Dice & Escapism

This article was from a project for school

     The world is in a bad spot right now. A pandemic has infected and killed millions of people throughout the globe and headlines constantly flash bad news like the new COVID variant, failed government action, and a possible lockdown. To be honest, I am very much tired of all of it! All of this anxiety and uncertainty while juggling the struggles of online classes (like cramming this feature article) is not helping me cope with the dumpster fire we call home. But! And that’s a big “but”! Out of all the reasons I have to constantly live depressed, cold, and apathetic, there is one thing I look forward to during the weekends. And that is: destroying evil lizard cultists, singing cringey ballads, and failing dice rolls alongside my friends in the mystical world of Dungeons and Dragons.

      Now some of you may be wondering, “What the hecks that?” or “Is that the game from Stranger Things???”. First, yes, yes it is. Second, Dungeons and Dragons, or D&D, is a tabletop fantasy role playing game where the destiny of a player is determined by the almighty power of the dice. The game was first conceived by Gary Gygax in 1974 as “Chainmail”, later becoming Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. After 46 years of rules changes and controversy with satanism, the game evolved into 5th Edition D&D (or D&D 5e) and became the cultural icon a lot of people know today.  From the short trendy dances and skits on TikTok to the popularity of D&D Twitch shows like Critical Role, D&D has turned into some sort of a cultural phenomenon that has remained popular, and even gained popularity, for so many years of existence.

D&D became especially popular during the lockdowns, and for the same reason why games such as Animal Crossing and Among Us were so popular. D&D immerses people into a world of escapism, letting them forget about the troubles of reality with friends, for at least a few hours. Unlike Among Us, D&D is much more special. Instead of being about making 2000IQ big brain moves and bragging about it, the goal of D&D is not to “win”, but to be with friends, create and explore a story together, and to simply have fun… and then bragging about your 2000IQ big brain moves.

Playing D&D allows people to have a way to socially interact with others in a time we are supposed to isolate ourselves. Playing digitally also opens up a lot of new opportunities to play with people outside your typical friend group, and I’m saying this from experience. I have played a few sessions with people from as far as California and London, and they were a lot of fun to be with (despite the time difference). D&D also allows you to create characters who can basically be anything in your imagination, even a more brave and heroic version of yourself. I have played a number of characters such as Dussolin Flaskgrog, the grudge bearing dwarven paladin, and Skippy P'natbüter, the cowardly kobold bard. The great thing about the game is that you immerse into the perspective of your character, growing alongside them as the story progresses alongside those with you.

      The best part of playing D&D, and I believe I mentioned this multiple times at this point, is the importance of storytelling and roleplay as part of the immersive experience. In D&D there are two roles to play: the Dungeon Master (DM) builds and describes the world around the players, while the Players create their characters to play out their stories. D&D involves collaborative storytelling, meaning to say, everyone works to make the story together and have fun. Thus, everyone wins in the end. Matthew Mercer, known as one of the greatest Dungeon Masters in the D&D community, once said: “Role-playing games are just an organic improvised space for storytelling.” and that’s what I think makes the game itself more immersive and enjoyable. 

        Overall, with the horrible events in the world we all like to call “Reality”, sometimes we want to imagine ourselves in a world where we are free from the big problems and stresses which make every aspect of life very sad and depressing. We often tend to look at other mediums of entertainment, like games, so that we can keep our minds away from what the absolute hell is going on outside right now. We all wish we can be more braver, more heroic, and more badass, yet reality doesn’t allow that most of the time. We wish to be out there once again, to be free, but being locked down inside and seeing the planet literally (and figuratively) destroy itself makes everything simply hopeless. It is roleplaying games, like D&D, that allow us to have the freedom to ignore the brutal reality of society and experience a different world through a new perspective. A different world where failure and success, life and death are both determined by a single die. All these experiences during your adventures while travelling alongside your fellow comrades as you all play D&D and explore the mystical world of dice and escapism.