Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) is a game on a sharp incline upward in terms of general popularity, thanks to shows like Critical Role and Stranger Things. But it's still rather niche, and still rather difficult to get into. It's a game of imagination, but still one with many books based solely on the rules and guidelines. Yet at its core, Dungeons and Dragons is quite simply a game that takes a problem and turns it into a story. It's a scenario facilitator.
Dungeons and Dragons is quite simply a game that takes a problem and turns it into a story. It's a scenario facilitator.
The common thing you'll hear from most writers is that their story started with a scene. George R. R. Martin, author of the "Song of Ice and Fire" novels, has been frequently quoted to have found the inspiration for the first novel, "A Game of Thrones," by just a thought, an image.
So, we have the scenario: A young boy finding wolves amidst summer snows. We have a problem: What are summer snows? The solution?
The solution comes in the form of exploration, be that through world-building, outlining, or just writing the next line of the story. But where does D&D come into this? Where does a game where a bunch of people sit around and roll dice fit into the grand scheme of narrative problem solving? It comes from knowing that whatever happens, something is going to happen next, and it is completely random...to an extent.
Let's return to that situation: A young boy finds some wolves amidst summer snows and returns home. The boy, upon returning home, decides to go around and play with his new pet. He's also a gifted climber. He starts climbing a tower while his new pet watches.
Now, let's put this into D&D terms. Naturally, at this point, the Dungeon Master (DM) will tell the player climbing to roll a twenty-sided dice (d20) to check how well they are climbing (lower numbers = bad, higher numbers = good). The player rolls, and the world, until that number settles, comes to a halt.
Here we have a scenario: A giddy young boy is climbing a tower (for some reason, we're not too certain of now). We have a problem: The tower is tall and difficult to climb. The solution?
Good question. What IS the solution? What is the only natural outcome? Well, there is no ONE outcome. The outcomes arrive because a hand has been forced.
The dice roll is a 1. The boy falls.
The dice roll is a 20. The boy scrambles all the way to the top without even looking at what he needs to do.
The dice roll is a 10. The boy struggles a bit, given that he is still so young and the tower so large, but eventually experience gets him to the top.
Problem solved, but there were three equally feasible solutions. When writing a story, there is often more than one natural outcome, so it is incredibly daunting to figure out what the right move will be. But, if you think back, the facilitated scenario came about solely from character motivation, and the dice roll was a catalyst for consequence.
If you think back, the facilitated scenario came about solely from character motivation, and the dice roll was a catalyst for consequence.
Thinking of narrative in terms solely of consequences is not going to get you far. Cause and effect is the most important element of story-telling. Because X happened, Y then occurred. Because the boy climbed the tower, the boy either fell or got to the top. So the real question is, WHY did the boy climb the tower?
That's where the writer comes in. The boy climbed the tower because he wanted to show off to his dog, right? Or was it because the king of the entire country was coming to visit his father and the boy, with the desire to one day become a knight, wanted to see what they looked like? The motivation is different, yes, but the cause and effect is the same: he wanted to climb the tower, so he did, and then he...
D&D helps curb that writer's block stemming from a fork in the road by forcing characters into situations they absolutely have to escape from.
D&D helps curb that writer's block stemming from a fork in the road by forcing characters into situations they absolutely have to escape from. It's too boring for a character to walk up to a door and fail to open it. Something needs to happen to keep the story interesting. What happens?
Being a DM is essentially the ultimate test for a storyteller, because there are no end to the variables in sight. Holding the hands of players is simply dull, just as holding the hands for a reader is terrible. Being a DM means displaying a map to people and saying, "Where to next?" just like being a writer means holding open a map and saying, "Where are my characters going next?"
There needs to be a sense of wonder when it comes to problem solving, and D&D captures that sense perfectly. There's little more exciting in a game of D&D than getting to finish off an enemy on your own terms, or finally figuring out a puzzle that the DM has spent hours crafting together. When players, and readers, finally figure out what exactly the clues mean, when they realize what that blue winter rose in the ice wall is, it's one of the most exciting things out there.
When problems are solved through creative means, the story flourishes. Dungeons and Dragons is a game that boils down, strictly, to three essential questions, "What is my character doing?" "How are they going to do it?" "What will they do when this is complete?"
In terms of our scenario, we have, "The boy is climbing." "He climbs up the wall with his little hands, rather simply and carelessly." "They will be happy."
These things are kept in mind and then instantly changed upon reception of the outcome. Sure, it's nice if the boy climbs up the tower once. Easy. We expect it to go well the second time.
But then you don't expect him to stumble upon the most dangerous secret in the kingdom. And you certainly don't expect a sure-footed climber to plummet off the side of a tower.
But you do certainly expect to have readers turning the page to find out more. Because the real art of problem solving isn't in just finding an answer; it's finding out how that answer leads to another question.
The boy fell. Now what?
Our brains need just as much exercise as our muscles, and there is nothing more creatively engaging than playing pretend with some friends.
Now you get writing, and if you get stuck, get some friends together, roll some dice, and stretch those creative legs. Our brains need just as much exercise as our muscles, and there is nothing more creatively engaging than playing pretend with some friends.
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