The A-R-T of D&D
story by Austin Hardebeck, photos by Laura Allen, design by Caleb Cleland and Riley Iverson
Everywhere you look, there is a story to tell. Tales of woe, of joy, of triumph, of failure. These messages hide in plain sight, but we neglect to see them unless they reveal themselves in movies or books. What about the small moments in-between? What if there are more stories to tell? How do we express them? To the surprise of many, the gateway to these discoveries comes unassuming and largely disregarded: in the form of Dungeons and Dragons (D&D).
A name that may be recognizable to most, whether from “Stranger Things”, “Vox Machina" or even the “Dungeons and Dragons” movie. It is a TTRPG (Tabletop Roleplaying Game), inspired by the journeys depicted in “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit”, meant to thrust its players into a world of fantasy and make believe, allowing them to tell legendary stories of their own. Some may hear this description and automatically assume the perspectives of nerds sitting around a table rolling geometric rocks in order to escape from the burden of reality, but D&D is so much more than what people believe it to be, and that is what I took upon myself to find out.
WHAT IS D&D?
To start, I should clarify what D&D is for those who may be unfamiliar with it and expand upon what people may not already know from their own experiences. The game consists of a storyteller, often called the Dungeon Master or Game Master (DM or GM for short) and X amount of players. Typically groups involve anywhere from three to five people, but you could even play with groups of up to eight people or more.
The GM creates a world or story in which the players then get to explore using characters that they create themselves. The PCs (Player Characters) then roll dice to attempt to solve a problem that the GM lays before them based on the statistics they chose at character creation. A guard may be defending a secure vault and a player must trick them to leave, a character may ingest a poisoned wine glass or attempt to avoid a trap. Situations like these are given to the players to solve and then they roll the appropriate dice to determine if they succeed or fail. This is a very simple and basic explanation of the fundamental rules of play.
But what is there more to it than just simple dice rolling and leaving your outcomes up to chance? “This game still seems pretty easy and frankly boring,” I hear you saying. However, D&D is so much more than just rolling rocks; it's a game about exploring all forms of artistic communication and delving into the complex history of the human experience.
TELLING A STORY
Seth Grine, an English language arts major here at CWU and member of the Decks and Dice Club on campus, describes the purpose and experience of writing in D&D. “I love the collaborative storytelling part of it… getting to share a story with multiple people,” says Grine. Playing this game is different from just writing a novel or creating a script. It's another form of writing altogether, whether the GM creates templates that include every character’s strengths and weaknesses given the prompt or improvisation takes place amongst players at the table.
The ability to express yourself through verbal linguistics is a crucial part of playing this game. “I've always really liked writing and part of what brought me into D&D was finding out that you can write whatever you want… being able to have that kind of level of freedom to write and do whatever I wanted and the aspect of, ‘hey, I created this world contacting all my friends. Come play,’” Grine says. For minds oriented towards the creation of fictional worlds or implementing complex characters with goals and flaws, this is the game for you.
D&D can be so much more than a simple board game. For those of you who are not interested in exploring human nature and are just looking to have a good time you can absolutely do that too. There are many different ways to play, from silly storylines and miscellaneous adventures reminiscent of “Adventure Time,” to grand sagas that span years similar to “Game of Thrones.” This is a game where anything is possible. If fantasy isn't your thing, it doesn't even have to be. D&D has been proven time and time again to stretch beyond the classic fantasy genre that the name of the game suggests. If dwarves and elves aren’t your speed, hijack a train or travel the stars in a western or sci-fi setting. You can bend the game to whatever genre you like.
PUTTING THE “ROLEPLAY” IN TABLETOP ROLEPLAYING
Roleplaying is what primarily comes to mind when people think of D&D: dressing up in full getups and trying to escape from reality by personifying fictional characters. This does happen. There is an aspect of acting as your character depending on the provided circumstance, whether plundering a dungeon or witnessing the loss of a loved one. However D&D is not about escaping from reality, but rather embracing it. Much more can go into coming up with a D&D character than whatever is an optimal build or making them look cool. Creating these characters is also envisioning a part of yourself in different scenarios. You place a piece of yourself that you haven’t really explored before and experience how it interacts with the provided world.
Perhaps you want to explore being moody and brooding. You can absolutely do that! Maybe you want to see what your life would be like if you were nobility? Check. The best part is, you can be as philosophical or existential as you want. Do you want to explore the nature of what it means to be alive or how to find joy in the deepest of sorrows? These may sound like heavy topics, but it is a strong aspect of storytelling. When you play a character in any medium outside of D&D, you must embody who they are in order to fully realize them. The same applies for this game and you don’t need to be an actor to do it.
WHERE ARE THE VISUALS?
The hardest part about playing D&D is not always getting a clear picture of the scenario or what a certain character looks like. Luckily, there is an avenue for exploring that medium within D&D as well. David Torem, a masters student in higher education, discusses his experience with visual media in D&D. “I usually commission friends of mine to draw things because I'm not much of an artist… I don't do a lot of it, but I know people that do and I draw on their expertise,” says Torem. For those of us who aren’t inclined when it comes to art or visual media, having those around you who do have those abilities is a great way to flex both yours and their creative muscles. Describe every inch possible and watch your character come to life. Some artists may even draw landscapes for the GM to implement or go even further beyond and create maps for them if you get someone committed.
WHAT NOW?
If you are even the slightest bit intrigued to play D&D, I strongly encourage you to give it a try. The Decks and Dice club is a great resource to get started, always open to accepting new members. There is a common misconception that the game is complicated or you need lots of materials to play, such as figurines, an outfit and dice. Truthfully, all you need is a pencil and paper. You don't even need to have a strong grasp of the rules.
“The misconception, of course, is ‘I need to know how to play before I start playing.’ I didn't know what I was doing when I first started playing. I don't know what I'm doing half the time,” says Madeline Harris, a theatre and design major and current president of the Decks and Dice Club here at CWU. “They usually have the people with all these big miniatures and all these big props as well… [but] we just put down little dice that we think represent us,” adds Patrick Pugh, a film major and member of Decks and Dice. It can be intimidating when the rule books are over two hundred pages each and a new book is released every few months, but in a game where you can do anything, you can implement as many or as few of those rules as you would like. The rule of cool is the only important rule in D&D.
So you have the materials to play, but where do you start? Chances are that you know someone who already plays D&D, but if you don’t, there are many different ways to start. At CWU there is the Decks and Dice club, full of eccentrics and those who are willing to teach you and create stories that you will remember for the rest of your life. “Otherwise look out into your community and see if there's any game stores that have campaigns going, or see if your friends or family are interested,” says Harris. If none of those apply to you, then you could always create your own campaign like Grine, who says, “I know when I started getting into it all in 2020… it was a great port of all that pent up, boxed away creativity that I wanted to get out, but I didn't know how, so I spent a lot of time creating my world.”
There is so much to be explored if you play D&D. It’s a game where anything and everything can happen, as big or small as you would like. It could be a story resolved in one evening or last several years. It can be fantasy, modern, sci-fi or horror. It can, has and always will have something for everyone. It is a game where the only limit is your imagination.
We at PULSE hope to assist you on that journey. Below, we have provided some free creations to include in your very own game at your leisure.
