Dungeons and Dragons. You’ve probably heard of this game before, but what is it? How do you play it? And how inclusive can it be?

What is Dungeons and Dragons?

Dungeons and Dragons, or DnD for short, is a “Tabletop role playing game”.

This means it’s a game originally designed to be played around a table, using paper sheets, pencils, and dice (rather than digitally via a console or a computer).

The game has been around since the late ’70s and has had several peaks of popularity, such as in the late ’80s where it was accused of being satanic.

It has been on the rise again over the last decade, with big hit shows like Stranger Things drawing more and more people to the game.

There are two types of “players” in DnD.

There are the players, people who have made a character and are roleplaying as that character, and the Dungeon Master, the person who runs the game, tells the story and plays all the other characters in the game.

Most people start of as a player to get to know the game, and might try their hand at being a Dungeon Master once they have gained a good understanding of the game.

How did I start playing Dungeons and Dragons?

I’ve been playing DnD since I was a teenager. But I didn’t really get the bug for it properly until 2019.

In 2019, an old school friend set up a group to have another go at Dungeons & Dragons. This time we did it properly.

We made our own paper character sheets from scratch, got a set of dice, and we even used battle maps, plastic gold coins, and healing potions. It was incredible!

I’ve made sure to keep everything from that first game. Setting off as real adventurers, defending a town from a dragon; it was like how all good fantasy video games begin.

We carried on with that game for months, meeting when we could, continuing our adventures with some slightly unusual tactics. But then the pandemic hit.

It took us a while to get organised before we tried playing online. It was tricky, we had issues with microphones, webcams, bad internet, the works; and after a couple of sessions, we gave up.

But that wasn’t the end for us.

As a group, we’ve played many times since then, in many different settings, and we’ve even got the hang of playing online now as well, which makes finding a time to play much easier.

How do I play Dungeons and Dragons now?

Currently, I play in two different games, as well as dungeon master one shots as well (these are shorter and quicker games, generally).

One of these games takes place online and the other meets in person.

Both games are amazing and I love being part of them, but they both have their pros and cons.

The online game has run longer, and for most of the players, I’ve never met them in person.

We play every Sunday evening for several hours, most of us just sitting on our sofas in our pyjamas, laptops on our legs, casually eating snacks or drinking tea.

It’s very relaxed, but we don’t chat that much, as it’s easy to get off-topic. We use a software called roll20 (which is free) to help. It can be a little fiddly to set up, but once you have its a very easy way to chat and play.

The in person DnD group is a different affair. We meet normally for brunch on a Saturday morning, although finding one that is free for everyone is sometimes tricky.

Our chats are engaging and excited, but our excellent Dungeon Master has to work incredibly hard to keep us all to stay on topic sometimes.

So what’s being LGBTQ+ got to do with Dungeons & Dragons?

Well, Dungeons & Dragons is usually set in a fantasy world. This means that anything is possible.

For most queer people, myself included, this is a wonderful opportunity to either explore things about ourselves or to be able to create worlds that we wished we could see.

Creating characters in DnD is at least half of the fun (at least for me).

It’s a great opportunity to practice story telling as well when it comes to creating a fun character to play with an interesting backstory and motivation.

This means that the restrictions of the mundane regular world need not apply; your character can be whoever and whatever they want to be.

It’s surprising how good even the small amount of freedom can feel.

For me, being able to play as characters with all different genders and sexual orientations is a wonderful way to explore my own identity.

If you need more proof that the queer community love dungeons and dragons, then think about the fact that I play DnD with more trans people than cis people. And they’re all way better players as well!

How to get started with Dungeons and Dragons?

1. Find a good group to play Dungeons & Dragons with

Make sure the group you play with fits your needs. Are they more comedians or more serious? Do they meet in person, online, or hybrid?

If you’re someone who gets easily distracted or has a short attention span, you may find it easier to play in person.

Whereas, if you’re quite introverted and like your personal space, you may prefer to play online.

