Intended for young players and those who have never played before, the D&D Beginners course will teach the participants how to be good Dungeons and Dragon players. They will learn the mechanics of the game as well as how to conduct themselves while playing.
Unlike in video or board games, a player of Dungeons and Dragons has unlimited actions, so their imagination and cunning can take them literally anywhere. There is no master plan that they need to follow, and there is no goal that signifies “winning the game”. What the players are doing is cooperatively creating a narrative story by combining the three major elements of Combat, Role-playing, and Travel with their own personalities and choices. No one, not even the Dungeon Master (DM), knows ahead of time everything that will happen in a game. The players and DM discover and write the story together.
Course Details
I have tried running this course with pre-generated characters and the results have been less sucessful than when players create their own character that they can invest in. I help guide their choices, making sure they don't get lost in a sea of options.
This course should be scheduled for an hour to an hour and a half on a weekly basis. Typical players are younger and can't be expected to be able to focus for a longer session. They should be able to read and do simple math - both are necessary to properly manage their character. They should bring a pencil with an eraser, but everything else they need will be supplied.
By the end of this course, the players should have a good understanding of how to create a character, how to manage them effectively, and how to play with a group.
Links of Interest
Basics of Play from Wizards of the Coast, the owners of D&D.