How has D&D Liberated you?

Ok, there has been a lot of nastiness going around, now let's have some of the opposite. Joy and Liberation.

How has D&D saved you and in what ways? From letting yourself explore your identity, letting you come out of your shell, to full on helping you see beyond the darkness that whispers it will consume you?

Tell your story.

Being able to play characters of a variety of different genders helped me realize I don't really have one.

And playing D&D online really helped me stay sane during the early days of the pandemic.

Being less isolated during COVID is the main one for me.

Joining a local DnD group has given me friends I never would have met otherwise and gave us a similar interest i can get behind.

In addition, playing characters as a player and a DM have allowed me to loosen up considerably.

It gave me a place I felt comfortable being my true self. 

:]

It allowed my to assemble IRL friends(Before that group turned unsafe & broke up after I left), & online play can assemble some pretty fun people from almost anywhere.

Character creation is my creative hobby, and while fandom negativity is a universal thing, it's pretty ding-dang amazing how this game can bring together so many people who'd be isolated otherwise.

Liberated?  No.  It has helped me stay close to a few friends for the last 40 years with which I would have otherwise likely became distant or disconnected.

For me, the game gave me a way to channel my love for writing. I've always enjoyed writing and worldbuilding, but I didn't get any good at it until I got into D&D and other RPGs. Additionally, the game has helped me to stay in contact with a few close friends, as life has tried time and time again to separate us.

Like a couple of others have said it helped me stay sane during the Covid lockdowns and provided an excuse to spend time online with friends in a way that felt less awkward then just trying to hang out on Discord chatting 

Quote from GnollitAll78450 >>

How has D&D saved you and in what ways? From letting yourself explore your identity, letting you come out of your shell, to full on helping you see beyond the darkness that whispers it will consume you?

Tell your story.

I'm trans, and it allowed me to figure out my gender, and name. 

D&D has helped me with meeting new people and getting comfortable with them, despite my shyness and introversion.

In no specific order:

• Unleashing Writing Creativity (for someone that is Dyslexic and struggles with writing/reading)
• Overcame some of my Shyness (via Roleplaying)
• Connected with New Friends (introduced to our group by other friends)
• Created a Safe Space (when playing in our core group)
• Reduced unhealthy amounts of Stress (able to just 'be in the moment' while playing and not worrying about everything for once)

It gave me an outlet for my creativity which allowed me to sink almost 200,000 words into my setting and campaign, and gave me friends from the local group which I would not have had.

It also reunited me with some people I knew from school, where I was a bit of a terror, who I am ashamed to admit that I had bullied in my youth. They were welcoming and didn't hold it against me, which allowed me to forgive myself for doing it, which has allowed me to grow as a person.

It has also allowed me to become a published author, which I might never have done, and it has introduced me to people who play Magic the Gathering, which is now one of my favourite hobbies, which I would not have otherwise tried!

I also had a comment from my recent (successful) job application, wherein I rephrased dungeons and dragons into managing complex scheduling and conflict resolution through team-based activities (and so on), that it was one of the best hobbies sections of a CV they had ever read.

This new job allows me to relocate to a beautiful part of the country, where my wife can have many more opportunities for the career she is seeking, and where we have found the best house we've ever seen, which we can now afford to rent.

So yeah, it's done a lot for me!