DnD For the Kids

In this post I will endeavor to walk you through how I used one of D&D Beyond's Encounter of the week articles to guide my middle school D&D Club table DM’s through their first encounter. For all the links and materials I used, scroll to end.  It has been a minute since my last D&D club update. A lot has happened between last year and this year! First, my partner in crime , teacher / author / renaissance man, Jared Reck , has moved to the high school, leaving me solely responsible for the Middle School D&D club. Meanwhile, its popularity has grown. I now have about 30 kids to teach this game to and to manage! In other news, Wizards of the Coast has gotten involved in my little world of DND in education. Thanks to a shout out from Greg Tito and Shelley Mazzanoble , I ordered the after school club kit . I’m still waiting for it to arrive, but I was able to get D&D beyond unblocked at my school, giving me access to all the resources I already have, including Lo

So, I got it! It finally came out, and I got it in print! Adventures in Rokugan arrived in my mailbox about six weeks ago, and I have been reading it and weighing it ever since. Adventures in Rokugan takes the intrigue-rich RPG, L5R (Legend of the Five Rings) and brings it to the fifth edition of Dungeons & Dragons. Admittedly, my only experience with Rokugan is the 2001 Oriental Adventures supplement for 3rd Edition Dungeons & Dragons by James Wyatt. I have to be honest that I, like the Dead Games Society , was hoping that this game would be a lot like that one.  Obligatory Gushing Let's look at the stuff I liked about this book. The art is beautiful and vibrant. Like some of this art is next-level stuff. The landscapes in particular are breathtaking. The artwork is definitely immersive and makes me want to play in this world. The books seems very true to the lore of the source material but without some of the basic, "here's what's going on", which woul