Together Time

Tabletop RPG sessions (D&D, etc.)

CostLow to Medium

Includes: A starter set, polyhedral dice and core rulebooks for ongoing play. Example: D&D Starter Set: €15–20. A set of polyhedral dice per player: €8–15. The Core Rulebooks for ongoing campaigns: €120 for the full set.

What it is

Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Steve Carell, the comedy improv tradition that trained them began, in essence, around tables and in living rooms before it ever reached a stage. Tabletop role-playing games share that DNA: collaborative storytelling where one player narrates a world and the others navigate it, building an improvised story from imagination, dice, and shared decisions.

TTRPGs, Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, Call of Cthulhu, and hundreds more, are unlike any other group activity. They're simultaneously theatre, you speak and act as a character, strategy, you make consequential choices, puzzle-solving, you read the narrative for clues, and collaborative storytelling, the whole table makes something no individual could alone. Sessions get remembered as specific funny, dramatic, or emotional stories the group retells for years.

The modern renaissance, driven by the live-play show Critical Role and the accessible design of D&D's 5th Edition, has brought millions of new players in, with starter sets built specifically for groups who've never played. The barrier to entry is far lower than the reputation suggests.

For a first session, the Game Master's real job isn't rules accuracy, it's making everyone feel successful. Say yes to creative solutions, celebrate good dice rolls, don't let rules disputes stall the story. Fun in session one is what creates a session two.

How it works

For absolute beginners, the D&D Starter Set at €15 to €20 removes nearly every barrier. It contains a simplified rulebook, pre-made characters, and a complete starter adventure written to guide a first-time Game Master through running it. One person volunteers as GM and reads the adventure in advance. Everyone else picks a pre-made character.

The first session is largely the GM describing a situation and asking "what do you do?", with the rules learned through play rather than studied upfront. Nobody needs to memorise a rulebook. The annotated adventure text tells the GM what to say and how to handle the common situations as they come up.

A one-shot, a single complete adventure in three to four hours, is the ideal format for a group new to the whole thing. It delivers a full experience without the commitment of an ongoing campaign, and the Starter Set's introductory cave fight makes an excellent first one-shot.

Pre-made characters from D&D Beyond, free to download, skip the character-creation complexity that bogs down first sessions. Explain only the rules the current situation needs, not the whole system, and keep a first session to three hours so it ends on a high rather than dragging into confusion.

For sceptical players, frame it as a collaborative story game rather than acting. Describing a character's actions in the third person, "she draws her sword and advances," is completely valid and takes the performance pressure off entirely.

Benefits

Collaborative Storytelling Creative Problem Solving Deep Social Bonding Shared Memorable Experiences Strategic Decision Making Long-Running Group Project

What you need

Here's what to gather before you start. The essentials are marked.

D&D Starter Set or Core Rulebooks

Polyhedral dice set per player

Character sheets

Grid map or theatre of the mind

Willing GM

3-5 players

FAQs

I've never played a tabletop RPG. What do I actually need to start?

A rulebook, some dice, character sheets, and a few willing friends. For Dungeons & Dragons, the most popular system, you need the core rules (the basic version is free online), a set of polyhedral dice, and one person willing to run the game as the game master. Many beginner "starter sets" bundle a ready-made adventure, pre-made characters, and dice in one box, which is the easiest possible entry point.

What does the game master actually do?

The game master (GM) runs the world, plays every character the players meet, describes what happens, and referees the rules. The players each control one character and decide what that character does; the GM decides how the world responds. It is part storyteller, part referee, part improviser. Being GM sounds daunting but a starter-set adventure does most of the heavy lifting, giving you the plot, maps, and enemies ready to go.

How long does a session take, and how often do you play?

A typical session runs three to four hours, and most groups play every week or fortnight. The story unfolds across many sessions, called a campaign, which can run for months or years, though plenty of groups enjoy one-off adventures (one-shots) that wrap up in a single evening. If a weekly commitment sounds heavy, start with a one-shot to see whether the group clicks before committing to a long campaign.

Do I need to be good at acting or improvising?

No. Plenty of players just describe what their character does in the third person ("I search the room") rather than acting it out, and that is completely valid. The voices and dramatic roleplay are optional flavour that some people love and others skip entirely. What matters is engaging with the story and making decisions. Confidence and silly voices come naturally over time, or never, and the game works either way.

Isn't D&D really complicated with loads of rules?

There are a lot of rules, but you only need a handful to start, and the GM handles the rest. The core loop is simple: describe what you want to do, roll a 20-sided die, add a number from your character sheet, and the GM tells you what happens. Combat has more detail, but you learn it one piece at a time during play. Nobody memorises the rulebook before their first game.

Can we play if we can't all meet in person?

Yes, easily. Online tools like Roll20, Foundry, or even a video call with a dice-rolling app let groups play from anywhere, and many groups run entirely online. The in-person version has a particular social warmth, with snacks and dice clattering on a real table, but the game itself works identically online. A mix of both, meeting in person when you can and online when you cannot, suits a lot of groups.