If you haven’t had the chance to listen to the second PvP / Penny Arcade podcast where they play Dungeons and Dragons, you’re missing out. I highly recommend it if you’ve ever wondered exactly how a tabletop gaming session goes. If you’re familiar with tabletop gaming, listen because they’re just a ton of fun!

I also recommend you listen to a recent episode of the Penny Arcade “Downloadable Content” podcast in which they do nothing but talk about D&D. Honestly, I got really excited listening to them talk about Gabe’s game, because their enthusiasm for the experience is something I and many of my tabletop friends feel regularly. It was more than a bit engaging to hear that enthusiasm on a podcast from guys I respect.

The podcasts dovetail nicely with Wil Wheaton’s series of posts to his site this week all about DMing a first session for his son and friends. It’s broken up into five parts, with the final part offering up some really very sound DMing advice for folks who may not have tackled the noble pursuit all that often in the past. He and Gabe (in posts to the PA site) are doing a great job of demystifying a hobby that I fear has a lot of weird baggage and miscommunication associated with it.

All this is a lengthy way of saying that I’m really very enthused with the reaction 4E is getting among these nerd culture icons. It’s my fervent hope that Scott, Jerry, Mike, and Wil talking so fervently about the hobby will get more people involved, more people interested, and maybe make this fantastic new edition of the rules a bit higher profile in the domain of general geekery.

If you want to play and haven’t yet, tomorrow’s actually a great day to start. It’s one of a number of Worldwide D&D game days happening this year! Just head over to the official Wizards of the Coast website to find information and locations near you. They’ve got a great event tracker on the site that will be able to set you straight on what’s happening in your area.