Player's Handbook

"Hi uncle Julian i was over at my friends, Tyler and Cindy's house today and Tyler is really into gaming and magic. He was teaching me how to play the bare bones of Dungeons and Dragons. But I want to learn to play really well. So since you know about that stuff I was hopping you would teach me! then i had the idea that we could talk to you, and you would really like Tyler. He is really serious about the game ,and loves being the DM, and telling us all what happens. We all want to learn as much as we can!!!!!!!

Love, Rebecca"

The e-mail takes me by surprise. My niece is a sweet kid. I love her like crazy. And she's the very last family member I can imagine getting into Dungeons and Dragons.

She's the pretty one: that girl in 5th grade who drove you nuts. Since she was about 8-years-old, she's looked like a model. Stick thin no matter what she eats. Pretty, in an exotic way, and tall. She's always been, well, just nice. I've never engaged with her on much of a level past the usual holiday family get-together. I'd ask her about school, she'd mumble. I'd giver her a Christmas present and she'd give me a hug.

She, like my sister (and myself, briefly), has always been a bit hippie artsy-fartsy. She'd make bead jewelry and sew her own flowing clothes. The closest she'd come to any interest in gaming was last year. Bored, during the lull of Thanksgiving day, she expressed a desire to paint miniatures. But I suspected it was just a chance to do something other than listen to the grownups talk about their sordid youth. She'd always seemed more into horses and American Girl than Hobbits and Orcs.

So before I respond, I call my sister.

"Hey kiddo, so, I got this e-mail from Becca. About D&D. How real is this?"

"Oh it's real. Her friend Tyler is into it, and she came home totally ramped up. It's all she's been talking about."

I experience a moment of panic. This is my turf. And she's just this kid. I know how this is supposed to go. I'm supposed to beam with pride and excitement, joy at the opportunity to infect a family member with something important to me. But I don't. I feel annoyed. Now I have to deal with this kid. I feel like Scrooge.

"Oh OK. I'll send her back an e-mail."

But what should I say? I stare at my computer screen for ten minutes. I give in to distraction. I play a little Guitar Hero 2. I check e-mail. I read some blogs. I stand up and stretched my legs. And as I pace across the chewed up linoleum of my rabbit-hole, I glance at the bookshelf. It's a black folding bookshelf -- the kind you buy in college. It's very rickety. I've had it almost collapse several times in the last 10 years, but somehow it stays together. The shelves bow with the weight of 16 linear feet of role playing books. The bottom shelf has a layer of dust that exposes not only the lack of housekeeping consistent throughout my office, but the lack of use. That shelf has every D&D core book printed before 2004. Every single one. In the lower left hand corner sits my first Player's Handbook.

I pull it from the shelf. It's covered in translucent plastic. My friends and I had taken them to the Library the day we bought them, and begged the school librarian to skin them up for us. We knew they'd see heavy use. The inside cover is inexplicably end-papered in orange, with my name in the upper left hand corner. The handwriting is nearly illegible. Past another orange endpaper is the frontispiece. For the thousandth time I read the subtitle:

Special Reference Work
A compiled volume of information for players of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, including: character races, classes, and level abilities; spell tables and descriptions; equipment costs; weapons data; and information on adventuring.
by Gary Gygax, 1978 - TSR Games.

And I know what I have to do. As clearly as I know I'd have to help a child, lost and crying in the mall, find her parents.

"Becca,

That's really cool!

I have all the books if you'd like to borrow them, and I'd be happy to do a little adventure for you and some friends sometime. It is indeed a fun thing."

The next morning the family and I head to the bookstore, just to drink coffee and rummage around. It's a ritual we've practiced for years. Part of the ritual is trading off who sticks with the kids while my wife and I take turns looking at books. On my turn, I head over to the few feet of the store dedicated to Wizards of the Coast. And I realize that I can't loan her my books. I can't loan them to her because I wouldn't have them on the shelf. I can't loan them to her because she needs -- she deserves -- her own. So knowing I'm blowing my game budget for the month, I grab a complete set: Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, Monster Manual.

My panic turns to embarrassment.

When I get home, I have a few hours before I'm expecting her and the rest of my family for Easter dinner. I sit on the couch with the books, flipping through them, enjoying their newness, the unmistakable smell of paper that has yet to be exposed to air. I grab a pen from the coffee table. I should write a little note saying "For Rebecca" or something. That's what you're supposed to do when you give someone a book. I write those two words on the frontispiece.

I stare at the page for half an hour. I know I need to tell her something. Something real. Finally, I begin writing.

