D&D General I've Been a DM for 30 Years and I have Zero Imagination.

[EzekielRaiden]

I've been wondering that myself? Like a muscle?

For a small time, I had to 3D model at my job, and we had an old program that required me to build objects much like stacking Legos. It took a lot of effort for me visualize the objects in my mind so I knew which way to rotate and how to build on them, but I eventually got better at it. So maybe?

Dungeon World is certainly a good workout, so we'll see.

Solid advice btw!

Reminds me of a puzzle from the Lost Mind of Dr. Brain game, 3D Construction. You would be given a 3D object made of cubes. You could rotate it in a flat plane, but could not look at the top or bottom directly. You then had to replicate the 3D structure by placing cubes on the two 3x3 blueprint layers (three 4x4 layers on medium and four 5x5 layers on hard) to match the object and orientation.

I genuinely credit this game with having improved my ability to think of three-dimensional spaces, so yes, I would say it is possible to do so. Some folks might not have a lot of room for improvement if they have more complete aphantasia, but you never know.

 

[Jahydin]

I can visualize things a little bit if I really focus on it, but it’s never a clear mental picture. More like… the concept of a picture if that makes sense? Like, I understand what a thing I’m trying to visualize would hypothetically look like, but I can’t “see” it.

Totally makes sense and I can relate.

Honestly thought that was how everyone's mind worked, haha.

 

[Jahydin]

Reminds me of a puzzle from the Lost Mind of Dr. Brain game, 3D Construction.

Interesting. I see it's free to play online, maybe I'll try it sometime.

 

[Charlaquin]

Totally makes sense and I can relate.

Honestly thought that was how everyone's mind worked, haha.

Yeah, it’s very common for people who have aphantasia to be surprised when they learn that’s not how it works for everyone.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

Totally makes sense and I can relate.

Honestly thought that was how everyone's mind worked, haha.

It is all purely a matter of degree. I can visualize things, and generally imagine manipulating shapes in 3D in space, etc. That doesn't mean that this visualization is 'the same' as seeing in any sense. That is, while I can put together a mental image, it isn't filled with the sorts of detail that appears in actual vision. I can IMAGINE whatever detail I want, but I don't think the whole 'image' is really some sort of stable consistent thing where all those details can be held at once in mind. Now, that may well not be true of other people. I cannot state what the character of their imaginings and visualizations is exactly, but I'd suspect it is just a continuum from something very vivid and lifelike for some down to essentially just holding a concept in mind with no attached visualization at all. I'd be pretty hesitant to draw lines and apply labels, especially when I strongly doubt there are any objective ways to measure this sort of thing.

 

[Jahydin]

@AbdulAlhazred
Agreed it's probably a spectrum. For me, the best I could muster is a platonic solid hovering in an empty desert... for fractions of a second at a time. And then I get tired.

One thing I think is neat is my dreams ARE really detailed though. When I have them that is. 98% of the time I just blackout...

 

[MNblockhead]

I find visualization is a skill that can be improved. I started doing visualization exercises in high school on a lark after reading some book and it is the closest thing to meditation that I can manage to sit still for and actually quiet my mind. Basically, start with a place you are very familiar with, like your house. Sitting or laying down with your eyes closes, do some deep breathing and relax and thing about standing in front of your front door, opening it, and walking around. Each time try to picture more and more details. Now that I'm much older, I still do this sometimes to relax and for nostalgia. I tried to remember places I lived, old neighborhoods, etc.

I find that if I do this for for a longer period of time, especially before bed, I'll start to make up places and do the same thing, but with fictional locations of my own creation. It helps me stop the noise of work and general life stress and responsibility and helps me sleep. This has certainly helped with my ability to visualize. I have no idea if something like this would work with someone with aphantasia, but I think most people can improve their ability to visualize places, people, events in this way.

 

[edosan]

Throughout this entire campaign though, I never once realized why it was so difficult for me; I just thought it was terribly written!

It’s not you, OOTA (and quite a few 5e adventures IMO) is a poorly designed adventure. A lot of 5e adventures feel like they’re meant to be read through, admiring the pretty art, then put on the shelf to never be looked at again.

Fortunately, it’s pretty easy to adapt adventures from previous versions to 5e. There are some pretty good third party books as well.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

@AbdulAlhazred
Agreed it's probably a spectrum. For me, the best I could muster is a platonic solid hovering in an empty desert... for fractions of a second at a time. And then I get tired.

One thing I think is neat is my dreams ARE really detailed though. When I have them that is. 98% of the time I just blackout...

I have some pretty vivid dreams, and others where things are less clearly visualized and where details constantly shift or appear. Of course those are only the ones I remember, which is usually less than really well. Some imagery is really vivid though.