Either way, don’t play with a group that is going to make you feel uncomfortable.

If you have a group and none of you have played before, you could consider hiring a Dungeon Master to guide you through your first games and teach you the rules.

2. Create your character

Now, I love DnD. I’ve been playing for years. But for me, one of the worst parts is having to manually put together a character sheet. I know loads of people love it, but its just not for me.

I love using software to help me create the perfect characters. For me, that’s D&D Beyond.

This site has everything you could ever need on it. It’s honestly incredible.

You can purchase lore and campaign books, check out all the rules, even roll virtual dice if that’s your thing.

If you’re on a budget, you can create an account for free and you’ll have access to the basic rules and can create six characters on there.

There are subscription packages that give you different rewards (such as sharing any purchased materials with other people in your campaign, which is amazing).

I find their interface for creating characters very intuitive and easy to use. This allows me to focus on what I want my character to be, rather than how to get all the maths to add up just right.

Last tip for creating a character: try and give them a weakness or some form of flaw. Claustrophobia, narcissism, anger issue, whatever you like.

Flaws really help to add some flavour to your character, and to round them out.

3. Don’t try and be the best at everything

Dungeons & Dragons is as much about failures as it is about successes. If you have a character that is able to do everything better than most literal gods, then it gets real boring real quick.

You’ll find that looking back, you remember the things you did wrong or messed up a lot more than any you managed to ace.

Example time: One highlight of DnD for me is the time that all three of the team I was playing with rolled a critical 1 at the same time. (This means we all failed in the worst possible way).

So, instead of convincing some guards of our innocence, we were immediately attacked and arrested.

Mistakes and mess ups are good, so don’t try to hamper them.

4. Take some notes

It doesn’t matter how bad they are, just try and take some notes.

It makes it so much easier to jump back into games if you’ve had a few weeks without playing if you’ve got something to look back over.

You could keep a notebook and write notes yourself, or you could come up with a shared google doc, or even use discord. Whatever works. But please, take notes.

Summary Time

In conclusion, Dungeons & Dragons is an excellent game and an incredibly engaging and rewarding hobby.

It’s provides a wonderful space to feel safe and have some fun with friends, and a great opportunity to explore your own identity as well.

Budget: 1/5

While its possible to play DnD with very little financial investment, if you’re going to play more regularly those rule books really add up quickly!

Playing online and using “Theatre of the mind” can really help to bring the cost down, but if you ending up going full Critical Role, then you’d better have a very healthy savings account.

I’m an enormous dice goblin, with a horde of dice I am simultaneously very proud, and very ashamed of. And let me tell you, those dice don’t come cheap!

Accessability: 4/5

As I’ve mentioned, DnD can be an incredibly varied game that can be played in so many different ways.

It’s mainly conducted through speech, but it’s possible to play only text based if that’s something you’d be more comfortable with as well.

Satisfaction: 3/5

Now, when the moment hits just right, you land that final killing blow on the evil monster, or find just the right brick to unlock the secret passage, DnD feels amazing.

There’s nothing like that feeling when you know you’ve solved a puzzle or got just the information that you were looking for out of someone.

But sometimes those moments can be literally weeks apart.

It’s important to remember that DnD can be a really slow game at times, so it’s not always going to give you that amazing rush of dopamine that you might be craving.

However, buying that new set of Liquid core, sharp edged, rainbow glitter dice just might!

Growth and Development 5/5

I think that DnD’s ability to make you want to play better is almost second to none.

Every game I play makes me want to play better, embody my character more, find more interesting solutions, even wish I’d rolled better dice or taken better notes.

There are so many tips and tricks and styles and ideas that its nearly impossible to master, but you’ll want to try anyway!

Overall score: 13/20

So, DnD is almost my favourite thing ever (after tea). It’s escapism, storytelling, socialising, exploration, critical thinking, and acting all rolled into one incredible game.

If you’ve never played DnD it before, I urge you to try it out for yourself!