Adam and I have spoken around the country about the benefits of tabletop role-playing games like Dungeons and Dragons. At our PAX South panel, we outlined four reasons we use tabletop games in our social skills groups in the Seattle area. We recently came across this TEDx talk by Ethan Gilsdorf, author of the book Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks, about his personal experience with the game and some other ways tabletop role-playing games benefit all who play.
In addition to giving a great summary of what a tabletop role-playing game actually looks like, Ethan highlights an impressive list of important benefits given by tabletop games: Collaboration, teamwork, preparedness, innovation, problem solving, resilience, character building, moral choice, empathy, tolerance, and of course imagination… just to name a few.