Why do you Play Dungeons and Dragons?
We’ve gone, now, without a regular D&D game for several months. Mainly, it’s due to the 4E malaise, like I’ve said before. I also said before that I see myself playing D&D pretty much forever.
It almost seems like the two ideas are incompatible, at first; if I’m not playing now, what makes me think I’ll pick up dice again? Something deep down tells me I will. I don’t know if I can explain it fully; maybe it’s just that the malaise is starting to lift. Maybe I’m just basing it on past history - I’ve almost never gone for more than a little while without playing.
But why? Why will I play D&D forever, even though I’m taking a break from it for right now?
For me, I think it boils down to a few specific things:
- I play Dungeons and Dragons to spend time with my friends. Can I spend time with my friends doing other things? Of course. But some of the best memories we’ve got are D&D memories.
- I play Dungeons and Dragons because I like the role aspect of roleplaying games. I like being someone else for a while, or even just being evil Bob in a safe environment.
- I play Dungeons and Dragons because I’m a fantasy geek. Yeah, LOTR was great, but its at least 2 years until The Hobbit, and Eragon just didn’t do it for me. I need fantasy entertainment, and lots of it. D&D Novels are fine, but I like me some live action (not to be confused with LARP).
- I play Dungeons and Dragons, most simply, because I have fun. There are a handful of experiences I enjoy more, and most of them are things like spending time with my family or eating. I just enjoy the game, for all of the above reasons and for a hundred reasons I can’t even express.
So, what about you? Why do you play D&D?
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18 Responses to “Why do you Play Dungeons and Dragons?”
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Awesome Deals!
We’re on a break, too, only because we’re too busy to game. But since I discovered gaming only a few years back, I’ve never wanted to do anything else. Here’s why:
1 - I crave the escapism
2 - I love the creativity required to play
3 - I love the storytelling, both listening and leading
4 - I love creating characters and their history
5 - I love seeing just how much I can become my char
6 - I enjoy watching others loving my work
7 - RPG has taught me a lot about life
8 - I learn more about myself when I game
9 - I become a better writer
Now, granted, I’ve never played tabletop in my life. People don’t do that in Quebec, and come on… French D&D? But I have played online and while I may be on a break now…
I will play again. And Bob? You will play again too. Sooner than you think
There was a time not too long ago when I thought I should hang up my dice and “grow up”. I had a business and responsibilities to focus on, right?
Truth was, I never missed anything more. I missed the sociability and the creative outlet. I missed characters that had become old friends after having played them for so many years (I don’t subscribe to the concept of constantly killing off characters just to get a better one with more goodies). I missed telling some of the best stories that left the players’ heads spinning in a good way.
I play for many of the same reasons James does. I game because it enriches other aspects of my life. Is that sad or geeky? I don’t think so.
Harrison McLeod’s last blog post..Drive-By-Shooting Sundays: The Writer’s Manifesto
Simple. Because I believe that human beings can sit around a table and do something besides discuss last night’s latest episode of “The Apprentice.” Gaming is an antidote to the mass media.
Trask
For the past few years, I have been DMing and Playing D&D 3.5e. I actually started when I was 10 or so, my parents started me with “Advanced Dungeons & Dragons”
since then, I can’t stop. I either DM or Play every other week or so, with my friends and family. My sister got me into 3e in 2003 and I converted to 3.5 when it came out. I love playing, mainly because of a few of reasons.
1) It gives me time to think about more than just school and work.
2) I enjoy spending time with my friends and family.
3) I believe DMing is an art form. Using a gaming session to express a point of view, or to evoke certain emotions from my players has been what I’ve become good at.
4) I play D&D because I enjoy RPing someone other than myself. Sometimes I get so into character, that if my character is supposed to be injured, I act injured for the duration of the encounter.
5) In most of my gaming groups, AD&D stands for Attention Defficite Disorder (Ignore the Ampersand). I have ADD, as does over half of my D&D friends. I enjoy spending time with others as inelegant, yet insane as I am.
I think that’s it. If I forgot anything, I’ll probably post it later.
Why am I called KnowItAllDM?
Because
“The Dungeon Master Who Knows All The Rules In Every Dungeons & Dragons Book Ever Published”
just won’t fit.
The loss of oneself into an other world….Time away from the every day life and problems.
To share time with others who enjoy the same things I do.
And there is just something to leaving your fate up to the roll of the die.
@ James (Did you ever notice how many of my comments start out that way? Not saying it’s a bad thing.) Why not 13.2 reasons?
You made me nose my decaf with the French D&D comment.
So, when we playin’? What do you have rolling around in that crazy Canadian head of yours?
@ Harry - I went through that phase from 13 to 22. I missed the transition to 2nd edition and the Time of Troubles in the Forgotten Realms, that was about it.
