Everyone Should Role Play

I want to wrap up this month with a strong statement: Everyone should role play. It is a very fun activity, and it teaches skills and life lessons.

We learn that obstacles can be solved, but not always the way we think. We learn that just because we failed on the first attempt doesn't mean that we should give up. We learn that no matter how great we may feel, we can always grow stronger. We also learn that we are still mortal, and that sometimes we need help from our friends. Players that work in teams can specialize their individual abilities, which allows the group as a whole to excel.

We learn that anything is possible if we put our minds to it, and sometimes the best plans are the ones that nobody saw coming. We learn to be mindful of all the resources we have around us, that just because we don't own something doesn't mean we can't use it. But along with learning about out-of-the-box thinking, we also find out about out-of-the-box consequences. Everything we do has an effect that ripples forward into our future. We must be mindful of our choices, lest they haunt us around the corner.

We learn about all the kinds of people that can be out there. People in power and people with none, benevolence and greed, docile and hostile, and that each one can be approached, but requires different tactics to properly finesse.

If more people role played and did so with good GMs, we would have smarter and wiser people.