A game about the power of imagination
Do you like stories? About dragons and kingdoms and heroes? About sacrifices and creatures from beyond this plane? About magic? Have you ever wanted to be a part of it? (I don’t quite believe you if you say no, every one of us played pretend when we were kids) This is increasingly started to sound like an advertisement. Sorry ‘bout that. So recently, I started playing a game. Now, hold on, I’m not a gamer or an addict, this article is not about my latest obsession (or maybe it is). What I’m talking about is a tabletop role-playing game with a little bit of stats and a hell lot of fun – Dungeons and Dragons. If you are a nerd or closely watch pop culture, you must have heard about this game. Stranger Things started off with this game. The concept is pretty simple, there is a Dungeon Master who narrates the story, and other people who play as various characters. You roll dices (there are six different kinds of dices) and mark things in your character sheet. Being the huge nerd that I am, I always heard about this game but never quite knew how to begin, especially back at home. Coming to university, being introduced to other freaks like me, I have had a lot of opportunities. One of them was to try my hands at D&D. And it has been one of the best experiences ever. See, the fun thing about this game is you can go crazy with your imagination and no one would judge you, you can talk in that weird voice, scream randomly, have a character raised by harpies and can’t properly speak (I have one in my party), sing songs in between for no apparent reason other than the fact that you play as a Bard (those are the music folks in the game), and seriously nobody would judge you, because that’s exactly what you are supposed to be doing. I play as a half-elf gender neutral Warlock called Nox with a tiny dragon on my shoulder. Nox can use magic to blow stuff up but you can play as anything. A dwarven rouge fighter, or an elf druid or a Tiefling bard signing the most obnoxious songs with a battel ukulele. This is a game about the power of imagination and there is no end to what you can be! This game allows you to be a child again fighting monsters and doing the most random stupid things, essentially its play pretends for adults. We can all allow that inner child to take over sometimes. It’s also a great way to pause your daily life a few times a month and to just have some fun to blow stuff up. And all you need is some pen, paper and dices and you are ready to go. Try it out, I promise you will have a great time! P.S. – All the resources you need can be found at dndbeyond.com or roll20.net
– Surabhi Mishra