Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) is a tabletop role playing game (TTRPG) that millions play worldwide. It is also the subject of a well-populated club at TWHS, hosting around 40 active players, including 6 Dungeon Masters (DMs) who each run individual games.

Many people have heard of D&D, but “tabletop roleplaying game” can just seem like a bunch of random words thrown together if you aren’t already familiar with the term. A TTRPG is a game, such as D&D, in which players roleplay characters in a game similar to traditional board games. A group forms a campaign consisting of players and a DM. The DM writes the story, world, and NPCs for the players to interact with before the campaign even begins. The DM is then able to interpret the decisions of the players based on players actions and the random chance of a dice roll. Typically, the higher the roll, the more likely that the player will be able to perform the action successfully.

The players all create characters within the confines of D&D’s rules. They write backstories, choose fighting styles, learn spells, and pick from a variety of fantasy species and classes (wizard, fighter, bard, etc.) published by D&D’s official sourcebooks. In D&D, most everything is randomized, as a majority of the actions success is determined by their 20-sided dice roll; but not every dice is created equal. Each character has a score of 3-18 in charisma, constitution, strength, dexterity, wisdom, and intelligence, and the number corresponds to a few points added to or subtracted from a roll in that category. It seems like a lot of math, but there are free character building websites that can calculate score increases. In practice, players only ever do simple addition and subtraction.

If this sounds fun to you, TWHS has its very own D&D club of six active campaigns that each meet once a week (Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday, depending on the campaign) from 2:45-4:00. If you’re interested in joining the club or learning more about the campaigns available, join the D&D Club GroupMe!