Explainer



Often times when I chat with folks who are not nerds like I am, I let it slip that I play Dungeons & Dragons. I'm a dork and I'm proud of it. I will tell people that I role play with no hesitation nor embarrassment. When I reveal my affliction, many normal people laugh and scoff. Once they're done, they then reveal near total ignorance of what D&D and role playing is and how its done. They deride the fact that millions of us geeks have fun sitting at a table surrounded by papers, pencils, and dice. In an effort to bridge the chasm between geeks and normal folks and to promote harmony between gamers and non-gamers, I hereby present links to a couple primers on D&D which explain what it is and how it's played.

Firstly, we have the official explanation from Wizards of the Coast, the company that owns the rights to the game.

Secondly, we have this handy Flash presentation.

Personally, I recommend the latter. The Flash presentation gives a much more realistic look at what it's actually like to play the game as opposed to getting you bogged down in rules, dice throwing, etc.