It's just three girls (who've never played D&D before), a Dungeon Master and a handful of dice...

'Girls who don't D&D' is the byproduct of three women who had absolutely never played Dungeons and Dragons before being tricked into it by their old boss as a way of staying in contact. Rather than just grabbing some dice, buying too many bags of chips, and hanging out in a garage under the house (which we did) we also decided to go all out by recording it. We are all story tellers (of sorts) so the result is an unusual combination of newcomers to the world of D&D, scripted flashbacks and memories supported by soundscapes, and a story that can and will go anywhere. At absolutely no stage is it taken too seriously - except when it is! We're perfect for anyone thinking of getting started (we try to explain everything we do because the girls have, and I want to make this clear, never played before), women who would like to find a way into D&D, anyone who loves the sound of people enjoying the game, and people who've been playing forever and just love a deep, detailed story. Oh, and you can even be part of it!
 

I decided on a podcast for a rather selfish reason but one that I think many parents will understand. I wanted my son to have something to connect to that would be different from the normal father/son connection. Something that would let him hear an important side of me doing something I enjoyed. Something that would also be there for a long time, that he could come back to as he grows older. We started in January of 2020 but didn't release anything until much later. Eight months later! Perhaps it was because we hadn't considered the project is being anything more than a unique gift for my son and a fun way to stay in contact, we were stunned when it started to grow an audience and we continue to feel that way when we can connect with them too!
 

We don't get to publish as much as others because we have to keep going to our real world jobs but we enjoy it enough to make sure we find time to maintain it. We lock in at least one day a month to record and editing/writing is done in the gaps in between! We spent a little on advertising at the start - more out of interest than anything but we've kept costs down apart from the initial setup. Rule one: get good equipment! Because we followed that rule, we often get comments on the high quality of our audio and we work hard to keep it to the highest level we can. We publish every 3 or 4 weeks.
 

We don't do ads. We love immersing the audience in the story which, for us, means not taking them out of it where we can. If that means we'll have to find other ways to help fund the show, then we think it's worth it. We 've been growing our audience at the rate of about 2000 downloads per month and current sit at around 6-10,000 depending upon where we collect/combine information. It's possible there could be other benefits in the future of the show because the quality is high but we're also happy with the social benefits afforded.
 

We use a RODEcaster Pro and Audio Technica BPHS1 Broadcast Stereo headsets for recording. We use Adobe Audition for editing and an audio subscription through Storyblocks. Each episode includes a pre-written component and improvisation that is weaved together to create the final storyline. we use listeners and friends to create audioscape memories and flashbacks.
 

We started with some Facebook adverts and that gave us a nice head start. We're looking for other opportunities to extend our audience because we appear to have a reasonable number of return listeners.
 

Enjoy what you make. Don't worry about your reach - if you make something good, someone will find it. If it isn't good yet, adjust! Take your time. Think through your options. Be efficient (I'm not good at this yet!)
 

www.girlswhodontdnd.com @girlswhodontdnd girlswhodontdnd@gmail.com