Welcome everyone to our finale installment of the “D&D: Race Review” blog! Throughout this series, we’ve looked at some people’s accounts of how race in the game affects how they play, and affects how they view the game. On top of this, we’ve seen a few overarching ideas in all these different interviews that point to a few things when it comes to dungeons and dragons. We’ve seen how some of the situations can make players uncomfortable, how some races can be seen as caricatures, and how we can actually have some introspection when it comes to all this. And what better way to bring all these ideas together than to talk about my own experiences with the game?

In terms of the game, I’d still consider myself to be a novice. I started playing around five or so years ago, and would constantly play characters like bards or rogues, as I found those to be the most fun. Admittedly, while playing I wouldn’t take into account my character’s backstory or anything all that often. But after I started getting more into it, I definitely started having more points of introspection. To me, dungeons and dragons present a unique chance to involve yourself in improv, and to involve yourself in the act of storytelling. There is no one set path that you can go on, no one way to create a character, and no one way to actually go about playing. I’ve come to understand the need to branch out and play different races, classes and the like. As discussed in blog 2, this can lead to a lot of introspection about the world around us, not just the world in the game. I’ve had plenty of times where race in game would affect how things turn out and how things are handled, and I still think about those times every now and then when getting ready for another game. It helps me think about how I want to approach the game, if I want to play a “controversial” race, and how I might better interact with the world that the DM has set up for me and the other players. When it comes to dungeon mastering, I find it fun to interact with what the players give me in terms of their characters, and try to work with them to create a fun, memorable story that they’ll want to keep coming back to week after week.

Once again, I would definitely consider myself a novice still when it comes to the game. There’s plenty I haven’t done yet, but I still find the idea of interacting with the different races in the game to be both fun and thought-provoking. Interacting with a story and with other players through your own unique character is an experience I think everyone should have at least once, to help understand this nerdy hobby a bit better. It can lead to things that you didn’t think you’d think about (such as how race is involved in the game more often than you might expect). If you have a group of friends, a discord server, a lot of time and a desire to play games, I highly encourage you to give dungeons and dragons a chance. It can be a bit pricey at the start, since you have to have the player’s handbook and a module to run, but once you get going you can start creating your own unique stories that can spark reflection and fun within your group. I’d like to thank you all for taking the time to read the “D&D: Race Review” blog, and for giving the nerdy topic of dungeons and dragons a chance. I hope you give it a chance yourself and see what sort of spectacular, exhilarating adventures you can find yourselves in.