The First D&Dose Is Free

This is the story of how I introduced fantasy roleplaying to a colleague, and how a few dice rolls at the office grew into a Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) campaign - with a lasting friendship in the bargain.

New Job, New Opportunities

The year was 2020, and I started a new job. That meant meeting new colleagues, physically or digitally, since this was during the pandemic. Those of us not working from home socialized by the coffee machine in the hallway, at a safe distance. The conversation ranged across big and small, as it usually does when you are trying to find your place in a group and getting to know many new people at once. I hit it off especially well with one guy, and already during the first week I could tell from our conversations that we shared a number of interests. For example The Lord of the Rings, other fantasy, and various games. It doesn't take long before I dare to ask the question: "Have you ever tried roleplaying games at all?" He answers "No, what is that?" I say: "Imagine The Lord of the Rings, but you are Aragorn. Imagine making the choice of whether he fights the Ringwraiths on Weathertop, or flees. Doesn't that sound cool?". There is a faint nod, and I see a crooked smile in the corner of his mouth. The idea sparks a kind of interest, but the whole concept is probably still a bit abstract.

The Die Is Cast

So the next day I pack the Players Handbook for Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) 5E and some roleplaying dice for work. During lunch I invite him into the office, suggesting I can show him how roleplaying works. He is in.

Typical roleplaying setup (license: Canva)

I show off the cool illustrations in the book, while explaining the only rule we will use. "When your character faces a problem, you roll this twenty-sided die (d20). If you get 10 or higher you SUCCEED, and with 9 or lower you FAIL. Okay?" Simple.

We then quickly come up with a situation. He is a warrior fleeing captivity! We give the character a name and get going immediately. Five minutes later we have played out a dramatic story where he flees from wolves, swims across a roaring river, and hides in a thicket from robbers. This was seriously fun! You can tell when there is great energy in a room, and this was one of those experiences. We had just shared in something special. Lunch ended with me promising to arrange a game session for him sometime in the future. We had to do this again.

No Way Back But life happens, and maybe half a year passes before we pick up the thread of playing D&D again. That's when he suddenly tells me he has now watched large parts of Critical Role season 1, created his first D&D character, and signed up for an online D&D campaign. I was speechless, incredibly cool! But now I owed him an answer, since I had promised to run a game. So I suggested we play out a bit of the backstory of the character he had just made, the paladin Maxwell Rennan. That way he could get to know his character and the rules a little better, and I could keep my promise to run a game for him. Three birds with one stone.

The Campaign Begins

Since the pandemic meant more working from home, we agreed to use lunch the next day for the game. That gave us half an hour to play. I prepared a simple premise and set up a few simple scenes in the online play platform Roll20. Since he had already made his character with the digital tool D&D Beyond, we were ready.

To make the first experience seamless, I didn't want the rules to take up much space in the story. So I chose to use Index Card RPG (ICRPG), a D&D offshoot, as the foundation. In this system you play one scene at a time, with a static target value. Every obstacle within that scene must be overcome by rolling above the target value.

Index Card RPG

For the character, we only used the base abilities (strength, dexterity, constitution, intelligence, wisdom, and charisma) against the target value. We dropped all bonuses from abilities and skills. For damage in combat, we mostly used a six-sided die. Done.

Episode 1: "Cast Off"

As soon as lunch came, we went adventuring. Maxwell's (Max's) mission was to escort the noblewoman Scarlet from the port town of Newport, across the sea, to the monastery in Sanctum. She is a prim and nervous noblewoman who doesn't like sailing. Even so, she ends up trusting Max. He succeeds on a charisma roll, and thereby reassures her. In the port town we also introduced a side character, the dwarf Ned, Max's good friend and helper. Picture loyal Gimli from The Lord of the Rings, only with the first name of Ned Stark from Game of Thrones.

Maxwell Rennan and the helper Ned (license: Canva)

The next day they cast off, and the first week of the voyage passes without trouble. But then a mysterious fog appears, covering half the ship. Out of the fog leap four goblins, trying to drag the noblewoman into the mist. Max pulls her free and sends her into the ship, along with Ned. Max now fights alone and is badly wounded. But Ned comes back, and together they manage to defeat the goblins. The fog then vanishes just as mysteriously.

In the real world, time is running out. The last thing that happens in the game is Max trying to shake Scarlet for information about the ambush. "Who are these people, and how do they know who you are!?" But he fails the charisma roll. The noblewoman is in shock and can't tell the heroes anything useful. She has more than enough dealing with herself.

The fog covers the ship, and goblins leap out to take Scarlet (screenshot Roll20)

Lunch was over, but it had been another fantastic play experience! We both felt we wanted to know how this story continued. So we agreed to set aside a few more half hours, with the next round coming up already the next day.

Episode Two: Something Is Afoot

The next game begins with Max, Ned, and Scarlet standing dazed on a beach on the other side of the sea. In other words, they made it across, but because of a mysterious fog the ship was driven toward a mountainside, crashed, and was wrecked. The rest of the crew are down for the count, but they will manage, and tell the heroes to continue.

The heroes head to a nearby town to buy supplies for the journey to Sanctum. It will be on foot, and Maxwell decides they will take the mountain pass rather than follow the road. They want to keep a low profile and stay out of sight of possible enemies. So they buy warm clothes, food, and a tent.

