Hello everyone. I am Levi, and I have ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder). I have been playing/DMing D&D 5e for just over 3 years, and I have known that I have Autism for about 2.5 years. I know that D&D has helped me cope with my difficulties in life since before I knew I had ASD or any other conditions. I also have OCD and ADHD as well, and have also suffered from depression throughout the years for various reasons. I know that D&D has helped me greatly, and I wanted to make this thread so others with similar conditions could come and share their stories and experiences if they want, or just have a place where other people have had similar difficulties as they have.
Please post below, and I hope to hear from a lot of people.
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Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Hi. I am Jem, I am very ADD (ADHD, without the hyperactivity bit), and I also suffer from depression. Doesn't feel great, especially with this lockdown. DnD has helped me immensely, and yesterday I played my first game of DnD irl for 6 months. It was probably the most theraputic thing i have done in a loooonng while. I hope everyone else who suffers from any mental/ physical ailment who sees this is still able to cope....
Know that someone else (me) believes in you, and I often don't believe in myself, so that says a lot.
also, brazil nuts
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“I will take responsibility for what I have done. [...] If must fall, I will rise each time a better man.” ― Brandon Sanderson, Oathbringer.
D&D helped me cope with a break-up that lead to a depression when I first started playing two years ago, roleplaying characters in a fictional world while being with friends got my situation somewhat bearable, hell, one of my DMs even pulled off running a story arc for my character that led to finally letting go of the lost of his wife. In hindsight, that probably helped me to move on, in a way.
I then picked up on DMing about 12 months ago, as a storyteller/actor kind of player, I felt the need to create stories of my own. Once the pandemic and lockdown got to us, I quickly put together a way to play on Discord, as I feared I would go insane without my weekly roleplaying fix, and started my first original story campaign (I'd only run one-shots to fill in for my DM when he needed a break and before the pandemic I was running CoS). It has now been a month since we got back to playing in person instead of online and I've actually started a second campaign.
What does it have to do with the thread? Turns out I've been recently diagnosed with ADHD, a week and a half ago to be precise, and I've only now realized just how much hyper-fixating on something like D&D is definitely what saved my soul in the last 2 years. It gave me a creative outlet, as well as providing me with recurring social gatherings (or calls, during the months of lockdown). In other words, it kept me from being alone and focus on the negative.
So I guess I can relate to your story to some extent. You are certainly not alone and I think it's great that you've started this thread. I hope you, and anyone else who read this, are feeling ok and I wish you all the best !
Not sure if this thread is still active but here I go. So I have ADHD, SAD and a mood disorder. I played d&d for the first time last december (as the dm). This was just before the peak if what was the worst time in my life. About a month later I ran another game for friends who were veterans in d&d. The game was uttet chaos (in the goid sense). It was shortky after that game that I ended up in hospital for depression and being suicidal. Long story short abiut two months back one of the friends I ran that game for was going to DM for the first time and she told me that she wanted to model her game on mine since it was so 'chaotic'. I think that that was the first time in over a decade that I felt a sense of pride. Something I thought could never break through a selfesteem so low that I couldnt even believe someone when they said 'nice shirt'. It was the most amazing feeling being able to create something that other people could enjoy that was born within this chaotic mind of mine. Now when that little voice tells me I can't do it, I just think about that sense of pride, not just for DMing but in everything I do.
I just want to tell everyone reading this thread that you are awesome, all the best and you certainly got this!
Evening gang. I'm autistic and have known about my condition for about 10 years, but haven't really known how it affects me because it's been kept something of a secret by my parents and school life. I am however getting to know the strengths and cons that come from the quirks that come from my cosy corner of the spectrum. Positives include really enjoying making characters, backstories, homebrewing settings and lore for them, miniatures and maps, and writing songs about character exploits which I wish to use for a Bard one day. Such an excerpt is in the spoiler below. Inspiration (and my sympathies) to anyone who's mad enough to the tune to that:
I know a mountain dwarf called Grimhammer, Garveld to his mates. He's a Cleric of the Grave, see, Deciding many's fates.
He's a holy man, but he don't fill holes, He'll heal when you've no luck. Dead-turning, wood-burning, alms and urns, and lots of "what the ****?"
