Tabletop Roleplaying Games as Social Practice | John Arcadian | TEDxOhioStateUniversity

I play D&D several times a week. But maybe I should bring my kind characters to the fore more often as practice.

Running RPGs has greatly improved my ability to tell stories and generally communicate with people. Its a valuable hobby

I would like to play :/ but I have only really bad (what would you call) friends with many excuses. And I could not find any community in my town.

Is this man... Wearing a skirt?

It’s because the current education system is designed to create human robots. It creates drones and try’s its best to funnel artist, alchemist and sages into that mold. The side effect of us push left brain thinking as a culture. Creating unbalanced humans and a society. We need to reestablish this balance through art and all forms of self expression. The fate of the known realms depend upon it! Go forth hero’s of renown!

Gta v !

My son is on the autism spectrum, and I introduced him to the game a few years ago. It's done wonders for his social skills. A friend of his who is also autistic plays with him and has benefited greatly from it too.

I think I'd have liked to play with Son - he seems to be an interesting fellow ;)

Thanks for bringing this to the forefront. Narrative RPGs are an excellent way to overcome developmental challenges.

PS: Die Philosophie des Als Ob (The Philosophy of As If) was written by Hans Vaihinger in 1911. Adler and Freud referred to that book when they spoke of 'As If'.

I need this hobby in my life. I think I'll role a dice and see how t goes.

In live-role-playing weekends (LARP), seeing young and awkward teenagers role-play as assertive, courageous or confident characters was great and it was really fascinating to see how it helped them become more assertive, courageous and confident in real-life! One could begin more silent and hidden in the shadows, yet end the year as the new king of a region with a lot of duties and leadership.

I believe roleplaying games taught me more social interaction, problem solving, and thought processes than school did. On the whole, school was rote mechanics, roleplaying was stepping outside the box, outside yourself, and learning a new method of thought.

of course this dude is into dnd. his last name is friggin Arcadian..!

Well, that's one kind of magic from tabletop games. Another is, if you play yourself in the near future, manifesting becomes incredibly easy. I played a version of myself in a Mage the Ascension game in which, early on, the character found some money and bought a van. Two weeks later I got a $500 tip while cab driving, and managed to buy a van.

I have anxiety talking to people and after 8 months of playing D&D and being a DM for many sessions - I noticed I approach and can speak to stranger a bit easier. Maybe it is a bit more confident? I also notice I am extremely good a interviews. 9/10 if I get a phone interview I get 2nd and 3d interview or offered a job.

Just being able to articulate your thoughts, emotions, feelings, etc. provided me with a edge that takes people years of trial and error to hone.

It’s a kilt. Kilts are cool.

Sadly it gets you nowhere in the wardrobe department.

These games made my life. Not only helping me develop social skills from being a pretty much de-socialized loner in school, but the ability to absorb and understand complex game rules from multiple game systems ultimately helped me be a better accountant (and specialize in a technical area for more money). And through gaming I made the friend who introduced me to the woman I married. Happily married, 19 years. And they told me back when I was a kid that those games wouldn't help me meet girls. ;-)

DnD, Takahashi Kazuki's most favourite game... He loves games with real life interactions, and thats one of the reasons he created YuGiOh...

Oh come on. Endeavors with shared goals and/or interests have different social dynamics then what most people find themselves doing in real life. It's easy to function socially with your nerd friends, what's hard is when you're in a group of people with varying levels of commitment, competency, viewpoint, etc and lack the strong pull of a shared goal.

Scaly goblin feet? But... Goblins don't have scales...

Good talk, blacksmith.

Truth

Sometimes, I think like some of my tabletop RPG characters in real life situations.

True, but you're kind of in a bubble, a safe space when playing these games. You can sure learn how to interact with others, but I don't think it will efficiently prep you for conflicting situations IRL. It's a start though.

We can always practice this stuff by joking around with new people during night life. They don't know you, you might not ever see them again, they're all there to have fun so even a "failed" attempt is often appreciated. It's how I got over the social defecits of my autism.