this post was submitted on 30 Nov 2023
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I gave away my DnD books to strangers. (lemmy.world)
submitted 7 months ago by RQG@lemmy.world to c/dnd@lemmy.world
42 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Earlier today I was browsing through shelves at a toy store to look for a last gift for one of my daughters. That's when I hear an excited voice ask one of the store employees 'do you have dungeons and dragons?'. I listen in and learn that they do not have any DnD material at all and also can't order it. I walk a bit closer and see 3 12 year old ish boys and a girl with disappointed faces. The employee also can't help them where to find dungeons and dragons products.

Now I live in Germany where you can't find dnd boxes at the likes of Target like in the US for example. In fact I know of 2 stores in the whole city which carry DnD books and material.

I step in and ask if I may help out with the question. I tell them that there are 2 stores which carry the books, dice and more on the other side of the city. They said that's far away but they'll try to go there in Saturday.

We get talking and they tell me about how they are looking to start a dnd club at school and also play at home. They got a set of dice and saved around 70 euros for a book and maybe some more dice and such. I tell them that'll buy them the players handbook which is a good starting point and maybe some extra dice.

They ask me if I played as a kid and I said yes, in fact I still do and I'll be playing tonight. That's when I made a weird decision in my head. I had all my stuff already with me so I don't have to go back home between work and game night. I opened my backpack and gave them my copies of the PHB and Monster Manual. They were super excited and actually insisted to pay me but I'd have felt bad taking money from them.

I didn't want to post this as virtue signaling stuff or anything. It was just kind of a crazy decision I made that I think was kinda cool. They just reminded me so much of me when I started out. We were lucky to get our first dnd books gifted by an older brother of one of our group's members. So I wanted to pay it forward. Now I just have to figure out how to run tonight's game without my books.

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[–] Alivrah@lemmy.world 57 points 7 months ago (1 children)

There will be tales of the mysterious stranger who gifted the party arcane knowledge before vanishing in the blink of an eye...

As the young adventurers rushed to their guild, ready to share the treasure they were handed by the kind traveller, they could hear seven canaries singing happily.

[–] ComicalMayhem@lemmy.world 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

What is with Lemmy and the seven canaries guy? Like I know who he is but wow is lemmy obsessed with him

[–] AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world 1 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

It's an avatar of Bahamut (the god of good dragons) and 7 metallic (good) dragons in disguise. You don't wanna piss off the old man or the birds. I normally have them as ravens, but canaries works.

Due to how the gods of dragons work, Bahamut doesn't have a lot on his plate, so he will wander the planes and see who is a murderhobo, that needs dealt with, and who is an adventurer that he will give a favor or token to

[–] Apepollo11@lemmy.world 52 points 7 months ago (1 children)

If you're the DM, you can just fall back on Rule Zero - the rules are what you say they are :)

You've done a really nice thing - I'm sure these kids will never forget it. I sometimes forget how much harder it was just to acquire stuff as kids.

[–] otter@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 7 months ago

I miss Rule Zero being summarized in the flyleaves of "rule"books. 😅

[–] dpkonofa@lemmy.world 40 points 7 months ago (1 children)

If more people in the world were like you, it would probably be a better place. You have no idea what positive impact this will have on these kids but I promise you that they will remember you.

[–] otter@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (2 children)

Academically, how does this genuinely lovely act of kindness & compassion differ in essence to, say, sharing PDFs of the same already-purchased book with strangers simply wanting to play the game?

edit: please, be civil and don't dogpile, this is simply to spark a deeper understanding of intentional labeling and how we, as a society, often take that for granted (ie. assume it's in good faith).

[–] ComicalMayhem@lemmy.world 5 points 7 months ago

I'm confused where this question comes from and why you asked it, but will provide my own opinion on it.

In the OP's case, the book he had already purchased is a physical copy; by giving it to the kids, he transferred complete ownership and now has to purchase another book in order to have the same product for himself, providing the company with more money. With PDFs, you can just email the file and then both you and the person you gave it to have copies of the book, effectively getting 2 books for books for the price of 1.

Legally, this is piracy/theft. Morally, both are totally acceptable in my opinion. Of course, if you like something, you should support the creators whenever possible.

[–] dpkonofa@lemmy.world 1 points 7 months ago (2 children)

In essence, it doesn’t. In a practical sense, however, one is taking something that’s been paid for and passing it on while the other is stealing. You can try to justify it morally all you want but those kids clearly didn’t have any qualms with giving WotC their money so you stealing on their behalf is simply an excuse.

[–] efialto@mastodon.online 2 points 7 months ago

@dpkonofa @otter legal good is so boring :p

[–] otter@lemmy.dbzer0.com 0 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Your insinuation of guilt to support your argument is not helpful.

[–] dpkonofa@lemmy.world 0 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

I’m not insinuating guilt, I’m outright stating it. Someone created those books. Whether it was one person in their basement or a company like WotC, you’re depriving the creators of income that they would have otherwise gotten when the normal social contract is observed. If you want more of a creator’s work, you need to pay them.

In your initial reply, you asked how it differs academically. It doesn’t. Sharing is sharing, from a purely academic perspective. From a non-academic perspective, which would include economic, financial, and contractual perspectives as well, it matters very much to the people creating the things being shared.

[–] otter@lemmy.dbzer0.com 0 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I gather that you've a personal investment to the point of blinding bias, but your self-righteous ire is misplaced and unappreciated. Thanks for letting me know I don't have to spend time watching you put in that work, though. I hope you find ways to be a better person.

