By Alex Ruiz, Staff Writer
“Dungeons and Dragons”, or “D&D”, is a tabletop fantasy role-playing game where players make their own character, go on adventures, fight enemies and level up following the game’s story that players create, all in one room. The game’s origins go back to 1974 where it was first published and sold by Tactical Studies Rules, and now it has millions of players worldwide.
Because of the game’s huge success, it’s no surprise an after-school club was created to play it. The Tabletop Gaming Club takes place Mondays and Wednesdays in Room A-8, where students come and play a variety of tabletop games (usually “D&D”) after school.
First year Club President Preston Cooper (‘24) leads the club through their activities.
“Everyone is together but we’re also separated into our own groups because we’re playing our own games, mainly “Dungeons & Dragons”. Everyone has their own little group, but we’re still a part of one community,” Cooper said.
Although the club mainly plays “D&D”, it isn’t their only game. Another rotated game they play is “Call Of Cthulhu”, a horror role-playing game based on H.P. Lovecraft’s story of the same name.
Cooper and Club Advisor Erich Muelder make the club welcoming to new players, and there are many new members this year.
“This year we have two of the four groups running being entirely newcomers, they never played tabletop games before, they just showed up as friends of friends and they’ve been coming every week,” Muelder said.
To newcomers these games might seem complex but they can be learned pretty easily with both Muelder and Cooper vouching that the games can be understood for anyone wanting to learn. The club is also a fun place to make new friends, hang out and have a good time.
Erik Jackson (‘24) has his own group within the club where he and his group play through their “D&D” campaign.
“I can tell how much fun [the members] are having hearing all the laughter, the cheering, the emotional moments. Personally, creating the story for my group is pretty fun, pretty engaging, we have funny moments,” Jackson said.
Anyone that’s interested in tabletop role-playing games is welcome to stop by any time.
“There’s so many people there who would love to introduce you to “D&D”, help you create a character or just give you ideas for anything,” Club President Cooper said. “We’re always open to anyone coming in.”
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