The spring semester at Wright State University (WSU) has brought a heavily attended club from the past back in business, becoming a two-tier organization in less than three months. In celebration of new interested members, The Adventures Guild held a Dungeons and Dragons workshop event for game masters.
From 5 to 9 p.m. on March 26, students gathered in Rike Hall for an opportunity to learn how to be a game master in Dungeons and Dragons.
Dungeons and Dragons is a social tabletop role-playing game where one person is a game master, sometimes called a dungeon master. This individual acts as a narrator to control the base of a fantasy land they create, while the other players invent characters to explore it.
The event was run by the president of the club, Talon Hirt, and the treasurer, Victoria Smith. Each has over 12 years of experience running Dungeons and Dragons games.
A slideshow was presented on skills and techniques to run a Dungeons and Dragons game, as well as hands-on experience from both attendees and hosts.
Smith included that she also had the opportunity to learn about new ideas, even with her experience.
“I think what surprised me the most is that even though I have 12 years in being a dungeon master, when we were brainstorming with students who are new at it, they gave me ideas that were amazing,” Smith said.
Additionally, members from The Adventurers Guild showed up to support and help students who attended the event.
Logan Babb, one of the members, shared his thoughts on how to be a good game master.
“Telling a story that everybody's entertained with, while making sure everybody gets their say, to make sure that nobody's neglected in the story they want to tell,” Babb said.
For Dungeons and Dragons games, The Adventurers Guild came up with a list of guidelines that all game masters must follow.
Rule #1: No one is to be turned away that would like to participate, unless it is necessary.
Rule #2: There should be no bias between the game master and the players.
Rule #3: Do not force anyone at the table to discuss topics they are not comfortable with.
Rule #4: Let players know at least 30 minutes in advance if you need to cancel an event.
The other side of the event included information on running tabletop games. Zachary Meeds explained how The Adventures Guild went about this during the workshop.
“It didn’t feel confined to [Dungeons and Dragons] specifically; it talked about where to get inspirations, how to deal with writer’s block and how to run specific areas of the game,” Meeds said.
The overall goal of The Adventures Guild is to create a comfortable environment where students can come in and put aside their lives for a few hours, while having fun pretending to be someone or something else.
If your interest is piqued, in becoming a player or game master, contact the president of The Adventurers Guild at hirt.15@wright.edu for more information.
