Your role: Who you are and who you can be

A few months ago, a couple of friends and I discovered playing Dungeons and Dragons. It can be incredibly fun to slip into a role and go on adventures that don't exist in real life. During the last round, in which I acted as Dungeon Master, I noticed that in the game everyone takes on a role within the group, be it the healer, the tank or the damage dealer. But even in real life we take on roles, we are brothers, workers, lovers or whatever.

Often new players tend to choose a role that reflects their character traits from the real world. This is not really surprising as it makes the role-playing aspect a lot easier. However, it can also be a lot of fun to play a character that is very different to our everyday selves.

In the game we are aware that it is just a game and that we are only pretending to be this role. In real life it is very different, we tend to forget that the roles we play there are not really us and confuse our ego with these roles.

In D&D we all take on a role, ideally one that contributes to the team and helps the adventures and tasks end in the best possible way. But this is also the case in real life, we try to be good sons to contribute to the family group dynamic, we try to be good workers to help the company as much as possible. But all of this is also just a role, as mentioned before, the line separating the real us and our social role can get a little blurry here. However, as with D&D, we should not confuse ourselves with our role.

If we manage to better understand our own role and the roles of our "teammates", we can not only ensure that the group dynamic is better, but also that mutual empathy grows. This applies both in the game and in life.

As already mentioned, we consciously play a role in the game, whereas in real life we tend to unconsciously wear one or more masks. However, the less we do this, the more authentic we become. Incidentally, it can also be an advantage to be able to change roles or masks. This adaptability can be a useful skill not only within the D&D group, but also in real life. After all, you don't need the same qualities in every situation.

Being aware of the role you play, whether in real life or in the game, can lead to self-reflection and personal growth. For as the character within the game rises and improves, so do we in reality. Role-playing games provide a safe environment to try out different behaviors and roles, which can provide valuable lessons for real life. However, I am not saying that we should transfer the experiences from the role-playing game one-to-one into real life, but we can try out different roles.

In the game, as in real life, it is important to respect and recognize the roles of all participants, as each role contributes to the overall success. 

Have you ever played D&D and had similar thoughts? Just write your opinion in the comments.