Here be Dragons. Both figuratively and literally. While it isn't likely that a fire-breathing overgrown reptile that you will have to stare down but a particular 'draconic' schedule of meetings, project deadlines and managing your team. 

That is exactly what Jack Orion and Khin Thawdar Khine or Kai from To be Rolled and Blue Belu Studio hope to get across to the masses that the dedication of your time a particular craft; in this case Tabletop Gaming such as the widely popular Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), can bring about useful and practical skills across many walks of life.

At a talk held in Hotel G Yangon on July 8, the duo introduced the eager crowd to the basics of Tabletop gaming, roleplaying and its myriad of benefits,as part of regular talk discussion events called G Talk.

Jack began by inviting us all to come along on an adventure; a monstrous ogre had kidnapped the princess of a nearby Kingdom. We, the audience, are adventurers seeking fame and fortune and he was the Dungeon Master or the DM that controls the pocket universe the players will partake in for every game session. 

"An ogre had kidnapped the daughter of a wealthy king. Will you adventurers venture bravely into the monster's lair and seek to triumph in combat? Will you instead prefer to use deception and guile? Or will you charm and befriend the beast? The choice is yours to take and they are as myriad as the problems you will have to face in your daily lives," spoke Jack - the Game Master, Marketing Manager of To be Rolled and Yangoods, one of Myanmar's leading fashion and accessory brands.

He goes on to explain that whether a person is the player or the Dungeon Master - all involved have to deal with everything from working together in a team, knowing the strengths and weaknesses of each ally or enemy, careful management of schedule and available resources and having to think outside of the box when the situation requires it. 

"It is a fantastic tool to learn through play, especially for those that are in managerial positions."

Going slightly physical in a digital world

 While most nowadays will openly confess that they cannot live without access to digital gadgets of today for their entertainment, there have recently been a strong resurgence of the 'old school' -  the OG "nerd" culture.

What has been a very geek-centric, exclusive taste of D&D the like has been gathering more and more follows - especially due to mainstream popular pop culture shows like Netflix's Stranger Things, HBO's Game of Thrones and even Disney's wildly successful Marvel Cinematic Universe. Across the world, more and more people are devoting their digital time to Tabletop games; so much so that businesses have picked up on its strengths and hiring professional Game Masters to host games for their staff as part of their training itinerary.

"What most people do, as do I, is that we look at our phones to enjoy so many different things. But that is simply passive consumption. Tabletop gaming encourages you to work together as a team, fuels your imagination even further, the need for verbal description means that your command of a language will inevitably increase and it will definitely train you in public speaking - which was especially useful for an introvert like me to a point where I am now making a public presentation to you guys," said Jack.

His partner for the talk, Kai, also mentioned how she used to be a very shy and quiet person before finding her passion for D&D, roleplaying and other assorted games as part of Dagon Dice and Blue Belu Studios.

The Myanmar Scene

One can say Tabletop Gaming arrived in Myanmar nearly 4 years ago when board game cafes started being opened. Since then the culture grew; from hobbyists gathering at a friend's kitchen table or hobbled together in the living room to going to one of such cafes. There was also a lack of access to products as there were no authorized retailers. 

Fast forward to this point; groups like Blue Belu Studios that had successfully created and launched Myanmar's first ever boardgame called Bagan Journey, Dagon Dice that opened the floodgates even more to the more hardcore games such as Dungeons & Dragons and Warhammer 40K, To Be Rolled as a social media gaming channel page that creates video content that introduces, explains and highlight boardgames.

While it could be years before it becomes a mainstay, the current situation shows that the hobby is here to stay. Even related hobbies to tabletop gaming such as figurine modeling are showing signs of thrive; local enthusiasts had flew to Malaysia to take part in a competition and snagged some awards. 

According to Kai, the rise of tabletop gaming could be what revitalizes Myanmar's genre-limited literature scene; particularly that of Fantasy writing. 

She explained, providing an example of her character she roleplays as. "When you create a character, you do not only think of the name but you think of the physical features, race, religion, demeanor, attitude, the backstory and so much more. The universe is vast and your own story can be extremely enriching, only limited by your imagination which will inevitably be expanded. This is also another venue for artists of all platforms and passions too."

 + stat to history,knowledge 

On top of all of the projects, the Jack-Kai duo and their organization as a whole is also involved in another larger scale project. The Blue Belu Studio is now currently engaged in materializing Tooj Tales, a series of middle-grade fantasy books  that will introduce young and older readers alike to the wonderful land of Tooj. 

 Tooj is a world - a universe - that is being created by eight artists and six writers based on the map of Myanmar and stories, myths, cultures of the country and her neighbors. It is the first of its kind. It is currently still up on funding on Kickstarter - an online portal for public funding potential projects - to meet its stretch goals of translating everything in the Myanmar language and printing books as well as an English audiobook.

Check out their Kickstarter page here.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/472733287/tooj-tales-kai-and-the-pr...

The creation of Tooj could very well be the thing that revives the passion and imagination of would-be authors, artists and all-around creatives to channel their passion through epic fantasy books, a genre that has been dead quiet for decades in Myanmar. 

But seeing passionate, talented and certainly well-connected people like Jack and Kai - striving for something so much greater than simple profits while having fun in a relatively fledgling market does put a smile on my face. 

And so it should for Myanmar youngsters that consider themselves a part of the geek culture.