"Dungeons & Dragons."

Admit it: Right now you’re already getting numerous mental images that you wish weren’t there. You see a rogue’s gallery of nerds sitting in somebody’s mom’s basement, rolling dice and screaming “Use magic missle!” Right? It’s OK — let them sink in. I would prefer you be in the right mindset for me to dunk some knowledge in your brain basket.

Four weeks ago, my friends and I started our own Fifth Edition "D&D" campaign, and I can safely say it has become one of the most riveting bits of gameplay I’ve ever had. I designed a Halfling Rogue named Fir Munne from the land of Kalam Das, and I’m proud to say that he has become a critical character in the Therissian Campaign.

All of that seems like a mouthful — and you wouldn’t be wrong to think so — but let me explain why this is so cool. As an English-theater double major, I already have a ginormous affection for storytelling, acting, critical thinking, creating suspenseful drama and collaborative writing. Basically all of those traits are what comprises "Dungeons & Dragons." Perhaps another reason why this game is the best ever is because it combines the best part of all board or video games into one massive amalgam of creativity.

"Risk," "Stratego," "Chess," "Clue," "Life," "Sorry!" and to say nothing of numerous card or dice games, "D&D" lets players cherry-pick the best parts of each and combine them into whatever they’d like! Plus, you don’t have to treat the 100+ handbook like a Bible; as long as your DM is cool with breaking some rules, do whatever the heck you’d like!

Do you have a hankering to go dungeon digging for gems and ancient artifacts? Go for it! Do you just want to fight some violent giants and rescue a kingdom? Fight on! Do you want to sit in a tavern, play cards, drink mead and tell fireside stories for all your brave compatriots? Lay on, Macduff.

The entire premise seemed so incredibly difficult for the first few hours. Admittedly, creating your first character without help could become a grueling process (I was lucky to have roommates in the know-how). But once you get into your first combat situation? Once you find yourself fighting an evil warlock and stealing a gem of mystical proportions?

To say “it’s worth it” doesn’t even begin to do justice. Within 15 minutes, I went from introducing my character to my friends, to all of us fighting for our lives against an ambush of nasty cobalt monsters. Instead of just attacking again and again, we spiced things up. We jumped and dodged, bobbed and weaved, rolled over and played dead — and we won by a landslide. With the roll of some dice alone, my heart just soared. Mostly because I was with my friends, but more than that, because I was making up an epic story with my friends. One that can continue indefinitely — some of these games can go on for years. As long as everybody sets up a time to meet and play, that’s all that matters.

So go on. Give it a try. Nobody will judge you, I can promise. Frankly, I’ll think you’re so much cooler of a person, because playing "D&D" makes you not just a gamer. It makes you a bard, a fighter, an archeologist, a pirate, a doctor, a detective, an actor and just infinitely more.