Bringing Fantasy into Reality Through Gaming: The Benefits and the Limits
For fantasy lovers everywhere, gaming, particularly tabletop RPGs and other roleplaying games, can be a great environment for creativity and self-expression. In this piece, a gameHER explores the lessons fantasy folklore and game lore have taught her, and when to remember the limits of where fantasy stops and reality begins.
By Caitlin Drummond
What is your favorite type of fantasy character or folklore?
Personally, elves have been my favorite fantasy race ever since I watched Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring for the first time when I was eleven. I have always thought that elves have the most awesome way of looking at things. They are flawed beings, but they are still always portrayed as being more aware than humans. When I was a child I would go on trail rides with my parents. There was a part of the forest where I would pretend I was an elf and riding my horse through Lothlorien.
Though I first found my way to the fantasy of elves through a film, fantasy, of course, doesn’t only exist in movies and TV. The number of fantasy-based video games and tabletop games is substantial. Being a tabletop RPG nerd, I find that through games like Dungeons and Dragons and Pathfinder, I can express my vivid fantasy imagination in ways I could never have imagined before I started playing.
Playing fantasy games as an adult is still looked down upon in many circles, but the world within the fantasy RPG community is kinder about being yourself than many other environments. This is why us gamers are all drawn to each other for interaction. We get each other in ways others don’t. I feel that some of the most creative people have a love of fantasy games.
A photo illustration of an elf with her horse
I am of Irish descent so folklore and the paranormal are discussions that are not new to me. I am fascinated with Irish mythology and I think growing up with this heritage is one of the things that made me appreciate fantasy settings so much and stay open to the supernatural. My mamo (grandmother in Gaelic) would always tell stories of the paranormal events she had experienced. My daideo (grandfather in Gaelic) always would tell stories of the leprechauns and faerie folk.
Is it ever healthy though to bring fantasy into reality?
I believe the answer to the above question is yes, but there is a line.
If you really delve into folk tales and even fantasy movies and TV you’ll usually see a message behind the magic. For example, The Lord of the Rings was a fantasy interpretation of the era of war Tolkien lived through. Sure, there are no elves in real life, but what would it do for the environment if more of us felt as connected to and cared as much as the elves did for nature. In Game of Thrones there were so many messages throughout, but I think an overarching message is: does anyone really win in a battle for power? When you read stories about gods and goddesses there are always outcomes to their actions and there are things you can take from those stories to not repeat the same kinds of mistakes. The messages and lessons in these fantasy worlds and stories can most certainly be used as guidance.
For me, live streams of D&D games have the same kinds of messages. Sometimes I think the messages that come from a D&D character mean even more because they are not written in a script. I can’t even count the number of things I have learned and have taken to heart while watching Critical Role. A lot of times injustices are fought in D&D games and it is all up to the adventuring party to figure things out. If an injustice in a game is defeated, the methods of defeat in the game can be used as guidance to stop a parallel injustice in real life. I’m sure there are proverbs and wise words in fantasy video games as well, but unfortunately, I don’t know any examples as I haven’t played many video games.
However, where it is fun to escape into fantasy and see messages in the stories, fantasy is not reality. It is not safe to go into the world with unrealistic expectations. A personal example: I am a horse lover and owner, I would love to have the magical connection the elves have with horses. I do have a magical connection with horses, just a realistic one. I cannot telepathically communicate with them and have them totally understand me. Horses are beings with minds of their own, and there is definitely a language barrier between us. I can’t walk up to my horse like Aragorn did to Brego, put my head on his nose lovingly, and expect my horse to have some special understanding with me. When you wake up for a new day your cuts and scrapes are not going to go away like in a D&D game after a long rest. There are no spells that can wipe a bad memory or defeat your bullies. These are some examples of how not to bring your expectations of fantasy into reality.
So many fantasy stories have captured our hearts and taught us things over the years. We may not be elves, dwarves, halflings, and gnomes but we can certainly take the best qualities of those races and employ them in our lives.
If you are playing one of those races in a roleplay game though, have at it! Be as unrealistic as you want. Fantasy is a great escape that can teach us so much, and gaming can be a great way to dive into it.
Just don’t go too far and as always have fun.
About the Author:
Caitlin Drummond, photo courtesy of the author
Caitlin Drummond is a female nerd and gamer with a passion for tabletop role play games. Dungeons and Dragons has changed her life, and she wishes she could find a way to make it a career. Caitlin is happiest making new characters and strategically planning them out for a certain backstory. She got her nerdy start at a young age with the launch of Pokemon. Since then she has become a nerd for so many different things. She is also proudly autistic and loves being an advocate for people with disabilities. A dream of hers would be to teach social skills to kids with special needs using tabletop roleplaying games. Gaming has the ability to help so many people and she want to be part of that work.
To read Caitlin’s blog on her love for Dungeons & Dragons, check out: How D&D Changed My Life
To read Caitlin’s blog on her love of being a fan, read: The Power of Fandom
To read Caitlin’s blog on gaming during the time of COVID-19, read: Gaming During COVID-19: Bringing Us Comfort and Normalcy
To read Caitlin’s blog on roleplaying in RPGs, check out: Tabletop Deep Dive: How to Effectively Typecast Yourself in Tabletop RPGs
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