The core of D&D is storytelling. You and your friends tell a story together, guiding your heroes through quests for treasure, battles with deadly foes, daring rescues, courtly intrigue, and much more. You can also explore the world of Dungeons & Dragons through any of the novels written by its fantasy authors, as well as engaging board games and immersive video games. All of these stories are part of D&D. - Wizards of the Coast

The last time that I played D&D was in 1997… Times were great for a 13-year old. I was in middle school, Nintendo was dropping amazing games (Ocarina of Time and Goldeneye), Magic the Gathering was gaining steam, and “responsibilities” weren’t even in my vocabulary. Let’s flash-forward 25 years… D&D is a welcome escape to connect with friends in a time when social distancing has taken a toll on us all.

Wizards of the Coast released Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition several years ago and the internet is packed with solid resources for new D&D players and Dungeon Masters (“DMs”). Being that I took a 25-year break between D&D gaming, these were some of my favorite online resources to reacclimate myself with the world of D&D and the rules of the 5th edition.

D&D Resources from Wizards of the Coast⌗

Even the “basic rules” (180 pages) of D&D can feel super overwhelming. For beginners, I think the best product investment and effort-for-fun-ratio come from the D&D Starter Set (~ $20 USD on Amazon). This comes with a super compact rulebook (30 pages… still a lot, but better than 180!), pre-made character sheets, and pre-built adventures to get you familiarized with D&D roleplaying and combat mechanics. For many more D&D resources and product offerings by Wizards of the Coast, here are some helpful links:

WASD20 D&D Overview⌗

Nate at WASD20 shares incredible content on YouTube and his website for getting starting with D&D 5e and has a four-part YouTube series that takes you from the general mechanics of D&D, to a sample encounter, to understanding the nuances of spellcasting:

Critical Role⌗

Matt Mercer is the DM for a D&D group of professional voice actors and watching them improvise is a pleasure to say the least. Pure talent from this crew and so much to admire about the way in which they create worlds together. I jumped right into Critical Role’s second campaign since the recently released (March 2020) D&D Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount is based on this campaign series. Below is the first episode (of MANY) of Critical Role’s second D&D campaign as well as some additional D&D resources that Critical Role has compiled: