This week, I was indirectly invited to a Dungeons and Dragons-themed evening, the popular role-playing game often associated (rightly) with nerd groups. Thinking of taking a step towards the next level of nerdiness and merely driven by a genuine curiosity about this community of players, I decided to go.
As soon as I walked through the door (obviously I was late), I could already feel that the atmosphere was serious, not super serious but definitely on a different vibe than I had imagined. About fifteen puzzled faces turned towards me; I decided to retreat to a corner, hoping not to attract too much attention. This was highly impossible since I was the only representative of the female gender in the entire room. Yes, I was the only girl, which is not embarrassing at all.
The dungeon master (who, from what I understood, is the person in charge of creating the story) began explaining a series of principles. To play D&D, you need to learn 200 pages of a manual, be lucky, be good at math, and probably possess some divine powers at this point. In just a few minutes, I realized that watching the movie didn't make me a worthy player at all. The complexity of the rules and the vast array of scenarios and events made me miss my four simple and beloved League of Legends keys.
A brief summary of what I learned, even for those whose D&D knowledge is worse than mine: Dungeons & Dragons is a role-playing game based on imagination and set in fantasy worlds. You build a story to complete, where each player becomes a character with strengths and weaknesses. To progress, you need to roll dices; depending on the score, your move succeeds or fails.
The guys seemed friendly but they were much nerdier than me. While I was there out of mere curiosity, they were truly passionate about role-playing games. Although I felt slightly out of place at the beginning, I liked that the group, despite being composed of very different people, had a strong sense of community. Fortunately, most of them were beginners, so I could laze in my ignorance almost comfortably.