Growth through role playing
From a very young age
Role playing games are currently used all over the globe, by teachers and therapists alike, in order to help children learn and develop many skills. The skills learned through role playing are useful throughout life, in personal but also professional settings.
Among these skills we find social skills, such as being able to communicate better with others. Dungeons and Dragons also helps children and adults alike, in developing their creativity and innovating. These are only two examples among the multitude of skills developed through role playing.
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Dungeons and Dragons is most commonly built around a group of adventurers, who need to work together in order to succeed. In order to overcome the obstacles set in front of them, they will have to work and talk with each other and dare to act on their ideas and speak up. Negotiating, finding allies, making new friends and standing up for what is right, are situations that are always present in our role-playing games.
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Imaginations and the willingness to accept it for the time of the game, is what the story and game of Dungeons and Dragons are based on. No screens are there to restrict the imagination of the players. Most similar to reading books, the player is put in the place of the hero of a story that he or she will be creating in the wondrous and unlimited world of Unknown Echoes.
Experience a different life
D&D has often been praised as a great way to develop empathy and become socially skilled.
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One of the best advantages of evolving in a limitless universe is the possibility to take risks, be it in character or simply as a person around the table. It's not every night that someone will stay up preparing and perfecting their plans to save the king of the region, or to steal an ancient artifact whose power is legendary. In role playing games, everything becomes possible.
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To face the impossible, with friends, is an incredible life journey. To understand how to deal with loss, failure, moral dilemmas, power and also success, develops many essential life skills.
Being able to put yourself in another person's shoes is the core of role playing and a beautiful skill, especially today, in the society we live in. To be a role player is to live a multitude of different lives, comfortably, having fun with others, while learning about yourself and the world around you.
An opportunity to share
We live in a society that is becoming more and more digital where most activities are done through screens. Most friends spend more time exchanging emoticons or pictures of their meals than talking to one another, sharing their feelings or simply spending time together. Many people nowadays are trying to find ways to spend time with people and not simply sitting next to them while they check their social media. Role playing games offer more than a perfect solution to this problem.
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Not only does playing together build strong friendships that last through time, it also encourages people to work together instead of competing all the time. Dungeons and Dragons was built to be, as its creator said: "A cooperative group experience". There is no need to put others down in order to win, everyone can win together, in fact this is the only way to win. Success requires good teamwork and spirit.
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Being able to save yourself and others from terrible dangers, fighting your own fears, and agreeing on the best course of action is not easy. Doing so in a fictional universe, while playing someone else than ourselves, allows us to take a step back from what is happening and understand more about ourselves, our character, and the people around us. This is vital for a good group cohesion.
Learn to fully express yourself
Each character present in the game has its own strengths and weaknesses. This is why every member of the group will need to work together in order to use each one of their strengths and help other characters when they are weak. Role playing games also offer the chance to simply express what you are feeling on the moment without needing to plan a speech or having a fix goal in mind.
The universe of Unknown Echoes is alive and animated by millions of peoples, both fictive and played by other groups. You can meet a near infinite amount of people of diverse origins and life stories, you can talk to any one of them and even make them our friends or enemies. You can become the right hand of your local lord, emperor of a civilization, or the hero who defeated the dreaded monster of the region. All of these feats can be achieved through daring to act and speak your mind.
Playing Dungeons and Dragons is allowing your imagination to take you away to wherever you would like to go and to witness the power that your words and actions can have, in the game and in real life.
Better your critical reasoning
Players get attached to their characters who live a life of equal heroism and danger. Losing a member of the group or one's own character is frightening, and unlike many video games, if your character dies, they may not come back.
Each one of your actions and choices bears a lot of weight, especially that each group evolves in the same universe and time cannot be turned back. Our adventures will confront you to carnelian choices where the solution is difficult to discern. You will need to observe every detail and question every fact presented before you.
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Playing regularly helps forge critical thinking in most every situation. Learning from your mistakes and those of others in order to avoid previous dangers, facing failure and impossible situations, prepares players for life and for moments when they will face similar problems.
Become the actor of your life
Building a character, is giving yourself the possibility to live another life, in order to better your own. Your hero will have to face impossible odds and pull through the most difficult situations in which you will have to act fast. You won't have time to doubt yourself, you will have to make decisions when the rest of the group may not have the chance to do so.
This is where the beauty of the game lies: you have a chance to act and then try and understand why you acted in the way you did, you will also see the consequences and power of your actions.
What impulse pushed you to spare the life of the creature you were fighting ? Why did you believe the blacksmith and not the priest ? Where you afraid for your group when the trap closed in around you? Where you more afraid for one character over another? Asking yourself these questions after a session can lead to important answers and understanding. This might also allow you to better predict your actions in the future, when the stakes are not in the game.
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Dungeons and Dragons is a blank slate on which anything can be written. Make your life the most beautiful story imaginable, in the game and in reality.
And much more
Listing all the attributes of role-playing would be way too long. People have been studying it and only focus on one point at the time because it is too vast a subject. Many people have described how role playing has helped them in their lives, be it by building their self-esteem, guiding them through difficult moments or even allowing them to get a break from their worries and see friends.
There are even those who have made a career out of role playing. Surrounded by friends, they have continued to play for dozens of years. There are only a handful of role players who will credit their self-confidence or creative capacities to something other than Dungeons and Dragons.
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Today, playing is seen as a recognized therapeutic technique and a great way to build up your social skills or understand yourself. There is no need for advances studies, talents or particular skills in order to gather around a table, live incredible adventures, and become heroes.
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