As the clock hits 3:15 and the final bell of the school day rings, the halls quickly fill with the chatter of students ready to go home after a long Monday full of classes. But for members of the Dungeons & Dragons Club, preparations begin for two hours of rolling dice and battling monsters.
Senior Daniel Driggers shares what initially motivated him to join the D&D Club.
“I’d heard some good things about D&D for a while, mainly from Stranger Things,” Driggers said. “The introduction to the concept kind of made me think it was this nerdy thing that would involve a lot of graphs and stuff.”
He soon discovered that, although he enjoyed it, his first impression of the game was a bit misinformed.
“After I’ve gotten into it, math isn’t exactly a big part of it, just like basic addition, subtraction, and then just using graphs for maps and stuff,” Driggers said.
Similarly, senior Melina Engelau’s decision to join the club was inspired by exposure to online content.
“I had actually been listening to some D&D podcasts online,” Engelau said. “I really enjoyed those and I really wanted to take part in something like that.”
School Resource Officer Andrew Plank has been playing D&D for about 10 years. He comments on what he sees as some of the additional benefits of playing D&D.
“It teaches a lot, actually,” Plank said. “You know, you use your imagination. You’re not on your phone. [You use] math skills with dice and all that so there’s a lot that goes into D&D and I think it’s great.”
Engelau has also found that being a member of the club has been beneficial to her.
“I’ve become a lot more confident in myself,” Engelau said. “I’ve also just learned how to collaborate more.”
Driggers has also benefited from the club through the connections he’s made with others.
“Some of my best friends from high school I’ve met through the D&D club,” Driggers said.
Driggers elaborates on why he is so passionate about D&D.
“Everybody loves Monopoly, everybody loves Catan, but this [game] is really the only one that I can really think of that offers so much player choice and so much creativity,” Driggers said. “Like, you could feasibly do just about anything as long as the Dungeon Master doesn’t veto it.”
According to Plank, the near endless possibilities within the game can be a creative outlet.
“I get that, you know, putting yourself out there is hard to do, especially in high school,” Plank said. “But use your imagination, like I said, don’t be afraid to get out of the box and express yourself.”
Driggers shares one final piece of advice for people new to the game.
“I interact quite a lot with people who have never played D&D before,” Driggers said. “I would say just don’t be intimidated. Most of the players are very welcoming to new players and you’ll likely get the hang of it just by being around them and them showing you the ropes.”