Dungeons & Dragons: Not Just For Men Who Live in Their Mother’s Basement

The entire group is surrounded. There are zombies and two monsters swarming the small area. I’m backed into a corner, and a monster stands in front of me. He moves closer and waits to attack. I’m almost dead as it is, and whatever is about to happen won’t help. I hastily check over my character sheet. I barely have any spells left.

“I would like to cast firebolt.”

“Roll for the attack,” Chase says, looking up from behind the screen. I take a deep breath and adjust the dice in my hand. I look around at my friends beside me. This role could be a matter of life and death. The metal feels cool against my palm. I shake my palm and throw the dice onto the table before me.

It’s 3 am in the fourth-floor study room in my residence hall. The two wooden tables are pushed together, and a group of students is standing, their chairs empty and abandoned. My friends stare intently at the board in front of us with rapt attention. A large sheet lays across the table where little figures sit. For so early in the morning, our group is awfully loud. We had been fighting the same battle for over two hours. The sound of clinking echoes through the room as dice hit the tabletop. I stand awkwardly, too excited to sit down. My d20 travels through the air and lands on a sixteen. Quickly, I glance down at my sheet and try to calculate in my head.

“Does a nineteen hit?”

Chase nods. I roll damage: two d10s, a ten and an eight. That’s almost max damage. I can feel my friends’ unspoken support radiating from their spots around the table.

“How do you want to do this?” Chase asks, looking just as surprised as I am. This is a phrase all players long to hear. The rest of the group freaks out. One down, one to go.

I rack my brain for the perfect description and say, “Thalia looks shocked, and by accident, she pulls a ray of fire from her spellbook and lobs it at the monster. The fire hits him in the chest, and he crumbles to the ground.”

Recently, Dungeons & Dragons has seeped into popular culture from The Big Bang Theory to Stranger Things. The game has further re-entered the cultural zeitgeist with not only inspiring television shows but also has gained popularity on college campuses. The role-playing game was created in the 1970s, and soon after concerned parents and religious leaders began accusing a board game of turning children to Satan. What these parents and authority figures didn’t understand is that the game has nothing to do with summoning demons but actually has definite benefits.

Maybe you’re a parent who is concerned about D&D because you’re not sure what it’s all about? Or maybe you’re someone who wants to start playing? The previous questions are all valid. This essay will explore a brief history of the game, a brief explanation of the mechanics, and the surprising amount of benefits to playing. The game really has the ability to change people’s lives for the better. Dungeons & Dragons not only provides a creative outlet but also provides players with skills they can use elsewhere.

A Brief History of Dungeons & Dragons

Dungeons & Dragons is a role playing tabletop game created by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. Dave Arneson adopted the rules from another tabletop role-playing game called Chainmail and created his own game known as Blackmoor. In 1972, Arneson ran his game for Gygax, and Gygax loved it. He then expanded the basic rule set Arneson had created and began testing the game on his children. Gygax then self-published the game, and over the next ten years, the game sold widely and was extremely popular. The company that owned the game faced bankruptcy when a company called Wizards of the Coast bought them out and possibly saved the game from destruction.

How D&D is Played in Brief

Playing Dungeons & Dragons requires a set of polyhedral dice, paper, a rule book, and, most importantly, an imagination. Literally, anything could happen. A game master, better known as a Dungeon Master (DM), plans and runs the game, helping to create the world in which the players live and interact. The DM plans interactions that include everything from puzzles, battles, and social situations. The object of the game is to find a solution to whatever plot the DM presents. The players create a character that has a race, class (this is kind of like an occupation), and a set base of stats. To understand the options for characters, thinking about Lord of the Rings can be helpful.

Some of the polyhedral dice I use to play D&D.

