Dungeons and Dragons is a strategic and fun role-playing Game (RPG) that lets you stretch the imagination and create some great entertainment.  Many people don't understand it.  I have grown up all my life hearing it was evil and that only crazy, evil weirdoes played it.  This game can actually be good for an individual.

         D&D is pretty complex.  It does have a lot of rules, but after awhile you just get adjusted to it, like playing a musical instrument or being in a sport.  The basics of how it is played are real simple however.  A few friends get together, one being the DM, the rest players.  The DM (Dungeon Master) is the person who runs what goes on that night.  He or she is in charge of where they are what they encounter, whom they go up against and so forth.  They make the world.  The players make up their characters.  They give them a name, appearance, stats, personality, anything they need.  Then the DM starts them off.  Tells them what is going on.  The players make their moves, the DM reacts, and then they react to that.   Sounds an awful lot like making a story.  In fact that’s basically what it is, only easier.
D&D is so much fun to play.  I know there are people out there who are too serious about it.  But there are people, who say, “God told me to jump off a bridge in a vision so I am going to.”  That is when they go “splat” or “splash”.  As with all things if you are going to be part of it you have to know how to draw the line.  I was trying to find good information on the Internet and came across this quote.   "The sort of person who will play D&D and then lose touch with reality and sacrifice his friends to Lord Binky is the sort of person who would probably do that sort of thing anyway. An unstable person is an unstable person, and the whole thing really doesn't have to do with RPGs". (Lansing D. Tryon)  I believe that is his screen name to the web site.  Who ever that is they have a really good point.  In the front of the core handbook reads this: “THIS GAME IS FANTASY.  The action of a [D&D] game takes place in the imaginations of the players.  Like actors in a movie, players sometimes speak as if they were their characters or as if their fellow players were their characters.  These rules even adopt that casual approach, using “you” to refer to “ your character”.  In reality, however, you are no more your character than you are are the King when you play chess.  Likewise, the world implied by these rules is an imaginary one.”  This means play if your sane, if you can’t tell the difference between reality and a GAME it is your own fault. Drinking alcohol is not bad unless you abuse it.  Video games don’t make you evil they have magic in them just like D&D.
My aunt told me about a time once when she was my age she went to a party and there were people playing D&D at it.  She saw “ a dark shadowy figure” in the corner of the room.  It was of course some demon supervising the D&D playing.  Maybe if people weren’t so scared of a game they could try and play to see if it is or not.  I don’t think she saw a demon, I think she was just a little too over-imaginative.  The only things I’ve seen in the corner when I play are the cat and a Mt. Dew case.  When I go game I have so much fun because it is a relaxed friendly environment. We talk of funny shows and jokes as we game.  We make jokes all the time.  We all know it’s just a game.  It’s a really fun game, but not real life.  A very funny way of showing you what a D&D gaming session is like is: http://www.cybermoonstudios.com/8bitDandD.html. That is pretty accurate on how it is too.  I think if people would relax and not spread around that it is evil we would not have such a problem.  I always assumed that it was evil.  Then one day I went to a friend’s house and watched them play the Star Wars RPG.  I had a blast and ended up joining them that night with no clue how to play.  Then they explained that no matter what they play it’s the same way.  I joined them on a D&D night and Tada! I’m not cursed!  I’m fine!
It is a game.  You decide what to make of it.  You control yourself, the game does not! Dungeons and Dragons is a strategic and fun role-playing Game (RPG) that lets you stretch the imagination and create some great entertainment.  I have fun pretending to be Kominda the Elf for a little bit then I go home still Jessica.