I absolutely love Dungeons and Dragons and it is due to many factors. I love playing both online and in-person and both are rewarding but in different ways. To me, Dungeons and Dragons is special because:

1. Collaborative Storytelling – At the heart of the game is collaborative storytelling. The Dungeon Master owns the plot and the characters tell the story. When games lose their energy it usually is because some aspect of collaborative storytelling is missing. You hear terms like the game is on ‘rails’. This really just means that the players feel like they don’t have choices or autonomy. This is one of the biggest mistakes a Dungeon Master can make – thinking your story is bigger than the players. Again, the Dungeon Master owns the plot, the story owns the players. When done right, players will think of plans, choices, and decisions that I as a Dungeon Master had never considered. The magic of Dungeons and Dragons is when that happens.
2. Community – the community and culture of the community is a place we feel at home in. Many of us are nerds, geeks, introverts. We longed for a place we belong. Finally, there is a community of like minded people that love to play the game, talk about the game, create miniatures, write stories, and just enjoy each other’s company.
3. Dice – Oh the dice. The game is nothing without the chance of the dice. The element of chance and randomness energizes the game. In addition to the choices we make, lady lucky can decide if our decisions were successful. This randomness both for the Dungeon Master and player together create the tales within the story within the plot. No game is ever the same twice. Every session has an unknown outcome.
4. Setting – Most, if not all, of us love the fantasy setting. A game that allows us to play ourselves in that setting a be the hero or heroine is absolutely thrilling. Even better to have the choices and autonomy to decide how our character grows is something no other game or book can provide. (Outside of writing our own novel)
5. Rules – Rules, rules, rules. There are soooo many rules. This can be an obstacle to people joining initially but most people soon see that the amount of rules and options provide and endless variety of how the game can be played. More importantly, the game was created with the principle that the rules as merely guidelines. As a Dungeon Master it is critical to manage the rules fairly and consistently to make the game even more fun. I am not the rules lawyer, but I think the one rule that should not ever be broken is to implement rules inconsistently. That is another way to make players feel that they aren’t contributing to the story and the Dungeon Master is just using the players as a means to tell his or her story. But the flexibility of augmenting rules to fit the Dungeon Master and player style is another charm of the game.