Story By: Sophia Cooper
MONTEVALLO, Ala. — When people talk about tabletop roleplaying games, also known as TTRPGs, you tend to hear a range of different reactions. Some people love them and swear by a good 20-sided dice, but others aren’t so easily convinced.
TTRPGs — like Dungeons and Dragons or Pathfinder, for example — can be a source of discomfort for a lot of people who aren’t familiar with them. Afterall, roleplaying as a fictional character with your closest friends isn’t everyone’s idea of a perfect Friday night; such a situation might sound absurd or embarrassing to an outsider.
Contrary to popular depictions of TTRPGs and the people that play them, TTRPGs can be a source of community, comfort and self-reflection. Lots of people can benefit from giving it a shot, so here are four reasons you should consider playing a TTRPG.
1. Feed your imagination
Your brain is a muscle, and it’s just as important to exercise your imagination as it is to stay in shape. TTRPGs allow players to come up with creative solutions for puzzles and overcome challenges.
TTRPGs differ from other mediums of entertainment in that there is an interactive element.
In this blog post by Tristan Shelley, Shelley talked about the ways in which TTRPGs can fuel your creativity: “TTRPGs are not just about playing a game or telling a story, it’s about using your imagination to spark creativity,” he said. “It allows an element of interactivity in what the players choose to do.”
TTRPGs are a source of escapism for many people. They can allow you to separate yourself from your stress and spend a few hours in another world in which you can do whatever you put your mind to.
Additionally, in this recent study of TTRPGs and their psychological benefits, the authors looked into the ways TTRPGs were studied in trials and found that TTRPGs “facilitate[s] cognitive function in problem solving and creativity, since players learn to immerse themselves into the story, the rules, and collaborate to develop the scenario based on multiple decision-making processes.”
2. Connect with people
While some TTRPGs allow for solo play, most of them require you to have a group of people to play with.
In that same blog by Shelley, he said “Outside of the game, the people you play with have the potential to become close friends; some may become more like family. When you seek adventure together, you build upon your social and public speaking skills just by interacting with the other players and characters.”
TTRPGs unite people with common interests, much like how clubs do. By joining a group that plays TTRPGs, you are opening yourself up to new friendships that could last a lifetime.
In D&D I have found an outlet, an escape, and a community that I never expected to find.
Brian Ludden
3. Become a better communicator
In order to play TTRPGs, you need to talk to your fellow players at the table to solve puzzles, keep track of plot points, and interact with nonplayer characters. This is where communication skills come in handy.
If you aren’t great with communication, TTRPGs are a great place to foster those skills. In the study of TTRPGs and their psychological benefits, the authors concluded that TTRPGs “can be employed to promote social skills, such as facilitating better communication skills among the players.”
Even if you already consider yourself a pro at communication, TTRPGs can help strengthen that skill even further with puzzle-solving and teamwork. Everyone has something to gain or skills to build using TTRPGs as a tool.
4. Explore your identity
It’s time to address the elephant in the room: roleplaying.
To play a TTRPG, you have to create a character to play as. The prospect of roleplaying as a character with your peers can scare potential players away. However, making characters allows a safe space for identity exploration, self-reflection and building empathy.
Creativity blends into empathy in tabletop roleplaying games. You live someone else’s life and you try to imagine a world and how they would react.
Dr. Cathlena Martin
Have you ever wished you were a larger-than-life hero? Maybe you always wished you were stronger, more charismatic, or fearless. In TTRPGs, you can explore that desire and play as anyone you want.
“You get to be a new character with every campaign you’re in.” said Dr. Cathlena Martin, the associate professor of the Game Studies and Design program at the University of Montevallo.
Dr. Cathlena Martin says that when you are put in scenarios in TTRPGs, you are encouraged to think about how your character would react. She added “Creativity blends into empathy in tabletop roleplaying games. You live someone else’s life and you try to imagine a world and how they would react.”
Additionally, making a new character doesn’t just give you a place to become someone entirely new. Roleplaying can sometimes reveal things about yourself that you would never have considered.
In this blog from the Center for Deployment Psychology, the author, Brian Ludden, discusses how TTRPGs allow people to explore coping mechanisms in a safe, controlled environment and that playing them can improve your mental health. He discusses his own experience with TTRPGs, specifically during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I felt, much like many, a longing for connection, conversation, and to just be with other people. As the pandemic pushed on, my mental health further declined, and my depression became more and more apparent,” Ludden said. It was then that he joined some peers to play in a campaign of Dungeons and Dragons. “After that first session, I was hooked. … In D&D I have found an outlet, an escape, and a community that I never expected to find.”
For many people, TTRPGs can be a place of solace, safety and healing.
In conclusion
At the end of the day, trying out a TTRPG can feel like a leap of faith. It can be hard to allow yourself to become another person — but you never know what you’ll be missing if you don’t try. So, take a chance and roll the dice; you might just end up getting a critical success.
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