Some of the races characters can play range from Orcs, Elves, and Humans; while the classes can be anything such as a Wizard or a Fighter. Each class and race has different abilities that affect gameplay. For example, I currently play as a Wood Elf Wizard named

Thalia. Since my character is an elf, she has “advantage” against being charmed and can also see pretty well in the dark. Also, since Thalia is a wizard, she has access to certain abilities and spells that other classes don’t. While on the other hand, my friend Sawyer’s character is a druid. This is another type of magic that exists in the world of D&D. While Thalia’s magic comes from intellectual learning and books, Sawyer’s character’s magic is derived from nature. Being a druid gives him special spells that other magical classes, such as wizards, cannot access. There are more than just magical classes. There are also classes based on martial skills such as punching or shooting a bow. Something about Dungeons & Dragons that makes it enjoyable for everyone is the amount of choice. There is a class for everyone. There is a race for everyone. Creating a character is possibly one of the best parts about D&D, and once that character is made, they then live and interact in the world the DM creates for the players doing everything from eating dinner to saving the world from an evil being.

Growing up, I loved to play pretend. As I grew older and my imagination grew wider, people didn’t want to play magic during school breaks anymore, so I turned to the arts. I loved creating my own stories and acting. As I entered college, school became exhausting. I didn’t have time to keep up with my writing, let alone participate in school plays. I felt so lonely all the time. Yes, I had friends, but I didn’t feel like I belonged anywhere. In my junior year of college, one of my closest friends, Sawyer, asked me if I was interested in playing Dungeons & Dragons. That’s when I started playing with him and his group of players; some I knew, and some I didn’t. In those moments, I was back in the forest during recess pretending to be an elf who had magical powers. Except when I started playing Dungeons & Dragons, I wasn’t pretending. I was an elf who could do magic.

The Benefits of Playing D&D

D&D is a creative outlet. It provides a place for people to be creative and actively use their imaginations. In high school, theater was my past time. I was always in a play, and that was my creative outlet. I no longer participate in theater, but everything I loved about theater, and even playing pretend, is present in D&D. When I first came to college, I struggled with writer’s block. I didn’t feel inspired. When I started playing, for the first time in a long time, I felt inspired to write. I leave every session feeling excited and inspired with tons of ideas for writing. Playing the game reinvigorated a flame inside me that was missing. Another benefit of playing Dungeons & Dragons is the development of problem-solving skills. Players are presented with puzzles and tricks that they have to work together to solve in order to be able to move on in the game. Having good problem-solving skills not only helps students in schools but can prepare people for a competitive work environment. Besides problem-solving, D&D also teaches mental math skills. During the game, players roll dice and add modifiers in an attempt to achieve certain tasks such as shooting an arrow, casting a spell, or performing a sea shanty. From a young age, I was diagnosed with a math learning disability that made math really hard for me, especially mental math. Since I’ve started playing Dungeons & Dragons, I’ve noticed that my mental math has improved significantly. Before I played, I wasn’t able to add seven to fifteen in my head, but now I can easily do that. Mental math is also an important skill in life.

Besides hard skills that are important, Dungeons & Dragons helps players develop empathy since players have to interact with a variety of characters, professions, and races. According to a Ted Talk by Ethan Gildorf, “In fantasy gaming, you inhabit someone else’s skin. You can choose to be someone like you, or someone not at all like you. The game’s immersive narrative forces you to interact with others (elves, trolls, dragons, bartenders) all the time. In a fantasy world, you don’t wander around assuming people — and creatures — look, act and think like you. And you can’t help but imagine their predicaments and experiences.” For example, Chase, my DM, has introduced a couple of non-player characters (NPCs), one being non-binary and a gay couple. These characters have exposed at least one person in our group to gender fluidity and other LGBT experiences. Encounters with LGBT and other minority characters helps normalize the diversity that some people do not understand in the real world. Ultimately, through interacting with diverse characters, people can live more open and accepting lives. D&D also helps players learn about actions and consequences. Since the characters live in a world where anything is possible, players have the opportunity to explore and try things that they could never reasonably do in the real world. Players can do unique activities such as flying, but they can also make mistakes. Characters can commit crimes such as murder. Even though characters can freely murder, there are consequences. This can teach people about choices and that actions have consequences.

My D&D group fighting a monster.

