Dungeons and Dragons is a game that, to many, represents the apex (or, to others, the nadir) of geekery. The popular perception of D&D runs thus:
-It is played by socially inept nerds, incapable of interaction with the opposite sex
-Said nerds are usually over/underweight, unhygienic, and completely lacking in fashion sense
-It has something to do with witchcraft and devil-worship
-It has a bunch of overly-complicated rules
-It uses a lot of funny-looking dice
Well I’m here to tell you that’s wildly inaccurate. Well, except for the rules and the dice. That’s pretty much true. And I suppose there ARE a lot of socially inept basement-dwellers who play the game. And strictly speaking, I HAVE played a few games with people who could have used a shower. The witchcraft thing is totally untrue, though, no matter how much Jack Chick may say otherwise.
But as with all stereotypes, the D&D image is based largely upon a mere segment of its population. There are many noted celebrities who are D&D enthusiasts. It would be as foolish to make assumptions about D&D based upon people like this as it would be to make assumptions about sports fans based upon people like this.
So why am I into D&D? I think a big part is escapism: I love getting a chance to take on the persona of someone besides myself- I can be a crafty wizard, a savage barbarian, a noble knight, a crafty thief, or any of a variety of clever characters gleaned from books, movies, television, and my own imagination. The thrill of watching a cool fight scene from Lord of the Rings is multiplied a thousand fold when you get to become Aragorn and start hacking your way through orcs.
I also like the tactical element- I think it’s a lot of fun figuring out how to take down a colossal red dragon without getting burnt to a crisp, or trying to defend a fortress against an assault made by a huge army of lizardmen.
I started getting into D&D back when I was an upperclassman in high school. My buddies and I never really had a chance to play very often, but we bought the third edition rule books and talked about it a lot. By the time we got to college, I found an off-campus gaming group that was playing Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil. It was great fun, and my first REAL D&D character, Archem the Evoker, was a champ when it came to incinerating the forces of evil with his spells.
That group began to break down after a year or so, as players drifted in and out, and my friend The Ninja and I began to seek out other gaming opportunities. We answered a player’s wanted ad at our Friendly Neighborhood Gaming Store, and we soon joined a game set in the Kingdoms of Kalamar campaign setting. Aside from a weird DM with way too many unbalanced house rules, it was a great group, and we’ve been gaming with the same people for the past 7 years or so.
But I’ll write more about that in my next post.
Excelsior!
