Indonesian fans of the immensely popular fantasy board game bring their fun online during the pandemic.

It is a Tuesday night on Jan. 25. Reina, as she refers to herself online, turns on her computer and connects to DnD Jakarta’s Discord server. There, the 30-year-old research assistant living in Bekasi waits for five of her friends to connect. Soon the six of them will travel to Barovia where they will fight monsters, meet allies, find magical items and finally confront vampire wizard Strahd of Zarovich. 

This may sound like the beginning of any of a plethora of online role-playing video games, but Reina and her friends will not be playing a video game. In fact, if they had been playing the game at its inception, they would not be playing on computers at all. 

Reina, who does not want to use her real name, will take her five friends on an adventure playing Dungeons & Dragons (D&D).

Most younger Indonesians may have first heard of D&D, or DnD, as it is often called, from popular TV shows that often reference the game, usually to showcase the “nerdy” quality of their characters. But the fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) has had a loyal and growing following since its creation in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (now owned by Wizard of the Coast). 

As its name suggests, TTRPGs were initially played in person much like board games, and are often still played that way. However, with the increased popularity of video calling applications combined with restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, many have moved their playing online. 

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