Three Lessons from Emerald City Comic Con

Recently I had the fortune to co-lead the D&D events at Emerald City Comic Con! How appealing is D&D to this casual geeky crowd? And what lessons can we learn from this experience? Read on.

D&D’s Potential Growth is Staggering

At Emerald City Comic Con we offered some traditional 4-hour adventures, some 2-hour adventures, and we also offered Learn to Play demos. We sat hundreds and hundreds of players, and more than half were brand new to D&D.

I would never expected as many folks as came in. It helped that we were in the official program. It also helped that I often stood in the hallway, calling out to passersby and offering them “learn D&D in just 30 minutes!” It was unbelievable how often a person or group said, “Sure!”

Most of the time we ran two six-player demo tables. We could have easily doubled (maybe even tripled) our tables and been full all of the time. The number of folks looking for their first taste of D&D was incredible! While there were some folks I talked to who just weren’t interested, only two people out of easily a thousand I spoke with were negative about D&D or Wizards. I found this fascinating given how online discourse can often be negative (even WotC currently has a survey asking people how they feel about D&D and the company).

Here we are, ten years into D&D 5E, and we can seat many hundreds of players to their first ever game of D&D 5E. (A few players had played prior editions, which is also mind-boggling. You played an earlier edition and waited ten years to try 5E?)

The diversity of interested players was again amazing, as it has been at other conventions such as PAX. You could not pick the D&D fan out of a line-up. The age varied tremendously, once you factor in the generally younger ECCC crowd. And look, when an adult and a kid came to me, it was a 50/50 shot at which one was the expert and which one was trying the game for the first time. Lots of kids brought their parents to play. Couples, large groups, you name it.

This is just one convention. I bet we have thousands and thousands of potential players in every state and in many countries, just waiting for the opportunity to try the game. So, yeah, how do we reach those? Both for D&D and other RPGs! I’m seriously pondering this question. (If you are new to D&D, check out the get started section on D&D Beyond, and this information page on the Adventurers League.)

D&D Could Be Less Complex

The demo we ran can be found here, on D&D Beyond. It’s a surprisingly simple scenario. So simple, you might not think it would work, or that the first encounter would fill 30 minutes (or up to an hour with the second zombie part). However, new players liked and needed that simplicity. If you haven’t explained which die is which in a while, or where on the character sheet to find a skill, or what you can do in a round… yeah, that takes time with six players.

The players also really liked the character sheets we use, which present a far simpler visual format than a typical character sheet. I found them online (they were originally provided as a download supporting Icespire Peak), and here is an example for the monk:

Great visuals, simple layout with clear headers, and the bonus action attack is an asterisk in the weapon section. And, check out how at-will spells are handled for the spellcasters. I wish other spells also were summarized on the back, but it just lists them.

When we ran D&D it was absolutely clear that, to a new player, a first level character is intimidating just with attacks, skills, hit points, and AC. Throw in ancestry features and a class feature and that’s a lot. Spells take it way over the top. These players are not looking for a feat at first level, a complex background, or more class features or spells. They want a simpler level 1 experience focused on story and helping them master the rules. Who is my character? How can I express myself with simple rules?

For example, one person I spoke with had played the 30-minute demo twice. I asked how they felt. They told me that they wanted to play it one more time to really get the hang of it. I think we forget what RPGs are like for first-time players and just how many new and casual players are out there, looking for the core of what makes D&D great, but for whom the higher level or more complex spell-and-feature-slinging character can be overwhelming.

There are Many Terrific DMs

When I coordinate a convention, I walk around and watch our DMs. We had some amazing DMs at Emerald City! GM-wise, RPGs are in a fantastic place. GMs have many resources and examples to inspire and elevate their play.

Great GMs often do similar things. They lean forward. They engage with eye contact, making sure everyone stays involved. They create a safe welcoming place. They root for the players. They know the adventure, but they also adapt it to the group. Walking around, I saw skilled DMs creating fun tables.

When I run at conventions I have a few additional tips. I like to provide players with a name tent. Even an index card folded in half lets each player write their character name so all of us can speak to each other in character. I use an initiative system that is visual. I give everyone a character introduction montage. If you have pregens, make sure to print out spell cards so the players don’t have to look up spells all game long.

It was interesting to me that at ECCC we had several new DMs come up and ask if we had a “Learn to DM” session. We didn’t, but we invited them to sit at a Learn to Play table and watch how the DM handled new players. We told them they could later download the adventure or check out the Stormwreck Isle adventure to read what they used. We also talked to their DMs, to ask if they could after the sessions talk to the new DM and answer any questions, which they did. The new DMs said this was really helpful. Still, this underscores how DMs crave instruction, growth, and mentoring.

We also had groups who had just started, but the DM wanted to see how someone else ran a table so they could feel more comfortable. Or parents or siblings who wanted to have someone else teach their group so the next session would be easier. This suggests the starter sets and core books don’t help these DMs get started as capably as we would like.

ECCC was a fantastic experience for me, rekindling my passion for what we can accomplish in this hobby. I hope this will lead to many more experiences where we bring more players into the hobby, playing all kinds of RPGs.