Hobbies in Context: I roll a 19 on intelligence check…
via flickr
Another masculine pursuit worthy of the mightiest and manliest of men. Dungeons and Dragons, the quintessential spiritual successor to many of today’s role-playing genre, to me embodies much of the skills and requirements that would be good in a planner.
First and foremost, originating before the time of all this new-fangled computer graphics, it requires participants to have to actively engage in the creation of the world- ultilizing something which seems quite rare nowadays - imagination. Within this context, the suspension of disbelief, visualisation of entire worlds, as well as problem solving involved (Not all adventures are purely hack’em and sack’em, sometimes diplomacy are required, puzzles etc. its all dependent on the Dungeon Master [all innuendo aside] who effectively runs the world and is the literal god).
Which brings us to my second argument. As a Dungeon Master, you are tasked with creating an entire world. And from some of the games I’ve played, they’re pretty darn good. Players (despite common perceptions) aren’t idiots, they won’t just accept any ol’ banged together scenario. The worlds that are created are often nuanced, with considerations on politics, social culture, the economy etc. they have to be believable to the players. Now just from the short list above, one begins to see the area of overlap between this and what planners do. Yes, a Dungeon Master doesn’t have to do a cost-benefit analysis of the effects of a Lv. 5 Hill Giant Fighter with a +3 Flaming Great Axe on the local Hamlet of Townshire, but I think it gives them extra leeway for creativity and lateral approaches to creation. It doesn’t hurt that its a fantasy world either.
And one final thought on today’s short musings. Teamwork is a large part of RPGs. Stereotypes of kids hunched over in their parent’s basement being anti-social really doesn’t do the game justice. At the heart of a good role-playing experience is that each person becomes their persona, and the interactions that persona has with his fellow party-members. If they are to survive that encounter with the Elder Black Dragon they better work together and have a decent plan. Each player has a role to play, much like in contemporary work-places. There may be disagreements over the share of the booty, but at the end of the day camaraderie and team-spirit are what is at the core.
Well, that conclude’s today little triad.
via xkcd.com
