If you learned Dungeons & Dragons around 1983, you may have learned it from the D&D Basic Set. The NPCs who were the stars of that adventure, the cleric Arena and the Infamous Burglar, are still loved (or hated, in Burglar's case) by an entire generation of role players today.

Wizards of the Coast created a new D&D primer called Before the Storm (opens in new tab), unrelated to the Life is Strange prequel. Players choose a character from five options: a human paladin, a hill dwarf cleric, a lightfoot halfling rogue, a high elf wizard, or a wood elf fighter, and play through a storyline that introduces the rules of D&D 5th edition.

These rules are taught simply enough, and each character is described with some ability scores given as bonuses to die rolls (e.g., +3 for Strength for a paladin), a list of skills in which they are proficient, and a hit point total. While details such as name and gender are left to the imagination, each character has a different background and will receive individual quests in the city of Neverwinter.

The rogue practices stealth and infiltration as a member of the local bandit guild, the cleric fights corruption in the city police, the paladin intervenes in a street crime, and so on. Ability checks and attack rolls result in d20s rolling across the screen. The combination of terrible rolls and deliberately making terrible choices just for the fun of it led to an utterly chaotic scene in my fighter playthrough. At one point, I was hiding in a barrel watching a shark I had released go on a rampage at the docks. It was exactly the kind of brilliant nonsense that a typical D&D session would unfold.

Shortly thereafter, I ended up dueling with a pirate on board. The rogue's life of crime was interesting, though. The Paladin's story ended abruptly after it had just begun, and I felt a little underwhelmed by it in comparison, but that may have been due to the choices I made.

At the end of the adventure, you are shown three achievements drawn in the same pleasant cartoon style as the locations and NPCs, the number of hit points you reached in the end, and whether you were knocked out along the way. The link to download the image unfortunately returns a broken version that is currently full of blanks, so you'll have to take a screenshot manually if you want to keep it as a souvenir.

At the end of Before the Storm, there is a lead-in to the latest D&D starter set (opens in a new tab), Dragons of Stormwreck Isle, and each playable character corresponds to one of the pre-generated PCs. Even if you don't plan to play that adventure, this browser game serves as a cute introduction to D&D, or a way to play without the trials of gathering a group.

This is all part of an effort to make D&D less intimidating through pre-generated characters, free adventures, and a welcoming website (opens in new tab) with a collection of basic rules. Wizards of the Coast is also working on an official D&D virtual tabletop using Unreal Engine 5.

Of course, you can play D&D in video game form instead, and conveniently, there is a Steam sale (open in new tab) going on until April 3, with substantial discounts. The classic Planescape: Torment Enhanced Edition at 70% off (opens in a new tab) or the recent Solasta at 65% off (opens in a new tab): You can also get the recent Solasta: Magister's Crown at 65% off (opens in a new tab) and experience the modern experience 5e.

For a free D&D game, link again to Before the Storm (opens in a new tab). Be careful not to drown.