Start a Dungeons and Dragons campaign @ your library. It’s easy!
Contributed by Sarah Granville
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I began thinking of a Dungeons and Dragons (D & D) group at the library in 2005. I had been interested in D & D since high school, but hadn’t ever played. The idea of knowing nothing about this game and running a program terrified me. The thought of learning enough to feel comfortable suggesting it overwhelmed me. I received a D & D starter kit from YALSA and stared at it proudly as it sat on my desk. And gathered dust. My quest was not starting out well.
One evening I entered our meeting room to set up for anime club and there was a group of boys sitting at a table with D & D books. My teen programming senses tingled and I asked them about what they were doing. They were beginning a new campaign so I asked them if they would mind having their campaign be a once a month library program open to any teenager who wanted to come. They agreed! I was getting my D & D group without having to be proficient at it myself! And you can too.
The basic things that any librarian needs to start a D & D group are the core rule books (the Players Handbook, the Dungeon Masters Guide, and the Monster Manual), dice, and one or more teens to be Dungeon Master, or DM. My DM and I have an understanding. If he feels that a player is acting unfairly he will let me know so I can handle it. If he notices that I am continually correcting someone’s behavior, he will punish them by taking away hit points, which is like a player’s life span.
It is so rewarding to see my teens having fun gaming in a social way. During a campaign they will fight for and with each other instead of against each other. D & D is not about who wins. The group of characters is working toward a common goal. They learn each others’ strengths and weaknesses.
Since we are talking about libraries, I will mention books. If your kids are really into the sword and sorcery content of D & D, they will definitely want to read the Dragon Lance and Forgotten Realms series. You can also incorporate aspects of other books into the campaign setting. Right now, the world our D & D group is playing in is based on the Wizard of Oz series. Our DM found out more about the series of books so he had more settings and ideas to draw from. My favorite book is Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, so I’ve already requested a Wonderland campaign setting. If your teens are not interested in fantasy but you still think a role playing game might appeal to them, there are a wealth of role playing games that offer different settings. The great thing is that you can make this work for any group of kids.
Here’s a list of resources on D & D and why role playing is a good thing:
Packer, Alex J., Ph.D. Wise Highs: How to Thrill, Chill, & Get Away From It All Without Alcohol or Other Drugs.
Slavicsek, Bill and Richard Baker. Dungeon Master for Dummies.
Slavicsek, Bill and Richard Baker. Dungeons and Dragons for Dummies.
http://www.religioustolerance.org/ (search “role-playing”)
http://www.theescapist.com/index.htm
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Post contributed by Sarah Granville
This post is brought to you by one of our new contributors, Sarah Granville! Sarah is the Teen Services Librarian at the Barberton Public Library in Barberton, Ohio. Sarah loves the new perspectives her teen customers bring her. Their enthusiasm helps keep her enthusiastic on rough days!
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Wizard of Oz? Wow, the fights are gonna be interesting in that world.
I would love to try the Alice in Wonderland version. What fun! Thanks for sharing your resources.
I’m impressed! I’ve played some D&D but it never occurred to me to try setting up a club at the library. Good job, and helpful post.
Sounds like it is working well for you. I’d like to have a D&D group at my library, but have yet to encounter a teen who might DM. I’m afraid I’d have to end up doing it myself.
Agreed, this sounds like a lot of fun. I wouldn’t be able to run a campaign right now, but it’s something i might want to try to pick up the pace of our bi-monthly videogame events. I also though anime club would be interested!
Kirsten - Is there a gaming or comic shop anywhere near you? Perhaps a trusted adult could DM at first and also teach interested teens how to DM.
Gary Gygax, creator of D & D, ran out of hit points on Tuesday, March 4 2008.
His influence on popular culture was immense. World of Warcraft and other popular role playing games are the descendants of his original concept.
Wow! this took me back… I played a little bit during the 80s, but better still my group grew into a performance team called The Knights of Illusion. We did shows in several venues in NYC, including the venerable Studio 54 - complete with flashpots, moveable staging and so on. It was great fun (I was a magic user) and I’d love to revive that in my library media center (middle school.)In fact, I think it’s a fantastic idea to incorporate a performance piece in a school setting - the students could write the script, create sets, act out the parts, etc. It would cover so many aspects of the ELA curriculum and standards. I especially like taking the setting from books they’d read as part of the unit. Thanks for putting the thought back into my head!
You really don’t have to look far to find a willing DM. Start with local game stores - ask or post an add on the wall of the gaming area. You can also try this great site http://dnd.meetup.com/ I put in my zip code and got 180+ people and I’m in a conservative ruralish area. In fact there may be older patrons who, given the chance, would LOVE to DM a group. as my husband says “you provide the snacks I’ll provide the violence (plot)”
My group is currently doing an Arabian Nights campaign, just finished a standard fantasy, but with Cthulu bent to the monsters. Before that was the Japanese (Edo period) setting. So ya books are great setting idea starters, but so are movies,, history and myth. There are oodles of D20 game systems out there.
Other games these teems may like are Axes and Allies, Shogun, Talisman.