I love Dungeons and Dragons. Despite my being a girl, my sister, two neighborhood guy-friends and I played long sessions quite regularly throughout our late elementary school, middle school and early high school years. Those were some of the best years of my life. During that time, we adapted the rules of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 2nd Edition for campaigns emulating Naruto, Hunger Games esque scenarios, Fairy Tale (the anime), and even Star Wars/Joss Whedon’s Firefly along with the classic medieval-with-a-twist Tolkein-style dungeon crawls.
That said, I haven’t played for several years for several reasons, mainly because my playing group deteriorated and other extracurriculars took a front seat. I have enjoyed my high school extracurriculars greatly and regret none of them, but since I’m a senior in high school now (applying to colleges), I will soon have an opportunity to reallocate my time. I’m a different person now than I was at the start or even in the middle of my high school career, and so I may lose some activities and gain new (or old) ones in the transition from high school to college. In addition, I feel that D&D has made a rare, positive resurgence in the public eye as of late since the release and popularity of Stranger Things last summer (love that show by the way); D&D has started to go a little mainstream for the first time in a long time. The perfect storm seems to have created a great moment for me to reinsert myself into that community after a few years’ absence and create new play groups; I desire to jump at that chance.
My questions/prompts are therefore addressed to current or past college students and current or past D&D players. Feel free to reply to this post . Thanks for your thoughts in advance!
Review the editions of Dungeons and Dragons. I've only played modified versions of AD&D 2E, a little Pathfinder (one Council of Wyrms campaign where we all played as hatchling dragons), and a little 1E, so I'm unfamiliar with the other versions (3E, 3.5E, AD&D 4E, etc.). Since Christmas is coming up, I have an opportunity to update my equipment before going to college, and I want to make sure that I choose the best version for my play-style. I've heard a lot of good things about 5E (the most recent release as far as I'm aware), but I would like to have your input on the matter.
How prominent is D&D in the collegiate world? Will I be able to find people who want to get a game together once I arrive? What are the chances that I'll find any experienced players? I'm willing to DM and get a new group together (noobs are fine), but will I find anyone who truly appreciates the game for its RPG, stories, friendships and combat cycles as I do?
I have applied/am applying to Yale, Vanderbilt, UPenn, UChicago, Tufts, Stanford, Oberlin, Princeton, Rice, Dartmouth, Columbia, Brown, Georgetown, University of Miami Ohio, University of California Berkeley, SMU (in TX), Austin Peay State University (in TN/a safety school), Harvard, and Lipscomb (in TN). My top choices are Yale and UChicago. Would current students or alumni of these universities be able to speak to the D&D presence at each school? I've had a hard time finding official postings online of such clubs, although I'm sure they're there.
Definitely get a 5e Player’s Handbook and a new set of dice for Christmas. 5e has really revitalized the game. You’ll definitely find campaigns at all your schools.
I’ve heard that 5e draws on 1&2e but works out the kinks. What do you like about it?
Also, is it worth it in your opinion to get a DM guide or other supplementary books for 5e? I definetely needed at least the DM guide (and arguably monster manual) for AD&D 2e because the rules were so convoluted in spots, but I’ve heard that 5e is much more straightforward… do I even need the DM guide to DM a 5e game?
And kind of dice does 5E require? I have a few sets totaling 8d20, 6d6, 3d4, 2d10, 1d8, and 1d12 at least. Will I need more than that? Also, does it play with game tokens (little figurines and a gridded game map or graph paper)/are game tokens recommended, or is it ok to go old school & just mark x’s on graph paper for battle maps?
Thanks for replying by the way. It makes me happy to know that there are still players out there
At Oberlin they usually offer a D&D Exco meaning that you can play D&D and get course credit for it! Usually they have several going and there’s a waiting list
Reed College has a reputation for D&D. Their theme dorms include the following:
GameDev: "Have you ever wanted to design your own board game? Do you have aspirations of writing RPG plots? Our community is for anyone who loves games and wants to get involved in actively developing them."
Tír na nÓg: "Here there be dragons, science fiction, fantasy, and a friendly community of nerd folk. This residence hall is about imagining, sharing, experiencing and telling tales from the distant future and far off realms."
Let me start by saying that I have been out of college a while, but my best gaming years were while I was in college. You will absolutely find other players. As for which edition is the best, it is down to 3.5E or 5E. IMHO, 3.5E is the best, but 5E is fresh, new, and relevant. While I can’t answer the question on what is the best school for gaming, i will say that staying on campus in a dorm might lend to more people looking for stuff to do late at night.
So glad to hear that @TXRooster. I expected as much, but just worried a little that most of the D&D players I’ve met have been guys. I was concerned that that fact would prevent late night games from happening. Then again, maybe not: the actual form buildings are coed, and I suppose it’s not a thing in college that guys and girls can’t hang out late at night together (like it is at Model UN in high school or at camp).
Would you be able to compare 3.5e & 5e for me @TXRooster?
Based on what I’ve read so far, 5e harkens back to 1&2e, while also making the game less complicated and giving power back to the DM (after the game’s diversion from the DM = God mentality in 3e, 3.5e & 4e). However, I’ve read that 3.5e is more reliant on skills than a lot of the other editions; to an extent, I like the idea of that as long as complexity doesn’t get out of hand and take away from the role-playing aspect. I dislike the AC & THAC0 system of AD&D 2e; I always thought that those stats oversimplified combat & decreased customizability to a sometimes crippling degree. Fun nerding out with you by the way
You might also appreciate the Reed MLL, which stands for “Comic Book Reading Room”. The MLLL is a student-curated collection which has become one of the largest privately-owned comic book archives on the West Coast.
Reed also relies on undergraduates to operate the nuclear reactor. It’s kind of an unusual school, but there are a lot of unusual people who love it.
Sounds quirky @Corbett, but I dig quirky. I’m sure that running a nuclear reactor will teach those students responsibility if nothing else given that if they screw it up, BOOM.
I’m just now breaking into the comic book world, but I’m sure that if such a library was at my disposal, I would take advantage of it. Thanks for your insights @Corbett; I’m definitely going to apply to Reed now
5e streamlines all the baroque rules that crept in over the years. It’s simpler, but powerful. The set of dice you have are fine. If you’re going to DM, you should probably get the DM Guide and Monster Manual, but you can also wing it for a while.
Woo-hoo, tabletop games! One of my friends is starting a D&D campaign soon and I am so excited I’m a bit of a noob to tabletop RPGs myself but not to gaming or tabletop games.
D&D’s prominence is going to be different based on where you go to college. Geekier colleges and geekier cities are more likely to have more D&D players. I wouldn’t be surprised of schools like Stanford, Berkeley, Oberlin, Chicago, and some of the other top schools on your list have lots of experienced players and kids who have DM’d before. Attending in a large city always raises the opportunity of playing with kids from other campuses or from the local community (try Meetup groups).
Yeah, not a thing. This was my “issue” in college, but with video games. I’m a big gamer and few of my female friends were - all of my gamer friends were guys. I’d hang out in their dorm rooms until the crack of dawn playing Smash et al., and they actually had dorms that didn’t allow girls past a certain point. Once they got off-campus apartments, too, it was even better. With residence halls that don’t have those rules and/or are co-ed, this shouldn’t be a problem.
You are all good at SMU not sure if a D&D club exists, I dabbled in high school, but am too busy with everything else. I know that people in the commons have different game nights or get togethers, and you may be able to find people for a campaign there, starting an official club is easy, or teaming up with the game club, all to find the people you need.
I’m a bit of a noob to tabletop RPGs myself but not to gaming or tabletop games.