Dungeons & Dragons: Peril in Pinebrook Controversy?!?

Apparently the Old School crowd is taking offense to the advice being offered.

Here’s the link to the D&D Beyond post. The adventure we’re discussing is called Peril in Pinebrook. It’s an introductory adventure for up to four players and a Dungeon Master. I encourage everyone, new or old, to go take a look at the adventure. Use your own discernment. I have downloaded a copy for myself.

What you get: 4 premade characters; a toned down version of the D&D rules for beginners, a short (60-90 minutes) adventure; some nice art, a brief lexicon of the Draconic language, some ads,  and lots of advice for a Dungeon Master to run their first game. Having the Player’s Handbook or other core rulebooks is not necessary for this adventure. The DM advice is what the Grognards are freaking out about.

I’m inclined to believe this is a last gasp at getting the crowd riled up at WotC in 2023.

I have my axe to grind with Wizards of the Coast because I detest large corporations. Unfortunately, they’re the elephant in the room when it comes to the RolePlaying Game hobby. I’ve seen the shenanigans around D&D and the companies who’ve made the game for 41 years now. But honestly, this cute little starter adventure is nothing to get riled up about.

I get what the old grumblers are going on about. I don’t think we’re all on the same page when it comes to this cute little starter adventure. It’s no Keep on the Borderlands. Thank the Universe for that! Peril is aimed at kids with no books or D&D experience.

D&D has a lot to compete with in this day and age. It’s not easy to encourage kids, who this module is designed for, to put down the phone, tablet, gaming console, or whatever and come sit at the table for an hour or two to play an analog game. It’s tough. I know from personal experience.

Consider the audience for which this adventure is designed.

Peril in Pinebrook isn’t necessarily as much as a tutorial as it is a gateway. It’s aimed at kids who probably have never played a roleplaying game before. It’s aimed at first time Dungeon Masters. Nowhere in there does it mention bitter old fartz who’ve been around for 40 years. Peril was developed for after school programs.

I don’t think the Old School crowd who are complaining about this product noticed the benefits of playing through this 60-90 minute adventure. It’s broken up into 10-15 minute segments. They want to keep the kids’ attention. It’s designed to be a quick, fun exercise in roleplaying to develop interest in the game.

Peril in Pinebrook is NOT a deep dive into the rules! All y’all old fartz need to get over yourselves! It’s not meant to be a serious D&D adventure for a group of old Grognards. Get a grip, for crying out loud.

“Disturbing” alterations in the rules from years past.

Reactionaries on YouTube are all crying about how Peril in Pinebrook is going to ruin the hobby. No, it’s really not. If one examines the adventure for the audience which this written, the rules are nerfed down for kids. It’s meant to be fast, lighthearted, and fun. There’s no deep dive into rules or TTRPG culture here. These rules aren’t even a permanent addition to D&D as far as we know.

Grognards bemoan the new take on Rule Zero. The old Rule Zero basically sounds like, “It’s the DM’s table. DM has the final say in whatever happens in the game. If you don’t like it, you can go kick rocks.” Yes, all of us “old white guys in a basement somewhere” used to run it that way.

Would I want to tell a bunch of brand new, never-played-an-RPG-before players the DM’s word is the end all and be all of the game? Hell no! There is no sense indoctrinating kids into the harsh takes of old D&D.

Advantage and Disadvantage rules scare the Hell out of old D&D players, apparently. Brand new DMs have to get a feel for how some basic rules of the 5E D&D game works. If they think the players should have Advantage on a die roll, great. If it looks like maybe things shouldn’t go so well for the group, then roll Disadvantage. DMs will eventually get a feel for when these specific rules come into play. The deep dive into the D&D 5E rules comes later.

Should a newbie DM fudge the die rolls or use a little Deus Ex Machina to save the players? Abso-figgin-lutely! Would a brand new DM know to do this? Not necessarily. If a Math teacher with no Game Mastering experience was trying to run this for a group of kids, then maybe killing off characters is not the best approach to getting people interested in the D&D game. Makes sense, right?

Encouraging gatekeeping is not the answer here.

Sigh. Some of the bitter, tired sounding, haggard, OSR bros are bumming me out on this one. The number one thing to remember is this adventure is not aimed at anyone who has been playing for more than, um, ever. Peril In Pinebrook is intended to bring people into the D&D 5E game and/or whatever its successor ends up being. (D&D 5E new not-new 2024 edition 5.5/6E or whatever we’re calling it this week.) It is intended to be an onboarding tool, nothing more.

I’m going to go over this again for the old people in the back- It’s intended for school children to learn about the new D&D, not old Moldvay B/X fans. While I’m on the subject, gatekeeping people out of the hobby is NOT the answer. If we don’t bring fresh, young players into the game, the hobby will die. If we don’t have FRESH players and DMs, we can’t sell them on different games such as Old School Essentials, Shadowdark, or Pathfinder 2E Remastered. There’s nothing wrong with “you know, a bunch of (old) white guys sitting around in a basement playing D&D.” But the bitter, jaded gatekeeping crap needs to stay in the basement.

We need to start opening the gates for new players and GM/DMs. It is ridiculously stupid to keep people out of the hobby of TTRPGs that we love. Keeping people out because some old fart doesn’t like the way the rules are being explained for the D&D 5E game isn’t helping anyone. The bitter old fartz don’t buy new D&D, anyway.

If you’re worried about keeping the game pure for the BrOSR or whoever, then Peril in Pinebrook is not for your group. It’s too bad if you don’t like the message it sends to new players and DMs. Once they get into the hobby, the intricacies of the rules will come. They can learn specifics after they buy the Player’s Handbook, Dungeon Master’s Guide, etc.

Yo, old dudes, do better.

I feel so angry when I hear people actively trying to keep people out of the hobby. TTRPGs are for everyone. If you look long enough you can always find a group that is in line with your personal values. TTRPG groups are like building any other relationship in life. There are always others with similar tastes. It’s just a matter of finding the people you sync up with the best.

“But D&D has gone woke,” they cry.

So f🦆🦆king what? It’s really simple- If you don’t like the new D&D, don’t play it. Stick to running the old game or Warhammer Fantasy RPG or whatever you like. If you run D&D differently than all of the YouTube shills, WotC is still not sending Pinkertons to your house to confiscate your books, dice, and DM screen. I promise, you’re safe from WotC oppression on this one.

Better yet, if Peril in Pinebrook isn’t your thing- write your own introductory adventure for whatever game system you prefer and publish it yourself. If you’re absolutely convinced you know better than Shawn Merwin (Peril’s designer) and Wizards of the Coast- then write your own adventure. As long as you obey the rules of whichever platform you publish the adventure on, you can indoctrinate people into the TTRPG of your choice and people can choose to buy it or not.

Yes, I take TTRPGs seriously.

I’m not WotC’s biggest fan. I’m not here trying to sell anyone on a free adventure intending to introduce school children to the D&D game. I will not shill for WotC (unless they start sending me free merch, then we’ll talk. LOL!)

I absolutely think Peril in Pinebrook is a great module for showing kids the D&D game. The characters get to be heroic. They get to have a baby dragon with them. (Who doesn’t love the idea of their own baby dragon?) It’s a fun hour and a half rolling dice with friends/classmates. It’s easy. It’s fabulous. It’s everything I’d want my kids to learn about D&D if they didn’t live with some crazy old dude who talks about TTRPGs every day.

It’s one of the only times I’ve given WotC a free pass all year in 2023. Thank you all for being here. Happy Holidays! More gaming to come. Please do what you enjoy the most.