What's Garveld gonna do today? Will he keep us from the grave? He'll toll the dead 'til he turns red, What's Garveld gonna do today?
So when you next play roll the bones, Praise Kelemvor's throne. 'Cause if you don't you might rue the day, When Garveld comes and walks your way!
The downsides however are that because I'm new to D&D having played video games virtually all my life, I ask a lot of questions, I get repetitive, I'm a stickler for rules and information (especially consistency), and not helping with online limitations are barriers to communication. It's also took some getting used to with banter; I honestly didn't think I'd get on with my current group because one member took the mick out of my character, and I took that personally, but I'm glad to know that as I spend more time with them we're getting to know each other's strengths and weaknesses, and as we become more comfortalbe in each other's company, we can accomplish more per session.
How D&D's helping me is that it makes me want to be more sociable, rather than feel obliged to turn up due to an MMO's subscription fee and guild memberships. It's surprisingly helped me with mental maths (not that there's a whole lot of math at 2nd level...), to the point where even ThAC0 is comprehensible, and shines a light on how poorly video game RPGs 'show their working' (except other d20-based vidya, and Paper Mario.) And due to ADHD, I struggle to concentrate on books however much I'd like to read (and write) them... but I could read splatbooks cover to cover with zero problems. My thirst for adventure books is unquenchable.
Alas, the temptation to gather all this knowledge has to be balanced out by the fact that if the DM gets any idea of what stat blocks I've seen and know, there'll be trouble for my character. It's a good job that I like being the 'third wheel,' so to speak, so I get to keep my mouth shut and provide insights and ideas when everyone else has had their turn talking. To say I take D&D quite seriously, when it comes to being at the table I'm just happy to be along for the ride.
PS: Thanks for making this thread. It's rather nice to know other people's experiences. I may learn a thing or two from posters here. ^^
Zero is the most important number in D&D: Session Zero sets the boundaries and the tone; Rule Zero dictates the Dungeon Master (DM) is the final arbiter; and Zero D&D is better than Bad D&D.
"Let us speak plainly now, and in earnest, for words mean little without the weight of conviction."
I am very new to D&D, and I am Autistic. I always wanted to try D&D and struggle with the fear of actually playing. I also have OCD, ADD, depression, etc. I thought I would start by finding people like myself to connect with and learn how to play. I have created a level 1 Ranger. I don't know what else to say, and I will stop here.
I'm audhd (autistic and adhd)– I've only been aware I'm autistic for 2 years and have adhd for 4 years. I always had trouble socializing but found I could much more easily make friends with other nerds. I love delving into lore and spent countless hours reading stuff from all editions and even d&d novels. I get so hyperfocused and fixated that in 2020 I wound up creating a 70+ page lore document for a homebrew campagain. oops!
For the past 5 years d&d has been my main means of socializing and making friends and I love it. Interestingly, despite my social struggles, I play 2 high charisma casters (a bard and a warlock) in 2 long running campaigns. Being autistic has been a struggle when it comes to certain charisma checks, the worst being persuasion. For the life of me I can not seem to grasp how to persuade people. My bard is super proficient in persuasion yet, I the player, fail miserably every time and my fellow players tend to get annoyed with me and try to correct me when I do this. I've asked a lot of questions and have continued to research how to persuade, but no matter what I do I can't seem to grasp it. My DM will ask me how I persuade and when I explain it she always says: that's intimidation or deception. But I'm not lying or trying to scare someone? I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. Its very confusing.
Otherwise I love the game and have a lot of fun, but I do struggle with certain aspects of social rules and knowing how much to participate or when to let others have the spotlight– often I take too much of a back seat for fear of my adhd making me an interruption machine. I've gotten a lot better at balancing this. I've found my d&d experience helps me out in real life too and overall my experience has been very positive
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Dragons? In my dungeon? More likely than you think.
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Hello everyone. I am Levi, and I have ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder). I have been playing/DMing D&D 5e for just over 3 years, and I have known that I have Autism for about 2.5 years. I know that D&D has helped me cope with my difficulties in life since before I knew I had ASD or any other conditions. I also have OCD and ADHD as well, and have also suffered from depression throughout the years for various reasons. I know that D&D has helped me greatly, and I wanted to make this thread so others with similar conditions could come and share their stories and experiences if they want, or just have a place where other people have had similar difficulties as they have.
