Neal Stephenson played D&D in college and it helped him on the path to becoming a writer:
“I think it dovetails quite naturally,” he says. “Dungeons & Dragons is fundamentally a procedure for collaborative storytelling.
Of Dice and Men: The Story of Dungeons & Dragons and The People Who Play It David M. Ewalt
You can do it in a purely mechanical way, just rolling the dice and consulting the rules. But the games that people really get involved with and really enjoy are ones that have legitimate narrative— storytelling, good characters, good situations, plot twists, and an interesting world. The better
Dungeon Masters are the ones who have legit storytelling and world-building chops and are able to create a fun experience for the players by improvising good narratives in real time.”
