7 Dungeons and Dragons Blogs for a Role Playing Newb

I’ve written before about how I’ve been playing Dungeons and Dragons again after a 20+ year hiatus.

I’m LOVING it, and like any good nerd, I’ve now taken a swan dive into the deep end of the pool, declaring D&D my new full-time job and lifelong obsession, voraciously gobbling up (wackawackawackawacka) any and every source of information to feed my new geeky fixation.

Below are the 7 best blogs I’ve found for a Dungeons and Dragons 5e (5th Edition) beginner. If you are interested in learning more about D&D, then give these blogs a read:

NewbieDM

NewbieDM has this to say about his website:

It’s the place to go to for helpful tutorials on making your own gaming tokens, printing maps at 1″ scale, advice, tips, and plenty more.  Chances are, if you have a question as a first time DM, I may have had it at some point as well and have probably tackled it here.

Have a look around, enjoy yourself, and don’t feel intimidated by your journey as a newbie dm.  You’re not alone.

NewbieDm is active on Twitter (@newbieDM) and has several great posts if you are truly thinking about checking out the latest 5e version of D&D, including this post, which is aimed straight at the heart of the newbiest newb.

 

Merric’s Musings

Merric Blackman is an Australian player of role-playing games and boardgames. His site has a fun balance of reviewing the latest product and adventures, to sharing thoughts on an old school adventure that may have been in the archives for 25 years.

If you are new to D&D, then look no further than his Articles for New D&D Players collection.

 

Sly Flourish

Sly Flourish focuses on the DM (Dungeon Master), but there are also articles aplenty for the new person to D&D. The entire site is a nice read for anyone interested in D&D.

Michael Shea – the writer behind Sly Flourish – has a book as well: The Lazy Dungeon Master.  It’s loaded with tips, advice, and ideas behind how to run a campaign well.

 

The Angry DM

The Angry DM has a shtick that – to be perfectly honest – gets a little old. He’s the D&D blog equivalent of the grumpy old man swinging his cane at the young whipper-snappers.

But when you get past the ‘angry’, he has some excellent thoughts and advice, plus a deep perspective on what makes for rich and exciting role playing campaigns.

And truthfully, the angry shtick is pretty funny most times.

 

Sarah Darkmagic

I regret that I had to dig around to find a female for this list, but I want to be careful to I don’t present Sarah Darkmagic as a token female. To be clear, Sarah Darkmagic is a very well-written blog that’s full of helpful advice.

Tracy Hurley, created Sarah Darkmagic as a nod to Acquisitions Incorporated, the excellent D&D adventures out of PAX, and she offers some wonderful perspectives that are needed in tabletop gaming.

The earth needs more blogs like Sarah Darkmagic. In addition to being a helpful tool for a new D&D player, my hope is that the site also encourages more females to pick up the hobby, while encouraging more men to be welcoming and respectful of females in the hobby.

 

Dungeon’s Master

Dungeon’s Master has a solid crew of writers, all of which provide handy information for a newbie D&D player. Dungeon’s Master also has some interesting features for new players, such as the pre-generated player feature that allows you to browse through a get a template for character creation.

 

DM David

DM David has tons of advice for player’s moving from D&D 4e to D&D 5e. In addition, the blog has some other useful and interesting additions such as a maps gallery. Who doesn’t love a cool D&D map?

 

Those are 7 D&D blogs that should provide hours of learning and interest for anyone who is new to D&D. But I have a little more for you. Although these next two aren’t technically D&D blogs, they also provide good reading.

Of Dice and Pen is a blog that does reviews of Pathfinder adventures, the primary competitor for Dungeons and Dragons. I share Of Dice and Pen because he is an excellent writer, and gives fantastic, in-depth reviews. It’s a great read if you are generally interested in RPGs or good writing.

Escaptist Magazine isn’t a blog. It’s a full-blown internet media site, but their tabletop writers are excellent, so if you can figure out how to find content on there amongst the advertising shoved into your face, then it really is worth a read for the quality of their writers. Their tabletop RPG podcast is also good.