Starting last school year, the Dungeons and Dragons club is a group that meets as part of the After School Academy every Thursday. As the name suggests, the club is oriented around the Tabletop Roleplaying Game ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ which has players acting as characters they create through made up scenarios and environments.
By rolling dice, players can act through their characters to work with the fellow members to complete the goals of their campaign. Formerly consisting of around 14 people last year, the club now contains around roughly 21-25 members stretched out across three campaigns.
“For starters, we have more people. More people means more campaigns. From last year we have learned how to organize said campaigns. Last year we only had two, this year we have three. In one of last year’s campaigns we had three bards, we didn’t let that happen this year,” said club president Beck Allen, a senior.
Each campaign tells a different story as the players play out their characters to shape it. Though many Dungeons and Dragons campaigns tend to fall within the genre of fantasy, this is not a consistent rule. Many campaigns, including one within the club itself, stray far from this original fantasy base. The Dungeons and Dragons club currently has three campaigns, two of these campaigns have the players adventuring through medieval fantasy environments, while the third takes a more post-apocalyptic style, taking place in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. Each of these campaigns bring something unique and creative for the players that take part in them.
“I think it got a lot bigger than I thought it was going to get. Our group was small last year but not terribly small, but it’s good to see all the happy faces,” said library aide and teacher adviser Darik vonRigler.
The campaigns are each run by one of three ‘Dungeon Masters’, also referred to as DMs. These DMs take the reins in managing the players and the world they interact with, deciding the consequences of their actions and managing how the world and its residents interact with the players themselves.
Though the After School Academy is only a few weeks into its fall session, the Dungeons and Dragons club has already begun with its multiple campaigns that will likely continue throughout the school year. Though the campaigns have already begun, the club is still welcoming to new members who wish to take part and join in the magic of Dungeons and Dragons.
“Well I walked into the after-school, I saw a lot of people, and I said to myself ‘I hope I don’t DM this!’” said Alexander Gillen, one of the club’s DMs.
The club is still open and welcoming to new members who would like to join in the magic of the Dungeons & Dragons club.
