Dungeons & Dragons

Play it on: Discord, a living-room table, at your friendly local game store
Current goal: Bring an ongoing campaign to a temporary close

I’ve been running a Dungeons & Dragons game over Discord for a little over a year now, and it’s a joy. I’d been toying with the idea of becoming a Dungeon Master for years, but felt intimidated. Then, however, I heard the words of Matt Colville, who says in this video: “When you start off, you’ll be terrible…but the fact is, your players will be new and they won’t know you’re terrible.”

Well, I was persuaded! So I found a bunch of chill, friendly adults who also didn’t have much experience with D&D but were curious, and we’ve all had a fantastic time playing together, learning together, and being patient and encouraging with each other in that learning. It’s been great. One of the most rewarding aspects for me has been watching their characters and the relationships between them develop, and seeing that this adventure we’ve all embarked on together is as joyful and valuable for them as it is for me. Now, we’re about to wrap up one storyline and then take a little break for the holidays, with our session this Sunday probably bringing things to a temporary close.

For that reason, it seemed like the right time for me to pass Matt Colville’s encouragement on to you. If you’ve been thinking of maybe running a D&D game but have been intimidated, do it anyway! Create a space where you and your players treat each other with grace, allowing for the fact that you’re all just learning and having fun together as you share in this collaborative storytelling experience. As long as you find a decent, friendly bunch of folks to share it with, the rewards are definitely worthwhile. — Carolyn Petit