"For Rebecca,

When I was just your age, my friend Dave introduced me to Dungeons and Dragons. There were three books then -- nothing more than pamphlets that you kept in a little rectangular box. Those three little books were, for a time, the subject of endless jealousy. I pined for my own set. Then the game became bigger, and I did indeed get my own copies, very similar to these, (but a bit simpler).

I know that opening this book will at first be like drinking from a fire hose. But don't be put off. Just take a sip here and there.

Maybe this will spur a lifelong love. Maybe you'll decide in 6 weeks, or 6 months, or 6 years that you are too grown up for it. Maybe you'll just decide you're not really into it. But don't get rid of these. Stick them on a shelf. Perhaps they will be for you, like they still are for me, a roadmap for my imagination when I have lost the way."

When she picked up the books, it was clear this wasn't a passing fad. She burried herself in them immediately. She pestered me with questions while I cooked. All through dinner we talked about the rogue she wanted to roll. I recognized all the desires of the new player. She wanted to roll dice. She wanted everything stereotypical. She wanted magic elven armor and unerring throwing daggers.

At the end of the evening, she was despondent that we hadn't finished her character. I sent her home with instructions and sticky notes on how to pick her skills, and how to buy her equipment.

She calls me four times the day after, asking me for more details, and finally, her character complete, asking if we can play right now, over the phone. It kills me to tell her I have to work. And so, in a few weeks, I imagine I'll be hosting a handful of adolescent kids in my basement. They'll be giddy, and excited. They'll discover the magic of a natural 20, and the curse of bad dice. They'll get restless when things are slow, and they'll have to stand up when things get intense.

And I'll be playing Dungeon Master, more nervous than I've been in 25 years.

After all, this is a sacred trust.

Comments

Rabbit,

That is awesome. I have 2 separate RPG groups and I'm currently playing Neverwinter Nights 2. It's always great to welcome new people into the hobby.

You know, I barely tried p&p role-playing in high school, and now I think I wouldn't mind giving it another go, but I don't know anyone to DM. I think I might even possibly be able to get my beloved wife to try playing.

Oh, and great article.

Quintin - there any multiplayer scene for NWN2 yet? I'm in no rush to buy it at the moment.

I can't believe how early your niece is getting into D&D. I was introduced to it late in high school, and our group's knowledge of the game was so bad, that I was the DM for a session, even though I had virtually no idea what I was doing! It's only been in college that I've gotten into sustained games and found a group of committed gamers willing to set aside 3+ hours a week for a game.

Reading the books is one thing; playing the game is a largely different experience, especially with DMs who like to improvise and make up necessary rules as they go along (albeit referring to the books when there's a dispute or crucial moment, of course).

I think I've actually thought of a question now: Rabbit, what kind of a DM will you be? Will you meticulously plan an adventure in advance, make a general outline but be prepared to adapt, or just completely make it up off the top of your head? Best of luck in passing on the gift and joy of this game to a new generation!

I'm sure that's a great and panicky feeling -- not only for a veteran player to teach someone new, but someone who is extra fragile to you.

Crap rabbit, why did I never knew anybody like you?

Awesome article, really enjoyed reading it! I play in 2 different groups alternating every other friday, and sunday. The sunday group I've been a part of for about 7 years now. PnP roleplaying is one of those things I don't ever see myself outgrowing.

Kill her with a boulder when she's level 2. Show her what D&D is really about. Constantly battling for your own life and the life of your compatriots against the will of a madman and his goblin horde.

Sorry, I had an asshole DM.

I've done a lot of gamemastering over the years, from big, steady, into-it groups of grownups to one-shots at conventions, to teenagers. I think I have a handle on what to do for these kids, and it won't be a long drawn out set of plot twists and long, thoughtful conversations with morally grey characters.

It will, however, use miniatures, sets, props, and involve lot's of whacking things and rolling of dice. Their characters will be drawn in bold strokes, overpowered, and at the end of the night, there will be loot -- gold and gems and cool magic items.

'Cause, really, that's the point when your 12, no?

Not that you need any tips, by the looks of it, but perhaps my feeble two cents will come in handy.

1. I'd watch out for treasure inflation.. How many times can you get 1 million GP and still be excited? And even the most enthusiastic kid will loose interest when he can't keep count of his magical items anymore.

2. I used to run d&d campaigns for sick kids of around that age at a local hospital. From my experience, while its best to avoid complex character personalities and roleplaying heavy situations like you said, the kids really enjoyed the acting part even when it was stereotypical and exaggerated.

