I always thought Dungeons and Dragons was for a group smelly guys who were locked in a dimly lit basement with a bowl of cheese doodles and several two liters of Mountain Dew. Boy, was I wrong...

DnD, Pathfinder and other tabletop RPGs (role playing games) are much more than something you see “nerdy" guys playing in movies. It's something you can actually do with only a grid, some dice, and an energetic group of people. It is an outlet. A freedom to do whatever you want and be whoever you want to be.

These games fuel your creativity and let you do more than you could in the real world. One minute you're barreling through a town on a flaming cart while being attacked by gremlins and the next minute you're stranded in a desert with nothing around you except your partners and a bag of oranges.

What other game lets you use wildshape to turn into a behemoth tiger with wings that can deal up to 15 points of damage in a single hit? What game lets you slip a live bomb into the pocket of a biker orc with a successful slight of hand check, just in time for you to run away and watch it blow up?

But, these games aren't just about enemies and dealing damage. You can also do things like become a master of your craft who convinces a misguided pickpocket to become his protege.

These kinds of tabletop RPG's create a fun environment that can't be beat. Years from now, when you are still playing this game, you won't be able recreate the same experiences or even the same campaigns; each adventure is different. This gives these games a certain re-playability that cannot be matched by other types of games.

Role·play [rohl-pley] verb
To assume the attitudes, actions, and discourse of (another), especially in a make-believe situation.

As a DM (dungeon master), you create a setting for your players: a village, a tower, a ship, a colony on the moon—whatever your heart desires. As a player, you create the character you want to become. You can be anyone you want to be—anyone that you normally can't be while out-of-game. Become a ruler, astronaut, traveler...anything! Trying on a new attitude, new accent, new name—becoming a new person for a short time is liberating in many ways.

Not only is this a bonding experience to share with your friends away from phones and computers, it's a fantasy quencher...and once you've had a taste, you won't want to live without it.

For more information about Pathfinder, visit: http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/

For more information about DnD, visit: http://www.d20srd.org/