Step into the shoes of a famous fighter on the golden coast of mythical Calimport. Rest in the woods with the elven druid as she communes with nature. Beat a dwarf in a drinking game, fight a young black dragon, be a hero. Tabletop games like Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder offer us the opportunity to step out of our lives and into a mythical world under our command. These are the ultimate roleplaying games. No graphics card could ever live up to the stretches of your imagination as you round the corner into the icy halls of the home of a Hill Giant oracle, nor could a computer show in the same detail the picture your mind forms of the marble arches of the Temple of Tyaa in the ancient city of Dragonlance.

These games are no longer for the stereotypical nerds, pushing their thick glasses up their noses as they hide in their basement playing those silly games again. Games like these were once “too nerdy” for even the most hardcore gamers. The idea of crafting the world in their minds and roleplaying as their characters were too much. No one wanted to admit that they met weekly with their friends to pretend to fight goblins and rescue princesses, armed only with paper, dozens of polyhedral dice, and an overactive imagination.

Quietly, we’ve seen these games become commonplace in pop culture. Ground-breaking shows like Stranger Things depicted Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) in a quirky but fascinating way that only further caught people’s curiosity. Critical Role, the hit webcast of famous voice actors playing D&D, has recently been signed by the comic powerhouse Dark Horse, maker of comics such as Hellboy, Batman v Predator, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It is no longer weird to admit that you play. I’m a five-year veteran of the game, and it’s still strange to be met with anything other than laughter when I share this with people. It bewilders me that people accept it, and sometimes even share curiosity. They want me to teach them how to play.

The fact that these games are entering the mainstream tentatively excites me, and not just because having so many more minds means more content and more variety. It also means more people get to reap the benefits that have taken me years to understand. Games like D&D have fostered confidence, teamwork, and creativity in so many young people, and now this opportunity is being accepted with open arms by the generation who needs it most.

In this little bubble, D&D creates, there are no consequences. You can try to jump off the roof and combat roll across the grass without fear of breaking a limb. You can approach the gorgeous half-elf at the bar without fear of rejection. A die roll determines how well you execute your intention, and if you fail, you move on. You try again. This idea gives players the safety to try new things and build their confidence without fear of failure. They find themselves putting it all out there, and then relying on the chance of a die roll to determine the outcome. Suddenly, talking to a pretty girl, bringing a new idea to the table at work, or even attempting a particularly daunting new physical activity seems doable. You become confident in your ability to at least try, and leave the rest up to fate.

Creativity is also key in this world. You are interacting with an environment described to you by the Dungeon Master, the creator and god of the game. There are infinite ways you can approach a situation, and not all of them will work. There is no time for trial-and-error. You have seconds to decide a course of action to get into the castle… and deal with the two wolves standing guard. You can fight, sneak around them, explore another way in, or try and befriend the wolves. And there are dozens of more options you could consider. Sometimes the straight path from A to B isn’t the best for the situation. D&D offers you an environment rife with options, and your own creativity is the only limit to what you can do.

In an ever-changing job market, certain personality traits are heralded as necessary for a career and try as they might, schools can never quite shape you into the person you need to be in order to be successful. Tabletop games are a fun alternative to confidence seminars and courses on out-of-the-box thinking. It’s quite amazing that games like Dungeons and Dragons are becoming popular again, and offering a fun opportunity for these generations to test out and build necessary skill sets. And, as always, we get to have a ton of fun in the meantime. So roll the die. Fight the monster, win the girl (or guy.) Become the hero you’ve dreamt of. In the words of Critical Role’s legendary Dungeon Master, Matt Mercer, “How do you want to do this?"