Dungeons and Dragons, also known simply as D&D or DnD, is a tabletop role playing game currently published by the Wizards of the Coast, a subsidiary of Hasbro. To most, DnD is the Tabletop RPG, especially to those that don’t play them.
While it is not the first of its kind, it is the single most popular tabletop RPG of all time and set the ideas and mechanics for modern tabletop RPGs and role playing games in general. As niche as the genre of tabletop RPGs is, DnD as a brand has managed to find broader appeal outside of the confines of its format, expanding to books, TV shows, movies and even video games. This popularity of DnD has led to an estimated playerbase of over 50 million worldwide, shedding its old reputation of being for the nerdiest geeks and finding mainstream interest.
Several revisions
The game of Dungeons and Dragons itself requires quite a bit of set up, compared to other tabletop games. As a tabletop game that was started in the 70s, DnD has gone through a multitude of revisions and complete overhauls of rules over the years.
The current basic structure requires 4 to 6 six players minimum in addition to the Dungeon Master. Each player would need to create a character, choosing their race, class, skills and ability scores, all adhering to the rules of a Player’s Handbook specific to their DnD campaign. The Dungeon Master, commonly abbreviated to just DM, typically needs to be someone who is already experienced and knowledgeable in DnD. The DM needs to craft the path that players will take, meticulously detailing the scenarios, locations, non player characters(NPCs) and enemies for a game of DnD to even start.
As can be expected, the level of preparation that’s necessary before a game of DnD can even start can seem daunting, especially to new players. To counteract this, the publishers and community behind Dungeons and Dragons have painstakingly tried to streamline and innovate the game to reduce the amount of work needed to play.
Premade campaigns take most of the stress off DMs, allowing them to focus on guiding players through extensive and enjoyable sessions with minimum necessary setup. Premade character sheets let new players simply sit down and play, without stressing over the technical aspects of character creation.
Table top grid maps, with more visually detailed environments and character miniatures help players better visualise their adventure and keep track of their progress between sessions of longer campaigns. Virtual DnD campaigns also have been designed, in order to allow people to play together from anywhere, with certain applications and websites taking care of most of the technical setup for them.
Best year
But even with these kinds of developments that help reach a broader audience, the inherent difficulty and complexity of DnD will always make it difficult for people who might otherwise be interested in the role playing fantasy aspects. It is even more difficult to catch their attention when the competition is so steep, with fantasy RPG video games that are becoming increasingly more immersive each passing year.
Another, more difficult hurdle is in the challenge of bringing groups of people together, especially with the pandemic limitations. Despite this, 2020 has reportedly been the best year for Dungeons and Dragons, a trend that has been continuing since the late 2010s. This increased interest towards DnD can be traced back to multiple factors, such as the focus given to it by mainstream media like ‘Stranger Things’.
The lack of physical proximity to each other caused by COVID also has people craving social interaction now more than ever and the communal fun of DnD offers a unique experience that cannot be substituted with video games.