10 Business Lessons I Learned From Playing D&D

Esther Schindler writes "Those hours you spent rolling dice in your youth weren't wasted according to my 10 Business Lessons I Learned from Playing Dungeons & Dragons. Playing fantasy role playing games did more than teach the rules of combat or proper behavior in a dragon's lair. D&D can instruct you in several skills that can help your career. Such as: 'One spell, used well, can be more powerful than an entire book full of spells' and 'It's better to out-smart an orc than to fight one.'" What other wisdom have you gained from your time sequestered with various RPGs?

Comments

What I learned

[nizo]

What other wisdom have you gained from your time sequestered with various RPGs?

D&D: the more you played the less likely you were to get laid.

(Queue up the, "but I only gamed with hot vixens back in high school!" responses)

Oh and I also learned that playing D&D makes you sarcastic and bitter.

Smaller does not mean less dangerous

[Clueless Moron]

Stepping on a d4 hurts a hell of a lot more than stepping on a d20.

Re:Wisdom?

[Feyshtey]

As are assumptions. For instance, assuming that D&D is a video game.

Re:Rolling the dice

[decipher_saint]

I knew a few players who were just in it for the game mechanics and they got bored with it too. If you're playing an RPG correctly that number crunching system is merely the "how" and not the "why".

I mean, the last group of players I was playing with weren't optimizing statisticians, they were people who wanted to contribute to a great story and have some fun in the process. We had more than one session where dice weren't rolled at all, or if they were it was out of combat.

That's role playing.

Re:Real Life

[2names]

I learned that you NEVER, NEVER, NEVER try to put a Portable Hole into a Bag of Holding...

Real lessons from gaming.

[Animats]

1. The little people are expendable. If you have to kill or lose a few thousand orcs or zombies, no prob. It's the major characters that matter.
2. When in doubt, kill it. There are no noncombatants.
3. The purpose of life is to acquire power. Self-explanatory.
4. Having a thief around to steal from the little people is a useful asset. Grinding is for losers.
5. The most aggressive player runs things. Just like high school.

This is a losing strategy in real life, or even real war. (Roman saying: "The legion is not composed of heroes. Heroes are what the legion kills.")

How to Barter !

[cbelt3]

Seriously. Growing up in the US suburbs, the concept of 'bartering' is foreign, and considered impolite at best, and offensive at worst, to the point where you will be banned from a shop for it. Fast forward a decade after my D&D experience and I found myself alone for half a year in a middle eastern country. And shopping in the bazaar for supplies. Almost immediately the bartering skillset I had learned playing D&D for the better part of five years raced to the forefront. While spells and armor were not available (but automatic weapons were) , I still made out just fine, and never had to roll the D20 I kept in my pocket. Yes, I still have that talisman some 30 years later, it's a useful decision making tool.

Re:Rolling the dice

[fishbowl]

"Other than the content background which I can get from reading novels, playing RPG's is about as exciting as moving numbers around a spreadsheet."

Because you said "reading novels" and not "writing novels", it's pretty clear why you don't get it.