How TTRPGs Help People Find Places Where They Matter

The world often sends the message that some people don’t matter as much as others. There are countless ways we’re told we’re not as important–whether in the form of regressive laws, harmful media portrayals, microaggressions, or the dismissal of their voices and opinions. In some cases, it’s even more overt, with open hostility and discrimination. These constant reminders can be draining, leaving us feeling invisible, unheard, and undervalued.

If you’re someone who feels that your worth is constantly undervalued and undermined in the real world, Table Top Role Playing Games (TTRPGs) can provide an escape. TTRPGs help people by providing a world in which not only do you matter, but you’re the hero–arguably one of the most important people in that world.

You’re the Hero of Your Own Story

No matter which TTRPGs you choose to play (and there are plenty to choose from), you can literally be the hero in every story. You also have the freedom to decide exactly what you want that to look like. Are you rescuing people? Are you going after bad guys? Are you the healer keeping the party alive? Even if you don’t want to be a hero by the traditional definition (think “murder hobos”), you still matter, you still make an impact on the world around you (whether for good or ill), and you’re the main character however you want to be.

TTRPGs Help People Resolve Real-World Problems

In the real world, sometimes I feel like I’m shouting into a void that I matter, too, that I’m not an object or a child and can be trusted to make my own decisions about my life, healthcare, etc. But the response is often either nothing or laughing that the poor little woman thinks she’s people and that they know better than me. In TTRPGs, I am an elven princess with the ability to light things on fire with magic. I’ve been trusted to solve problems for others, I’ve saved people’s lives, I’ve made a difference in the world. It’s a heady feeling, and it helps me forget for a while that it’s not like that in the real world.

Solve Issues Your Own Way

And the thing is that you can address those real-world problems however you want. You can pretend for a while that they don’t exist. You can recreate them in-game and then overcome or solve them. Whatever works best for you. For me, it’s a mix of both. The feelings of not mattering at all I can leave behind me when I enter our world, Atoria, but the social awkwardness that I haven’t managed to overcome despite decades of attempts I instead embrace. There’s just a better reason for it–my elven wizard princess is awkward because she doesn’t know how to talk to normal people, just courtiers and ambassadors who tell her what they think she wants to hear.

TTRPGs Offer a World Without Limits

That’s a lie. Even in TTRPGs, there are some limitations. You have only a certain number of actions, spell slots, prepared spells, movement, etc. The GM may have certain rules for the world that they want you to follow. Your actions will still have consequences. But there’s a lot more freedom in a TTRPG world to do whatever you want. If it doesn’t work with what the GM had planned, then the GM will have to adjust (within reason).

In your world, at your table, you’re also not limited by your real-world physical capabilities. I can’t use magic in real life, but in Atoria, I have the ability to do wonders not only to help my friends but to work to make the world a better place.

You Matter at Your Table

It’s not just in-game that I feel like I matter. The friends that I play with also make me feel like I’m an important part of the group as well as the party. If you’ve found the right people, they will make you feel valued even if the world in general does not.