Role Playing, Someone Else's Shoes Is More Fun

Since I have been on streak of blogging about the writing process, I figured I can take a lighter approach and talk about Role Playing. Everything Devin and I write has a flavor of Role Playing or D&D behind it, so I thought it important to explain.

If you are a fan of Sci-Fi or fantasy you understand the appeal of being taken away to a mystical realm, or several years into the future. Hell, if you read suspense or thriller you are looking for the same kind of exhilaration. You want to experience something that you couldn't in your every day life.

With playing Dungeon and Dragons, or role playing, you get to put yourself in the shoes of an inhabitant of that far off place. Sure, video games are a good substitute, but it is not the same. With Role Playing, you get to make every choice and not just between options A, B, or C that the game developer laid out for you. If you want to make that odd choice and throw the DM for a loop, it makes for a much more enjoyable experience when everyone at the table is on the edge of their seat, waiting to find out what happens next.

Speaking of people at the table, Role Playing is a social game. It brings together people with a common interest and gives them a common goal. Sure this can be done with a game of football, but you can't slay a Dracolich... plus the typical crowd at a D&D table can't throw a football anyway. Myself included.

Ultimately it is an escape like any other hobby, an outlet for relaxation even if your character that you've been playing with for a year is on the verge of death. It's an enjoyable experience and one that I have devoted my life to (Writing a book about once such campaign, check out the Novel tab)

I have made life long friends and business partners from the shenanigans of make-believe adventures. They were real to all of us.