Have you wanted to try D&D for years but never quite had the opportunity? This game is specifically for you.
I’m putting together a group of about five players, age 25+, who have essentially never played D&D before. The idea is to have everyone starting from roughly the same place so we can take things slowly, learn the game , and not have anyone feel like they’re trying to catch up with a table full of veterans.
If you’ve watched Critical Role or other actual-play shows, played Baldur’s Gate 3, read about D&D, or played a session once upon a time, that’s completely fine.
The Campaign
We’ll be playing Lost Mine of Phandelver, the classic introductory D&D adventure. I’ve been DMing for over a decade and have run this adventure before and am looking forward to sharing it with you.
Lost Mine a traditional heroic-fantasy campaign with a mix of roleplaying, exploration, problem-solving, and combat. My goal is to roughly balance those in more or less equal parts.
And if “roleplaying” sounds intimidating: nobody is expected to be an actor, do voices, or perform. Deciding what your character thinks and does is roleplaying. Everything beyond that is optional.
We’ll use the 2024 D&D rules and character options only. That’s mostly to keep things streamlined.
Schedule
Tuesday evenings, weekly
7:30 PM Eastern, ending between 10:00 and 10:30 PM, depending on where we find a natural stopping point in the session.
I expect the campaign to take approximately 12–16 sessions, or roughly four months, depending on the group’s pace and choices.
The planned "Session 0" (an introductory session to cover expectations, character creation, basics of how to play, the setting, etc. before the adventure itself begins) is Tuesday, September 15. The adventure itself will begin the following week. Once we have a group, I will send around more info directly on what to expect from that intro session.
Technology
We’ll use:
- Roll20 for the virtual tabletop
- D&D Beyond for character sheets
- Beyond20 to have those two connect
- Discord for video and audio. (I usually use Zoom and may go back to it, depending on Discord quality)
Cameras on will be expected during sessions to, as best as possible, replicate playing in person.
You will not need to purchase any books or any content on D&D Beyond. I’ll share the D&D Beyond content needed for character creation, so everyone will have access to the relevant 2024 material. Free accounts on dndbeyond and Roll20 are all you need.
What makes a good player for this
The main requirement is enthusiasm about actually playing D&D and doing it as part of a group.
I’m looking for players who will:
- Show up reliably and on time
- Pay attention and stay engaged when someone else has the spotlight
- Make an effort to learn how their own character works as we go and come prepared
- Play cooperatively rather than treating the other players as competition
- Let the group know in advance when real life means they need to miss a session
The game will be cooperative, welcoming, and respectful. No PvP, deliberately disruptive characters, bigotry, or explicit sexual content. In general, if your character concept depends on conflict with the other players or their characters, this is not the campaign for you.
A Couple of Important Qualifications
This game is 25+. I'm doing this for people who are "adulting" and looking for a table.
It is also intended for people who do not already know Lost Mine of Phandelver. If you’ve played, read, watched, or otherwise become familiar with the adventure, please leave this one for people who will be experiencing it for the first time.
Interested?
Fill out the Google Form here to let me know you're interested, confirm your availability, and get a sense of what people are looking for in the 40+ hours total that the campaign runs.:
https://forms.gle/zgwJ9eH9UQomq98U8
Sign-ups will be open until Friday, September 4 at 10pm Eastern.
This is not first-come, first-served because I don't want this to just be a matter of who hit submit first. I’ll review the responses after the form closes and put together a group that looks like it will work well together, so there’s no advantage to filling it out five minutes after this gets posted. (From talking to other DMs, this sort of post tends to be popular, so depending on the number of submissions, some selection may come down to me doing dice rolls, as is only proper for D&D.)
If you’ve been thinking “D&D looks fun, but I have no idea how to actually start playing it,” you're exactly who I'm putting this up for.