Dungeons and Dragons is a game I haven’t made myself accustomed with over my years on this earth. It’s never particularly allured me. However, some people do love it. I was allowed access to an after-school Dungeons and Dragons (herefore after known as DND) run by a teacher and taken part in by students. This is what I saw, and the responses I got from people.

 

The set-up painted a brilliant picture of what was to come. There was music playing in the background, a map of where the players have travelled, and the classic border hiding what the Dungeon Master was doing. It seemed very professional. All the players had their own set of dice, and everyone was very much interested in and took part in everything. Everyone was extremely friendly towards one another, at the start anyway. After everyone arrived, it was time to begin (At around 15:17pm.)

 

The party of students held an elder presence, consisting of 6 Year 11 students and 2 Year 10 students. There are other members of this party in other years, but they were not present at today’s gathering. Everyone appeared to have their own characters, who had their own characteristics and traits. No two characters were the same, yet, somehow, no two characters were different at the same time. The description given to the party of players was incredible, it was very easy to make the image of what it was in your head. 

 

The scenario the members of the party faced was as such. They were in a tunnel, and they could see light at the end. It sounds mundane, but, it seriously wasn’t. Different players could see different amounts of the tunnel because of how good the character’s eyesight was. One player could see all the way, whilst another couldn’t see her hand in front of her face. The lead player (elected, they were the one who could see the furthest down the tunnel) then stumbled onto a creature. Described in blood-curdling detail, the creature was also described to be moving. One character boldly went up to touch the creature, and covered their hand in “a mucus-like substance”. They quickly wiped it off on another player. The creature eventually cleared the tunnel, shortly after being identified as a snake-like creature by the lead player. After this, the party continued on down the tunnel, but, knowing people, they’ll always take the chance to shove another person in a hole if they could. And, of course, it happened. The character known as Pig Bluenoon was pushed in a hole by another character known as Typhon. To quote the party member playing Pig, “her dorito-like body shape saved me”. Alas, the party continued on. Then, they reached the end of the tunnel, and found what appeared to be a dungeon (Shocker, when the game is called Dungeons and Dragons.) There was a creature in the dungeon. One player advanced forward, and awoke it. It was a dragon (Two for two!) The session ended there. Now, t’was time to get some questions in. The Dungeon Master was the first to be asked questions. Strangely, it was not the DM’s idea. One of the party members came to the teacher with the idea, and they put it in motion. Starting the club in June 2022, the group have been through alot. The campaigns that the party travel through are “Based on fantasy, but mainly my imagination.” Interviewing the party members was equally as fun, considering they were all primarily members of my friend group. Thankfully, everyone I asked said they enjoy playing DND. Most of the members joined when the group began, and mainly all were there because “their friends were there.” 

 

Concluding, my itch to know more about this alluring game has been itched. All the blank areas have been filled with amazing experiences. From the picturesque descriptions, to the friendly atmosphere, it was very fun reporting on this. Thank you for letting me in to report on it.