Today, November 3rd, was Worldwide D&D Gaming Day. From what I can tell this was the fourth year they’ve run this particular event. Beyond just encouraging everyone they can reach to go out and game today, they also had a special event setup at participating game shops around the world. One of my local gaming shops, Ancient Wonders, was one of them so I went down there to check it out.
The event consisted of a packet for a dungeon master and a group of five players to run a scenario. Not only was this my first Worldwide D&D Gaming Day but it was the first time I’ve sat down with a group of strangers for some serious gaming in about 20 years. I’ve tried to get a game going with my immediate family but that really isn’t the same thing. Beyond being only a partial group which has an entirely different dynamic, but nobody else in my family has the love for D&D that I have. We’ve barely done more than just the Basic Game at this point.
I was really nervous about heading down there but I am so glad I did. Everyone was so friendly and I left there wishing it could have gone on forever.
The scenario was pretty cool. Each game was supplied with a set of miniatures, stat cards, playing map, module, and dice for the dungeon master and a d20, prepared character sheet, and stat card for the miniature of the character for each player. There were five characters in the adventure consisting of a paladin, fighter, rogue/fighter, sorcerer, and a cleric. Our dungeon master did a great job. He kept it from being too easy but didn’t over complicate it at the same time.
Other than some strange liberties the game designers took with some of the details of the scenario it was essentially a regular D&D 3.5 edition game. The anomalies were interesting. For example, there is a common adventuring pack that almost all characters start out with as a rule of thumb. This has been a D&D tradition for as long as I can remember. This pack usually consisted of some oil, 10′ pole, metal spikes, rope, and a hand full of other odds and ends. These characters had none of that. There was also the choices of spells the various casters had to use and the odd balance of some of the statistics.
Once we completed the scenario it became clear how these things would have changed the course of the game though and since this was a small one off adventure perhaps the desire was to limit possibilities. Dice rolls were not in our favor today however and alternative methods of making our way through the quest would have been appreciated. The game just before ours ran about three hours. Our game ran about five.
In the end though, we all had a blast. I learned a little more about playing D&D and have the bug to want to play more than ever. Next weekend is an event in Portland, OR called Nerdcon 2007. I’m planning on attending to see if I can get in on even more games. At the very least, I know they have some Munchkin games going, which I love, and our dungeon master from tonight is going to be there running some games. I look forward to seeing how it goes.
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Name: Jim Davies
