Everything I know, I learned from D&D

[twicedead]

DavyWavy posted about students not knowing what a despotic tyranny was. And that got me thinking about where I leanred many things from. Some came from my schooling and a lot came from voracious reading as a child. But a lot also came from having played role-playing games since I was six years old

Comments

[zeusgirl]

I learned a lot of factoids from Doctor Who Target novelisations - bits and pieces of mythology, how to solve some logic puzzles, etc, etc.

[twicedead]

Oh yeah, like the Pyramids of Mars and the one lying/one telling the truth thing.

[zeusgirl]

That one in particular, yes!

[davywavy]

A lot of early gaming material - 1st ed D&D, CoC, traveller, etc, was very intellectually exciting. As people didn't have any preconceptions about what gaming was, they stuck in the things they considered cool and interesting.
Gary Gygax was a man who plainly loved history and language and I got a lot from him; mythology from Deities and Demigods, governmental and social concepts from the DMG, Arms and armour and heraldry...and so much more.
I got a lot of early 20th century history from the CoC guidebooks as well.

[twicedead]

I was endlessly amused by the idea of a bastard sword. I also learned what paragons were and that platinum was worth more than gold.

[davywavy]

I always used a bastard sword when I was 9, as it allowed me to swear without repercussions. I also learned that electrum is a naturally occurring alloy of gold & silver, 'the devil to pay' is a nautical term for chalking the longest seam on a ship, and Thor and Magni have 25 (Special) strength.

[riksowden]

I used my ShadowRun "Corporate Shadowfiles" book for my A-level business studies as a basic guide to terminology and method/theory - even the lecturer agreed it was very well explained and presented!

I just remembered

[davywavy]

Our home-rules D&D combat system taught me to multiply fractions in my head!

[annwfyn]

I learnt a surprising amount of pharmacology from Agatha Christie. Her poisons knowledge really is spot on, apparently.

[melsner]

I think it was either Agatha Christie or Arsenic and Old Lace that taught me that arsenic tastes like bitter almonds...

[twicedead]

I always thought that was cyanide?

[melsner]

I was pretty sure it was arsenic?

[twicedead]

All vital knowledge. And you would have scored highly in a history question such as "How far would you agree that Hitler enjoyed Donkey sex?"

[annwfyn]

Playing a Toreador taught me a lot about media manipulation. And how to work with demented aristocrats (which has proved more useful in my real life than one might imagine).

The CamUK approvals chain taught me how to write funding applications.