The hidden world of adults (Gary Gygax R.I.P)

Let me begin by pouring out a little mead in honor of Gary Gygax, inventor of the role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons, who passed away on March 4th, 2008.

I have told anyone who will listen that D&D changed my life. I discovered it at age 11. Along with my interest in science fiction and fantasy novels, it introduced me to exciting new worlds. All kinds of worlds, populated by elves and dwarves and gods and monsters.

But the most important world that Dungeons and Dragons introduced me to was the world of adults.

I didn’t play with adults. I played with other kids my age, the ones who didn’t get picked for the kickball team, the ones who didn’t know any girls to talk to on the phone. My misfit friends. We were pretty far from being adults. But we played as adults. Adults equipped with 2-liters of Mountain Dew and giant bags of Doritos.

Playing the game required some sophistication. Just in the process of creating a character I had to know terms (‘charisma’ and ‘dexterity’) that would have stumped most 11-year-olds. I had to parse categories of ethical alignment, from lawful good to neutral to chaotic evil. I had to create stories (the blacksheep son of a blacksmith) for a slew of characters. I had characters who were men, women, nonhumans, young, old, handicapped, smart, dumb, good, evil, and opportunistic. And more. You get the idea.

Once game play actually starts, you might encounter doppelgangers and cairns, and you better know something about each. In game play, you have to know what to do in different situations (i.e. don’t slap sunburned frost giants on the back). You navigate the game world by a set of values that are tied to your character’s fleshed-out identity, which includes both a fabricated story, but also the history you have made through game play with your friends. You collaborate and negotiate with other players to hatch plans, accomplish goals, and yes, fight hydras.

If all of this sounds familiar, perhaps you have read David’s book, How Computer Games Help Children Learn. In it, he talks about epistemic frames, which are community-specific ways of seeing and solving problems in the world. In D&D, I could experiment with possible selves in the context of solving a variety of problems. On any given evening I was solving mysteries, forging alliances, and thinking about the ‘right’ thing to do, and what’s more, using a highly specialized language and set of rules to do it. My time spent as an warrior, a wizard, and as a team-member, was practice for the real life hydras.

Funny how things turn out. While my D&D sleepover days are over, here I am designing and studying educational role-playing games that aim to introduce kids to the world of adult professions. So thank you, Gary Gygax. Your game helped shape me and the games we design.