by Patrick Allan, 9 Feb 2015When you hear about role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons, you probably picture a dimly-lit basement filled with people in silly robes rolling dice, but there's much more to it than that. Not only are role-playing games incredibly fun, but they can actually teach you skills you'll use in the real world.
When I first heard about role-playing games, I immediately thought it was something that was just for the nerdiest of nerds out there. I could only imagine how ridiculous it would feel to sit around a table with other people and act like someone—or something—else, pretending to fight goblins and dragons. The entire premise just sounded way "too geeky" for me—even as someone who was way into video games and other "nerdy" things.
Fast forward a couple years, and I found that I was completely wrong. As soon as I took a moment to strip away the facade of monsters and swords, role-playing games revealed themselves to be something far more interesting than other traditional games. Behind the fantasy adventures was a fun social gathering that required you to think on your toes, solve problems, be creative, and ultimately learn how to become a team player. Sound familiar? Yeah, that's because it's like every job out there. It turned out that it really wasn't about the dungeons or the dragons at all—it's about thinking critically and working like a team.
Now I indulge in role-playing games as often as I can. It's nice to have an escape from the toils and troubles of the real world, but with every game session I play, I find that I actually learn something as well. Maybe it's about myself and the way I think, maybe it's something about one of my friends that brings us closer together, or maybe I just find a new way to look at something that I hadn't thought of. I've learned that role-playing games are about more than playing a game, and more importantly, that they are for everybody.
The BenefitsPlaying Cultivates CreativityCreativity is the bread and butter of role-playing games. They have a certain quality that allows you to transcend typical game interactions. You have real freedom and the ability to move the story forward how you see fit. There are rules for each game, but they are merely the skeleton to whatever story you and your team want to create.
Storytelling is one of the most powerful ways to activate our brains, and role-playing games do this incredibly well. When we tell stories—or experience them—our brains have to process language, the cause and effect of events, and also relate it to our own pre-existing experiences. While you're playing a role-playing game, your brain is firing on all cylinders.
It's good for you, the same way socializing or reading a book is good for you. In fact, as Jon Michaud of The New Yorker explains, reading comes with the territory:
...D. & D. is a textual, storytelling, world-creating experience, a great apprenticeship for a budding author. But, more fundamentally, you cannot play D. & D. without reading—a lot. Ed Park, in an essay on D. & D. (included in the anthology "Bound to Last"), celebrates the magnificent vocabulary of the game… Combined, the player's manual, the Dungeon Master's guide, and the monster manual (the core books of advanced D. & D.) add up to four hundred and sixty-eight pages of small-print, double-column text. I read them with studious devotion and headlong glee. Almost immediately, television all but disappeared from my life.Before Michaud started playing, he spent his days watching TV while his grades were plummeting. As soon as the fantasy of D&D came into his life, however, that all changed. Michaud even goes so far as to say that Dungeons & Dragons "saved his life" because it got him on a better life track after reading more and finding something that excited him. Perhaps it won't save your life, but it can still enhance it. As you play, you'll develop creativity in a way you might not have experienced before. Whether you're running the game as the "Dungeon Master"—controlling what happens to the players—or simply playing as one of the characters, your storytelling ability will increase.
Dungeon Masters—also called Game Masters in some games—must be particularly good storytellers. Even if you're using a pre-made adventure with most of the work already done, you still have to be ready to come up with dialogue and personalities for the non-player characters, and be able to vividly describe the world your players explore. As a player, you have to find ways to make your character more interesting by creating personality quirks or a rich backstory.
Role-playing games force you to draw from what you know and create something that you and others can enjoy. A lot of famous creators have been influenced by Dungeons & Dragons as well. Comedian Stephen Colbert, writer George R. R. Martin, comedian Robin Williams, Simpsons creator Matt Groening, and Community creator Dan Harmon all played at one time or another. Storytelling is the one of the most basic creative skills that you can draw on for so many other skills, and being a good storyteller can even make you a more charismatic person. Dive in to another world and see what kind of cool stuff you can come up. You might surprise yourself with what you come up with.
Playing Levels Up Your Social SkillsWhen you think Dungeons & Dragons, you probably don't think social skills—but once again, that's a stereotype that doesn't necessarily hold true. Role-playing games are 100% social. You need to be able to talk to other people, express how you feel about certain situations, all in a group of people. Role-playing games come with a social network built directly into them.
Sure, to an extent, video games do the same thing—but it isn't quite the same. Role-playing games bring the interaction right to your face, no screens between you. Plus, you get to hang out with your friends. Before and after a play session, you can catch up with what they've been up to and share what's going on in your life. Once you know the rules for a particular game, you can easily make new friends too. You can hop into other game groups and make new friends; the process being easier because a giant plot of common ground is right out in the open. Making friends when you move can be really tough, but you can hit up a local game and hobby shop to see if there are any groups looking for more players.
Read the rest at: http://lifehacker.com/the-surprising-benefits-of-role-playing-games-and-how-1684582789/+tinaamini
