How do you describe D&D?

[LostSoul]

I like to show it.

I tell people that you go into dungeons in search of gold and glory, to see if you're good enough to get back out with loot. Then I tell them what I do as DM: I describe a dungeon entrance and a branching corridor with some doors, add some dungeon dressing like smells, webs, sounds, the glint of gold, and ask them what they do. They make a decision, I describe what happens next, and tell them that's basically it.

 

[Wepwawet]

D&D is playing make believe with very complicated rules.


With this definition I try to reach the inner child on everyone of us, the one who wanted to be a wizard and have powers and a big sword and all that stuff.
The complicated rules is to show that this is an adult game.

 

[ProfessorCirno]

"The big nerd game I like"

 

[Diamond Cross]

So is Vin Diesel a big nerd? He really likes D&D.

 

[kitsune9]

"The big nerd game I like"

That's my description for people who I don't want to hang out with or definitely don't want to get involved in D&D.

 

[Zhaleskra]

That really depends on what I already know about what the person asking likes.

Video games? It's like that except with a human being the computer, and your options are much more varied.

Theater? It's like a play that's being written as it's put on.

Books/Movies? This one is easy: ever identified with a character and thought "it would be cool to do that/be that guy"? It's like that, except only your guy is in real danger, not you.

 

[Stumblewyk]

I have used this explanation to great aplomb with my in-laws (and non-D&D-playing friends) to the point where they now feel comfortable purchasing D&D/gaming stuff for me without being the least-bit self-conscious:

D&D is a cooperative Choose Your Own Adventure book, where one person is in charge of posing the questions and describing the consequences while everyone else works together to make the "Turn to Page XX" selection and deal with those consequences.

[size=-2]Hehehehe...Page XX.[/size]

 

[howandwhy99]

I call D&D a reality puzzle game. It's a big cooperative simulation game hidden behind a screen and played like a situational puzzle. If you prefer strategy to storytelling, if you even perceive a difference between the two, then this game is for you.

 

[Mallus]

Definition One (low snark): D&D is a game where you play the main characters in a fantasy novel without a plot. The plot is wherever your characters go and whatever you're character do. Or fail to do.

Definition Two (high snark): D&D is cross between a wargame, several different kinds of puzzle-solving game, an improv comedy troupe enacting a cheap dinner theater version of the Lord of the Rings, and a Dorito-eating contest where the entrants are primarily large men with beards.

 

[ProfessorCirno]

Chances are if I'm talking to someone about D&D then I don't care about calling myself a nerd and have done so on previous occasions.