I have been visiting and participating in this Forum off and on for the last several years.
My recent return was sparked from wanting to check on other places (like this one) in my life, to see what changes have happened.

The spark for that wanting came from having done so in a different way, with a different group with whom I recently met and caught up. That group was comprised of some very old friends that I've knew from my teenage years. Back in "The Day", we played Dungeons & Dragons together - and for those of you who still had yet to be born in the 70s, I mean the Role Playing Game (not the MMO) we played happened by sitting around in a room, rolling multi-sided dice, using paper and pencil, and vocally acting out the characters we created as they grew on went on adventures directed by a friend who played the role of a "Dungeon Master".

Merely saying that we playing the game with intensity almost completely misses the mark. For a while, we proverbially breathed, drank, and devoured everything about it. Our characters were more than merely fictional conceits - they became the vehicles through which we respectively crafted and tempered the mettle our true characters ... our souls. The very act of playing occurred like performing a group ritual. In hindsight, I realize now that we very much were like a Magickal Order. However, none of us (including me at the time) considered what we were doing like that. To us, we were just kids really into and enjoying ourselves playing a very good game. And we truly wished and dreamed that we somehow could have the abilities that central and most favored characters possessed.

The last time we actually saw each other in person was back in the mid to late 80s, right before highschool ended and we all went our separate ways through life.

When we got together for a reunion vacation after all these years, we discovered that each of us has actually became the essence of our D&D characters.



Brian who played the Warrior (and other assorted sword&board melee classes) joined the military and learned how to fight and defend using an assortment of strategies and tactics throughout his career.

Chris, who played the Cleric, has become the Pastor of a southern Christian church - where he and his wife now shepard a congregation. He was overjoyed to tell us about how he has found peace and the power to assist others with finding their way to "The Light by the Grace of God".

Lisa, who played the Bard, went on not only to get her degree in Vocal Music - but has toured in a travelling cast around the country, playing parts a few notorious Broadway Musicals before settling down to raise a family, start teaching Performing Arts school in New York. She still does bit parts in both amateur and professional shows when she can get them, and regaled us with stories about her road trips and stage experiences.

Mike, who played the Druid and Ranger, got a degree in "Natural Resources" moved out west to work for the Government studying and stewarding a National Park to which we all have been invited to bring our families and visit, so that he can introduce us to the mountains and caves and wildlife that actually brought tears to his eyes as he talked about them.

David, who was the Dungeon Master has become a Principal (and we were reminded never to forget the "Pal" in the title) a private school. He had us playing with some of the new advant-guard technology for stimulating the mind, memory, and creative faculties. His wealth of information about the new cirriculums coming down the proverbial pipe to assist new students with triumphing on their adventures in the Digital Age.

And I, who played the Wizard (among other assorted "magic users") have become an actual Mage, practicing magick as it actually works for me in this lifetime - as well as a Councelor for assisting people who battle with their inner psychological forces which assail them.


I could not hold back from pointing this out to them once we all shared tales of our respective life journeys with each other.
On one hand, they were surprised at what we revealed and how it fit. On the other hand, we weren't surprised at all.


Back in that other Era, it was popular for certain infamous quarters the Social Establishment to warn the population against playing D&D (and indeed all other kinds of RPGs) They used to tell horror stories of people who confused fantasy for reality, and who committed suicide when their characters died, and warned that if we meddled with those kinds of ostensibly diabolical games we, too, could suffer the same fate.

But instead, for us, the Dream actually became Reality in the context of our respective lives.

The highpoint of the entire reunion was us spending two days (with hardly any sleep) playing various group RPGs together. We did a few hours "old school" style, with some characters. Then we went "modern" and logged into our laptops and rolled a few "toons" in a couple of modern MMOs and romped around Azeroth, Tyria, and Telara. There was wine, we cooked meals, laughter, and so much speculative talk about hopes for the future that all the excitement was heady - just as it was for us back in "The Day", but this time as adults. In the end, after this rare Adventure of adventures together, there were tears in parting as we all once again had to go our separate ways in the world. Thanks to social media, we can remain in contact with each other, even though we live in disparate locations pursuing the individual stories of our lives physically apart. Our next meeting will be entirely digital as an eagerly anticipated MMO (Guild Wars 2) hopefully nears completion and release. And our next physical meeting will be two summers from now when we take up Mike's invitation (this time, with families in tow) to visit the wilderness he cultivates and calls Home.



I was wondering if anyone else has discovered something like this miraculously happen in your life experience.
(And I'm not exclusive wondering this about other RPG players - I mean it in an essential sense for whatever relevant and specific situation occurs in your life)

Perhaps this question only really can be answered by those of you who have lived long enough to reflect upon it with the wise hindsight of years:


Have you had a Dream - a burning desire to develop yourself according to whatever fantastic way, something which seemed impossible to attain during this lifetime and thus out of reach, which you yearned to become and experience - which ultimately (and in accordance with the boundaries and dynamics possible within this Plane) become?

Have you experienced your Dreams for self-actualization become Reality?

This post has been edited by Praxis: Nov 12 2011, 05:59 AM