In town, Maxwell approaches Scarlet again to try to draw out information about who this mysterious enemy might be. This time with a softer approach than last. But he fails the roll again, and she digs in her heels. Even though it is now obvious that she knows something.

On the way out of town, Max gets a sudden, uncomfortable feeling of being watched. He turns and sees a cloaked figure observing them from a dark corner of the town. The moment their eyes meet, the figure dissolves into a magical mist, and that is where the episode cuts to black.

On the way out of town, Max's spider-sense tingles - danger is near (screenshot Roll20)

This wasn't a session with lots of combat and action, but both my buddy and I sat leaning toward our screens, swearing with suspense. Who was this figure!? And what did he want with Scarlet? We simply HAD to find out!

Episode Three: The Mountain

This episode begins with the heroes struggling up a mountainside, when they suddenly hear a deep voice chanting sorcery on the wind. Think of the scene where Saruman summons the storm against the Fellowship of the Ring in The Lord of the Rings. A fog slides suffocatingly across the mountainside and triggers a massive avalanche that nearly kills the heroes.

In the aftermath, Scarlet breaks down. She reveals that her father is a prophet with powerful dreams. And that she herself plays an important part in a prophecy about the end of the world. That is likely why the evil sorcerer wants her.

In the avalanche they lose their food, but choose to press on. In the mountains, the heroes aren't the only ones hungry and exhausted. On the way down from a hard trek through the high country, they make camp to rest. That is when they are attacked by two starving snow pumas, and Scarlet goes down.

Max and Ned dig deep for new strength and manage to strike down one of the pumas. The other beast succeeds on a morale roll and stays in the fight. With claws and teeth it knocks Ned senseless. With only a few hit points (HP) left, Maxwell manages in one final desperate effort to defeat the starving puma. Phew! That was extremely close.

The snow pumas ready their attack on the heroes (screenshot Roll20)

Episode Four: The Guardian

Down from the mountain, Sanctum finally comes into view. On the way to the monastery they discover a hidden cave entrance, which they choose not to explore. Ned and Max are determined to complete the mission and want to deliver Scarlet first.

But when they arrive, armed goblins stand outside the castle, which is now wrapped in the mysterious fog. Where the goblins stand, the heroes also see clear trails of blood on the ground. There has been fighting here, and something is terribly wrong.

Then Scarlet suddenly remembers that the cave entrance is a secret way into the monastery. She was last here as a young girl, but thinks it may help. They make their way into the dark of the earth, surrounded by holes so deep you cannot see the bottom. Another Lord of the Rings reference, the Mines of Moria.

On a stone bridge they meet a minotaur guarding the cave against intruders. Max and Ned take no chances and attack immediately. Scarlet screams and tries to stop the fight. But she fails (the rolls). The minotaur is defeated and falls, bleeding, toward the abyss. Before he vanishes, he meets Scarlet's eyes, and we get a quick flashback to the past, where the minotaur watched over Scarlet's cradle when she was a little baby. It becomes a truly sad and dark moment, cutting to black after the noblewoman collapses on the stone floor.

The underground guardian stands ready for battle (screenshot Roll20)

This time we sit in silence, hardly able to believe what has happened. The game felt as dramatic as one of the most intense episodes of Game of Thrones. Wow. Now we needed a little break before starting what became the final episode.

Episode 5: The Sorcerer

They have followed the cave all the way, and we begin at a secret entrance on the first floor of the monastery. They must get up to the third floor, where Scarlet's father has his office. Despite trying to sneak forward unseen, they run into goblins, whom they quickly defeat. Finally they reach the office.

There, the sorcerer is already forcing secrets out of the Prophet through torture. He is surrounded by armed goblins, and it quickly turns into a bloody battle. In the end it becomes an intense "Mexican standoff", with Maxwell, Ned, and the sorcerer each left with only a few hit points - and it is the sorcerer's turn.

Unfortunately, the sorcerer succeeds with his magic spell, knocking out both Max and Ned with a wall of fog, lightning, and thunder. The scene fades slowly to black, and the last we hear is Scarlet screaming, the Prophet screaming, and the sorcerer's evil laughter.

The last moment, in the final scene, before everything goes to black (screenshot Roll20)

It was an absolutely wild ending to a fantastic campaign! And it was all played over just a few (generous) half hours at lunch, or in the evening. Even though the heroes didn't come out victorious, we felt the story got a worthy conclusion. And the ending was open enough that we could pick up the thread again at a later time.

Your Turn

I hope this gives you the courage to ask a colleague; would you like to try fantasy roleplaying? Here is a short list of how to go about it.

1. Reference. Find a reference within the genres of nerd culture (film, series, book, fantasy, science fiction etc.)

2. Hint. Build on the reference and introduce the possibility of making the choices in the story yourself. Ask if they think it sounds fun, and whether they would like to try.

3. Scene. If yes, use the reference and set a quick scene presenting a dilemma. Ask: What do you do? Based on the answer, introduce an element of chance (a dice roll, a coin flip, trying to hit an object in the room with a crumpled piece of paper etc.)

4. Choice. Based on the outcome, describe how the scene immediately develops. Convey the experience of a meaningful choice.

And then you stop there, and watch the joy in the eyes of the person you just handed the key to a magical world.

Now it is your turn.

Good luck.

-KO