I used this to veer away from complicated game mechanics and troublesome rule systems, at least in the early game.
What I did was start asking them about personality traits and quirks familiar to them from people they know. We drew a medium sized list of many such traits that can describe a person: funny, lazy, brave, sleepy, patronizing, short fused etc. Each kid selected three he thought would best fit his character. Whenever they found a way roleplay or enact one of these traits in an original way, I'd give them an xp bonus, a roll bonus, or just a detailed description of their action that would make them laugh or gleam with pride. Soon enough, they were telling jokes at the local pub (or making fun of an opponent in mid-battle), rallying troops in desperate charges, and taking all sorts of colorful actions which spiced up the campaign and gave each of them a clue of what his character is, as you said, in bold strokes.

rabbit wrote:

I've done a lot of gamemastering over the years, from big, steady, into-it groups of grownups to one-shots at conventions, to teenagers. I think I have a handle on what to do for these kids, and it won't be a long drawn out set of plot twists and long, thoughtful conversations with morally grey characters.

It will, however, use miniatures, sets, props, and involve lot's of whacking things and rolling of dice. Their characters will be drawn in bold strokes, overpowered, and at the end of the night, there will be loot -- gold and gems and cool magic items.

'Cause, really, that's the point when your 12, no?

Are you saying that isn't the point now that I'm 30?

rabbit wrote:

[...]it won't be a long drawn out set of plot twists and long, thoughtful conversations with morally grey characters.

The last (and only quest come to think of it) I ever played was like that, but minus the interesting and thoughtful. It was with a bunch of my Fraternity brothers who didn't start the quest until 11pm, on a Wednesday, with a group of about 15 of us. The first battle took so long I kept falling asleep between dice rolls! I don't even think the battle was half way done before I gave up and went to bed

Fedaykin98 wrote:

Quintin - there any multiplayer scene for NWN2 yet? I'm in no rush to buy it at the moment.

No idea. That kind of thing never really interested me.

Good to read something that isn't about how tabletop RPGs are dying. I hope this is a good omen.

Great stuff, rabbit. Especially the note.

I always preferred the roleplaying part of D&D over the dice rolling. I mean, that's just math isn't it?

There really is nothing like the 1st D&D Character or the first D&D adventure, is there?

I'm still DMing for my friends, though we've not done traditional D20 stuff in ages. We're doing a modified Deadland Rules/Eberron Campaign thing that seems to be going well, but in the end, I just wish I could go back to the time when it was all new and wonderful and getting that +2 Sword of Blixnak was something that got talked about amongst the faithful for the rest of the week between classes.

Funny thing is, when I started playing, it was in 4th grade after reading the Dragonlance Series. My friend and I, ever mindful of the nervousness of our parents and the current (then anyway) newsbytes of 'D&D is the DEVIL!', took some d6 from the school's Sorry! game, and made our OWN game, called...wait for it....DL. They wouldn't let us play D&D with the books and all that, so we just invented our own rules, made up two characters, and a friendship that has lasted 25+ years was born.

Even now, my 2 year old daughter is being slowly brought up in the Way of the 20.

Rabbit, you earn the Slow Clap of absolute admiration for this one. I'd have remained a lurker for this post here so thanks for that.

Benticore
Out

Rabbit, clearly you exist in a western-Massachusetts parallel universe to mine. A few years ago I explained what an RPG was to my then ten year old nephew. Given his giddy excitement about it, I got him his first Player's Handbook, and I DMed a game for him. There's a Yiddish word to describe the feeling: kvell.

Don't worry, I'm actually an anti-rules-lawyer at heart. I'm all about props and spectacle. I'll definitely be skipping over the boring parts of combat (initiative) and keep things moving. But ya gotta be rollin' a bunch of D20s.

One of my favorite DM techniques is the unspoken timer. When the combat gets heated, you go to each person in turn and say "what are you doing." If its a tense moment, you count down from 5. If they don't say something you move on and come back to them. It prevents the 20 minute discussion about cover and modifiers.

There are definitely rules I just don't use. I hate, hate hate spell components. Mindless bookkeeping. It has it's place I suppose, but not for me. I think once someone has a modern character sheet in front of them, it's actually surprisingly easy to teach -- it's pretty much always a D20 and a modifier.

Great read, Rabbit. I've only recently gotten back into D&D (3.5 rules) and I find that I'm really enjoying it. It is a nice, communal and in-person way to have fun with friends without the electrons.

Great story, Rabbit.

I picked up D&D at the same age, and although I haven't played for around 13 years I still have all those manuals stashed away in my studio closet for safe keeping. Had I gone into a field other than music in college--one with a higher nerd quotient--I almost certainly would still be DMing a campaign to this day. I look forward to the day that my kids ask what all those dusty old books were for.

