I’ll give you an insight into how role-playing can change your own conflicts, without the actual topic itself even being touched upon. This is about my very own experiences with it.
Picture credit: paulzhuk @depositphotos.com
I’ve been a role player for almost 26 years, during most of which I was a game master. That means I am the person who tells the story to which the other players, or their characters, react. I’ve told a lot of stories and experienced them as a player, as well as played a lot of different characters.
How it started
The beginning was rather unspectacular. Spring 2002. A new story began, and everyone chose a character. I usually looked for characters who acted more in the background, but rarely helped the others who were in the spotlight. That wasn’t possible this time and my desired role was already taken. “Then I play an Amazon.” That statement got it all rolling. A fighter in the world of the Black Eye, with very fixed values, able to assert herself not only with the weapon was not me, not one bit.
This character was pretty much the most difficult I’ve ever played. I constantly stepped out of my comfort zone. I had to make decisions instead of putting myself on the back burner. Had to make demands. In part, the decisions were not necessarily “good,” but for the character in the situation, she did the best thing she could do. And… it wasn’t bad! Never! Precisely from such “mistakes” the most intense and sometimes beautiful memories of this story arose. This is also thanks to the other players, who also supported obviously wrong decisions and just played along.
Even though it was just a character I played there, in a world that has nothing to do with ours, it had an impact on me, the player. I became braver with every step out of my comfort zone that I was allowed to take with the character. The secure framework that the game master and the other players set also played a large part in this. We always played with each other and never against each other. The goal was to have joy together.
And what happens next
What does this have to do with you, you might wonder? From my own experiences, I know how important a secure framework is and how helpful it is when stepping out of one’s own comfort zone to not be going alone. Through these experiences, as a game master, I create safe spaces and know how to maintain them. In addition, I have developed the skill for sensing moods in my players, for nuance, and for the creative spark that sometimes leads to an accurate feeling for moods in my counterpart, for nuances and a creative spark that sometimes asks unusual questions.
If you want to try it out, I have developed a special mail series where you can try out different roles for yourself. Without any further background knowledge
–Lucie