Please post below, and I hope to hear from a lot of people.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
Hi. I am Jem, I am very ADD (ADHD, without the hyperactivity bit), and I also suffer from depression. Doesn't feel great, especially with this lockdown. DnD has helped me immensely, and yesterday I played my first game of DnD irl for 6 months. It was probably the most theraputic thing i have done in a loooonng while. I hope everyone else who suffers from any mental/ physical ailment who sees this is still able to cope....
Know that someone else (me) believes in you, and I often don't believe in myself, so that says a lot.
also, brazil nuts
“I will take responsibility for what I have done. [...] If must fall, I will rise each time a better man.” ― Brandon Sanderson, Oathbringer.
I have autism too (howdy do) and I been enjoying 5th edition a lot. Though my obsessing over niche things not helping me play it.
Howdy. My obsessing helps with min-maxing, but not roleplay.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
Well, here's a story :
D&D helped me cope with a break-up that lead to a depression when I first started playing two years ago, roleplaying characters in a fictional world while being with friends got my situation somewhat bearable, hell, one of my DMs even pulled off running a story arc for my character that led to finally letting go of the lost of his wife. In hindsight, that probably helped me to move on, in a way.
I then picked up on DMing about 12 months ago, as a storyteller/actor kind of player, I felt the need to create stories of my own. Once the pandemic and lockdown got to us, I quickly put together a way to play on Discord, as I feared I would go insane without my weekly roleplaying fix, and started my first original story campaign (I'd only run one-shots to fill in for my DM when he needed a break and before the pandemic I was running CoS). It has now been a month since we got back to playing in person instead of online and I've actually started a second campaign.
What does it have to do with the thread? Turns out I've been recently diagnosed with ADHD, a week and a half ago to be precise, and I've only now realized just how much hyper-fixating on something like D&D is definitely what saved my soul in the last 2 years. It gave me a creative outlet, as well as providing me with recurring social gatherings (or calls, during the months of lockdown). In other words, it kept me from being alone and focus on the negative.
So I guess I can relate to your story to some extent. You are certainly not alone and I think it's great that you've started this thread. I hope you, and anyone else who read this, are feeling ok and I wish you all the best !
I can relate to this. DnD and music are the only way i can deal with life. Honestly there are worse things to depend on ;)
“I will take responsibility for what I have done. [...] If must fall, I will rise each time a better man.” ― Brandon Sanderson, Oathbringer.
I couldn't agree more.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
Yup yup
Not sure if this thread is still active but here I go. So I have ADHD, SAD and a mood disorder. I played d&d for the first time last december (as the dm). This was just before the peak if what was the worst time in my life. About a month later I ran another game for friends who were veterans in d&d. The game was uttet chaos (in the goid sense). It was shortky after that game that I ended up in hospital for depression and being suicidal. Long story short abiut two months back one of the friends I ran that game for was going to DM for the first time and she told me that she wanted to model her game on mine since it was so 'chaotic'. I think that that was the first time in over a decade that I felt a sense of pride. Something I thought could never break through a selfesteem so low that I couldnt even believe someone when they said 'nice shirt'. It was the most amazing feeling being able to create something that other people could enjoy that was born within this chaotic mind of mine. Now when that little voice tells me I can't do it, I just think about that sense of pride, not just for DMing but in everything I do.
I just want to tell everyone reading this thread that you are awesome, all the best and you certainly got this!
Evening gang. I'm autistic and have known about my condition for about 10 years, but haven't really known how it affects me because it's been kept something of a secret by my parents and school life. I am however getting to know the strengths and cons that come from the quirks that come from my cosy corner of the spectrum. Positives include really enjoying making characters, backstories, homebrewing settings and lore for them, miniatures and maps, and writing songs about character exploits which I wish to use for a Bard one day. Such an excerpt is in the spoiler below. Inspiration (and my sympathies) to anyone who's mad enough to the tune to that:
I know a mountain dwarf called Grimhammer,
Garveld to his mates.
