Disclaimer: Technically, this is not my first crack at DnD. A few years back I tried with a couple friends who I’m sure would be very quick to agree when I say I wasn’t that into it. I created the character and everything, but when it came time to sit down I just didn’t have the confidence to really roleplay…BUT fast forward to being on quarantine and when my partner asked if I wanted to join his friends’ campaign- I thought: why the hell not?

And with that out of the way let’s jump right in!

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PREPARATION

So the first step was to create a character. We used DnD Beyond to get it sorted which was perfect for a beginner since it really takes you through the steps and explains everything while also offering links, so you can open a bunch of tabs on the lore (i may or may not have done this). For those of you don’t know; there are so many freaking combinations you can do in this game it’s insane, but I eventually decided on an Air Genasi Rogue. If you were to ask why I chose that particular race and class then you’d be waiting a while because I haven’t a clue, haha.

For some reason I guess I thought we created our character’s backstory as we went through the campaign (don’t ask me why I thought this) and I was dead wrong. The DM informed us we needed to have the backstory fleshed out before game play which meant I went RIGHT back to DnD Beyond to learn more about the Air Genasi!

Side Note: just because you’ve selected your items does not mean they are equipped! make sure to equip!!!

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GAME PLAY

In my experience, things tend to be slow to start when everyone is trying to find their groove and I’d say it was certainly true in this instance on my part. It was really cool to hear how everyone was getting into their characters to the point where I was so enthralled I actually forgot to introduce myself!

We played for roughly three and half hours which is far more than I was expecting, but now I can see how one session can go on for way longer. I mean, you just get so caught up in what’s going on that unless you experience burnout then what’s to stop you? Now I for one DO experience burnout (as I learned this past Saturday), so when the DM felt we reached a good stopping point I was internally grateful. This doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy myself though. We killed some orcs; I was able to negotiate for more gold; everyone was hilarious…It was solid.

My only real concern is I’m not as up to par as the others with verbal role playing which I already saw coming and am confident will kind of dissipate the longer we go. The other thing I think held it back a bit was; we’re using a group audio to chat and there are some minor bugs which can make it difficult to catch everything someone says/hear those who talk a bit quietly/the cutting out when more than one person talks at once. None of these things are that big a deal in my opinion since we managed pretty well, but I would say if anyone is doing a remote campaign then those would be the audio bugs to lookout for.

All in all though I’m really curious to see how things progress in the campaign since the DM said we’d already wildly flipped the script of what he expected us to do!

P.S. The way the dice determine everything in the game is honestly my favorite part. I don’t know if it’s because we’re using a virtual dice roller and I’m having to “beseech” the algorithm or what- but I love it.