5 things about D&D

I have read a lot about the Death of Gary Gygax and what people loved about D&D. I found something interesting on 1up, 5 things to learn from D&D. Since 1up is a video game site, most of these lessons are about video games and game theory. Here are 5 more things that D&D taught me.

1. Things worth doing are worth investing time into. Any good D&D campaign is an investment in time. The shortest good rol2 playing game I ever played was 8 weeks long. You need to be willing to put in time to really get the story out of it. We live in a time where it cost a lot to invest time in something. Many people are afraid to invest time in something. Playing a role playing game is living in the moment to me. Investing time to live in the moment can be a great lesson.

2. The more creative you are the more fun you will have. The best times I have had playing role playing games is when we unlocked our mind. Let the game come to you and be creative. The DM and the players should describe what they are doing. They should put themselves in the world that they are playing in.

3. Know when to follow the rules and when to break them. Often the hard thing with D&D is knowing when the rules are a good frame work and when they are getting in the way. Let the rule guide you through the world, but do not let them be the only reason you are playing. Role Playing games are not really about dice. They are about being opening up to a world you cannot live in. If it is just about rolling dice you might as well play craps.

4. Spend time with people. The best thing about role playing games to me is that gave me time to spend with friends. We are doing something together, but it mostly was about enjoying each other. It was about telling stories, telling jokes, making people laugh, and having fun.

5. Play should be a learning experence. When I was young I heard "Play is the job of childhood." I insistently understood this. I can see how what we learn should inform who we become. I can see how we should play things that teach us things. Role Playing games taught me things about communication, teamwork, working with others, and setting goals. It taught me how to deal with random events and how to make things go my way. These are all important things to learn.

One last thing I learned was to not be too cool to play.