Just Another D&D Junkie

It is hard to believe, but it has been close to 40 years since I was first introduced to Dungeons & Dragons. Advanced Dungeons & Dragon to be specific. I was hooked from the first time I rolled a d20.

I spent every cent that I could put together buying the books, dice, and reams of graph paper. Gosh did I love graph paper.

I would wait with great anticipation each month for the next issue of Dragon magazine. How I loved that magazine. It was my tiny window into the rest of the D&D universe, and I just could not get enough.

Looking back, it is a wonder I ever graduated. I spent nearly every minute I could playing or prepping to play. Those were such good times.

After I graduated, life got busy and there just never seemed to be time or people to play with. “All the time” became “once in a while” became “hardly ever” became… “NEVER”. Dungeons & Dragons drifted out of my life.

A Decade or Three Later

Out of the blue on day, my brother asks me if I would be interested in playing D&D again. We had talked many times over the years about trying to play, but we live more than three hours from each other. It just never seemed to work out.

He explained that he had been playing D&D online using a “virtual tabletop” called Fantasy Grounds and that we could use it to play again. To say that I was interested would be a massive understatement… MASSIVE!!

I spent every available minute for the next few weeks researching playing D&D 5e using Fantasy Grounds. I read page after page and watched video after video. I could not believe what I was learning. HOW HAD IT TAKEN ME SO LONG TO HEAR ABOUT THIS!!

A few weeks later, I was DMing my first session in close to three decades. It was a complete train wreck. I didn’t know how to play D&D 5e very well. I didn’t know how to use Fantasy Grounds very well. Even with all of that, it was more fun than I can put into words. I was playing D&D again.  I… was… FREAKIN’… playing… D&D… AGAIN!!

Since that day, I have played, on average, every couple of weeks. I am solidly hooked again. I love it.

A New Way to Play

So, I will begin by admitting that since I have returned to D&D, I have only played using a virtual tabletop. Fantasy Grounds to be specific.

Playing this way has allowed me to marry two of my passions. Dungeons & Dragons and technology. For me, it is a match made in heaven.

Playing on a virtual tabletop versus playing in-person is not a matter of what is better or worse. They are two completely different ways to play D&D. They can both be awesome, and they can both suck… a lot. The difference is in the choices made by the people involved.

Choices in equipment. Choices in software. Choices in playing style. Most importantly, choices in your attitude toward playing the game this way. It is all about the choices.

My current collection of choices has me playing D&D 5e online every couple of weeks using the virtual tabletop Fantasy Grounds Unity. Sessions that see four people from four different cities spread across two different countries, all enjoying their love for D&D 5e together.  It is AWESOME.

My hope for The Virtual DM is that I can share my knowledge to help you enjoy playing online the way that I do. If that interests you, great! Grab that mouse, and let’s get started.  If not, great!  Thanks for reading, and happy gaming.