If stories are to be believed – today is D&D Day – the day D&D was first released, marking fifty years of D&D!
It’s cultural impact can’t be overstated, coming to D&D after being a longterm fan of Final Fantasy, WarCraft, and honestly any fantasy setting I could get my mitts on, there was so much I recognised and I could see the way the influence had echoed through fantasy since then.
So here’s a picture of; myself, my therapy shelf, the book and dice I started Roll for Growth with, and the current stack of D&D books I own – plus a set of 3e stuff in the corner! Also is a shot of my current character sheet in the first game I actually get to play in!
I first came into RPGs as a teen, having been invited to play D&D 3.5e, – and did a ton of character creation work (it was cringe, I was a teenager), and unfortunately the week I was to join a game I got my first job. A year or so later I’d get offered to join a game of the newly released Pathfinder game, but then I got my second job – and my first full time career.
Since starting Roll for Growth in 2020 I’ve run over 25 therapeutic campaign groups, for age groups ranging from primary school students, high schoolers, to adults across the lifespan. LGBTQIA groups for teens – for adults, and the five Roll for Spoons groups being run for neurodivergent mental health workers. It’s been an amazing adventure – being able to bring people together and create the therapeutic, creative peer space for them.
So a huge thanks to everyone who’s supported this practice so far – and to every storyteller out there coming together with friends, or with strangers to soon be friends – thank you for being you!
Counselling with Mike 