Role-Playing Games and Their Value for Young Adults

The world of role-playing games has vastly expanded since the heyday of the original Dungeons and Dragons game in the mid-1980's. Whereas the first D&D adventures were relatively simple, involving a handful of character classes and few pages' worth of abilities and statistics (and based, largely, on J.R.R. Tolkien's mold of the heroic quest as presented in The Fellowship of the Ring), spin-offs since that time have embraced every conceivable kind of scenario, from the Old West to post-apocalyptic worlds to space exploration and Star Wars.

All these variations of the classic role-playing game have one thing in common, however: aside from the nearly endless permutations of time and setting, they all rely upon the imagination of gamemasters and players to build the excitement and make the magic work. Rules exist to provide some structure and a framework (and they are often closer to guidelines than strict rules) but there is far greater leeway within those rules for players to be spontaneous and creative than in any kind of board game ever invented.

There are a number of reasons for the enduing popularity of these games. They coax the imagination. They allow people to live out whatever secret fantasies they may have and indulge their alter egos. Also, they provide escape. Escape is often viewed as a dirty word in our society, because it seems to imply fleeing from the responsibilities of life and existing in an unresponsive way. But there is a healthy form of escape - and this holds true in any art, from literature to theatre and painting - that involves seeing reality as it is, but from a distance. Usually we are so immersed in the "gray area" of life that we can't distinguish our hopes and ideals from the darker forces of doubt and fear. Fantasy allows us to see the forces of life dramatized; and one of its prodigal offspring, the role-playing game, permits us to actually step in and play a part in that drama.

Great thinkers like the psychologists Carl Jung and James Hillman and the founder of comparative mythology, Joseph Campbell, recognized long ago the existence of primary archetypes within the psyche of every person. The archetypes are universal images; together, they illustrate the essence of drama, and wherever they appear - whether in dreams or any of the arts - they have the power to inspire us to move beyond our limited ways of thinking and feeling. In fantasy role-playing games we have access the a whole panorama of archetypal images from throughout human history and mythology: the wizard, illusionist, warrior, king, lover, fool, thief, elf, dwarf, high priest, shaman, gunslinger, Jedi, ranger, etc.

Taking on one of these roles within a framework of imaginative play allows us to actually touch the energy of the archetype, to feel its power to move and inspire us. This is one of the reasons why the classics of fantasy literature are read again and again, and why people can get so addicted to playing Dungeons and Dragons and games of its kind. They find in these games a vehicle for breaking through the monotony of everyday life and touching some of the magic and mystery that lies just below its surface.