Ever since I was a kid, I was enthralled with the idea of playing a game and making of its story what I wanted. It is why I love video games. That freedom to do whatever I want in the best way possible. Video games were an outlet to allow me to be a hero and save the world.
Only when I got older did I realize that as massive and expansive as many of these games were, they were limited by what had been programmed into them. While modern games have improved on the concept of “open-world”, there is still something lacking in that somewhere along the lines of code a player will run into an action that should be possible, but it isn’t.
When I was young, I always wanted to play Dungeons & Dragons. I loved fantasy and the concept of dice rolling to make a story just sparked a great interest in me. My mom always told me about her D&D games from her college years and how great it was to play. Unfortunately, my circle of friends didn’t share my desire and I would let Dungeons & Dragons elude me for the next fifteen years–though, I did buy the Starter Set for fifth edition with the core rules of the game.
One day when perusing YouTube, one of the games channels that I follow posted a video of themselves playing D&D to celebrate their 2 million follower mark. I watched it because I love the people and figured it would be an interesting take to see how D&D is played from the viewpoint of people who had never played it. I was floored. It was so entertaining and so cool that I couldn’t help but fall in love with the game.
The thing that drew me in the most was the limitations in D&D being so different than those in video games. Yes, Dungeons & Dragons still has rules, but the rules themselves serve as general guidelines for the behaviors in the realms of D&D. What that means is they are flexible and up to the discretion of the dungeon master and the players where as in a video game a certain action may not be executable because there is no line of code that dictates it. Dungeons & Dragons harnesses the power of imagination and the rules serve a purpose to balance the world, not restrict the player.
Basically, the sky is the limit. Since I started playing D&D in January of 2018, I have played and run multiple sessions in which the rules as they are written would have been very restrictive if taken literally. Every table of D&D is different and some players are going to come up with solutions to problems that were not thought of before that exact moment. The rules exist fluidly so creativity can be rewarded. Thinking in binary terms limits the potential for good experiences.
That is not to say that games cannot offer a semblance of choice. In fact, many games have sections in them today where the outcome can affect the larger part of the story. The difference here is those choices are limited. There is a set number of outcomes to end a game. While that isn’t necessarily a bad thing–sometimes stories have to end a particular way to make sense within the realm of the story–it can leave players feeling cheated or railroaded. D&D offers an alternative to that by allowing the players the ability to spark an entirely different outcome than the one that was originally intended.
This is where I’ve found the most benefit from Dungeons & Dragons. As a dungeon master, I have had several tables insist on trying something I had nothing prepared for, but I encouraged their actions regardless. At that point, it is on the dungeon master’s improvisational skills to make for an interesting side story to the main quest or to take the journey in an entirely new direction. Role-playing games exist to be free form and organic. Stifling a player’s decisions just because “it doesn’t work that way” is the excuse we give to binary methods of thinking.
That said, sometimes a player will want to do something that isn’t possible. Dwarves do not have wings and lack the ability to fly unless they have arcane ways of doing so. So, what they roll to try will never change that fact. However, a dungeon master can use the situation to cite a rule or she can creatively diffuse the player’s actions. In this instance, I would definitely let the dwarf try. Then I would explain how majestically they fell five feet to the ground and smashed their face as they realized that gravity was more formidable a foe than they had realized. A table of players will often appreciate being allowed to try things they want to try even if the things they want to try are silly. It adds humor to the group, encourages role play and, most importantly, inspires more creative approaches to new scenarios.
D&D has taught me a lot about improvisation, but it has really taught me about allowing creativity to grow. Encouraging and supporting new approaches to problems and tasks often helps us to find the most appropriate and effective means of dealing with an issue. I would say that this not only improves capabilities in a work environment, but on a personal level, too.