He's a Cleric of the Grave, see,
Deciding many's fates.
He's a holy man, but he don't fill holes,
He'll heal when you've no luck.
Dead-turning, wood-burning, alms and urns, and lots of "what the ****?"
What's Garveld gonna do today?
Will he keep us from the grave?
He'll toll the dead 'til he turns red,
What's Garveld gonna do today?
So when you next play roll the bones,
Praise Kelemvor's throne.
'Cause if you don't you might rue the day,
When Garveld comes and walks your way!
The downsides however are that because I'm new to D&D having played video games virtually all my life, I ask a lot of questions, I get repetitive, I'm a stickler for rules and information (especially consistency), and not helping with online limitations are barriers to communication. It's also took some getting used to with banter; I honestly didn't think I'd get on with my current group because one member took the mick out of my character, and I took that personally, but I'm glad to know that as I spend more time with them we're getting to know each other's strengths and weaknesses, and as we become more comfortalbe in each other's company, we can accomplish more per session.
How D&D's helping me is that it makes me want to be more sociable, rather than feel obliged to turn up due to an MMO's subscription fee and guild memberships. It's surprisingly helped me with mental maths (not that there's a whole lot of math at 2nd level...), to the point where even ThAC0 is comprehensible, and shines a light on how poorly video game RPGs 'show their working' (except other d20-based vidya, and Paper Mario.) And due to ADHD, I struggle to concentrate on books however much I'd like to read (and write) them... but I could read splatbooks cover to cover with zero problems. My thirst for adventure books is unquenchable.
Alas, the temptation to gather all this knowledge has to be balanced out by the fact that if the DM gets any idea of what stat blocks I've seen and know, there'll be trouble for my character. It's a good job that I like being the 'third wheel,' so to speak, so I get to keep my mouth shut and provide insights and ideas when everyone else has had their turn talking. To say I take D&D quite seriously, when it comes to being at the table I'm just happy to be along for the ride.
PS: Thanks for making this thread. It's rather nice to know other people's experiences. I may learn a thing or two from posters here. ^^
Zero is the most important number in D&D: Session Zero sets the boundaries and the tone; Rule Zero dictates the Dungeon Master (DM) is the final arbiter; and Zero D&D is better than Bad D&D.
"Let us speak plainly now, and in earnest, for words mean little without the weight of conviction."
- The Assemblage of Houses, World of Warcraft
I am very new to D&D, and I am Autistic. I always wanted to try D&D and struggle with the fear of actually playing. I also have OCD, ADD, depression, etc. I thought I would start by finding people like myself to connect with and learn how to play. I have created a level 1 Ranger. I don't know what else to say, and I will stop here.
I'm audhd (autistic and adhd)– I've only been aware I'm autistic for 2 years and have adhd for 4 years. I always had trouble socializing but found I could much more easily make friends with other nerds. I love delving into lore and spent countless hours reading stuff from all editions and even d&d novels. I get so hyperfocused and fixated that in 2020 I wound up creating a 70+ page lore document for a homebrew campagain. oops!
For the past 5 years d&d has been my main means of socializing and making friends and I love it. Interestingly, despite my social struggles, I play 2 high charisma casters (a bard and a warlock) in 2 long running campaigns. Being autistic has been a struggle when it comes to certain charisma checks, the worst being persuasion. For the life of me I can not seem to grasp how to persuade people. My bard is super proficient in persuasion yet, I the player, fail miserably every time and my fellow players tend to get annoyed with me and try to correct me when I do this. I've asked a lot of questions and have continued to research how to persuade, but no matter what I do I can't seem to grasp it. My DM will ask me how I persuade and when I explain it she always says: that's intimidation or deception. But I'm not lying or trying to scare someone? I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. Its very confusing.
Otherwise I love the game and have a lot of fun, but I do struggle with certain aspects of social rules and knowing how much to participate or when to let others have the spotlight– often I take too much of a back seat for fear of my adhd making me an interruption machine. I've gotten a lot better at balancing this. I've found my d&d experience helps me out in real life too and overall my experience has been very positive
Dragons? In my dungeon? More likely than you think.