[–] dpkonofa@lemmy.world 1 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

I’m confused. Explain to me how it’s self-righteous to expect people to pay for things that people create as opposed to stealing them? The only “personal investment” that I have is that I create things for a living and need to get paid for those creations in order to survive and support my family… If only one person bought it and then freely shared it with everyone else, I wouldn’t be able to pay my bills.

[–] HonorIsDead@lemmy.world 31 points 7 months ago (1 children)

This is the sort of thing that keeps your hobby alive with the next generation. Very cool

[–] lethargic_lemming@lemmy.world 19 points 7 months ago (1 children)

we need more content like this, that gives me the warm fluffy feelings

[–] RQG@lemmy.world 12 points 7 months ago

That was the main reason I posted this. I thought I would enjoy seeing this on here.

[–] ArmoredThirteen@lemmy.ml 16 points 7 months ago

I have a bookshelf full of DnD and other roleplaying books. Whenever someone is over if they get particularly excited about something I always try and give it to them (unless that book holds particular sentimental value to me). Or like one time when I was moving one of the movers was talking about studying for a programming interview so I gave them a book specifically to help with that. For most my life I had very little income and I'm finally in a place where my needs are met and I'm not struggling constantly. The times people gave me things when I showed interest were really impactful and I just want to do that for others now. You're doing great things they're going to remember this

[–] Hairyblue@kbin.social 15 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I find giving someone something that I enjoy is even better when you KNOW that they will use and enjoy it too.

I gave away a PS4 to someone at the office. I got the PS5 and wanted someone to enjoy the PS4 as much as I did. It made me happy to hear the games he was able to play now--and he did tell me about them.

The joy of giving is not a myth.

[–] Talaraine@kbin.social 4 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Heck, I bought BG3 for an old D&D buddy of mine who didn't have much monies and have gotten nonstop enjoyment watching their complete addiction.

It might be the best gift I've ever given.

[–] Hairyblue@kbin.social 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Yes Baldur's Gate 3 is an awesome game. I have 200 hours in it and I am only 1/3 of the way through it. Great D&D game!

[–] shadowSprite@lemmy.world 4 points 7 months ago

BG3 is helping me keep my sanity through this semester of college. I'm mentally at my limits, stressed, and overwhelmed, but on the weekends I load it up and play until it doesnt matter anymore. I'm just about finished my second play through and debating whether or not I want to start a third or take a break. I also listen to the soundtrack while I'm studying, it's become one of my absolute favorite soundtracks.

[–] Zoboomafoo@lemmy.world 12 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Plot twist: they were 3.5 books

[–] sunbeam60@lemmy.one 14 points 7 months ago (1 children)

The best edition. There, I said it.

[–] neidu@feddit.nl 5 points 7 months ago

Agreed. However, I've come to learn that it's far from an unpopular opinion.

[–] VubDapple@lemmy.world 11 points 7 months ago

You're a good person Mr. Fry

[–] MonsiuerPatEBrown@reddthat.com 10 points 7 months ago

Be careful. I believe that is Comic Book Guy's origin story.

[–] AphoticDev@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 7 months ago

I don't even play D&D, but I want to thank you for what you did.

[–] Nopski@lemmy.zip 9 points 7 months ago

they will never forget that day...that would be a treasured memory for them for the rest of their lives

[–] CosmicCleric@lemmy.world 7 points 7 months ago

I didn’t want to post this as virtue signaling stuff or anything. It was just kind of a crazy decision I made that I think was kinda cool. They just reminded me so much of me when I started out. We were lucky to get our first dnd books gifted by an older brother of one of our group’s members. So I wanted to pay it forward. Now I just have to figure out how to run tonight’s game without my books.

Truly, thanks for being nice to others. We need more of that in the World, especially these days.

[–] InEnduringGrowStrong@sh.itjust.works 7 points 7 months ago

Paying it forward, nice.
I'm sure they'll remember this day in decades.

[–] Perfide@reddthat.com 6 points 7 months ago

You could "acquire" a pdf version of the books.

[–] z00s@lemmy.world 6 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Congratulations on your excellent virtue, you have more signal than kraftwerk

[–] RQG@lemmy.world 2 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I was a bit worried that if might come across as that. But it's more about sharing a positive story I think.

[–] z00s@lemmy.world 0 points 7 months ago

You should have worried

[–] th3raid0r@tucson.social 5 points 7 months ago

A similar thing happened to me as a kid!

One of my favorite substitute teachers saw me trying to play a homebrew RPG with typical d6's - all because I couldn't afford the actual D&D books. After a few times, he came with his old 1st edition AD&D stuff and gave it all to me.

Now, sure, it was the early aughts and folks were playing 3.0/3.5 and he gave me 1st edition books, but still!

He also gave me all of his dice. Every single one. I still have (most) of them.

I've already had a couple of chances to pay it forward a few times myself!

[–] shasta@lemm.ee 3 points 7 months ago

As for what to do for your game tonight, all of the source books are available on dndbeyond.com digitally

[–] bstix@feddit.dk 3 points 7 months ago

That's the spirit. It's been several decades since I last played DnD (came by here from "all"), but I know it from other hobbies. When you actually care about a hobby, you care about people wanting to try it and keep it active.

[–] sgbrain7@lemm.ee 2 points 7 months ago

Well, good luck on your game! I hope you memorized enough. Also, that was very kind and generous of you. Those kids are gonna have a blast.

[–] init@lemmy.ml 1 points 7 months ago

Those kids are going to remember you for the rest of their lives. Try using ChatGPT for any questions you might have with your game. It has helped me in a pinch.