These answers ranged from having no idea, to thinking D&D was a video game or a card game, but I don’t think a single completely new person knew what a d20 was. I’ve had friends come in with wildly different expectations and others who had absolutely no idea what they were getting caught up in. When dealing with new players, I find that its best to give them a very clear expectation right off the bat of what they’ll be getting in to.
If D&D isn’t clicking with your new player but they seem interested in TTRPGs, consider checking out some other options. Each of these systems has different rules, settings, and a different feel to it. Examples of TTRPGs include D&D, Call of Cthulu, Warhammer, Savage Worlds, and GURPS. You could be a detective uncovering a mystery, a general commanding an army, or a tiefling druid seeking to restore the vitality of a great forest. For these games, each person takes on a specific role (could also be considered a persona). There might be a game board and there might be pieces, but alternatively it may only be comprised of pen and paper. More specifically, let’s focus on tabletop roleplaying games. These types of games typically take place, if you can believe it, on a tabletop. Other examples you could point to include The Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter (a bit more modern with high magic, but fantasy nonetheless), or A Song of Fire and Ice. It contains all the basic tropes: wizards, elves, dwarves, dragons, rangers, and orcs.
This series is a perfect jumping off point if somebody is completely new to the genre. A classic that you could point to would be Lord of the Rings (both the films and the books). The easiest way to explain “general fantasy” is probably to give them examples. Ideally at a minimum they will be familiar with “general fantasy” – meaning that there’ll be swords and magic and probably some castles and goblins too! However, for the sake of this article I’ll assume that they have absolutely zero experience or knowledge whatsoever. Since they’re a new player I wouldn’t expect them to know too much about D&D specifically. The more familiar they are, the smoother the process will go. Their answers here will dictate how in-depth you have to go in your academic journey of getting them learnt up.
The next step, and in fact many of the subsequent steps, is figuring out how to turn random dice rolls into a character who is ready to adventure and explore the realm.
First of all, congrats! That is by far the most difficult part – at least in theory.
So you’ve been able to successfully recruit somebody into the demonic cult, I mean hobby, that is Dungeons and Dragons.