Dungeons and Dragons

[AnOrangeDonut]

This has been one of the most useful coping strategies for me. For the uninitiated Dungeons and Dragons (aka D&D) is a Table Top Role Playing Game (TTRPG) where you and a group of friends sit around a table and pretend to be different people and solve problems and go on adventures lead by a Dungeon Master (DM).

I myself am a DM and I often find myself putting in story themes that pertain to my own traumas. Due to this a very prominent thing in our games is child abuse and slavery (Note: I myself have never been a slave) and we often have NPCs who are very vulnerable and traumatized. Sometime simpler problems in my life (unrelated to trauma) can be solved by my players in creative ways so long as I incoperate my issue into the game.

My players are all my friends and I am very fortunate to be able to trust them a lot. They all have similar life issues and none of us have felt very comftable talking about them strait out. This has let me and them kinda indirectly be comforted by eachother. Also they're all super understanding when I go on a 6 month leave of the game because my brain thought depression would be funny.

Also its just best game ever. D&D is so many things; the books, the writing, the mini painting, the drawings. It only worries me when I dont love it as much as I usually do.

 

[Grav]

Long time RPG player and wargamer. Having friends to just hang out with, share a fun time, snack, and just relax always has been good for my brain, to the point that my wife will ask if I have upcoming games cause I'm getting down. I mostly paint but all of it is appealing. Going on 40+ years of rpgs, wargames, and minis.

 

[Futile]

I'd like to try playing d&d at least once but I have no friends so I can't. But I really love the computer games: baldur's gate, neverwinter, icedale, planescape torment, pathfinder etc.

I realize it's not the same thing, but it's the closest you get when you're alone

 

[Grav]

And covid doesn't help. The online tabletop simulators don't have the feel of personal gatherings and more like old-timey radio when talking. We had one guy drop out b/c it wasn't as fun and didn't keep him interested, I'm the same way but I do like to hang out with the gang. We're a laid back group and are light on the roleplay (no potential actors in the group) and it's more about hanging out and having fun than being almost a LARP. Most of the group has been together since at least Jr. High and for a couple of us before that (going on 50+ years as friends). Gaming in general is more accepting of people than other activities I've been involved with. In the early days everyone was a nerd/outcast so we all gravitated towards each other; it's a bit more mainstreamed now due to marketing, etc. If you have a game store near you (board, rpg, dice, cards) just browsing around can result in meeting new people or at least chatting with them and feeling them out. I will say gaming and all the hobby that goes with it has been a good activity to look forward too, and that was even in the great Panic of the 80s.

 

[Mentalmick]

Don't play myself but I watch a YouTube channel called Dicebreaker which covers d&d as well as other RPGs and boardgames.

 

[Donk]

It'll be cool if SS members can play D&D together

 

[AnOrangeDonut]

It'll be cool if SS members can play D&D together

We could on like discord and things, if you found ppl comfortable shearing that information

 

[WaitingForTheBusInTh]

I had a group I used to play with, for about 2 years. I guess I was annoying or something because one of the group started DMing for the group a different day of the week and slowly everyone stopped going to my nights but kept going to his...
I love D&D and I have most of the 5e books but i have no one to play with and i really don't want to go through that experience again

 

[Grav]

We're doing discord and it works "ok", the tools to control gameplay are new but also a bit clunky. So much more fun playing in person.

I had a group I used to play with, for about 2 years. I guess I was annoying or something because one of the group started DMing for the group a different day of the week and slowly everyone stopped going to my nights but kept going to his...
I love D&D and I have most of the 5e books but i have no one to play with and i really don't want to go through that experience again

Yep, that's one of the failures of gaming (board, mini, rpg, larp). Most people don't know how to critique or comment without sounding like they're bashing. Sometimes it's just a simple thing like "I'd like more descriptions" or "more dungeon delving". People are turning around on this, usually with a "session 0" to lay out the format, desires of players and GM, do's/don'ts and such. It's hard to know if you were doing something that people didn't like if the people don't say. Maturity has a lot to do with it and I know from experience I've finally matured, after decades of being on the planet (it was a revelation I shared with my wife, she laughed). To me, any kind of gaming is good gaming. It gets people together and helps to create or heal connections to others and get us through till the next game.

 

[Fehler]

My players are all my friends and I am very fortunate to be able to trust them a lot. They all have similar life issues and none of us have felt very comftable talking about them strait out. This has let me and them kinda indirectly be comforted by eachother. Also they're all super understanding when I go on a 6 month leave of the game because my brain thought depression would be funny.

Lovely

I did a D&D game with some friends a long time ago (we didn't finish it) and now I'm writing a campaign from 0; I don't think it will ever be played but it serves to distract me.

 

[Grav]

Lovely

I did a D&D game with some friends a long time ago (we didn't finish it) and now I'm writing a campaign from 0; I don't think it will ever be played but it serves to distract me.

I do the same thing.