Why Dungeons & Dragons is Good for You (In Real Life) | Ethan Gilsdorf | TEDxPiscataquaRiver

"...you sit down to Thanksgiving dinner. Roll initiative"

I'm 50 years old. My children are grown, and they play D&D with me on a semi weekly basis, and have been since they were around 10. We bonded slaying monsters and telling fantasy stories. I'll probably play with my grand children. I've been married 28 years, have my own business, and I will play until I can't hold the dice anymore! Game on!

You come across a good tedx talk, take d6 inspiration

IRL I'm a tiny, 5'1", full-time nurse, and full-time student. However, in D&D I'm a big scary barbarian woman wielding a broad sword. I enjoy playing a dumb and impulsive/reckless character because I can never act that way as a real life healer. Every day when working in the ICU or studying for classes I critically think to solve problems. As a barbarian I get to turn all of that off, "rage", and hit things harder than any other character on the board can. It's empowering, really. -Niki, Registered Nursomancer.

"Your torches, your grappling hook, your backpack..." Your 50 feet of rope! Seriously. Who leaves home without 50 feet of rope?!

in my first game, in my first action, I rolled a 1 on Dex and broke my leg. we couldn't stop laughing.

I made a mediator character who wasn't a cleric, but well educated in medical field. My friends thought it was stupid, but I wanted to go for it. Any time he was present I talked out every issue we had with the enemy, helped those monsters out and usually befriended them, if not at least were allowed on our merry way. I'd patch up creatures, medicate baby orcs, revive and treat those that needed it. Work out peace with villages and tribes of goblins. We got to a point where the BBEG was one who refused logic, couldn't respond to reason, and after putting myself at risk and approaching in a diplomatic way, he struck me down. And my friends had to retreat. As my friends planned new ways to get revenge in a near by town, they here what they thought was an army coming to wreak havoc on the town. When they went outside they saw it was the Orc tribe that swore an oath of honor to pay me back, sentient animals who we explained their new mental state and introduced them to the city nearby, The goblin and the villagers who had developed a booming economy and have been working together since, giants, a dragon and an assortment of other races, and creatures that I had helped. The word had spread of my death, and those that I had helped knew that only something of pure death and evil would strike me down and came to avenge me. The BBEG was destroyed and the races came together, joined as a single faction and sword oaths in my name to honor the code I set forth, and to honor their pledges that day to one another. First time a character I had die where I was 100% okay with it. :D

My favorite D&D story is this: During our first session we encountered your standard orc attack. We were defending a war camp. We killed all the little orc peons and subdued the orc warleader. We ended up taking him captive, bribing and threatening him into leading us back to his camp, and then growing to kind of like him. We left him tied up at the bottom of a cave shaft while we burned his camp down, but we also left him some food. At the end of the session we took him back with us to our war camp. The next session, our DM's brother-in-law joined the campaign... as the orc war chief. An in-game character became a player character because we thought outside the box.

Did anyone else think a solution for the level 1 character trying to get past the troll is to bribe it with pancakes?

"We used to sit around the fire, telling each other stories...today we've settled for being passive consumers of prepackaged narratives."

My son is on the autism spectrum, and he and I have been playing in a father & son group for a few years now. It's been a big help for him. His finest moment was when his wizard polymorphed a flying dragon into a turkey. "As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly."

I find that many who play RPG do not see skin color as a Different RACE .... but just as a different skin color

I'm pushing 60, and I started playing before most folks had even heard of it. I have friends of a similar age who have been gaming together regularly for 20+ years. My wife and I played with our friends for years, watching first their son, then ours grow up. It stays with you. But back in 1981, i played with a group of shipmates, most of whom had never gamed before, while on patrol in the Carribbean. Joining our crew was an INS agent, who held a masters degree in history. He created a world for us based on Norse mythology, and spun our adventures without rule books or maps, creating the whole landscape based on real geography of actual places. Situations and adventures were based on historical facts and lifestyles extrapolated by historians, and featured mythological creatures pulled right out of Beowulf. Night after night, for a nearly six week patrol, we kept ourselves entertained for hours. It was the most amazing gaming experience I've ever had.

I thought it was hilarious that he said "Never spilt the party."

His name is literally Gilsdorf. Of COURSE he plays DnD

You loot the YouTube recommendations feed... You discover the greatest Ted Talk known to man.

the only thing I regret about D and D is not playing it earlier in my life

I want to play... Has zero friends and has no idea where to start

Rolling for fortitude check when he almost cried remembering his mom ... I just made it, lol.

Name: Ethan Gilsdorf Race: Human Level: 20 +5 Persuasion +5 Performance +5 Perception +5 Insight -5 Deception