The first time I ever played Dungeons and Dragons was roughly ten years ago as of me writing this. It was amazing.

Just me and my nerdy friends all together in an RV excited to play for the very first time, little did I know it would be an addiction that brings me joy playing to this day. The entire weekend was spent sitting on those little benches, playing from dusk to dawn until it was time to end our journey and head back to real life. One thing I do remember is that when we played we didn’t have fancy things like they have now with D&D becoming more popular than it once was. I doubt that I’m the only one on this blog that started with a notebook, pencil, and my imagination.

Don’t get me wrong, I love how much the game has evolved in recent years and the broad reach it has achieved among people but I do owe it all to that little notebook of crazy characters and wild thoughts that started my love and brought me on my journey and I would like to think that you feel the same.

The use of technology for D&D is crazy and makes a lot of things more simple and easier on everyone. Like I said in the beginning all I had was a notebook and pencil, not only did you have to take notes but you also used it to keep track of your characters. Now we have websites and even apps to help with managing characters, and provide a great space to take notes. Within minutes you can create a whole character with all their stats, skills, and equipment right in a nice neat little package. An added bonus is having the ability to create a whole campaign equipped with all the notes and lore wanted. That perk also allows you to invite all the campaign’s players and have the ability to look at each other’s characters and collaborate plans of attack and easily manage them. That isn’t even mentioning all the useful map editors that allow you to produce stunning maps in both 2d and 3d. You can run a whole game from just about anywhere with ease. Why stick to just the friends you live around when you can literally play with anyone in the world, and you guessed it, there is a website for that too. It is truly incredible how far the game has come, especially for those of you who have notebooks full of stories and memories.

Going back to the statement “You can literally play with anyone in the world”, it has never been easier to connect with people who love the game just as much as you do. In the palm of your hand, you can find people to connect with over the game from Facebook groups to Subreddits to weird blogs like the one you’re reading right now. Whether you’ve played the game or never have, it’s never been more widely available. With the help of technology, we have the ability to create homebrews with each other or connect in a voice chat with people halfway across the world to brainstorm for an upcoming session. Without it, I wouldn’t be able to share this blog with the people who share the interest.

Even with all the great things that have come from D&D being more popular there is one thing I think most of us can’t forget……

The days when everyone thought D&D was some weird cult and we were all satan worshiping nerds who lived in our mom’s basement.

Shout out to mainstream media for popularizing things such as Stranger Things and the beloved Critical Role. Whether you love or hate them, they both set paving stones for new players to be born by shedding light onto D&D. With the popularity the game has received, they even went out and made an actual Dungeons and Dragons movie. This has brought even more new players towards the game. Within the topic of mainstream media, we can’t forget the groundbreaking game Baulder’s Gate 3. They did an incredible job showing just how crazy D&D can get and how immersive it can be. There are new creative minds joining actual games because of mainstream media and let me tell you, when those new minds join, it can get crazy. 

Some of you may not have gotten to play with newbies yet, but you need to.That fresh mind, that joins your table, brings all sorts of new ideas and transforms yours into something beautiful. Which is why when someone asks me if they should try D&D, I tell them a thousand times, yes. It’s truly life changing.

I don’t know about you but I can’t wait to see what the future holds for the game and what great adventures the world will create together.