Why I Run Slow-paced, Low-tech D&D Games
As I was learning to run my own D&D games as a DM (which stands for “Dungeon Master,” though I prefer “Dungeon Manager”), I realized that to be a good DM, I should really get more experience from the player’s side. Although I’d been DMing regularly for over six months, I hadn’t actually played TTRPGs (Tabletop Roleplaying Games) more than a handful of times since college. So I decided to try out a few different professional DMs on a well-known player-matching site, in hopes of learning some valuable lessons on the player’s perspective.
And did I ever! I ended up playing over 125 hours of paid D&D in less than six months with various different professional DMs, and inquiring with several more. I spent over $1,000 on DMs alone, and I learned a lot!
FINDING A GAME
Firstly, I learned how hard it is to even find the type of game I enjoy. I was looking for something with a focus on narrative and/or roleplay (not just battle after battle), and a bit of creativity. I also wanted accessible gameplay tools, since I didn’t have a fancy gaming computer at the time. I figured it might take me twenty minutes to find such a game on a well-trafficked site that advertised over 10,000 game listings every day.
It actually took me 12 hours and two spreadsheets.
After combing through their filtered listings multiple times, I found only a handful of games even claiming to use the current ruleset (the 2024 rules, AKA “5.5e”). Of those, several were actually using the much older 2014 ruleset (and hoping no one would notice?), and some weren’t even using D&D as their listings stated. Some games turned out to simply not exist, or were at a completely different day/time than what was listed, and some DMs didn’t respond at all.
VIRTUAL TABLETOP PROGRAMS (VTTs)
Almost every game I found also required players to learn and use needlessly complex virtual tabletop programs (like Foundry, Roll20, Fantasy Grounds, and Talespire). These seemed to break constantly, and didn’t run smoothly on many non-gaming computers. My Chromebook wasn’t the only machine stuttering!
One DM spent over half of every session trying to reprogram their 150+ Foundry mods (as players waited) just trying to regain basic functionality. Even then, the system got the math wrong about half the time, and every player had to learn a complex user interface that acted differently every session as the DM constantly adjusted mods. As I progressed in one such campaign, it also became clear that the many hours my DM spent prepping/troubleshooting their complex VTT scenes were taken away from other important areas of prep, like storytelling and character development.
When these complex, bloated VTT programs worked properly (which was less than half the time, in my experience) there were animated maps and spell effects, features to simulate each player’s perspective and lighting, and you could set traps to automatically trigger when players moved over them. Basically, it seemed these souped-up VTTs were trying to turn D&D into some sort of very basic video game.
But if I wanted to play a video game, I would do that! There are plenty of D&D-based video games already, not to mention the seemingly infinite Steam games in my library. But the whole point of D&D is that it’s creative, dynamic, and responsive to the players’ interests and choices! D&D is essentially a bespoke video game played mostly in your imagination; why limit it so arbitrarily? Why use such inefficient tools to essentially make a very low-quality version of Baldur’s Gate 3? I may never understand this urge.
ROLE PLAYING GAMES WITH ZERO ROLEPLAY
Of the games actually running D&D 5.5e, 95% or more seemed strictly battle-focused, with no mention of exploration, roleplay, or puzzles in their descriptions. It seemed like some folks’ idea of “role-playing” was just shouting repeated insults during the endless battles. And while I get that D&D was designed to prioritize battle over other encounters, there’s more to any adventure than 3-8 battles a day.
I was repeatedly told by men that I was “doing it wrong” for not min-maxing my character’s design (i.e. for not making them as deadly as humanly possible, at the cost of all other skills and abilities.) I was trying to design a realistic character with a diverse skillset, but others clearly assumed I was just bad at math. After all, why else would anyone waste points on Intelligence?
Additionally, many DMs seemed to be running 7+ instances of the same mass-produced campaign, literally reading the scenes directly from a published manual (whether or not the words made sense in context) and/or “railroading” clients into one specific plot with few meaningful choices. I can understand how this might make DMing full-time much easier, but it left little to no room for character development or real roleplay, and (for me, at least) really sucked the joy out of the game.
CONCLUSIONS
After spending over 125 hours and $1,000, I realized that the type of D&D game I enjoy is actually quite rare, and a good DM for this kind of game is rarer still. I realized that tech accessibility must keep many players out of this hobby who would otherwise love it. And most importantly, I realized how
That said, some of the DMs I met were wonderfully talented and creative! But for every imaginative, responsive, and thoughtful DM, I found many more who seemingly had no interest in storytelling, roleplay, or anything but optimizing “damage per round.” And that’s fine! Based on my market research, it seems that most D&Ders must *want* endless battles, fancy visual effects, complex user interfaces and forced mental math… Right?!?
But even if that’s the case, I know there are others out there like me, looking for games that:
Aren’t 95% battle
Are customized to each player/character
Last less than 3 hours per session
Include breaks
Don’t require an expensive gaming computer to play
Don’t give you flashbacks to middle school math class
Aren’t read entirely from a book
So I decided to run D&D games for people like me! People with ADHD, chronic fatigue, brain fog, or other cognitive issues. Firstly: I found the lowest-tech VTTs available, and I use “theater of the mind” or a simple whiteboard sketch as often as a map. Secondly: I provide written summaries of every session, and record key clues in case anyone missed them. And thirdly: I’ve made battle mostly optional (though always easily accessible) so players themselves can decide when to use diplomacy, trickery, or violence.
My original goal when I started playing was just to experience more D&D from the player’s side, so I could feel more confident running games as part of my D&D-based peer support groups. But after seeing so many barriers that must be keeping so many people out of this hobby, I decided to apply this approach to every game I run. I hope someone else reading this takes it as permission to make D&D the game you want it to be. A game for everyone.
Interested in my D&D-based Peer Support Groups? Learn more by clicking here!
P.S.: In the near future, I’m planning to offer games for therapists, educators, librarians, and anyone who’d like to run adaptive, supportive, character-centered games. These games will include “behind the scenes” breakdowns of mechanics, tools, and ways to adapt the game to fit different needs. Players will also have the opportunity to practice DMing their own encounters, and will get support in developing their own adaptive style. If you’re interested in learning more, please join the interest list!