Bravo Rabbit, truly a wise and heroic deed you are undertaking. I was taken slight aback to realize that I've been doing some form of pnp for over 20 years now. The books change, the dice get bought, lost, re-bought, and found again, but the simple joy of sitting with people you care about cooking up the stories of heroes never really dies for me. Our fortnightly game session gets interrupted by chitchat about work, emails on the Blackberry, and the GM's baby trying to put dice in her mouth again now, yet it means more to me than almost anything.

My advice:
Plot and fun first, rules second. Our twelve year old selves (occasional cheaters aside) rolled the dice and took our chances, but our thirtyish selves know that nobody remembers the crushing blow on Anglark the Mad that missed by two.

Be fair, at least as much as you can.

Don't be too easy. Heroes that survive all battles without a scratch aren't really heroes.

Hand out the loot, but find creative ways for them to spend it. Houses, palaces, and castles, lavish feasts, and majestic horses can be great playfields of the imagination between sessions.

Being an uncle, you might throw in a life lesson(tm) or two every once and a while, but don't overdo it. Sometimes the orc just needs to be brained by a +2 mace.

P.S. The orange flyleaf indicates an early printing of the Player's Handbook. There was a site out there with a full rundown for collectors, I'll try to look it up. I found beat-to-hell 1st printing DM's guide in a used book store based on their info.

I don't know if this is a cough or not, but have you seen The DM of the Rings? Some funny stuff, and some very good advice in there at the bottom of the comics.

Very funny indeed.

rabbit wrote:

I play a little Guitar Hero 2.

Isn't this just implied for all GWJers at this point?

Great heartfelt article, Rabbit.

I've had similar situations happen, and I try to make sure not to drag someone too much into my gaming nerdery because I fully realize, should they adopt unhealthy eating habits and neglect sunlight, the weight of that responsibility will lie on my shoulders. To the uninitiated, the addiction factor can be more than they can bear, and the way from a non-nerd to a nerd is a lot easier than the way back.

Ha, am I the only D&D player that is a little leary about introducing my children to it? I have a two year old son and there is just something a little off setting to me when I think that some day I might DM his first adventure. Is that just me? I'm sure it's because of all the normal stereotypes that go along with D&D players. I don't know... it's a ton of fun and great for the imagination but there is definitely a stigma that goes along with it...

rabbit wrote:

And so, in a few weeks, I imagine I'll be hosting a handful of adolescent kids in my basement. They'll be giddy, and excited.

Oh yeah?

rabbit wrote:

Their characters will be drawn in bold strokes, overpowered, and at the end of the night, there will be loot -- gold and gems and cool magic items.

'Cause, really, that's the point when your 12, no?

I thought the point was to break the DM's plot through RP. In fact, I'm pretty sure of that.

I liked Dopleware's suggestion on descriptive characteristics. I'd recommend that one of the kids has "jerk" as one of his or her 3 words.

I like dopleware's suggestion too. I guess I'll have to play it by ear.

I'm a big big fan of Spirit of the Century, which is designed to reward real roleplaying in amazing ways. Awesome stuff.

Trevdor wrote:

Ha, am I the only D&D player that is a little leary about introducing my children to it? I have a two year old son and there is just something a little off setting to me when I think that some day I might DM his first adventure. Is that just me? I'm sure it's because of all the normal stereotypes that go along with D&D players. I don't know... it's a ton of fun and great for the imagination but there is definitely a stigma that goes along with it...

Not really anymore. At least not around my neck of the woods. It's almost S.O.P. unless you're really yuppie. And a lot of them have played, too. But this place is absolutely geek-soaked, so YMMV depending on where you live.

Just let him find it for himself, and then it'll flow naturally. I didn't start my kids until one of their friends started them off just like Rabbit's niece.

I just pulled out the second character I ever made, Dirk Fozzbim. He was a Gnomish Tinkerer, a Bard template from the skinny brown Bard book. Inventions, suits of armor made from trinkets and baubles, caltrops, and some silk rope. I have everything I needed there, even my trusty nose flute.

I remember all the guys that sat around that table, ran into one of them a year ago, heard about another's untimely death. I'd never thought in a million years that one of my (future unborn) kids would take up this wacky little torch and ask me for help. How lucky you are rabbit. Congratulations on the re-birth of the hobby in your family.

I really want to do a dungeon crawl now... Smythe... Rocky?

Sounds like fun Rabbit, I never knew any older games to play D & D with so I never tryed it. I think they'll have a blast playing with you because of your story telling ability and D&D skills. She's a lucky girl to have you showing her and her friends the hardcore side of gaming. I bet they really get into it and you will have just as much fun showing them the ropes of the game.