Does Dungeons and Dragons make technical writers?

["Darren Barefoot" <darren -dot- barefoot -at- capeclear -dot- com>]

Hi,
The discussion about public speaking training reminded me of another
activity of my youth which may have contributed to my interest in
technical writing: playing Dungeons and Dragons (D&D). For those who
don't know what I'm referring to, see a brief definition (from the folks
at http://www.religioustolerance.org/d_a_d.htm) at the bottom of this
e-mail.

Yes, I was (and, let's be frank, still am) something of a geek. Anyhow,
much of the preparation for a game of D&D involved writing out
instructions and descriptions--often fairly technical descriptions of
locations, obstacles, other characters, etc. There was a particular
format for this text, and there were very specific criteria for
describing characters and other players. There were also endless tables
(oh, glorious tables) of information, a lot of number crunching, big
books (including one entitled, aptly, "Monster Manual") and a lot of
scribbling.

It seems to me that all of that, among other things, prepared me for a
career in technical writing from the young age of 11 or 12. Did anyone
else play D&D and go on to technical writing? Am I making any sense at
all here? DB.


Definition:
D&D is a fantasy role-playing game created and originally published by
Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax who founded the Tactical Studies Rules
Association (TSR) in 1973. It was an evolutionary step from earlier war
games or military simulations. ...These games are played by groups of
two or more people; 4 to 7 are typical. One player is commonly called
the Game Master (GM) who defines the imaginary environment in which the
game is played. Sometimes the GM is referred to as Dungeon Master,
Storyteller, Referee, etc. He/she creates a make-believe world through
which the players will move and have their adventures. The players each
create a single imaginary character, defining their shape, race,
intellectual and physical powers, armament, protective devices, supplies
and materials. 


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