sets the scene by explaining the setting, the class of people in the story, the rules of the setting and how the society gets along. The group who has come together to play works together on a shared mission that the DM has set out.

At the beginning of our first scene, the DM read that our group was on a mission to find a man terrorizing the town. Through asking questions, we decipher what we need to do next. The DM set one scene “You’re standing outside a tavern where you heard the suspect was last located…what do you want to do?” As a group, we discussed that we wanted to go in and talk to the barkeep. Once inside, we ask the barkeep, “have you seen …. “ We then had to roll our special D&D dice to decide if the barkeep trusted us to talk or if we could convince him to divulge information. A few of us under-rolled, and the information was not shared with us, but it was shared with one person who rolled the right number. Information was given for us to move onto the next scene, where we make more decisions.

We were cornered in an alley and had to roll our dice, which determined the hit points we gave or received.

The DM is reading the scene, adding photos and images, adding soundtracks and music and generally leading us through their vision of the game. It’s an imaginary/fantasy version of a “Choose your own Adventure” story. But the scene is set in your own head.

I highly recommend giving it a try or finding a group that will slow down the pace to teach you and welcome you in. Our group meets on Fridays for D&D, so if you’re interested in giving it a try, be sure to email. I’ll send you the details.