RPG A Day 2020: Day 23--Edge

 RPG A Day 2020: Day 23—EDGE

I’ve talked a lot about my collection this year and the ever growing stack of games that never get played—and in many cases have never been played. Why is it that for the most part Dungeons and Dragons is what groups start out with and go back to? Why does it have the edge over everything else in the stack? I’m preaching mostly to the choir, but I want an entry for every day this month and this is one of them.

1. Name recognition: Right or wrong D&D and RPG are practically synonyms. Every soft drink is a Coke in the south. Every facial tissue is a Kleenex world wide—at least in ‘merica and UAE anyway. Even if you explain to a non-player what an RPG is they’ll say, oh like Dungeons and Dragons.

2. Ease of access: As of this writing there are D&D products in Wal-Mart now. My Mandela affected, Swiss cheese memory taken into account, I remember this from back in the 80’s in other dept. stores. People can get it or are friends with people who have it. Every new edition—even if it’s just Malibu Stacey with a new hat—will get higher sales than anything on the market. This isn’t even mentioning the online saturation.

3. Ease of system: Especially in 5E’s case, it doesn’t take long to create characters and learn to play. I’m coming from older editions and other complex systems, so of course it was easy for me and at the end of the day nobody plays the rules 100%, but all that said the new players in the group last year were total greenhorns and they picked right up on it.

4. Third Party Support: I’m using the video game term, maybe I should call it open-license? Either way a lot of the Kickstarter projects either add settings or supplemental material for D&D. It’s easier to get people to try something new when it’s more or less D&D. I mentioned Runehammer games in an earlier entry and their ‘D&D Hardcore Mode’ which is such a good tweak—ICRPG is it’s own thing, but it too can plug right into 5E and it’s cheap, streamlined and easily acquired. I also backed a Kickstarter called ‘Journey to Ragnarok’ by Mana Project Studios which was a Norse Mythology based setting and adventure. There are many more out there if you look. https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/257334/Journey-To-Ragnarok--Adventure-and-Setting-for-5e

Back in my day….I like to think that it’s still my day, but nevertheless…we all seemed to have more time to create characters and learn new systems. I still like reading new rules and making characters and maps for games that I’ll likely never play. I sometimes think that's the equivalent of becoming a cat lady if I were a woman, but I take enjoyment in it. For others, however, it’s a time-sink that they may be unable or unwilling to make. If they learn a system, it’s usually the latest and “greatest” new version of D&D.