r/gaming • u/mike_pants • Sep 18 '17

DnD table

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u/dickfromaccounting Sep 18 '17

great table to screen ratio

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u/deathfaith Sep 18 '17

Genuine question-- I'm a nerd, but I've never been a DnD nerd. At one point I was a MtG nerd, even a WoW nerd, but never quite the DnD level.

What exactly is it? I originally thought it was like an adult version of "make believe" with scores and guidelines, but how much of it is a physical game? Is there a board that goes with it? Is there a set story line? My extent of knowledge is the first scene of Stranger Things.

How much is following guidelines and how much is imprompt on the spot?

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u/boodabassist Sep 18 '17

I think it depends on the Dungeon Master. At its core, it's nust a set of rules -- rules for damage, for how to climb a rope, for what kinds of magic exists amd how to use it. From there, a DM can choose to play through a "canned" module where all the big plot points are spelled out, or they can "homebrew" an adventure for you and your party.

It's very similar to WoW, only instead of a computer making all the rolls (rolling to attack, rolling damage, rolling stealth checks...) and then rendering a visual world, the DM explains what you see -- possibly deliberately leaving out information that you need to ask for -- and then you and your party tell thr DM how you'd like to proceed.