Miscellany: D&D musings

"Dungeons and Dragons" is the 800 lb. gorilla of fantasy pen-and-paper roleplaying, the granddaddy of them all. I suspect it's popularity has much to do with how well it represents (plagiarizes? appropriates?) the high fantasy tradition of Tolkien. To tell the truth, I haven't rolled a d20 since high school. I bought a Player's Handbook, version 3.5, just today, so here are some thoughts on D&D.

The hobby can be expensive. For something that ostensibly can be entered into for the price of a rulebook and a set of those funny-looking dice, Wizards of the Coast is milking this cow for all it's worth. For example, the Eberron campaign setting for the session I'm entering costs $40 - and that's in addition to the $30 Player's Handbook, the $30 DM Guide, and various other books - all retailing for $30 or more. Add in miniatures and custom DM screens and maps, and it can get even worse.

The reason people pay is because there's still nothing like face-to-face, dice-on-the-table, cold-pizza-in-the-fridge roleplaying. Technology tried to usurp this with games like "Neverwinter Nights" and "World of Warcraft," but there's a freedom of action and description here that computer and video games can never provide. Even if you stick to the base, by-the-book rules and settings in D&D, you have almost infinite adventures waiting for you.

An example might help illustrate: say you need to infiltrate a noble's guarded estate. Even open-ended video games like "Oblivion" will segment what you can do - maybe fight the guards, or sneak in through the back, or use a spell to teleport right in, etc. With a real-life RPG, the possibilities are limitless: you can do all of the above, plus bribe the guards, or flirt with the guards to distract them, or construct a makeshift battering ram, or dig a tunnel underneath the wall, or spray acid on the wall to dissolve it, or disguise yourself as a guest...