Dungeons & Dragons 101: Generating Interest @ the Library

(Just looking for the handouts? Scroll to the bottom of this post)

Once I got wind that there might be interest in starting a teen Dungeons & Dragons group in the library, my D&D nerd brain immediately went into overdrive. What's the best way to introduce them to the basic concepts of the game? How can I avoid scaring teens off with the complicated rules? How can I find an adventure that will be suitable for both our very young 6th graders and our older teens at the same time? Should I gauge interest first and plan accordingly, or throw them in on the first night to see how they REALLY like it?

Here's what I decided:

At Teen Game Night this past Friday, I gave the teens a D&D 101 session where I explained the basic concepts, gave them the "awesome dice" to play with, threw out some basic pre-made characters to get them excited, and used my storytelling skills to present an adventure teaser that I wrote. With that little taste of the characters and adventure, the whole room was dying to create their own elves and wizards and start exploring the world! We're planning a D&D character creation session for next time, since creating a brand new custom character is a fairly-involved process. Still trying to work out how to make that happen, with only one copy of each book.

We now have a very good problem on our hands: too much interest! At last count, there were twelve people who were interested in playing an ongoing D&D campaign, twice the number of players that is really manageable in a  D&D group. There were also a few teens out of town this week that I think were planning to play with us, so it looks like we're going to have to recruit a second Dungeon Master (DM). I'll be training one of our Youth Services staff on DMing, but I'd like a back up as well - perhaps an enthusiastic parent or a really sharp teen who'll pick it up quickly. Some of the interest may die out after they play a session or two, and there may have been a lot of people who only said they were interested because their friends were (which is to be expected!), but for now I'll be planning for two groups of six players each.

Here are the materials I created for our Dungeons & Dragons 101 session and future campaign:

D&D 101 Handout - a few definitions and some basic info
D&D Combat Rules Cheat Sheet  - the basic combat rules condensed into one double-sided sheet for reference during play sessions.
Adventure Teaser -  a few paragraphs to set the scene and whet their appetites for adventure. I'll be continuing this into a full adventure for the teens to play, and I'll be sure to post each installment here.

I may also work up some marketing materials in the future - we'll see what's needed!

All D&D materials shared here may be freely downloaded and used in libraries, education centers, and private gaming. The adventure teaser is my own writing, so I respectfully request that you not alter or redistribute it without my consent. Dungeons & Dragons® is a registered trademark of Wizards of the Coast.