The Fantasy World of D&D

"Noooooo!" yelled the boy next to me and dramatically fell slumped in his chair. He wasn't much older than fifteen. He was dressed in a wizard hat, robes, and a long fake wizard beard that hung awkwardly from his ears, exposing his round baby face. He gestured wildly and knocked his wizard staff trying to push himself back into a sitting position, his bout of dramatics done and a grin back on his face. His staff slowly slid from the table and clattered on the floor adding to the ruckus of the room. I grinned and looked around me.

The room was full of crazy outfits. A blue fairy in little but her wings sat next to a gigantic orc in full battle armor, including weapons strapped to his back. Another broadly built and flamboyant fairy sat in a gigantic rainbow tutu and a rainbow wig at another table, their arm wrapped playfully around the head of another player, trying to get the player to sniff the hairy fairy’s armpit, to the uproarious laughter of everyone else around the table. The room was a riot of color and sound and I loved to sit back and drink it all in.

This was the best fantasy world. The world of D&D. A place anyone can be anyone or anything and the only limitations were their imaginations.

I, myself, was dressed, rather creatively I might add, as a female dwarf. I even had an intricately braided beard that matched my hair perfectly. I had spent many hours sitting as still as possible as a friend of mine, an aspiring makeup artist, expertly glued the prosthetics on and painted my face. We had spent many hours perfectly planning out my costume for this day.

The great thing about D&D meetups is that every person tries to outdo each other. We all have a wonderful time unofficially, and sometimes officially, judging the costumes. We try to be the most creative, the most flamboyant, the most realistic (my preference), and the most intimidating. The only thing that is restricted is real weapons. Fake ones are fun. Many people go out of their way to make their fake weapons look as realistic as possible.

But the best part is the world building. As a DM, I love to create a world where everyone can interact with anything. It is a constant test of my imagination to be able to roll with and play off of the imaginations and spontaneity of the other characters. I love the challenge of creating a new world for every D&D group. Each session is always a new and exciting experience and no one knows how it is going to end, not even me.

Many times, I will pull out my favorite books and look at the maps or reread passages to get into the mood. Don't get me wrong, Lord of the Rings is amazing for the story and beautiful descriptions, Harry Potter is wonderful for characters and character development, and others are great for fight scenes and travel suggestions. However, nothing beats the wild ingenuity and fantastic unpredictability of the D&D world.

The boy was my little brother and long term partner in crime in the D&D world. He was the reason I started playing D&D. He is mid-functioning neurodivergent and can be socially awkward and can easily get over stimulated. The greatest thing about D&D is that everyone is awkward and everyone can really truly be who they want to be, thus, my dwarf beard. Also, whenever he gets overstimulated and needs a break, everyone is happy to take a break and let him settle down. I have met people who were not happy to have him in the group, but the greatest thing, is that our little group has gotten so close, we are all able to protect him and help him out and push out the bullies.

Fantasy worlds are a great place for anyone to be whomever they want to be. People who want to be brave, are braver in their fantasy world and find themselves becoming the hero in someone else’s life. There are many fantasy worlds that inspire people to become more than they thought they were. Harry Potter is a great example of that. It inspired young people around the world to start standing up for what they believe in and realize their own power. D&D does the same thing, while enjoying a great story, a fun game, and interaction with people that might not normally happen.

In the fantasy world of D&D, my wonderful, vibrant little brother is no longer the awkward teenager that everyone likes to pick on. He is no longer the poor kid that hates school and has no friends. He is a strong wizard who is afraid of nothing and can do practically anything. He, like many others, is able to fully come out of his shell and be the person he always wanted to be, but still protected by the veil of fantasy and fiction. He is given the chance to find solutions to problems that relate to life. He is given a chance to make friends and many times, these friends stay in touch, giving him a semi-normal social life. D&D has become an outlet for many, which makes the fantasy life all the more vibrant.

The fantasy world is not just the landscape or the magic or even the myriad characters, it is the life that is constantly being breathed into it by the imaginations and emotions of the players being who they imagine themselves to be.