By CONOR O’ROURKE
Staff Writer
TIMELESS GAMES THAT DON’T REQUIRE A CONDOM
Don’t laugh. Don’t label. Don’t
say that it is for kids. Don’t say a dungeon master sounds
like an S&M fantasy. Don’t do any of this. Instead imagine.
Imagine being transported to worlds that existed once, in your
uncorrupted mind. Imagine releasing the cynicism that comes with
leaving behind childhood. Imagine, a giant wererat (similar to
a werewolf except that it turns into an enormous, man-eating rat)
chasing you through damp caverns and being forced to make a decision
that could kill off a character creation of your mind that has
become as much a part of you as any relationship with the opposite
sex.
Well maybe it was just that girl in the coffee shop, dressed in
all black, drinking a double-tall soy white mocha, reading Ann
Rice, and catching your eye for the fraction of a second that
sweetened your dreams for the next month, but I would still not
want to see her lovely figure dismembered by a wererat.
This is the world of Dungeons and Dragons, the popular role-playing
game based upon a series of fictitious fantasy novels that has
inspired a subculture encompassing suburban youths to college
students.
The game is the same for all who play. For those that didn’t
delay puberty and the rapid onset of hormones through a steady
diet of addictive role-playing games, the rules deserve a quick
mention. Each player creates a character and makes all the decisions
for the character.
One Dungeon Master, essentially a story-teller, guides the adventures
and describes what each character is experiencing. The Dungeon
Master has near-complete control over the game. However, like
life and theory of number 47, there is a degree of randomness
to the game, manifested through a complex code of dice throwing.
The dice may decide anything from the outcome of a battle between
an elfin cleric and a hobgoblin to determining the throwing ability
of a rogue warrior.
Sound like child’s play? Perhaps to the ear of the uninformed.
Yet the reasons to play this game are not so simple.
Chris Montgomery ’03 gave me a sampling of a typical dialogue
he as the Dungeon Master would have with a player. As I listened,
I was struck by his natural ability at storytelling.
Even though it was completely improvisational, he did not skimp
on including even the smallest details or weaving complex descriptions
of what I, as a character, was seeing and experiencing.
Montgomery, an aspiring fiction writer, feels that Dungeons and
Dragons is not just fun but effective preparation for his potential
career. “Ideally the role of the Dungeon Master is that
of an arbitrator.
The idea is to create a situation for the characters and allow
them to make choices within that situation. What we basically
are doing then is writing a joint novel,” says Montgomery.
Like any sport, Dungeons and Dragons requires a commitment from
all its players, for each plays an integral part in the adventure.
The players generally work together to traverse their way through
the story and the success of it will depend upon their ability
to work as a team. Each character has specific talents or characteristics
that complement those of other players.
I find the approach Montgomery and others take to role-playing
games similar to that of J.R.R. Tolkien in his Lord of the Rings
trilogy.
Like Tolkien, the players create a vast framework from which their
characters have come. Each one has an intriguing back story that
explains some impetus for their present actions.
The locales are complete with maps that detail even the most minute
landmarks.
The player’s emotional and psychological investment in their
characters really makes the game. “It’s really a lot
more fun when people can take on the first person and really do
some acting.
In order to get inside the character’s head, however, there
must first exist a head. In order to truly care about the character,
they must know where they are coming from and why they are doing
what they’re doing,” says Montgomery.
Before talking with Montgomery, my impression of Dungeons and
Dragons was incredibly skeptical.
The scene I pictured in my head was of several people sitting
on a floor rolling dice arbitrarily and essentially having story
time. Where is the action? I thought. The beer? The naked women?
The MTV? superficially, it may appear uninvolved and asinine.
However, I learned that the real game is within their heads.
