It's not a satanic cult. Seriously.

What is D&D?

Dungeons & Dragons is a tabletop role-playing game played with dice and miniture figurines. It's like a video game before there were video games.

 

While D&D was one of the first and is inspired by Lord of The Rings, there are many different types of tabletop games with different themes and rules.

Malifaux - Fairytale-esque world

Star Wars

My Little Pony

Dungeons & Dragons 4e is based in the world of Ebberron, a pretty standard fantasy world with some steampunk added in.

 

There are the typical fantasy things:

- Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, Goblins, Halflings

- Magic & Wizards

 

And some less cliche fun stuff:

- Shapeshifters, Werewolves, Dragonborn (Fus Ro Dah!)

- Trains that are powered by lightning elementals

- Autonomous robots with free will powered by magic

The driving part of a D&D game is the story. The entire point of playing is to come up with and act out a story in a unique and collaborative way, and also pretend like you're a magical badass.

A single D&D game is called a campaign, and can last years. It is usally  played in sessions, like episodes of a TV show.

 

Players choose characters to play as, except for one, who must play everything else since there is no computer AI.

 

The game is played in 2 phases which can vary in length order and repetitiveness. These 2 phases are role-play and combat. (i.e. cut-scenes and fighting shit.)

How do you play an analog video game?

1. There are rules. Lots of rules.
2. Things have stats. (Character Sheets)
3. Dice are things you roll.
4. Minis are cool.

Imagine playing cowboys an indians, but with rules so Billy can't suddenly have fucking super powers in the middle of the historic American west. Twat.

A fork in the road!

Roll for initiative!

"I punch the initiative" — Brick

Basic rules of combat

1. Turn-based. Players & NPCs take turns in order of rolled initiative.
2. You get 3 actions on each turn: Move, Minor, and Standard.
3. When you choose an action, your character sheet has instructions for what dice to roll and what the outcome of your action is based on what you've rolled.

What is your name?

How squishy are you?

Stats. Stats. Stats.

The anatomy of an attack