7 Ways to Play D&D With ADHD

I have ADHD. A lot of it. Like, between writing this sentence and the previous, I stared off into space for a good fifteen seconds. My ADHD is cons—

—insert break to choose a new song to listen to—

—tantly there. (Pause to take a screenshot.) It wreathes around in my mind and makes literally everything so goddamn difficult.

Long brick of static:

This post is getting annoying to read, eh? That’s the point: to illustrate how my brain thinks. And trust me, playing D&D with a brain like this is fuckin’ hard.

But, like I’ve figured out ways to not flunk out of university and actually have friends, I’ve figured out ways to play D&D with ADHD.

ADHD is a genuine affliction.

“ADHD?” Just pay attention! It’s not hard.

You ever hear people tell you to “just pay attention” and sit in awe, trying to comprehend that there are people … who actually can … just … pay attention? You’re not alone: roughly ten percent of the population suffers from ADHD. Mine is a severe case: I have delayed processing, sometimes I completely zone out for periods of time, or I say dumb shit (because I didn’t finish processing before opening my mouth).

At the table, it looks like this:

DM: Describes situation. Tells player it’s their turn.
Player: Zoned out. Long pause.
DM: Starts countdown.
Player: Stammers and panics.
Player: Wastes turn by doing a basic attack.
DM: “You cross the wall of fire to reach this foe and are set on fire.”
Player: “NO WAIT—”
DM: “It’s too late.”

Of course, on the surface, this player seems annoying: they aren’t paying attention, they’re doing stupid things, and they’re slowing down the game. In research I’ve done for this blog I’ve come across countless forum posts complaining about players who don’t pay attention and ask the DM to repeat things or take too long in combat, and it wears me down every time. And these complaints happen because ADHD is an invisible disability.

Someone in a wheelchair requests that they play in an accessible environment? No hesitations: obviously they need that.

A blind person asks the DM to repeat descriptions of the battle area to help them figure out what’s going on? No problem: obviously they need that.

Someone with a severe speech impediment needs more time to say things? No problem: obviously they need that.

Someone with ADHD asks the DM to be patient? Why? Everyone else can handle it fine.

The symptoms of ADHD come across as simply “annoying” to a lot of people, which is why they don’t actually view it as a debilitating disability affecting the way a person’s brain works.

1. Accept that people have ADHD.

If the other players in the group aren’t willing to be patient and try with their ADHD comrades, there’s no hope. The foundations of a good group rely on everyone feeling welcome and having fun, but that can’t happen if people are being excluded. You’ve gotta make sure that you actually accept their ADHD: don’t make fun of them for doing weird things—those weird things are literally their disability. People that don’t embrace your ADHD aren’t good people to be around.

2. Include breaks.

People with ADHD have a hard time staying focused for long periods. If you tend to play D&D for hours upon hours at a time, consider adding in some breaks every hour or so. As a DM, I struggle with keeping my brain tuned in to the proper DMing frequency for long stretches.

Breaks benefit everyone: it gives people a chance to use the bathroom or get a snack without missing any of the action.

3. Pause the music.

I love to play atmospheric music during my games. (I’ve made sixteen hours worth of playlists.) However, as a player, it can be hard to focus when the music is on. Sometimes an ADHD brain stalls and you can’t begin to process anything until the music is off. (Like that music I mentioned in my intro gimmick? That’s off now.) Even without ADHD, music can distract you from the complicated math that comes with D&D.

4. Deliver long pieces of information in smaller chunks.

As a DM, you have to be patient and to be willing to repeat things. This requires effort on the player’s part too—don’t take advantage of your DM’s patience by looking at memes on your phone instead of trying to pay attention.

All players struggle to process and take notes when the DM chucks information at them in a giant lump. When sharing important information that the players will want in their notes, slow down and take pauses for them to finish writing.

This is part of a tactic called chunking. When there’s a lot of material to deal with, break it up into small chunks that are much less daunting.

Chunking also makes repetition easter; you can check if the player processed after every chunk, and you don’t end up condemned to repeating the entire thing.

5. Give ADHDers ten seconds before something dumb they say is final.

The worst is when you misunderstand a combat scenario, say something, then the DM is like “okay dummy you walk into the fire” and you’re like “oh no, I don’t!” but they don’t let you change it.

People with ADHD often say dumb shit before they finishing processing the dumb shit. This can come across as random and stupid things, like screaming at the slumbering dragon or jumping off a cliff. When someone blurts out something dumb, you can usually tell that it’s a dumb ADHD comment (that they’ll be mortified about later). Give the the player a few seconds to realize what they said and let them decide whether they actually want to do that thing. The verbal prompt of “are you sure” often helps.

Sometimes people with ADHD make poor decisions because they were crunched for time; they didn’t have time to figure out which fancy spell to cast, so they just used their quarterstaff attack and essentially wasted the whole turn. In this case, it’s really important to give them time to process.

If they’re taking a long time on their turn, do not start a count down. Countdowns are so stressful, and I usually just start stammering and crying when they happen to me. Especially when they start with only five seconds left. I try really hard to be prepared with my action before my turn comes up, but sometimes ADHD turns my brain off, and I need patience from the DM and my fellow players.

The best way to help the player process things is to give them a prompt and then long amounts of silence. At least ten seconds. Filling the silence with words will undo any progress they’ve made.

6. Keep the game engaging.

The hardest part of being a DM is making the game engaging—but it’s what we all strive for. Engaging games are more fun for everyone, but especially for people with ADHD.

I have a lot of difficulty with reading. I went through a period in my life where I never read anything because my brain just couldn’t do it. But occasionally, I stumble upon a book that really gets my brain ticking, and I practically inhale the entire thing. A good author aspires to make their book easy to read and impossible to put down.

When you have no idea what’s going on in a book—when you reread the same passage over and over and over again and keep zoning out—that’s evident of bad writing. It’s really hard for people with ADHD to engage in things that aren’t engaging.

It’s the same way with D&D: if you’re a good DM, the players should be engaged—even the ones with ADHD.

Of course, “be a good DM” isn’t much for advice. But strive to get there; you’ll see your improvement reflected in your players’ attention.

7. Talk to each other.

The person who best knows an individual’s ADHD is that individual. They’ve lived with their disability for their entire life, and they know what things help them focus. Make sure to have conversations about which accommodations will work best in the campaign so that everyone can have fun.

All in all, for the best gaming experience: be open-minded and communicative.

Everyone at the table wants to have fun, and the tips I mentioned above can be useful for anyone, whether they have ADHD or not. Any Dungeon Master should be patient with their players and create an environment conducive to the gaming.

Want more tips? Here’s another article from a much more seasoned DM, and having ADHD myself, I reaffirm all of it.

P.S. Here’s a bonus tip, just for the players: Don’t use your phone during the game. I know that you aren’t stimulated enough and need something to fill the empty spot in your brain, but it’ll make it impossible for you to hear anything the DM and fellow players say. It might also make your DM cry at night about how terrible her game is.

Do you have ADHD or play with an ADHDer? Please share your tips and experiences in the comments!