pompompurin
girls like us are rotten to the core
- Apr 27, 2023
- 155
Dear Sanctioned Suicide,
I would like to preface this open letter with a warning. Everything that you will read from here on out is based on just my experiences and may or may not reflect the state of the hobby and or experiences of other people in said hobby. This open letter will probably be very confusing at times because I'm not that great with words, but I hope you still enjoy reading it.
Treat this as an open letter, and in a way, an account of my experiences with tabletop role-playing games.
I started playing tabletop role-playing games, and specifically Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition, in March 2024 after mentioning to a newly met friend that I would love to play but never had a chance to join a group. Suffice to say she dragged me into a discord server with her wednesday group and we still play weekly to this day.
Over the last two years I have learnt so much about myself thanks to this hobby, it allowed me to express myself in ways I never had a chance to experience. Every single character that I have made for that game is a part of myself, they might seem vastly different, but thanks to that one small gesture of inviting me in, and that group of misfits that I am proud to be a part of, accepting me for who I am, even if I'm not perfect, it gave me a safe space to explore the parts of myself that I have neglected for years on end. It just meant and still means so much to me.
Am I saying tabletop role-playing games are a wonder drug that are gonna magically help you with everything? No I'm not, but I believe with a right group of individuals it can certainly help you, as it did for me, to explore the neglected parts of yourself, and with every day, heal just a tiny bit. As of writing this post I am not longer bed-ridden, a state in which I have spent many months throughout 2023 and early 2024. I am doing way better than I was in that dark period of my life, but alas I still struggle with day to day life on occasion. I believe that with time and effort, I will be able to achieve what I thought was unachievable those few years ago, and use everything I have went through to fuel my creative work and fulfill my life-long dream of publishing a book.
Throughout 2025 and 2026 I also have been running my own campaigns and one-shots using Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition, Shadowdark, and a few different, less well-known tabletop role-playing games. Running these games also gave me a new perspective, one which I haven't really thought about before. I as a referee, game master, dungeon master, whatever you might call us, even though facilitating and running these games might be seen as mundane, I feel very proud of the work I put into my sessions, and I feel ecstatic when I can run something fun for everyone at my table, and I think a lot of us same the same sentiment. If you never played tabletop role-playing games and would like to try to referee one, just pick up a quick-start guide of a system you would think is fun, and if one doesn't exist, you might probably find the rules for free on the internet, pick some of your friends and just start playing. If you're not interested in refereeing the game, or don't have friends to play with, I feel you but all hope is not yet lost! Reach out to your local game store and ask if they host games there, or if you could host your own. There's a lot of places on the internet to also find games for beginners, for example r/lfg on Reddit, you can find so many referees looking for players, or even players looking for a game!
I truly believe that this hobby can in fact change your life for the better and give you a new perspective on the world. If you're not interested though I would like to thank you for reading this hell of a post that was probably very confusing and convoluted, and no matter where you are in life, I believe you're worth it and I would love to see you push on, and show to the world that you are stronger than everything that it might throw at you.
Sincerely,
pompompurin
I would like to preface this open letter with a warning. Everything that you will read from here on out is based on just my experiences and may or may not reflect the state of the hobby and or experiences of other people in said hobby. This open letter will probably be very confusing at times because I'm not that great with words, but I hope you still enjoy reading it.
Treat this as an open letter, and in a way, an account of my experiences with tabletop role-playing games.
I started playing tabletop role-playing games, and specifically Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition, in March 2024 after mentioning to a newly met friend that I would love to play but never had a chance to join a group. Suffice to say she dragged me into a discord server with her wednesday group and we still play weekly to this day.
Over the last two years I have learnt so much about myself thanks to this hobby, it allowed me to express myself in ways I never had a chance to experience. Every single character that I have made for that game is a part of myself, they might seem vastly different, but thanks to that one small gesture of inviting me in, and that group of misfits that I am proud to be a part of, accepting me for who I am, even if I'm not perfect, it gave me a safe space to explore the parts of myself that I have neglected for years on end. It just meant and still means so much to me.
Am I saying tabletop role-playing games are a wonder drug that are gonna magically help you with everything? No I'm not, but I believe with a right group of individuals it can certainly help you, as it did for me, to explore the neglected parts of yourself, and with every day, heal just a tiny bit. As of writing this post I am not longer bed-ridden, a state in which I have spent many months throughout 2023 and early 2024. I am doing way better than I was in that dark period of my life, but alas I still struggle with day to day life on occasion. I believe that with time and effort, I will be able to achieve what I thought was unachievable those few years ago, and use everything I have went through to fuel my creative work and fulfill my life-long dream of publishing a book.
Throughout 2025 and 2026 I also have been running my own campaigns and one-shots using Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition, Shadowdark, and a few different, less well-known tabletop role-playing games. Running these games also gave me a new perspective, one which I haven't really thought about before. I as a referee, game master, dungeon master, whatever you might call us, even though facilitating and running these games might be seen as mundane, I feel very proud of the work I put into my sessions, and I feel ecstatic when I can run something fun for everyone at my table, and I think a lot of us same the same sentiment. If you never played tabletop role-playing games and would like to try to referee one, just pick up a quick-start guide of a system you would think is fun, and if one doesn't exist, you might probably find the rules for free on the internet, pick some of your friends and just start playing. If you're not interested in refereeing the game, or don't have friends to play with, I feel you but all hope is not yet lost! Reach out to your local game store and ask if they host games there, or if you could host your own. There's a lot of places on the internet to also find games for beginners, for example r/lfg on Reddit, you can find so many referees looking for players, or even players looking for a game!
I truly believe that this hobby can in fact change your life for the better and give you a new perspective on the world. If you're not interested though I would like to thank you for reading this hell of a post that was probably very confusing and convoluted, and no matter where you are in life, I believe you're worth it and I would love to see you push on, and show to the world that you are stronger than everything that it might throw at you.
Sincerely,
pompompurin
