Did you know that there is actually more to life than just being really, really, really good looking? I know, a weird concept, but it’s true. For instance, knowing how to read good is important too. Some kids even want to learn how to do other stuff good too. And that’s good too, but today, we’re going to focus on how Dungeons and Dragons can help you to read (and write) good!
I promise that this post will not be a lecturer on how to interpret and read texts from the POV of the Good alignment. Get it? A good reading of the text reveals that the protagonist is, in fact, caught up in an internal conflict along the L-C alignment axis and struggles to reconcile the chaotic actions she must follow with… OK, I’ll stop.
The kids may not be able to fit in there, but their minis sure-as-heck can!
During my role playing career, I’ve had the pleasure to play with several individuals that did not speak English as a first language. In truth, for some of them, English wasn’t even a second language. I never really thought about what this meant to the individuals in question, or to the group we played in, or even to myself, until one day, one of the players mentioned that he would not have known the meaning of the word ‘dagger’ if he not discovered it through DnD. Wow! That was quite a revelation and, thinking about it, led me to the following:
- I should try RPing in a non-English language and see what I can learn. Even if it’s just the dialogue. Anybody up for GMing in Afrikaans for me (and laughing as I butcher your language)? What about creating or translating an RPG to Afrikaans?
- What other words and concepts, found within DnD, could enrich an individual’s (depending on age, education etc.) vocabulary and knowledge of the English language (and, thus, the world)?
One day, I’ll brave idea 1 (if I can find a brave enough group). For today, however, let’s see if we can come up with a list of words/concepts that you didn’t know/misunderstood until you came across it through DnD. I’ll get the ball rolling:
- Ego Whip: It’s not about vanity flagellation.
This post forms of this month’s RPG blog carnival, with the topic of Dungeons and Dragons, hosted by 6d6 Fireball. I intend to follow this month’s host’s formula and contribute one post for each of the sub-topics. The sub-topic used in this post: Everything I know, I learnt from playing DnD.
- jatori
D&D has definitely increased my vocabulary, probably by hundreds of words. It also gives you a reason to write, even if it is just for your own benefit. In fact, D&D should replace all English lessons in schools.
Comment by Chris Tregenza — 7 July 2009 @ 10:49 am
I would so love to teach a module of English, focusing on DnD, to some undergrads or high school students. There is so much that can be learned through play about literature as a whole.
Plus, I can replace all creative writing exercises with ‘tell-me-about-your-character’ projects.
Comment by jatori — 7 July 2009 @ 2:27 pm
I don’t know about replacing English lessons but we did go through a stage of using wargaming in our history lessons. Thanks to out teacher breaking out his Napoleonic armies at the end of class one day we ended up using them to demonstrate the wars of that time and allowing us to try and improve on the tactics. Pretty soon after that we started up the schools wargaming club
Never did get the RPG club off the ground though.
Comment by bobzilla76 — 7 July 2009 @ 2:47 pm
I think RP as a supplementary module to an English course could work. I don’t D&D replacing the lessons entirely though.
Your old history teacher sounds awesome. Kinda reminds me of my old geography teacher. He had moved a sandpit into the middle of the class room and we’d build up the terrain in the pit to demonstrate the various effects terrain had on stuff like weather, placing of houses etc.. I wonder what would have happened if he got my history teacher to use the pit in her lessons.
Comment by jatori — 8 July 2009 @ 8:29 am
Vow of Poverty Part 1 and Part 2
Not as broken as some think. The two posts detail the balance of the feat in the face of low magic campaigns or when munchkined with compatible classes (such as monk, druid and sorceror).
This is all good and well – but considering that the relative power level of the vow’s benefits lags well behind the treasure value of a character, I find the to be extremely fair. Some forms of abuse I heard about are illegal (the exalted AC bonus counts as armor bonus, and as such does not stack with “Mage Armor” for example) but still, a reasonable monk1/sorceror1 with 16 dex and 16 wis could achieve an AC of 10(base) + 3(dex) + 3(wis) + 4(exalted) + 4(shield) = 24. That is very respectable AC for that level and makes the hero virtually impervious to most attack-based damage. Which is to be expected from a well-munchkined character.
