Anyone who has met me, or really even heard of me, is immediately aware of one fact: I am unabashedly a huge nerd. Part of this comes from the fact that I grew up in a household that encouraged interests in technology, fantasy, the sciences, and academia as a whole. Reading has always been a family pass time, my parents would leave us with our grandparents once a year to go to Renaissance Festivals, and I learned how to build a computer and play Dungeons and Dragons from my father. I'm opening this article by mentioning this so that you understand when I say that 'Dungeons and Dragons' isn't exclusively for nerds. I'm most likely incredibly biased; I love tabletop roleplaying games (RPGs) of all kinds, and I always will.

So, why should you give RPGs a chance? There are a few reasons, which I'm hoping to break down in further detail. First, Dungeons and Dragons (or as it's more often called, D&D), isn't really anything like what most people imagine. Second, the basic concept of a tabletop RPG is so loose, it can fit into any genre or interest. Third, it has always proven, to me, to be the single best way to spend an afternoon and bond with a close group of friends.

So first off, let's dispel some of the illusions surrounding tabletop RPGs. When most people hear about tabletops, they immediately think of Dungeons and Dragons, and with that come a few pretty nasty stereotypes. First, that it's played in someone's musty basement. Second, that only incredibly anti-social people play, and that the kind of person who would play D&D isn't likely to have friends. Third, and most likely the number one stereotype about the game: that it involves dressing up in silly costumes and pretending the game is real. So, the first two illusions are fairly easy to dispel: Tabletop RPGs can be played anywhere that you have a table, hence the name. Some particularly industrious players will even figure out how to play it without any surface at all, meaning that it's the kind of game you can pick up and start playing literally anywhere. I've been known to run impromptu games while on walks with friends, or in the dining halls on my college campus. Second, the core concept of a tabletop RPG is cooperation: it's about creating a narrative, and then allowing every person at the table to participate in furthering that narrative as a collective: the mechanics of most tabletops encourage you to work and play together. By definition, you need at least one other friend to play, and most groups are five to eight players large. So with that out of the way comes the more challenging of the three stereotypes here: playing dress-up. Now, I can't promise that there were never a group of people who played Dungeons and Dragons in costume (everyone has their thing, right?) but I can promise that it isn't a part of the game as a concept. The point in a tabletop is to gather with a group of people, choose a story that you all want to tell, and have each player take charge of a single main character within that story. You need only a willingness to embrace the narrative and your voice to play. There is a form of role-playing that involves dressing up and making believe, and that's called LARPing (Live Action Role-Playing), but that's another topic for another article.

So now that you're less afraid of the stigma around playing the game, we need to address genre. Most people think only of Dungeons and Dragons when they think tabletop: Dungeons and Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game, generally involving the typical mythical creatures, ancient wizards, cunning rogues, and brave warriors. Fantasy isn't for everyone, I get that, and maybe it's not for you, so why would you ever take an interest in playing a fantasy game? Well, if the concept of a tabletop seems fun, but the content is what's holding you back, I've got some good news. Dungeons and Dragons is one product in a sea of tabletops. There are rule systems for every genre, from realistic fiction to surrealism, fantasy to science fiction, and everywhere in between. Beyond just basic genres, there are even rules systems for just about every fandom under the sun. If you're a fan of Game of Thrones, Pokemon, The Walking Dead, or Star Wars, I've got some good news for you: You can play your favorite games, movies, books, and TV shows in tabletop form.

Finally I come to the most important reason that I believe you should pick up tabletops and give them a roll: there is no better way to bond with your friends, or spend a few hours, especially on a rainy day. The majority of a session of any RPG is just socializing with your friends--of course, depending on the group, that socializing may be entirely focused around the game, or barely at all. Gather your four to six closest friends, and invite them to your house on a rainy Thursday afternoon, then proceed to spend the entire day making up stories, creating inside jokes, and building a world that you all get to share just with each other. I've never bonded with a friend more than I have over a particularly good session of role-playing; all of our best jokes and memories were created around the table, and those are things that will stick with us our entire lives.

So, convinced yet? Good. Now all you need to do is grab a few friends, decide on what kind of game you'd like to play, and hit Google up for some more information. For your convenience, I've added a short list below this of a few titles you might want to start with, based on interest in the genre.

Fantasy - Dungeons and Dragons
Science Fiction - Star Wars: Saga Edition
Cyberpunk - Shadowrun
Anime - Big Eyes Small Mouth (BESM)
Fandom - First, google the name of the fandom and "RPG." If no results come up, look into Savage Worlds.