I see a recurring theme with modern Dungeons & Dragons where DMs and players alike get frustrated with some aspects of the game and get more frustrated trying to fix it. This often leads to people finding other games that are a better fit for their table. But is D&D just a jumping off point for this hobby or is there more fun to be had with it when you play to its strengths?
Patchwork Paladin has a fantastic article about this that I wanted to share.
5.5e D&D is not a game of goblins, orcs, wits, puzzles, and traps. It’s a game where living volcanos throw asteroids at you. It’s a game where the atmosphere turns to acid as you are possessed by the ghost of a nine-hundred year old psychic vampire. It’s a game where you are pursued by invisible, silent fairy hunters across an impossible dimensional landscape coated with diamonds, but still, inevitably, you always win. And probably bring home a pet.
D&D tries to do everything unlike so many other games that try to do one thing, or a few things, very well and leave the rest to others. At its heart, though, modern D&D is an epic, heroic fantasy game. It’s not about dungeon survival, it’s about cleaving through hordes of enemies, fearlessly traversing inhospitable landscapes, and conquering the most dangerous of foes. D&D can do it all but it works best when you lean into its strengths.
Swim with the current and you will go far.
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