While playing Dungeons & Dragons, people form bonds and friendships. Today, people, especially young adults, feel lonely and isolated. D&D gives a place for people to form bonds and to practice social skills and teamwork. I, like the 22% of other young adults, used to feel lonely all the time, but when I started playing D&D, those feelings started to go away. I have a consistent group of friends that meets up at least once a week to play. Our Dungeon Master, Chase, is an Outdoor Studies and Tourism major who is very creative with his storytelling and is surprisingly good at accents. He’s one of the most creative people I know, and he encourages all of us to embrace our more artistic sides. Sawyer, one of my best friends, is also an Outdoor Studies and Tourism major who loves to mountain bike in his free time. Evan is a math major who really loves 3D printing. In fact, he made each one of us a miniature in the likeness of our characters. We also play with one of Chase’s best friends from high school, Hunt, who doesn’t attend our school but is an integral part of our group. My D&D group also has other girls in it. Becca, who is Evan’s little sister, is a Biology major who plays our lovable but troublemaker rouge. Janie is a recent addition to our party. She is an Art major who is very talented at drawing. The group I play with is a unique conglomerate of individuals that are active and involved on campus and in life. Yes, we play D&D, but it’s not all we do. Playing D&D with these people exposed me to some majors and experiences I may not have met otherwise.

During game sessions, we put away our phones and focus on each other for upwards of three to four hours. What comes out of these sessions is not only the bonds of friendships but private jokes. In those hours, we have a safe space to express ourselves, and we also socialize. Our D&D group has become more than just a group of players; we are now a friend group. We spend time together a lot; whether it’s studying for a test, watching a movie, or even eating dinner together. Our group looks out for one another. From playing together, my group of friends has taken to putting away our: phones when going out to dinner. I believe it makes us feel more connected and present. D&D creates a shared creative experience: as our characters grow, we grow as humans, too. Through these shared experiences, groups form bonds and connections deeply rooted in creative expression. As a writer, I spend a lot of time alone in my room, reading and writing. Thanks to D&D, I’ve gotten better at building relationships with strangers and expressing myself.

Dungeons & Dragons provides a safe space for people to explore. While playing the game, players are forced to interact with strangers, even if the person speaking for that character is a friend. This can help people with social anxiety and even people with behavioral issues. In fact, some individuals are even running games as a form of therapy. Ever since I started playing, I’ve found that I am much better at improvisation and interacting in ways that previously made me uncomfortable, such as job interviews. From the beginning, D&D always takes place in a world that belongs entirely to the players. Anything can exist, and anything can happen. This means that the game can be a place where people can feel free to express themselves no matter what skin color they have or who they love.

There is a misconception that D&D is played by aging men who still live in their parents’ basement. This is simply not true. Dungeons & Dragons is a very influential part of our culture today. Many successful writers cite that playing D&D helped them as writers, and some even based their works on games they played. Junot Díaz told the New York Times that “the game functioned as ‘a sort of storytelling apprenticeship.’” Back when George R.R. Martin was younger, he was a Dungeon Master. Critical Role, an online streamed game of D&D made up of professional voice actors, raised $8.9 Million on Kickstarter.com to turn their first campaign into an animated series. In fact, their fundraising campaign broke Kickstarter’s record for the most-funded tv-program in the website’s history. They raised over $5.79 million in just under four days which seems unbelievable.

Dungeons & Dragons will continue to grow. It will continue to shape the entertainment industry and help build the next generation of creators. Playing D&D has changed my life for the better and has helped me grow in so many ways. I am more confident in my team-building skills, problem-solving skills, and mental math. I never thought that practicing math would be something about which I could be so passionate. I know that playing Dungeons & Dragons has already shaped my writing and creativity for the better and will continue to do so in the future. Playing D&D may not be for everyone, but it isn’t a waste of time. The game has long-lasting benefits for everyone who plays it. For a game that has been around for about forty-five years, it’s here to stay, especially in an age when loneliness and a lack of creativity makes monotonous life seem even worse. People will continue to use Dungeons & Dragons as a way to bond and escape from the dullness of reality while practicing critical thinking skills such as problem-solving and practicing hard skills such as mental math. You don’t have to be a writer to play. You don’t have to be good at math. All you need is an open mind.