Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Clint_L" data-source="post: 9116429" data-attributes="member: 7035894">It's really not. It is an immensely complex game. I work with brand new players a lot, and I think we tend to forget how much abstraction is involved in a concept as basic to the game as &quot;hit points.&quot; Rolling &quot;to hit&quot; versus rolling for &quot;damage&quot; is always confusing for new players. Don't get me started on action/bonus action/reaction. Spellcasting. Difficulty checks. Armour class. Saving throws. Many of these things seem intuitive to experienced players, but believe me, they are not.On one professional development day, I offered a game of D&amp;D for teachers who wanted to know what all the fuss was about, and a full group of eight signed up (it filled up right away; as you can imagine it was a popular option compared to the usual pro-d sessions). So these are smart, educated people, a few of whom had played D&amp;D before, but most of who had never played any kind of TTRPG. I had three experienced students, all DMs, as helpers, as we reduced the rules as much as possible, giving each player a small character card and an extra card with their spells and abilities. Level 2.The game was a ton of fun, but was only doable because of the helpers and me. The teachers were blown away by the complexity of the game, and very impressed by it as a learning experience for students. All of them commented on the incredible steepness of the learning curve.Monopoly is an easy game. Risk is an easy game. Amongst TTRPGs, Dread is an easy game. D&amp;D is not remotely an easy game.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Clint_L, post: 9116429, member: 7035894"] It's really not. It is an immensely complex game. I work with brand new players a lot, and I think we tend to forget how much abstraction is involved in a concept as basic to the game as "hit points." Rolling "to hit" versus rolling for "damage" is [I]always[/I] confusing for new players. Don't get me started on action/bonus action/reaction. Spellcasting. Difficulty checks. Armour class. Saving throws. Many of these things seem intuitive to experienced players, but believe me, they are not. On one professional development day, I offered a game of D&D for teachers who wanted to know what all the fuss was about, and a full group of eight signed up (it filled up right away; as you can imagine it was a popular option compared to the usual pro-d sessions). So these are smart, educated people, a few of whom had played D&D before, but most of who had never played any kind of TTRPG. I had three experienced students, all DMs, as helpers, as we reduced the rules as much as possible, giving each player a small character card and an extra card with their spells and abilities. Level 2. The game was a ton of fun, but was only doable because of the helpers and me. The teachers were blown away by the complexity of the game, and very impressed by it as a learning experience for students. All of them commented on the incredible steepness of the learning curve. Monopoly is an easy game. Risk is an easy game. Amongst TTRPGs, [I]Dread[/I] is an easy game. D&D is not remotely an easy game. [/QUOTE]

Verification