D&D 5E (2024) Heroes of the Borderlands

[Nikosandros]

Using ochre affords you the opportunity to learn a new word. I can't tell you how many words I was first introduced to through D&D. Not everything has to be presented in its simplest form. I've always felt D&D was meant to educate as well as entertain.

This is a good point. When I started with D&D, I already read a lot, but when I jumped into AD&D (a few months later), it was only available in English. My knowledge of the language improved quickly and I learned a lot of vocabulary, although I used to joke that I learned the word "dweomer" before learning "behavior".

 

[darjr]

Ope

 

[JusticeArman]

@JusticeArman I ran it this weekend at my Comic & Game Store. Many of the players had never before touched dice that weren't d6's from Yahtzee (or whatever). Age range varied from 9 to 60.

They all enjoyed it, and a few bought their own copy to "keep going".

I'd call that a big win!

That is a huge win! It's always refreshing to hear stories of new players coming into the hobby.

I believe I mentioned this in the live Q&A we did on Discord last week, but those types of players were pivotal in shaping this set. When designing for new players, I think often about an example in David C. Roberston's Brick by Brick in which a previous generation of LEGO designers built an array of firetrucks for focus testing. The designers were sure of themselves that the children in those sessions would choose the option the designers believed was clearly the best firetruck. As you can probably guess, that wasn't the one that most children chose—if I remember correctly, one of the that resonated with kids didn't even have any wheels! It was both puzzling and revelatory. Sometimes, we as designers get so steeped in our work that it's hard to zoom out and remember what an experience is like when you're just starting out, so we relied on groups of real players to help us make informed decisions and remove play barriers. We learned a lot!