Do you now, or have you ever, played pen and paper based role-playing games - like Dungeons & Dragons?

As a kid, and even through university, I played all kind of games in different genres. It was always a social experience, a theatrical performance, and really just plain fun, but an activity I never really pursued after I graduated from university.

I recently started looking into these games again (after almost 18 years), and it strikes me how much this activity really is "exercise for the brain"... I learned how to focus through reading and understanding the game rules, I became much more organized, I came to understand team dynamics , I even learned speaking and performance skills - all of which fed my confidence. But mostly, I am really amazed at how how much these games fed my imagination and bolstered my creativity.

And yet ... Despite all these benefits, I still have a twinge of embarrassment when I start talking about them. You would think by now I wouldn't be worried about being called a "D&D geek" anymore... :)

Haha when I was in the Marines I'd play from Friday afternoon to Sunday evening - with beer and chips as my only nourishment :p

Don't worry what they say about you. You know you are a geek at heart; and that's a good thing :p

*Holds hand in the air*

You can count me in too.
I started with D&D, and gradually moved into other genres, like Call of Cuthulu, Hero System, Traveller, Toon! MERP and quite a few others.

I agree they are certainly enhancing of cognative abilities (but not spelling).

WHere you only a D&D geek or did you try any others?

I started Basic D&D back in 1983 or so (the red box set was my first)... In the early 90's I was playing Twilight 2000 and CyberPunk 2020.

I thought the GURPS system looked like it would be good - at least I always really enjoyed reading the books they put out. I loved the CyberPunk book - it's what led me to CP2020.

Early in my career was I was moving around a lot, so I ended up selling all the stuff I had accumulated. But now... I think I'm interested in it again. :)

I'm a CHICK geek.

I started with Cyberpunk and Twilight 2000 (as almost a 'guest' character in another person's campaign) and when that group started a D&D campaign, I was so in. That campaign lasted 2 years (until the DM graduated with his BBA) and for the last 10 years I've only had the opportunity for short campaigns (6 months for D&D tops, or short afternoon Cthulhu campaigns).

Gaming made a HUGE difference in how I view myself, and in how I solve problems, and how I view teamwork. I definitely think more "out of the box" because of it.