Dungeons & Dragons: How to Be More D&D: Face Your Dragons, Be More Adventurous, and Live Your Best Geeky Life

by Kat Kruger

Tackle life with advantage with this officially licensed guide to life inspired by the world of  Dungeons & Dragons ! 

This playful, inspirational book invites fantasy lovers and fans of  Dungeons & Dragons  to celebrate and incorporate different elements of this iconic tabletop game in their lives and help them live their best, geekiest life. Written by Kat Kruger, the Dungeon Master of the popular Dungeons & Dragons  actual play podcast d20 Dames , you'll learn how to take the skills, knowledge, and sense of adventure from your D&D  campaign to help you better understand everything from how you interact with the world around you to facing the random events that life sometimes throws at you. 

With advice from classic player classes—like the Fighter, Warlock, Bard, Monk, or Ranger—and ways to take your experiences as a player (or a Dungeon Master) and use them in your day-to-day life, How to Be More D&D  also features interactive elements like "Building Your Character" and "Dungeon Master State of Mind," quizzes like "What is Your D&D Class," and paired with rich, full-color art from the world of Dungeons & Dragons . Whether it is building your real world "character," discovering your ideal class and strengths, harnessing the three pillars of play for everyday use, or using roleplaying techniques to your advantage,  How to Be More D&D explores how to enjoy the campaign known as life and is a perfect gift for any tabletop gamer or D&D fan.

Dungeons & Dragons, D&D, their respective logos, and the dragon ampersand, are registered trademarks of Wizards of the Coast LLC. ©2022 Wizards of the Coast. All rights reserved.
 

Genres: Dungeons and Dragons, Nonfiction

160 pages, Hardcover

Published August 23, 2022

About the author

Kat Kruger is a best-selling freelance game designer at her owner-operated company, Steampunk Unicorn Studio. Her previous projects include: HeroQuest, Betrayal at Baldur's Gate, and various D&D adventures. In the TTRPG sphere she has most notably contributed to the inaugural Uncaged Anthology and Eyes Unclouded. She is also the Dungeon Master on the family-friendly, actual-play podcast d20 Dames. When she's not writing or editing games, she's raising a geeky toddler with her partner and their dachshund in Seattle.

Reviews

[Geoff Gander · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read a few self-help books, and this one covers many of the same bases as others in the genre. That being said, Ms. Kruger does an excellent job recasting the approaches, terminology, and tools in gaming terms - and when you think about it there really are a lot of parallels - all in an approachable and friendly style with a few dashes of humour. I like her use of character sheets and encounter logs, presented at the end of the book as a sort of reference section, to present when she's trying to teach in a clear, easy-to-read format.

Definitely a handy book for any gamers in your life who are questioning their lives' directions, are trying to get past one of life's many random encounters. For anyone on the fence who wonders whether gaming actually has social and psychological benefits beyond beating up imaginary foes at the gaming table (which is incredibly cathartic from my experience), this book may nudge you down the path to exploring the hobby a little deeper.

[Xenon Starstryder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, this is a fun filled foray into both self help and the fantastic world of Dungeons & Dragons. There are many little nuggets of wisdom - some new, many timeless - that make this book worth your while. I also appreciate how the author frames many real world issues through the lens of gaming. If you're looking to gamify your life and build your social skills, this is a good place to start.

That said, I do have one issue with this book... The author's attempt at a "find your class" cosmo quiz is lukewarm at best. This feature could have been great! But it felt as though both too much and not enough thought was given to it, and it was a total miss for me.

Regardless of my feelings toward those 32 pages, the rest of the book was very enjoyable. Please read it.

[S. Spelbring · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with all the other reviews of this book, I agree that it gives out the same advice you find in many other self-help books of how to get your life together. But, I do appreciate the Dungeons & Dragons spin on it. The provided templates and charts are a welcome touch as well.

The author writes with a good deal of insight into how D&D is played and relating it to our personal lives. It was a fun read, even if I never happen to do much with it. It's also a fairly quick read as I was able to digest it in a quiet afternoon.

[Matias · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a fun exercise to imagine my life as a D&D game. There is a character sheet included and all the information how to know the skills and goals and the class of your choosing. What I took from this book was: don’t take yourself too seriously, there is so much of life that is made of invisible dice rolls. Just take calculated risks and get experience and the rolls will hopefully get better.

[Emily Greenwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked it but I thought it was going to be about how to play vs a life skills book. Still has good information but I was more looking for how to be a DM in a game and not in life. Overall though I learned a lot about the game and life and would still recommend!

[Riley Sanford · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this would be a great book for a teenager or young adult who is interested in both D&D and self-discovery. There is a lot of fun language, personality quizzes, and journaling prompts included here, but it lacks much else.

[C.A. LaBrecque · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting insights on building yourself into the DND mindset and how to better yourself and your community that you choose.

[Kasey Szamatulski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being a nerd, this naturally caught my eye. I found this mainly focuses on relationships which are a big part of D&D. There’s quite a bit on communication styles, how to communicate and establish relationships with others. Good for those wanting to get closer with people they know or make more relationships. Reading it, I think it would appeal to those not familiar with D&D as well as those who are familiar with a few references here and there. Plus the class quiz to figure out what role you’d play has a lot of flexibility -I’m a wizard but found answers also resonating with cleric and bard. There are some suggestions on how to improve your life in other ways, but it’s not the focus of the book, which is fine.

Personally I recommend either owning a copy yourself so you’re free to write the character sheets or perhaps if you have an e-book that lets you make notes.