By Molly Jefferson
Staff Writer
Escapism is more important now than ever. Pseudo-dictators, genocides, and a literal uprising of neo-Nazis are not ideal to say the least. With this in mind, the recent Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) resurgence makes a lot of sense. In a world where it is difficult to prompt change, D&D acts as one of the few things one can control.
D&D is a role-playing game, or RPG, created by Ernest Gary Gygax and David Arneson in 1974. One person, often called the Dungeon Master (DM) or Game Master (GM), builds an entire world for other players to immerse themselves in. There is often an objective presented to the players, along with nonplayer characters (NPCs), that the DM creates and acts out. It is pretty much free reign from there. Most people play based on the guidelines of the latest edition of the official D&D Beyond books, but those guidelines are very flexible, and the bulk of how your gameplay looks is at the discretion of your DM.
Said books tend to dictate the race (“species” is a more accurate term, but “race” is used in the books) of your character pretty strictly. Your character’s proficiencies depend on what race and class you choose. Again, DMs are typically pretty lenient and willing to adapt to your specific character “build.” You choose everything about your character from their eye color to their long, dark history of trauma. The idea is that you embody this character in-game and explore the world through their eyes. The rest is up to the game itself and your specific situation.
Since this world is not real, and assuming you’re not DMing, you can explore yourself in a deeper and more controlled environment through your character. Maybe you have always wanted to be a musician. You can choose to be a bard, which is a character class which produces magic through creating music. Perhaps you crave vengeance in the real world. Be a Tiefling and use hellish rebuke every chance you get (a spell in which one can point and cause an aggressor to spontaneously combust). There are infinite ways to express yourself through D&D, regardless of what race or class you choose. Maybe you secretly hate all of your teammates in real life and want to sabotage your group in-game, by all means.
Contrary to popular belief, D&D can absolutely be free to play. Some people may tell you to invest in 15 sets of dice, every Fifth Edition book, diamond-encrusted character sheets, figurines, a box to hold all of this, and perhaps a soul in a jar from Craigslist. I have said it a billion times before and will say it again: you do not need to pay a dime to play.
Having a physical set of dice is nice, but Google has a dice rolling feature that has every kind of die on it. There are also apps for it. If you are not in the financial position to buy a set of dice, then do not. If you really want a set of physical dice, they all roll the same, buy the cheap resin ones.
Every single detail outlined in the official D&D books is online somewhere. I have even found entire PDFs of the books online. There is no need for the physical books and certainly no need for you to pay $45 or more for one.
Character sheets are literally two pieces of paper. They do not even need to be on paper, you can type them out. There are dozens of online sheets that you can fill out digitally. You could even handwrite everything in a notebook if you do not have access to a printer. Etch them into a slab of wood for all I care. The important part is having a record of your stats.
My DM does not even use combat sheets, no less figurines. It is all in the imagination, and verbal distance indicators are all you need. Your DM will also tell you how far your weapons or spells reach.
D&D is by far the most accessible and healthiest form of escapism there is. It has even inspired some novel ideas for me and allowed me to work through some traumas without the other players or my DM even knowing. Life’s too short. Join a D&D campaign.
