Before The Storm - Topic 6

A recent promotion for Dungeons and Dragons was a choose-your-own-adventure text-based game called Before The Storm. It aims to teach brand new players the basics of dice-based storytelling with choices and success based on virtually rolled dice. The Before The Storm experience is also meant as a precursor to the Dragons of Stormwreck Isle adventure and was released around the time the Honor Among Thieves movie entered theaters.

1. Who created this message? This was created by the Dungeons & Dragons team as a tutorial and promotion for the most recent Starter Set, Dragons of Stormwreck Isle. It is being shared from the dndbeyond.com website and is also being redirected from playdnd.com.
2. What creative techniques are used to attract my attention? The story itself is quite engaging. It really helps a player understand the motivations of a character, especially since the players are choosing the actions and reacting the the consequences of decisions and dice rolls. There are also 5 different characters to select, so there is significant variation in this small adventure. It is effective enough to attract my attention that I desired playing it through multiple times just to explore the different story threads.
3. How might different people understand this message differently than me? This tutorial is certainly not built for me and is intended for new players. I expect those players would recognize it to be a tutorial, however they may also being seeing the possibility of roleplaying through this text-based choose-your-own-adventure. The text-based nature of it also is a better analog for the “theater of the mind” play that makes up Dungeons & Dragons, unlike a video game the mental work of imagination is on the player.
4. What values, lifestyles and points of view are represented in, or omitted from, this message? The values represented in this experience are most closely aligned with much of the fantasy stories in popular culture. The Lord of the Rings being a prime example of this type of western fantasy. There worlds are also filled with multiple deities that have active roles in the narratives. In fact, the Paladin class that is a playable pathway in this experience draws their power from their devotion to their deity. The deeper their faith and understanding, the more powerful they become.
5. Why is this message being sent? The main reason for this message is as a sophisticated advertisement and interactive tutorial of play. Based on the timing of the release, it seems to be ready for any influx in players who saw the recent Dungeons and Dragons Honor Among Thieves movie. It is inherently trying to communicate the ease and accessibility of the hobby to new players.