SO, YOU WANT TO PLAY DUNGEONS & DRAGONS
One does not simply play D&D. (There’s the obligatory Tolkien reference for you.) While the rules and gameplay can take a few sessions to get down, and there are certain necessary readings and supplies, it’s the formation of an actual group—including a few players and a Dungeon Master—that’s the real trick. STEP
1
THE READING
There are a lot of official D&D sourcebooks out there (I have no less than 18, which might be excessive). They generally fall into three categories: rulebooks, campaign settings and adventures. To get started you’ll likely need:
• The Player’s Handbook • The Dungeon Master’s Guide • The Monster Manual • An adventure book of your choice (or you can make your own “homebrew” adventure) • Or a one-stop-shop with a D&D Starter Set from Wizards of the Coast STEP
2
THE SUPPLIES
• At least a single set of seven dice of the following values: 4, 6, 8, 10 (x2), 12, 20 • A simple dice tray • A miniature figure (mini) of your character • Pencils, notepad and characters sheets, if you want to go old school • Or an online/virtual dice roller and character tracker like “D&D Beyond” or “Roll20” STEP
3
THE GROUP
PHOTOS ADOBE STOCK
If you don’t have at least three or four friends waiting around to start a D&D game, we recommend: • Joining a local D&D Facebook group, like “Dungeons and Dragons Utah Gamers” • Visiting a local shop that hosts regular, open-play D&D nights, like Legendarium Books in Salt Lake City • Checking out the local library. Salt Lake County Library, for instance, has its own D&D Discord server (slcolibrary.org/dungeons-and-dragons) MAY /J UNE 2023 | SALTLAKEMAGAZINE.COM
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