1. Myth, Communal Storytelling, and Religion in Dungeons & Dragons
The fantasy role-playing game, of which Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) is the paradigmatic example, is a collaborative story-telling system whose gameplay mechanics promote the creation of epic myth-like narratives. In these stories, players take on the role of heroes interacting with gods and other cosmic forces, providing a medium for religiously disenchanted individuals to explore ideas of ultimate meaning in an intimately and idiosyncratically symbolic manner.