But still only slightly better than the 10(base) + 8(full plate) + 1(dex) + 4(tower shield) = 23 and with a bit of luck this fighter character might have picked up a ring of protection +1 to achieve the same nett 24 AC at no loss to class progression and feats (albeit stiff armor check penalty).
Now some might argue that the monk1/sorcerorX could progress happily along the spell progression path and become quite insanely strong later on. True, except for the bit about high-level spell components. Eschewing materials does not cover valuable materials – and many high-level spells require valuable materials as components. Also the quick dip into monk delays the already slowed spell progression by another level. Wizards are already hurling fireballs by the time our sorceror reaches level 2 spells.
Ah, but druids have a great deal in this regard; only few of their spells need a divine focus (and some of these are allowed to be natural) – additionally they can carry their exalted benefits into their wildshaped forms. This is all very true – but to my knowledge mostly every discussion on power-level agrees that the druid is likely the most powerful class in the game. It doesn’t really matter what path the druid chooses to use be insanely powerful, be it through poverty or riches.
Generally, in the long run, I think most characters that are able to buy level appropriate items for themselves throughout the game end-up well ahead of the item-equivalent curve that vow of poverty heroes straddle. Additionally the items bought tend to be more relevant to the missions at hand (where the vow is quite generalized). Naturally heroes that are stripped of their items are significantly more vulnerable, while vowed heroes have a much easier time; but this is true for mostly any situation. Sorcerors and druids and monks are naturally more adept at coping without their items and would rock item-loss anyway.
This is coupled with the expectation that while heroes are stripped of their items, the overall powerlevel of encounters they face is not quite as high as it would otherwise be (or the DM is being in a particularly evil mood); and that any loss of items is generally temporary, subject to buying new and finding old items.
Comment by trashcondor — 7 July 2009 @ 11:00 am
Is the point of this comment to illustrate the fact that this comment is only readable to one who has mastered the language through play of DnD?
Comment by jatori — 7 July 2009 @ 2:29 pm
The point ties in with the original concept that Everything I know, I learnt from playing DnD. The post illustrates language, maths, philosophy and the ever present debate and arguments that come coupled with our hobby.
…and I guess to a lesser extent it demonstrates that a good portion of our knowledge is perhaps learnt from playing DnD – but it is also thoroughly self-contained and pertaining only to DnD. ;p
Comment by trashcondor — 7 July 2009 @ 9:14 pm
I don’t mean to be obnoxious, but you can’t read ‘good’, you can, however, read ‘well’. Well is the adverb describing the verb ‘read’. Good is an adjective which describes a noun.
Comment by Mike — 7 July 2009 @ 9:47 pm
lol – no need to hold back Mike
– but perhaps the image of (Derek) Zoolander could be taken as a clue to why the grammar is correct the way it is.
If you haven’t had the good fortune to enjoy the movie Zoolander yet, it is not too late! Go forth and legally rent the DVD and enjoy it with your loved ones tonight!
Comment by trashcondor — 8 July 2009 @ 1:04 am
No worries, Mike. I’d rather have somebody point out my errors (since I follow a publish-then-edit approach to blogging). TC is correct, though. The ‘good’ was taken from the movie Zoolander. It’s worth checking out, if you’re looking for some silly fun.
Comment by jatori — 8 July 2009 @ 8:35 am
This used to be my Dad’s patronising way of pretending he thought it was okay for me to role-play! I read so much as a kid that it probably didn’t matter.
It’s my goal to role-play in Japanese. I ran an adventure for some Japanese schoolkids in English (the story is on my blog somewhere), but translated the outline into Japanese so they could understand the basics easily, so I learnt some words I didn’t otherwise know (like “conjure”). But there’s so much more to it than a few words. All in good time…
Comment by faustusnotes — 7 July 2009 @ 10:08 pm
I think having a goal like this would actually really help motivate you throughout the learning process. Perhaps I needed something like this when I was dabbling in Mandarin. It’s not too late to start again though!
Good luck with the Japanese!
Comment by jatori — 8 July 2009 @ 8:48 am