How to Win

I was about to blog about one topic, using D&D as just one of many possible examples, but then I realized something that I want to blog about more: D&D has no set objective. There is no one set way to "win" at D&D.

It's not like any Mario game, where you win by saving Princess Peach. It's not like any sport, where you win by having more points than the other guys at the end of the game. It's not even like Minecraft, where you can mess around as long as you want, but can still win the game by completing the End Portal and defeating the Ender Dragon. Sure, there are some elements of D&D that feel like winning, like winning battles and earning enough XP to level up, but there are no actual mechanics in D&D that say "If you do X, you win the game."

That lack of win conditions leaves it up to the players to make up their own. The players and/or the DM can make up their own objectives. Often, the DM has some kind of plot or goal for the players to accomplish together. Sometimes, players make up their own personal goals for their characters. When the players and/or the DM set their own goals for the game, they can choose what counts as a "win" for them. For example, I want Krusk Bloodfist to become a Champion of Besmara (and hopefully get revenge against his treacherous ex-wife, but that's somewhat negotiable). As long as Krusk earns enough XP to gain one more level in Fighter, so he can take the Champion archetype, or as long as Besmara simply accepts him as (one of?) her champion(s?), I'll count that as a win, even if Krusk dies in the process.

Real life both is and is not like that. In real life, people can set their own goals. We can decide to attempt or work on literally anything we can think of. We can set whatever goals or objectives we want, and if we accomplish those goals and reach those objectives, we can pretty much say that we won, at least at those things.

However, there is also one set, objective goal for everyone who ever lived. God has established certain objectives, and everyone who accomplishes those objectives earns the prizes linked to those objectives. By keeping the commandments, we can, in essence, "win" at life. From a certain point of view, that's really the only way to win at life.

So, whether we're choosing our own short-term goals or whether we're pursuing the long-term goals set by God (preferably both), there are ways to win at life, just as there are kind of, technically ways to "win" at D&D. It's all about accomplishing the objectives. Most games have set objectives. Some games let you choose your own. D&D falls mostly in the latter category. Real life incorporates a little bit of both. God has established clear objectives for us to accomplish, but other than that, how we play and win the game of life is mostly up to us.