So I've gone around on the web, trying to figure out exactly how D&D works, and still I'm befuddled. Let me first start by stating what exactly it is I'm trying to achieve.
So, I'm an aspiring video game developer. I'm a big fan of games like Final Fantasy (especially the classics), Persona, Chrono Trigger, etc. Basically, I'm a sucker for narrative-driven games that end in a giant climax with the final boss, whom you must beat to save the world. I'm currently in the planning stages of developing my own game that follows a similar narrative structure, which drew me to D&D.
You see, I've already got a bare bones story created.
The heroes and villains have been developed and fleshed out, the overarching plot has been established, and the setting has more or less been set in stone. Naturally, since the narrative component of my hypothetical video game is where 90% of my focus is going to be, I want it to be as engaging as possible. I'm trying to create an epic tale that wows the player at every twist. However, I've run into what people call "writer's block", and I'm having a lot of trouble getting my characters from the call to action to the climax. If I'm trying to write an epic tale, then I should have a ton of trials and tribulations to fill in that massive blank between the call to action and the climax.
What I have learned about D&D is that the DM can create scenarios on the fly, like when a player takes an unexpected action, the DM must react accordingly. I see this as an opportunity to answer questions about my characters' journey that I otherwise would not have asked myself, thus overcoming writer's block and the story basically writes itself at that point.
My question is:
How feasible is this? I basically want to use D&D to not only have fun with a bunch of my friends, but I also want to use it as a tool to flesh out my own world and give it life. The thing is, my question probably sounds stupid, because I don't know the exact parameters that D&D operates within. For example, I don't know how customizable the setting, classes, and races are. My story is not set in classical high fantasy like D&D apparently is, so I don't know to what extent the foundation of D&D can be redefined to suit my needs. I'm perfectly content with keeping the gameplay mechanics of D&D the same, as I'm mostly focusing on story first and gameplay mechanics second. I'd love to hear your thoughts about this.
Best Answer
Yes...
D&D is a game of heroic fantasy. It's about fighting monsters, becoming more powerful, and looting cool stuff. If you see it through, you'll get a pretty cool story by the end. It's also collaborative, in that the protagonists are each played by a real person. As a result, you get several points of view on any situation, and writer's block is rarely a problem because any interesting enough situation will be (or can be) discussed between the players, and it's much harder to stump 5-6 people than one author.
You may also be somewhat interested to know that it's had several editions over the years. They focus on different things, but mostly combat. They also offer a variety of different settings. These range from standard Tolkien-style fantasy to a god-forsaken desert planet of psionicists to wizards on spaceships.
More importantly, D&D gives the Dungeon Master something called Rule 0, which says the DM can change literally anything in the world or rule book at their discretion.
...But there are better options
I'd like to make some observations.
First, your stated goal is creating an interesting narrative. The vast majority of rules for D&D (any edition) focus on how to engage in physical combat, which doesn't make for an engaging story. Relationships do.
Second, you keep referring to D&D as if it's synonymous with tabletop RPGs. In point of fact, there are thousands of options. If you have a friendly local gaming store, I recommend you stop by and peruse the RPG books for a while, and ask the employees some questions about them.
I strongly urge you to do some research about different RPGs to find one that might be more suited to your stated goal. Below, I offer a few highlights from different games that you may find of interest. These are not by any stretch full descriptions of these systems.
Dungeon World - D&D is turn-based. DW is narrative based. The action moves from one player to another in a more flowing fashion, rather than round-robin style. This feels more like the narrative in a book; you follow one character for a bit, then switch to another. This system also features a very useful list in the DM rules for making a situation more intersting; check out Dungeon Master moves.
Mage - Modern setting, point buy system. One main feature is a nine-school magic system (ten in the revised edition). You don't have fixed spells, you have rough guidelines on what you can do with varying numbers of points. This has led to very creative uses of spells, and turned plots on a dime.
Fate Core - Any setting. You have aspects that are literally English phrases about you. They can be used both for you and against you to increase drama in a situation. "Made of fire" - handy if you need to burn something, detrimental if you need to jump into a lake. "Daddy's money" - greases some wheels, but draws ire from the blue collar kid.
Bubblegumshoe - Teenage detectives. (I admit I haven't played this system, only read about it). The setup is always a tricky social situation where you know what happened, but there's no clear right answer. For example, you know early who stole someone's car. But they did it to take someone to the hospital. How do you find justice for the person with the damaged car who missed work? The key feature is your character is defined by like/love/hate relationships, and how you stress them to get people to do things.
Once Upon a Time - Not even an RPG, this is a card game. You make up stories with friends based on cards with nouns and verbs on them. Good practice for creating stories on the fly.
In summary, you should do a bunch more research on RPGs in general before deciding that D&D is really your best bet for finishing a narrative.