When some people think about Dungeons and Dragons, they think about a handful of nerds in a basement with a bunch of dice, character sheets, miniatures, badly drawn maps, and overdramatic LARPing. That's not all D&D is anymore.
D&D can be that, but technology has a way of making things even better. The world is at the touch of a button these days, and D&D has made sure to benefit off the wonders of technology.
10 Updates Are More Consistent
The internet has been made so much more accessible in modern years. After D&D's misstep with 4e and their journey into the digital world, they learned a couple of things. Namely, it's really easy to update and retcon information on the internet where it's easily accessible.
It's also much cheaper, as can just be put on a webpage for people who care instead of dumping a whole lot of funds into writing and reprinting a whole new manual. Production of all of their merchandise isn't cheap at all, which ends up reflecting on the final price. So any way they can save some cash will also save their fans some as well.
9 There Are Programs To Take The Number Crunching Out Of Character & Monster Generation
One of the most time-consuming parts of D&D is all of the number-crunching involved. This is especially true during character creation or when augmenting monsters. The good news is that technology makes it so that there can be awesome generators and other programs to help with this.
Back in 3e, there was even a disc that came with every "Player's Handbook" that helped generate characters. For a while, additions could be purchased to accommodate for the supplemental material and provide extra perks. There are now so many free generators online that help build encounters, characters, monsters, and even maps that the number-crunching really can be thinned down.
8 The Ambiance Can Be Awesome
There is little better in the world than playing a Dungeons and Dragons campaign with fancy lighting, cool music, and some good food. With certain tech, rooms can even be programmed to switch sounds and lighting based on vocal commands, which just adds to the immersion.
Enter a dungeon and sit back while the music sets the tone of how it's going to go. Say a key phrase and suddenly the battle music starts. Perhaps the lights dim and flicker during an in-game storm. All of this and more can be done with some of the latest technology, it all just depends on how creative the DM wants to get with it.
7 3D Printing Makes Extras Way More Obtainable
3D printing has suddenly become a really big deal in modern society. It's relatively cheap and highly effective in creating some amazing things. That means suddenly getting custom miniatures that really look like the characters is actually in reach for many players.
3d printing also means that miniatures in general are able to be driven down in price, making them more accessible. Additionally, other extras such as custom dungeon molds and dice can be made cheap with some good 3D printing.
6 Generators Are An Overworked DM's Best Friend
One of the greatest things to come from modern technology is generators. There are some for just about anything under the sun. Names, maps, characters, cities, and pretty much anything else one could possibly need to set up a campaign in a jiffy.
Generators give the DM the ability to make something of quality, even when they are lacking in skill or time. Some generators are going to be more in-depth than others, and some are free while others cost a fee. No matter what, generators are amazing tools to use.
5 Nothing Beats The Immersion
Modern technology can do some really amazing things. Just about anything can be automated nowadays or controlled by voice. That means that players can really get into the feel of things really easily.
Additionally, for those who like to get a little more in character with some LARPing, modern technology makes getting some of the costuming and materials infinitely easier.
4 Technology Makes D&D Appealing To Different Generations
Technology has an amazing way of bridging the generational gap. Tech can bring people together of all ages to play the same game, enjoy things that might have otherwise been lost, and appeal to a wide range of people and interests. The media is also amazing at generating ideas for the next campaign. Taking bits from the players' favorite books, shows, movies, and games really helps bring D&D to a new level.
3 The Internet Makes For A Much Bigger Community
With the rise of the internet, the fall of many small shops has occurred. That includes a whole lot of mom and pop stores that used to host a lot of Dungeons and Dragons sorts of events. In their wake, though, many websites have cropped up to fill in the gap.
There are forums, chatrooms, and servers all dedicated to the game making it easier than ever to find a group to play with. This can be local or long distance, utilizing any edition, and built with a more diverse group of people than has ever been possible before.
2 D&D Can Be Played Long Distance
The internet might have been invented to help spread information, but that's not all it became. It's well used to bring people closer together, whether or not they knew each other in the real world beforehand. Suddenly ,games can be played with friends over voice, video, or text chat in a way that could never have happened before.
There are so many free resources out there to accomplish this that it's even a totally feasible way to keep in touch with the group, find a new one, or even add to it with fresh eyes. It can even be a way to keep a session going instead of cancelling because something came up, and that's great.
1 Homebrewing Is Infinitely Easier
Homebrewing is the concept of making something entirely new for the purpose of using it in a personal campaign. Someone needs to put forth all of the work in order to make it work and to balance it, and that can be hard to do alone.
Connecting with others on the internet can offer insight on how to improve ideas, make things actually work within the in-game mechanics, or help shed some unfortunate truths about the idea. Additionally, there are many places where people freely post their homebrewed ideas for others to use, making it much easier for someone else out there with a similar idea to just pick something and go.