The Inner Life of the Nerd.
People at work keep asking me what D&D's like. They all lead with the same befuddled "Is it like a board game? Or...?" I've got pretty good at condensing my explanation to under 5 minutes, but really, how do you even scratch the surface?
Here's how I've basically boiled it down.
It's... more like a board game than anything else. So, everyone has a character. Your character has stats - like strength, or dexterity. Your character has a class, different classes are good at different things. You have a race, races have different attributes. You decide what powers you want, what you want to be good at. And once you've got your character sorted, the game master comes up with a story. And during this story, there are skill challenges, there's combat, there are places where you have to decide, in-character, where you want the story to go. And that's pretty much the game.
By this point they either start asking more detailed questions and/or they've got a glazed look in their eyes. Dunno if it's more than they bargained for or what, but really. It's a complex game, and a bit of a strange passtime when you stop and think about it.
Honestly, it makes me happy that, even though I didn't get into it as deeply or as thoroughly as some people I know, I found it early enough to have a pretty decent grok of the thing now.
Next time someone asks, I'm just playing 8-Bit D&D for them and calling it good.
Here's how I've basically boiled it down.
It's... more like a board game than anything else. So, everyone has a character. Your character has stats - like strength, or dexterity. Your character has a class, different classes are good at different things. You have a race, races have different attributes. You decide what powers you want, what you want to be good at. And once you've got your character sorted, the game master comes up with a story. And during this story, there are skill challenges, there's combat, there are places where you have to decide, in-character, where you want the story to go. And that's pretty much the game.
By this point they either start asking more detailed questions and/or they've got a glazed look in their eyes. Dunno if it's more than they bargained for or what, but really. It's a complex game, and a bit of a strange passtime when you stop and think about it.
Honestly, it makes me happy that, even though I didn't get into it as deeply or as thoroughly as some people I know, I found it early enough to have a pretty decent grok of the thing now.
Next time someone asks, I'm just playing 8-Bit D&D for them and calling it good.