Monday is here, so guess what that means…it’s Magical
Mondays time!
If you’re just tuning in for the first time, this
series will be posting every Monday covering all things magical! This includes
Magic: the Gathering, Dungeons and Dragons, and anything else in the realm of
magic.
The first two posts were about MTG, so go ahead and
read them if that’s what you’re into. Don’t worry, I’m not done with MTG,
either. There is tons to say, but I’m going to shake things up a bit this week.
Today’s blog is going to feature the first tabletop
role-playing game (RPG). That’s right, Dungeons and Dragons (D&D)!
D&D
first started in 1974 after Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson transformed their local
wargame clubs into written rules for D&D. Below you can find pictures of
the first three booklets printed: Men & Magic, Monsters & Treasure, and
Underworld & Wilderness Adventures.
Since then, the game has risen in popularity as people
of all ages took to the game. Today, we are up to the 5th edition of
rules, with various manuals, handbooks, and campaigns being released yearly. The
best place to find any info is https://dnd.wizards.com/.
If you don’t know what an RPG is, I’m here to tell
you.
Yes, sometimes it looks like this, though this is more commonly referred
to as LARPing (Live Action Role Playing). But really, D&D looks like a
bunch of different versions of this:
The game is all about storytelling, with each player
acting as a different character in that story. One player is the Dungeon Master
(DM). The DM is the one who does most of the storytelling and keeps the players
on track to completing a campaign.
All other players have a character sheet that they
fill out. This includes your race (what type of magical being you are), class
(your calling or profession), abilities, weapons, stats, and character traits.
Throughout the game, you will act as your character would and make decisions
based on the traits your character has.
They have different series on how to play 5th edition, how to
be a Dungeon Master, and some other fun D&D stuff. There are so many podcasts
and YouTubers that focus on D&D that you won’t struggle with finding
someone you like.
If you want to start, I’ll tell you another secret.
There’s a program that is great for playing online!
It’s called Roll20 and it’s free and relatively
easy to use. You will have to play around with the interface, but I’m going to
do some of that work for you!
Next week, I’ll be posting a Roll20
tutorial!
Before I sign off, I have to say it again, if you’re a
YA, always ask a parent before downloading anything onto your computer
or using any of the pay to play features.
That’s it for this Monday, but I’ll see you next week,
so stay tuned!
~
Email
me with questions, suggestions, to talk about Magic, or just to say hello at alandry@cwmars.org.
