By Tyler McVicker
Jambar Contributor
Over the last few months, a new club has exploded in popularity, run by the same students who brought Humans vs. Zombies to Youngstown State University’s campus. The Dungeons and Dragons, or DnD, club had over 30 participants in their last meeting a few weeks ago.
Erik Glasgow, a senior political science and philosophy major, explained the games are run by a group of YSU students.
“There is a small group of us who are in charge of this. Within the club, we refer to ourselves as a ‘committee,’” Glasgow said.
The committee not only organizes the events, they create the “campaigns” or storylines each game takes and run the game as Dungeon Masters. DMs create the games storyline, nonplayer characters and environments and run the entire game by essentially acting as a God in the world of the game being played.
“Essentially, the way the club works, is that members of the club form fairly autonomous committees around an event they would like to run or do. All of us who are a part of the committee are DMing,” Glasgow said.
“Our campaigns are sourced using the background from the ‘Tal’dorei’ guide, which is Mathews Mercer’s setting for ‘Critical Role,’ for those who are familiar. For those who are not, it’s not the typical DnD setting, instead sharing many similarities with the setting while being its own creation,” Emerson Woodyard, a junior political science major, said.
Erik Hnida, another member of the committee and a junior accounting major, said their group is trying to stick to traditional settings for new members to understand for easier gameplay.
“We are trying to adhere to a more traditional fantasy setting as it is very easy for newer players to understand DnD with that parameter set. The entire group plays in one ‘campaign,’ so to say. They take quests for the overarching goals of the campaign, but do so through separate adventures,” Hnida said.
For a person who doesn’t know anything about DnD or maybe feels overwhelmed with the ruleset, fret not. The committee is always open to new players, and hopes to be as accommodating as possible.
“Dungeons and Dragons is a wondrous game of cooperative storytelling where conflict and encounters are solved with quick wit, smooth talking and rolls of the dice. Essentially, imagine being the Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers, Justice League or any other hero squad.
Now don’t just imagine — give it a shot with us,” Glasgow said.
Woodyard explained the group hopes to be as inclusive and helpful as possible for those hoping to get into DnD. The team as a whole understands any preconceived notions some may have about DnD and invite anyone to try it for themselves.
“DnD is a growing pop culture full of fun opportunities to meet new, like-minded people and get lost playing out all the characters you ever imagined,” Hnida said.
For anyone who is interested in trying out DnD, the committee welcomes anyone, and hopes learning to be easy and enjoyable.
The remaining dates to join in DnD gameplay are Oct. 24, Nov. 2, 7, 16, 21 and 30 and Dec. 5. in the Lariccia Family Lounge behind Jamba Juice in Kilcawley Center.
