D&D: Five Different Ways to Play D&D
There are lots of ways to play D&D—different people will get different things out of it. Here are some ways that you might play D&D.
When it comes to D&D, the game is a veritable sandbox of fantasy adventure. Sure, it’s got rules and uses dice, but it’s powered by your imagination where the possibilities are endless. So, sandbox. And just like a sandbox, there are plenty of different ways to have fun in it. Often more than one at the same time
Some people might like building a sand castle. Other people want to fight wars in the sand with their plastic army guys. Still others want to add water to the sand and make pies. You get the idea. So it is with D&D—there are many ways to play, not a single one of these is the wrong way, either. In fact, many may apply to you at once. It all depends on what you want from your game.
Power Game
There is an amazing thrill to feeling like you’re good at a game. And if you want to power game, that generally means figuring out how to squeeze the most possible juice out of your lemon, usually before zapping someone real good with all that juice. It’s not just about making the most min/max’d character out there, or even just a character with no downside—those are sort of byproducts, but the real heart of someone who wants to power game is in feeling like they’ve mastered the rules.
Whether that’s getting new powers, or figuring out how to creatively use stuff they already have, a power gamer likes the feeling of knowing not just how the system works, but how to push it to the limits. The best way to do that is to know the rules and to figure out how you can put them together in new ways that might be unintended, but awesome.
Immerse Me, Zaddy
Sometimes, all you want to do is lose yourself completely in your character. Or the world the game is taking place in. That’s when we’re talking about immersion—about feeling like you’re in the world. And real quick, not the immersion that comes from like having the right ambient soundscape or anything like that, you don’t need fancy systems or technical toys with dynamic fogs and lighting and vision to immerse yourself. Quite the opposite.
You know you’re immersed in the world of your game, or of your character, when you find yourself thinking about the game and what you’re going to do in the days between sessions. When you start asking questions about the world, or getting really into the history of it, then you’re hooked.
It’s a kind of deep immersion in a campaign where it feels like it permeates your brain even when you’re not at the table—and the best way to get that is to feel like your character can do the things they want to do in the world.
Narrative Nerds
Closely tied to immersion—but distinct enough to be its own thing—is the desire to tell a story. It’s not just about really getting into the world or even a character. It’s about looking at the story you’re crafting while you’re doing it.
Storytelling players are generally interested in the events of the world—big or small—that are happening right now, and how they all fit together. These are the kinds of people who look for how it all fits together; of course the elves are rebelling against their queen, she’s been coopted by the Handmaiden of Lolth—that’s the kind of thing that you might hear or say when you’re getting real into the story.
Cozy Vibes
Of course not everyone wants to spin an epic yarn. Unless that yarn is then put on a skein and slowly knit into a comfortable sweater. Some players will live for those little moments—the shopping episodes, the “filler” sessions where you do a lot of roleplaying of mundane, day-to-day little things. If your campaign has ever had a festival or a beach episode, this is that kind of vibe.
Looking for cozy vibes means basking in the warm, comforting glow of a fantasy world. Whether that means going for something that feels a little more Stardew Valley, where you raise vegetales like some kind of gardenmancer before taking them to market, or just playing in a campaign like Strixhaven: Curriculum of Chaos where having a student job is a fun part of the ongoing story.
Not everything has to be high adventure all the time—and cozy players prove that by deciding to run an inn, or a shop, or a kobold sanctuary. Which can provide a nice break from the usual “kill the BBEG out there somewhere.”
Hack Meet Slash
And finally, there’s the kind who just want to get out there and kick some ass. Whether it’s hewing through hordes of marauding warriors dedicated to the service of a dark and evil god, or using your magic to mow down the minions of the tyrant king, sometimes it feels good to get in there and kill the bad guys. It’s one of the oldest kinds of play we have—and importantly, it teaches us that monsters can be beaten.
Which is why it can be fun to just kick in the door, roll for initiative, and start slashing your way through the Forgotten Realms.
You’d be surprised at how well this fits in with the cozy vibes mentioned above—many a D&D campaign that has gone the distance often vascillates between the two, often fueled by power gaming with the occasional bout of story and immersion mixed in to taste.
What do you look for in your D&D games?
