Lyra's Birthday D&D 5e Oneshot

For her 18th birthday, my daughter Lyra requested a Dungeons & Dragons session. She's never really played any table top RPG, hasn't historically shown any interest in D&D, and it's been longer than I would like to admit since I sat down to roll dice in a D&D setting, so I was taken aback. Instead of getting into the why now or what brought this on, my answer was a simple and straightforward "yes".

5(.5?)e

WOTC's latest offering, Dungeons & Dragons 5e (apparently), is an update to it's 2014 counterpart, Dungeons & Dragons 5e. There is a lot of confusion over the naming scheme, especially as this new edition is designed to be compatible with many of the older 5e material, but Wikipedia lays out the naming pretty explicitly.

It brings along a streamlined ruleset for character creation, including some inclusivity updates, and new manuals for the Player's Handbook (PHB) and the Dungeon Master's Guide (DMG). The cynic in me certainly saw this as a money grab from a company known for overpriced tomes and unnecessary updates, and Wizards of the Coast (WOTC) / Hasbro has certainly made some brain dead moves in recent history, so part of me was reticent to get back into D&D specifically. Between AI art scandals, the OGL debacle, and overt racism on display in some cases, I haven't really been enticed to give the company my hard earned money. But with recent slashes to WOTC staff and funding on behalf of parent company Hasbro, it's time to start putting my money where my heart is.

The fact of the matter is that 5e is arguably the best introduction to TTRPGs that I could hope my daughter to ask for. Let's Plays the likes of Critical Role, The Adventure Zone, and Dimension 20 have carried the torch for this system for years, popularizing the genre as a whole along the way, occasionally adopting new systems themselves. This is a hobby that's been part of my life off and on for the better part of 25 years; 5e didn't exist when I got into it (neither did 5e (2024) for that matter) and I will likely die playing other systems that are yet to exist. I am over the moon to introduce this style of game to my children, and all of the lessons that come with it.

So off I trotted to my FLGS (shoutout to Dragon Guild), wallet begging and pleading me to turn around the entire way, to get my hands on copies of the Dungeons & Dragons 5e (2024) Dungeon Master’s Guide and Player’s Handbook. I’ll have reviews up for those soon.

Limiting the players (and myself) to the new DMG and PHB, and wanting to reacquaint myself with running the system, I’ll likely run one of the example adventures from the DMG. The Fouled Stream looks like it would be a fantastic quick introduction to the game for a bunch of newbies, and I can quickly transplant Hedgehaven (my long running / suffering D&D starting town) as a launching off point.

What’s this?

So what is the purpose of this site? I suppose for the first while, it will be stories like this. But stay tuned for the things I have planned for Tilting the Tabletop in general. If this session turns into a campaign, follow along with the campaign diary and creation entries. As I get into other systems (Lancer, Pathfinder 2e, Call of Cthulhu), we’ll branch out on the book reviews and campaign creation there.

I’m passionate about stories, and collaborating with others. Come along for the ride!