Still waiting for that resurrection. Hard getting friends to devote the time, and playing online is meh.
Check comic book stores and Meetup.com for pick-up games in your area. Then, drag the friends in one by one till they're hooked.
The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons
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Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons
#12Still waiting for that resurrection. Hard getting friends to devote the time, and playing online is meh.
I started to DM and in order to find people, my wife and I put out requests on Instagram and now we play with some extended acquaintances and old friends. It is going great and never would of happened if we didn't put out that open ended request. I also recommend watching Critical Role as a way to experience the game without being able to play.
Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons
#13It's because of Stranger Things. The article sees it as a symptom, but from a lot of people I know, it's actually a cause. Shameless plug: If any of you have ever wanted to try DnD but didn't know how to get started, or if you've played before and want to start again, try playing my fun-optimized rule set, _DnD: TL;DR_ - https://github.com/Miserlou/dnd-tldr
Tabletop and other Youtube channels, plus various podcasts, have been around a lot longer and spread the idea to a lot of people who are caught up in the current zeitgeist of nerd culture but hadn't grown up in it (and so largely had missed out on the RPG games the rest of us played as teens).
There was also a strong movement away from heavy mechanics to narrative heavy games with lighter mechanics over the past decade which offered a lot more ways to introduce people to tabletop RPGs. Video games also helped. A ton of jocks and frat guys, folks who never would've played a tabletop RPG in the 80s or 90s (or not in large numbers) were won over with 4th edition last decade because it was like the video games they were playing (for better or worse, I never really took to the system).
Kickstarter catching the public's attention has also helped, with lots of indie or otherwise smaller presses being able to publish their systems.
Lots of factors involved. Stranger Things may be helping this year, but the trend in increasing popularity has been happening for several years.
Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons
#14Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons
#15It's because of Stranger Things. The article sees it as a symptom, but from a lot of people I know, it's actually a cause. Shameless plug: If any of you have ever wanted to try DnD but didn't know how to get started, or if you've played before and want to start again, try playing my fun-optimized rule set, _DnD: TL;DR_ - https://github.com/Miserlou/dnd-tldr
I'd give Critical Role a lot of the credit for the jump start a couple years back. Seeing how much fun a game can be had to inspire a lot of people, or remind the old timers. It's the reason I started looking for a pickup game on Meetup, and now play weekly.
Critical Role, 5e, Stranger Things, and the desire for “poker night” without the poker.
Source- The lions share of my earnings come from running a company that sells accessories for D&D.
Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons
#16I’d have liked this article if it had taken a more critical stance as to the resurgence of RPGs rather than hand-waving some ineffable bs about simpler times and half-allusions to political tensions. The more accurate answer is, IMO, two fold: (1) kids who grew up on RPGs are now old enough to want to want to play with their own kids, and funnel disposable cash into it (2) kids who are interested have less stigma to…
Another very important reason was left out: The 5th edition of the game was very well designed and received critical acclaim among veterans who were disappointed by the 4th edition. The article makes it sound like there's been a resurrection when in fact the game was just hibernating.
That also struck me as odd. While the article says that "interest fell like an orc beneath a bastard sword", D&D seems to have been more popular in 3e than it is now (although it's certainly rebounding and more visible in pop culture than it was in the past):
https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=%2Fm%2F0...
(not sure why it's showing results for pathfinder before 2008)
Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons
#17Are there any AR apps that let you set up dungeons/maps on your table (through the view of your phone or tablet)?
I just searched for something like this about a month ago and found nothing. I think both an ipad app to design 2d dungeons for print or use on sites like roll20 as well as an AR app could corner the market. The only good d&d mobile apps are on iOS only and have no real competition either (Fight Club 5 and Game Master 5).
Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons
#18I’d have liked this article if it had taken a more critical stance as to the resurgence of RPGs rather than hand-waving some ineffable bs about simpler times and half-allusions to political tensions. The more accurate answer is, IMO, two fold: (1) kids who grew up on RPGs are now old enough to want to want to play with their own kids, and funnel disposable cash into it (2) kids who are interested have less stigma to…
I would also throw in that board games have blown up in the last decade or so, especially with the advent of Kickstarter. There's a lot of crossover between between the communities (as the article illustrates) and, I think, a bit of a push-back against the lack of choice/flexibility + social disconnect in most electronic games.
Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons
#19I'm shocked by the number of people popping out of the woodwork. I've been gaming consistently for the past 35 years, and while gaming was more popular overall in the early 80s and late 90s, I know more gamers right now personally than ever. I have a game group, of older people, on my fucking street!
Re: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons and Dragons
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
of particular note, D&D 5e accomplished many of the technical/balance things 4e was supposed to accomplish but failed at, while still retaining the excellent flavor and sense of power from 3.5e.
5e did what I would have thought impossible: the people that preferred 4e to earlier editions largely liked it, the people who were repulsed by 4e but stayed with 3e/3.5e or forks of those liked it, and a lot of the “old school” crowd that preferred OD&D, B/X or BECMI D&D, or AD&D 1e or 2e also liked it.
Why would someone who already knows AD&D 1e switch to the new one? What does that person gain?
Imagine this hypothetical person wants to spend as little time as possible learning and on details, and as much as possible on creative experiences.