D&D: Joe Manganiello Answers The Internet’s Questions, And A Lot Of Them Are About Being Evil
Joe Manganiello takes on the internet’s D&D questions as part of Wired’s “D&D Support” and it turns out a lot of you are evil-curious.
D&D is an oral tradition–sure, there are books that contain the rules for playing the game, but they don’t really have everything you need to know about playing the game. The Player’s Handbook can tell you how to cast a spell in the game, or how to swing a sword or make a saving throw. But it can’t tell you what to do when your players (or your story) go off the rails. It can tell you how many monsters to go into a “balanced” encounter, but it won’t tell you what to do if your players decide to adopt a goblin NPC, or to murder the friendly NPC you were planning to have join the party.
The rules of 5th Edition describe the game as an engine, and loosely touch on what it’s like when you’re playing the game–they give advice to the DM about how to handle certain players, and the new Tasha’s Cauldron includes some more formal guidelines for concepts that have been popular for a while, like Session Zeroes and tabletop safety tools. But these aren’t new concepts. They exist in other games and have filtered their way to 5th Edition.
But so have countless pieces of advice that seem to recirculate through the community every few years: ‘have players find things that humanize the monsters’, ‘be prepared to react fast when your players go off the rails by reusing some of your plans in a different way’, or ‘here’s what to do when someone wants to play an evil character.’
And players have similar traditions that sort of get passed around. It’s the kind of stuff the books don’t tell you–you pick it up as you play. Which is probably why Wired had Joe Manganiello take on D&D questions under the guise of “Wired’s D&D Support.” You can find some answers to your questions about being evil, torturing NPCs, dealing with unexpected actions by players, and how to be a team player below:
via Wired
Actor and D&D Dungeon Master Joe Manganiello uses the power of Twitter to answer the internet’s burning questions about Dungeons & Dragons. What’s the best way to get into Dungeons & Dragons? Can Rogues attack twice per action if they are dual wielding? Do you create your character first, or choose your class first? What’s Joe Manganiello’s favorite starting scenario? Joe answers all these questions and much more.
What are your D&D questions?
Check out the Beginner’s Guide to D&D
