Long considered the realm of the nerd in his basement, Dungeons and Dragons, or D&D, tends to be understood in terms of vague references you may have heard before. Weird shaped dice, Demogorgons, Dungeon Masters. It might not make sense right now, but you should definitely look into to giving a game a go! And here’s four reasons why:
1) Brush up on your improv skills
D&D is a roleplaying game, where you create and play as a character. Alternatively, if you’re the Dungeon Master you get to play dozens of NPCs (Non Playable Characters) of your own creation! You react to situations as your character, you interact with other players and with people your character meets along the way, all the while getting to practice your acting skills. Think of it as a film that you’re writing the script of as you go along.
2) The comedy of critical fails
Rolling a d20 is the basis of Dungeons and Dragons, and if that 20-sided die lands on a 1, it’s considered a critical fail. Wanted to push an Orc off a cliff? You probably patted him on the back. Tried to stab a Beholder? Might have stabbed yourself instead. Depending on your DM, critical fails can be deadly or hilarious, but it’s definitely most fun when they’re both.
3) Socialising!
Despite the ‘nerd alone in the basement’ stereotype, D&D actually requires a group of good friends. You play with them and through the game you live and die and fight with them. In short, it’s impossible not to become close friends with your gaming group. Even if you can’t round up a group of friends to start a campaign with you, consider finding a group of people who will happily or are already playing D&D, and know that you’ll make friends with those people quicker than you can roll a dice.
4) Getting to have a part in building a world
If you’re the DM then the world is yours. You decide the customs, the politics, the creatures, the people, and you weave the threads of it all together. But the players contribute to that world too. Whether it’s from working character backgrounds into the DM’s ideas for the campaign, or through the decisions you make as you play to burn cities to the ground, murder nobility and shun the gods, you have an impact. You could, of course, also save civilisations, become the champion of a god and fight dragons. Really, it’s all up to you.
Whether you know of it only from Stranger Things or have been wanting to play for a while, consider gathering together a group of friends and starting your own D&D campaign. Alternatively look up some local gaming groups near where you live and go along to a session. I promise you won’t regret it!