Equipped for Life’s Adventure: Life Skills and Lessons Learned from Playing Dungeons & Dragons
Imagine a world that teems with dungeons to explore and elves, dragons, dwarves, and other fantastical creatures to interact with. Now imagine if adventures in this fantasy realm could help you in real life. Ethan Gilsdorf in his Why Dungeons & Dragons is Good for You (In Real Life) TedxPiscataquaRiver talk says “I want to tell you a story about why our journey into a world of fantasy can help you navigate the real world (1:26-1:34).”
At its heart, Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) is a collaborative storytelling game where the outcome of players’ actions may be determined by the roll of the dice. If you undertook an adventure in a fantasy game in a positive, supportive, friendly atmosphere with stalwart, trusted companions where you learned about life, and stretched your creative and problem solving muscles, all the while having fun, would you? In all likelihood, you would.
Although it has been said that there’s no wrong way to play D&D, generally, players work together to solve problems, overcome challenges, and complete quests, through the utilization of their creativity, ingenuity, and imagination, as Mr. Gilsdorf informs us, “This game is played in the imagination (3:39-3:41).” Using the power of their imaginations and the willingness to experiment and take risks in order to overcome obstacles and challenges, players’ grow as people through these experiences, which translate over into real life.
The skills and experiences acquired by playing D&D cut across many cross sections of life, a few examples of which include—teamwork, collaboration, the aforementioned problem solving, and storytelling, because after all, who doesn’t love a good story? And the game can open doorways to new worlds, and equip you with the skills necessary and empower you to face, and overcome, your own challenges in real life, as “Life is like that dangerous dungeon — you need to be prepared, and you shouldn’t wander through it without the tools to MacGyver yourself out of trouble”, states Mr. Gilsdorf. Through the role playing of characters, oftentimes different than ourselves, we grow in character as people.
In D&D where your character earns levels through the completion of quests and oftentimes, role playing, experiences in the game can lead to your own personal growth and development and a deeper understanding of others. According to Mr. Gilsdorf, “Another step in building character is developing empathy and tolerance. You and me, we’re separate beings — I’m the “self”; you’re the “other.” So, how do we bridge that gap? Role-playing creates that intersection.” In addition, the game may equip you to see the world in different ways and help you overcome your own internal challenges as Mr. Gilsdorf states, “Deep inside each of us is a dungeon with a powerful dragon. You won’t know whether you can defeat it — or even befriend it — unless you try.”
Works Cited:
Gilsdorf, Ethan. “Why Dungeons & Dragons is Good for You (In Real Life). TedxPiscataquaRiver.” YouTube, uploaded by Tedx, 21 May 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PaHJqpQnyw. Accessed 24 January 2022.
Gilsdorf, Ethan. “How playing Dungeons & Dragons has helped me be more connected, creative, and compassionate.” Ted Talks, Ideas.Ted.Com, 9 January 2018, https://ideas.ted.com/how-playing-dungeons-dragons-has-helped-me-be-more-connected-creative-and-compassionate/. Accessed 24 January 2022.