Tieflings, Magic Typewriters, and the Power of Storytelling in Marketing

I played Dungeons & Dragons for the first time during the pandemic, and what I learned ended up helping me strengthen my career. It was a journey of self-growth and strong storytelling that culminated in a powerful ending and meant a lot to my life in general.

Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) is a fantasy role-playing table-top game created in 1974. Because my first play-through was held during the pandemic, we played virtually via Discord and DnD Beyond. The virtual nature of the game made it difficult for me to get into it at first, and it took a while to understand the mechanics and the goals of the game. Because this was my first time playing, I decided to play as a Tiefling so I could get away with being standoffish and mysterious and not have to say or do much.

When the campaign started, all I had was a species (Tiefling), a class (sorcerer), a name (Katsu), and my basic stats. It's safe to say I had no idea what I was doing. I was lost and getting stressed out, and my teammates were getting frustrated. Katsu was, at best, not helpful, and at worst, destructive. The game was not fun, and I was considering quitting altogether.

That's when clarity struck from a completely unrelated source. I was rewatching Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and the season three episode, "Sabrina the Teenage Writer," came on. To give a brief synopsis, in this episode, Sabrina uses a magical typewriter to write her spy story for her English class, and the characters she's writing about come to life at her school to play out the plot she's writing. Chaos ensues, and Sabrina has to save her friends and classmates from her literary villain by writing a good ending. She learns that she can't force the ending she wants because "it has to come from the characters' history, motivated by their strengths and weaknesses." In a moment of panic, she realizes her characters don't know what to do because they don't know why they're doing what they're doing because she never gave them backstories. It hit me in that moment that this is what Katsu was missing -- a backstory to give her motivation.

After watching that episode, I shared my revelation with the rest of the team, and the Dungeon Master (DM) agreed to help me develop my character's backstory. We met, and he gave me some questions to think about, beyond what was already handed out before the campaign had started, to really get to know Katsu. I thought about who she was deep down, where she came from, and why she was there. I learned her secrets, traumas, wishes, and desires, and that translated into her becoming a full person within the game. Now that she had a purpose, she was able to gradually experience character growth and development, and the DM even created an epilogue at the end of the campaign centered around Katsu facing her past with her new friends, grieving a lost friend, and overcoming her issues. The ending was so powerful, it actually made me cry.

None of that would've happened if I hadn't taken the time to create a three-dimensional character. My experience with Katsu and D&D taught me that good storytelling starts before the story begins. Whether you're writing a script or a novel, playing D&D, or creating a marketing campaign, good stories help you connect with people and give you a sense of purpose, as well.

When it comes to marketing and public relations, it's important to take the time to get to know both your own brand and your target audience. Your motivations and their motivations are driven by individual strengths and weaknesses and connected by unique backstories. If you're feeling stuck or lacking motivation, taking a step back and looking at your own strengths, weaknesses, and history can help bring you some perspective. If you're having trouble connecting with your audience, take a moment to think about who they are, their backstories, and what motivates them to see how you can bridge that gap. Good marketing is really just good storytelling.