Dungeons and Dragons club hosts immersive role play
Club gives participants an opportunity to escape stresses of life
Junior Dayton Rowland speaks during the Dungeons and Dragons club meeting Feb. 24. According to Dungeons and Dragons club adviser Daniel Ruzek, the club meetings typically last from the end of the school day to 5 p.m.
March 1, 2020
After the final bell on Mondays and Thursdays, room A305 transitions from a science classroom to a realm of fantasy as the Dungeons and Dragons club begins its role-playing game, according to sophomore Paris Lim.
“If you’re having like a crap day, you can sit down and you can play and you can get out of your crappy day for a little bit because you’re not living through you, you’re living through a character in a game,” Lim said.
According to science teacher and club adviser Daniel Ruzek, Dungeons and Dragons involves working together, not against each other.
“The thing about the game is it’s not really about competition, it’s not competitive, it’s cooperative,” Ruzek said. “They share the story that they are participating in and telling at the same time, and there’s no winning going on.”
Even if you don’t like fighting and even if you don’t like all that stuff, come in just for the people and the jokes, that’s part of the experience.
— Marisol Ortiz
Junior Marisol Ortiz who serves as a dungeon master, one of the orchestrators of each weeks’ games, said the club goes beyond fantasy battles and allows students to immerse themselves in a fantasy world of their own creation.
“(I enjoy) how free it is. With most video games, you can play as much as you want, but you can really only do what the developers have allowed to happen. With Dungeons and Dragons, there are almost no restrictions besides those you and your party put onto the game,” Ortiz said. “Even if you don’t like fighting and even if you don’t like all that stuff, come in just for the people and the jokes, that’s part of the experience.”
According to Ruzek, the club has enough players to host two coinciding games at once with Ruzek facilitating one game and a student leading the other.
“Most the people this year are pretty new so they are just learning the rules and what the game is about, so they aren’t really experienced enough to run the game, but I do have a couple of kids who can and one of them is doing that right now, so we are running the game in parallel and it’s really fun,” Ruzek said.
Lim said he would encourage interested students to stop by and see how the game works.
“You can join any time,” Lim said. “If you are curious at all, go ahead and stop by.”
Dungeons and Dragons meets each Monday and Thursday in A305. To become a full-time participant in the club, individuals must contribute $25, though it is free to try it out.
