D&D Is Full of Homework and Most Players Just Want to Play
After more than 25 sessions of my West Marches campaign, I’ve noticed something consistent: most of my players just want to show up, sit down, and have a good time.
D&D 5e really delivers on that. The game is fun, engaging, and (mostly) easy to understand. The rules usually don't get in the way of play. But there's a catch: the system expects a surprising amount of out-of-session prep. Or as I like to call it, homework.
Some classes have it worse than others. Druids, for example, have a lot of homework between spell choices and wild shapes. In general, whenever leveling up involves a complicated decision (like picking a feat), players are faced with so many options that it can feel overwhelming. And character creation? It's full of traps for players who aren't already familiar with the system.
Some people suggest moving this kind of prep to the beginning of the session. But my sessions are at most four hours long, and I find that discussing details like this while everyone else is waiting to play just doesn’t work well.
So I try to help. I reduce their options, point them to exactly what they need to read, and make their decisions more manageable. But some players just don’t want to do the homework, even when I try to make it easier. They’re simply not motivated by that kind of preparation.
That’s why I find a lot of beauty in the simplicity of systems like Shadowdark. It captures the essence of what my players want to play, without the homework they don’t want to do.
And I’m no stranger to systems that require a lot of prep, like Ars Magica. But with those, you know what you're getting into from the start. In D&D, the homework is hidden. It's unexpected for people who were drawn in by the pop culture version of the game, the one shaped by shows like Stranger Things. (Ironically, games like Shadowdark or other OSR systems actually capture that vibe better. But I don't want to pick that fight right now...)