D&D Beyond

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“Roleplay Heavy” games place the focus on the story, the characters, and the world they live within, and tend to lean hard into the various roleplaying elements of the game. These games will frequently find the party talking with NPCs, exploring the personal elements of their backstories, or even having emotional moments around the camp fire. 

Roleplay Heavy

“Combat Heavy” games emphasize the combat mechanics within their systems over roleplay or puzzle solving. There are frequent and longer battles with enemies and a greater emphasis on tactical game play.

Combat Heavy

“Theater of the Mind” uses little to no visuals for scene settings and combat. Instead, the narrative imagery comes from the Game Master’s descriptions and character action and movement comes from Players’ descriptions. 

Theater of the Mind

“Rule of Cool” emphasizes creative story beats over sticking to a system’s rules as written. Players have the ability to push the limits of the rules or even break core rule mechanics at times if the Game Master thinks it is interesting, fun, or cool enough.

Rule of Cool (RoC)

Organized Play uses a standardized ruleset for character creation, leveling, and rewards. Every character plays by the same rules. Its strength is flexibility: bring your character to any table and jump right in. With tight rule adherence, every game feels consistent, fair, and ready for adventure.

Organized Play

“Puzzle / Mystery Focused” games are traditionally built around uncovering secrets, solving strange occurrences, and using clever thinking to move through the story. Players may investigate clues, crack riddles, or unravel a deeper story hidden beneath the surface.

Puzzle / Mystery Focused

Dungeons & Dragons 5e

Daggerheart

Gothic Horror

Mystery

Horror

Fantasy

High Fantasy

Gritty Fantasy

Wacky

Imaginative

Supernatural

Cosmic Horror

Comedy

Eldritch Horror

Dark Fantasy

Espionage

Political Intrigue

Cole

I played D&D when I was in junior high and loved it but didn't keep up with it. I've found Critical Role, Dimension20, and Baulders Gate in recent years and it's brought me back to wanting to play again now in my 40s.  Never too late!

Cole

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