D&D is a relatively new passion of mine. I listen to people talk about the campaigns that they ran during the 2nd Edition with admiration. Why didn’t I come to this game earlier? Mainly, because I just didn’t know people who could teach me, and those sourcebooks are daunting. Spurred on by my interest in the game I discovered the DWB D&D Discord server, an extensive community of D&D players who are always up for a good adventure. Here’s what you should know about this community.
What It Is:
In the simplest terms possible, the DWB D&D Discord server is a community of people who play D&D online via the virtual tabletop (VTT) website Roll20. Playstyles vary from Dungeons and Dragons Adventurers League (AL) to weekly homebrew sessions and even Play-By-Post text campaigns. The proprietor of this community goes by the gamer tag DaddyWarbux, hence DWB D&D. And For DaddyWarbux this goes back years and the online community he has created is a natural progression of his love of tabletop gaming, but also something more. “I got into streaming for Extra Life which is a charity event for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals,” he says via a Discord call. Extra Life is a platform for gamers to live-stream on Twitch as a charitable act. “That’s how the [DWB D&D] community really started. A small stream, dedicated to raising money for children’s hospitals.” While the server has grown into a community more focused on the shared interest of D&D, Extra Life, as well as other charities, are still a focus of the DaddyWarbux twitch channel.
What It’s Like:
I arrived having little experience in D&D other than the home game I play with close friends. Needless to say, I had some reservations. I needn’t have worried. Moderators and players alike were quick to answer questions. Furthermore, they were kind in their answering. I was struck immediately by how friendly everyone is. There’s no condescension, no annoyance at noobs, but rather excitement at welcoming a new player to a thriving community. “That’s what I really like about this community,” says the player and DM, Bird, “It’s very supportive to both news players [and] players asking questions. DWB makes it as easy as it can be to DM, for anyone willing to take that step.” I asked one of the moderators, who goes by the gamer tag, Dawn, The Gnome Queen, about this positivity that is often seldom found in online communities. “I’m going to put that down to our regular users,” says Dawn. “This server has around 8,000 users. This is a really encouraging place to play AL, non-AL. The amount of people we get in, I think, is part of the reason it’s such an encouraging place. At the end of the day, no one is going to stay here if they have a grudge.” Yep, what once started as a way to play games for charity is now a community of over 8,000 people. Of course, this hasn’t come about by accident. One aspect of the server is the number of rules there are. While most are common-sense, like no hostile behavior, others are lean toward how community members engage with each other. Which brings us to. . .
What Newcomers Should Know:
When you join the DWB D&D Discord, you’ll be greeted with a “welcome” channel. This channel has all the essential rules on it. If you do not read the rules, it’s likely you’ll end up breaking one, or more, of them and get a warning from a Mod. However, there are some rules that can earn you an automatic kick from the server, so it’s imperative to read the rules thoroughly. After that, poke around, lurking in some of the channels and ask questions. That’s a difficult task. As a new member of the server, all I wanted to do is play. As Dawn, The Gnome Queen put it, “I’d tell [new members] to take their time. Games get posted every day here, figure out the server to a point where you’re comfortable talking, and then when there’s a game you can get into, I say go for it.” The same goes for those players looking to DM. “We’re trying to make this very accessible and easy place for new DMs,” this includes free modules on Roll20, a DM reward system that compensates DMs for running games, and more.
For anyone whose considered playing D&D, or for the veteran player who can’t host their home game with much of the word on lockdown, the DWB D&D Discord is a welcome shelter from a desert of social interactions. However, the more I interact with the community the more I enjoy it. It makes me certain I’ll be contributing to this server long after lockdowns around the world end.