@ Trask - I like it. Well said.
@ KnowItAllDM - Thanks for stopping in! I especially like #3. What was it Dave Noonan said about DMs having a god complex?
@ Bog97th - Welcome! Sounds like there will be less die rolling in 4th, but I get what you’re saying
Thanks, all, for the comments, and sorry it took so long getting back. Been a couple of crazy-ass days.
The DM’s last blog post..Why do you Play Dungeons and Dragons?
I play because it is fun. I enjoy creating characters and thinking up fun personalities totally different from myself to play. I like to DM because I like to create. I enjoy sitting in my room and thinking of all of the fun adventures my party could go off and do.
Kimmie’s last blog post..The Sims 2: Free Time
@ Kimmie - I hear you. I consider myself lucky, in some regards, that there are players willing to share my little goofy creations.
The DM’s last blog post..Conan, the Destroyer of Dungeons and Dragons
How did we get this far down the list and no one has ever mentioned Doritos? Are you sure you guys play?
Role playing is absolutely our core social/entertainment/intellectual pursuit. We feast, we talk , we game. We create, we debate, we sometimes even illuminate. Maps are drawn, political intrigues unfold, and mythical creatures populate our collective imaginations as we weave stories late into the night. There is nothing else like gaming. Those in the tribe know this. Those outside of it will never understand.
I am a gamer.
Sue Londons last blog post..Heave that Talent and Creativity
@ Sue - heh heh heh… we’ve graduate to full-fledged nachos and queso dip here…
You’re right about “the tribe.” There are some other religious and civic organizations that have similar practices. Without trying to be profane, our doritos wind up being our communion wafers, and Mountain Dew our wine.
The DMs last blog post..How To Kill Your D&D Game Without Really Trying
No, I’m sure that inferring both Dr. Demento and the Catholic Church in one brief thought could never be considered profane… My only regret is that I didn’t think to do it myself.
I don’t know about you, but I can totally hear a Cardinal rustling around the kitchen in the Vatican saying, “If there are any girls there I want to DO them!”
(My apologies to all my Catholic friends. But you have to admit that’s funny.)
overcoming obsticals,the best one is what around
the next corner. if you have one goal per player.
mine was get to 11th level (shadizar). find,get,
steal,beg,kill,wish for hammer of thuder bolts
(zorpal) has a thor complex.
my bad thunder bolts
a thief who wants to be thor the shame of it all
should have been a barbarian.
I play to get my mind off of stressful things like school or work. Its like that little trap door to wherever i feel like being. I feel that me and my friends should do more than just sit talking about what we did in Warcraft last night or what was so exiting on Tv. Its addictng and i feel you should pull out those dice and find some club and start feeling the fun. Hope you play =)
I’ve been playing a long time, 31 years with short breaks.I can always remember my first game and the feeling of excitement I got even rolling my first few dice and generating “Phineus” my magic user.(I dont remember the face of the first woman I slept with with the same clarity).Even the collection of odd shaped dice excited me when I opened the box, like rare gems from far flung places.
I have mostly been a DM over the years,about 70/30, so it has always been a creative outlet. When I’m not the DM I love the role play and the sense of danger and adventure (which is always a good thing in the safe and sterile western world).
I have long standing friends who started out as fellow D & D players ,but now have been steady friends for almost 30 years in some cases whom I socialise with outside the game (although the conversation always turns to D & D at some point).
I have always had friends outside the game but the bond I have with fellow players is stronger, possibly through the illusory adversity we have faced together in the game (I don’t know for certain, just a thought).
I have been entertained, frustrated, challenged, rewarded and ultimately captivated by this game.Give it up ? Never!
One huge advantage of the game is that it doesn’t require any particular physical prowess to play so why not keep playing when you are 90 years old ?
I’m a CS teacher, and sometimes after being messed with by the football coaches it helps me release by watching my fellow allies slay a few orcs in the world I created.
I’d say that in my recent (very short) amount of time using my friend as a practice player for DMing I’ve come to love Dungeons & Dragons. I’ve played a few games as well that I wasn’t the DM except the first time I did it was HORRIBLE (due to having a perverted DM and one that wasn’t serious, also didn’t know any of the rules) at first I figured he did then I kind saw how much he ACTUALLY knew and realized that he wasn’t a good DM. But the reason I like playing Dungeons & Dragons is for the pure fact that you can play some one else for a change, slaughter some goblins to get rid of any stress you have accumulated today. But also for the fact that it has the FREEDOM most games don’t (video games I mean).I think there is absolutely NO GAME OUT THERE, than can compete and win with old school Dungeons & Dragons just because you have the ability to do what you want to do …