Ever been attacked by an orc? Flirted with rocks to make them move? Or casted fireball in a five-by-five room and endangered the lives of your party? Well, now you can thanks to the recent creation of a new club. Dungeons and Dragons Club held its first meeting in the Media Center, Thursday, Sep. 28, and subsequent meetings every Thursday in the Media Center after school.
“We have a lot of academic clubs in the school, and not many based on creativity,” junior Adriana Garza said. “I wanted to change that.”
Dungeons and Dragons (abbreviated D&D) is a table-top role-playing game with fantasy elements. Players create their own characters and role play accordingly, and they can do almost anything as long as their Dungeon Master allows it.
“The players really drive the story,” junior Trent Jones said. “I can put forth a narrative for them to follow, but that will never actually happen, they’re gonna do what they want to do.”
An example of that is Mr. Syler’s cave in anecdote from one of his campaigns.
“There was one time, I was playing a bard–bards are high charisma characters–and we were trapped in a cave. We couldn’t figure out how to get out,” teacher Collin Syler said. “There had been a cave in and the rocks were blocking our path. I asked the DM if I could flirt with the rocks. He said, ‘You can try but with very high disadvantage.’ I rolled a natural 20 and the DM let me flirt with the rocks, and we got out of the cave.” D&D Club welcomes any members, experienced or newcomers. Experienced players might want to join to find a campaign of their own, or to teach people new to the game.
“I thought it was a brilliant idea because when I was at Michigan State, I joined a D&D club. Because my friends at State didn’t play,” Syler said, “and I had played with my friends back home, so I wanted a group to play with, so I joined a club and I found a campaign.” There are no set rules to Dungeons and Dragons, players can join and leave at will. This allows anyone to be introduced to the game at any time.
“I originally started with a friend,” Garza said. “We did a small campaign, and I really liked it, I thought it was really fun.”
All someone needs to know in order to join D&D club is whether they are interested or not.
“You just have to have a passion for stuff like it, and a willingness to try it you,” junior Michael Craig said. “You hear about, think ‘Oh, this is pretty cool’, and just go and read up on it.”
Even if they’ve never heard of D&D before.
“The club was my first time looking at anything D&D,” sophomore Robert Boggs said. “It sounded interesting to me, so I decided to sign up.”
It is not just about the game, however, this club is also an opportunity to get out of your comfort zone, try new things, and meet new people.
“While D&D might seem like something that we do once a week for just a couple of hours,” junior Remy Barents said, “players build a community and make new friends that push them out of their comfort zone. Kind of like a family.”
Continuing with this idea, D&D club is also meant as a message for others.
“I hope that I can inspire people to go out of their comfort zone,” Garza said, “to explore new things, and maybe make their own club.”
