Despite all of this, there are some "regions" of Nerddom that even I will not travel. Up until recently, the most prominent of these was Dungeons and Dragons. Yep, D&D. The quintessential table-top role-playing experience. I'm sure that at some point I shall return to this topic, probably with a list, and talk about the whys and hows behind it all. For now, though, I just want to relate something of a revelation I have had since our party first set foot into the dark and mysterious caverns of "Undermountain."
There are several reasons why I never got around to actually playing D&D when I was young (the period when you can pretty much experiment with ANYTHING and get away with it), including several failed attempts at running games with my younger brother and a curious incident in which I was almost choked to death by an acquaintance in an argument over a role-playing sourcebook. But really, the main reason was of course the Stigma involved. I capitalize the term here because this is such a common and well documented phenomena, almost universally regarded to be fact, that it would seem to have taken on all requisite qualities of a proper noun.
The thing about the Stigma, though, is that it is only about half as accurate as the rest of the world would tell you. Many would assume that the reason for playing these games stems from an underlying desire, or even need, to pretend to be something that you wish you could but never can be. This is the type of crap that fuels the minds of people who indulge in pure bouts of unrelenting fantasy. What it really is, at least as far as I've experienced, is something more akin to listening to some one's story and to helping them tell it at the same time. The end result is something far closer to being in a play or even reading a book than to acting out childish fantasies and magical dreams. If you don't believe me, just ask Vin Diesel. Mother#$%&"& LOVES D&D.
Listen, I'm not condoning capes and staffs here (unless of course you are in the habit of practicing vigilantism, in which case cape away). And sure, there are dice. And tables. And rules. And possibly even a crazily dressed dude behind the table running the dice AND the rules. But really, how is that any different than sitting in a casino in Vegas?
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