Earlier in the year, I wrote about how to set up a roleplaying club in a UK secondary school. While those basic ideas stand, following my second year in my second club it’s time to review.
- The club has remained at around 14 players, although some have drifted away to be replaced by new faces; the group has had one female player join.
- The group has (other than me) four Game Masters. At the end of the last term, three of the Game Masters were each running a Dungeons & Dragons game. The current games include dungeon-delving, a high-seas piracy game, and an adventure that appears to involve Drow. Oh, and we’ve extended the sessions from 1 hour to 1.5 hours.
- All the players are familiar with D&D5e and it’s the “go to” system.
- We have planned a one-off whole-day summer Dungeons & Dragons game for later in the holidays, with the teacher as Dungeon Master.
It’s worth mentioning that at the end of the term, we were asked to host two 1-hour sessions of Dungeons & Dragons as part of the school’s “Sports and Games Day” event. I found myself running 8 players at a time through a quick dungeon. We had full games both times and only two of the players were already in the club. That might boost attendance next year. What it definitely did is boost our profile in the school… and the feedback from staff was positive too.
What Works?
Most of the guys enjoy the dungeoneering games and the easy-going nature of Dungeons & Dragons.
What works is:
- Playing Dungeons & Dragons
- Using short adventures
- Having pick-up pre-gen characters on-hand
- Letting go of the teacher-run game as needed
- Encouraging players to become Dungeon Masters
Tip One: Play Dungeons & Dragons
I’d love to run other games at the club. At the first club I ran, this happened to varying success and is likely a factor determined by the people attending. At this club, however, I’ve learned that it’s not a problem if they just want to play Dungeons & Dragons. My players are aware of the wider roleplaying hobby – I’ve shown them new games I’ve bought, for example – but they are interested in their games, not mine. That’s fine.
Unless they ask, keep running D&D. Reasons include those given in my original article:
“…[Dungeons & Dragons] is accessible (free), easy-to-learn, and plays well. Also, the kids get to do what we enjoyed doing: going down the dungeons, killing the monsters, and looting the treasure. As far as I can tell, they’ll be happy doing that right up until they’re not.” (“Roleplaying at School: A Teacher’s Guide“, January 30th 2016)
Tip Two: Use Short Adventures (and watch Matt Colville)
If you’re starting a club, watch Matt Colville’s YouTube series on “Running the Game“, episodes 1-3 especially. I ran my version of the dungeon he designs in episode 2 at the Sports & Games Day and it was perfect!
Episode 1, is the bit where Matt tells a newbie why they should be Dungeon Master – excellent stuff!
From there, Matt talks you through running “Your First Adventure“:
“You are going to run D&D tonight, for free, with an adventure that you made! Well, we made… ok, I made… the principle is the same!”
Those are the opening words of the second video and I love them! Why? I love them because they show us how do-able and easy it is to get started. That adventure would last 1-2 sessions at the club… and we also learn how to create cool adventures that are similar.
Watch that video simply because it shows you how you can prep small adventures when playing with beginners.
Tip Three: Have Pre-Generated Characters On-Hand
Every week, someone can’t make it or a new player turns up. About every other week or so, it’s a new player. Sometimes it’s an old player who has been busy with homework or sport, or whatever, and is returning. They need a character to play and you don’t have time to roll them up (unless they really want to spend that week doing the roll-up). The answer is pre-generated characters: they grab one, and dive into the game.
I’ve created around eight or so pre-gens and I re-skin them and re-use them once they die (in short, change the character’s name and one other thing). In preparation for the summer game, which will need Level-4 characters, I’m in the process of leveling them up to (you guessed it) Level-4. If you don’t mind the ever-changing nature of the folder, you can find my pre-gens folder on Dropbox.
Get new players involved immediately! That means avoiding the “we need to wait until we meet your character” thing. I’d recommend just “beaming them in” as if the hero was there all along. Nobody will care and it’s fun for the newbie.
Tip Four: Let Your Game Go As Needed
I have started three different extended adventures this year. I’ve not “finished” any of them because, eventually, some players asked if they could go and run their own games. My immediate answer was to smile broadly and say, “Of course!”
Some sessions, fellow teachers, are for you to catch up on marking or to simply relax after the school day. Enjoy them!
Yes, it hurts to give up your game when you are enjoying it. That said, it’s their game too and it’s their club. On that principle, encourage the aspiring Dungeon Master to be Masters – let them run games! That’s how we have got to have four Masters, and three active games.
Which brings us on to…
Tip Five: Encourage Players to Become Dungeon Masters
For the club to grow, you need more Dungeon Masters. I realised this a while back and was worried about it… but, it is easy to solve once you have some established players. After the first full term of play, I’d recommend simply asking one of the players if they have considered being Dungeon Master.
Chances are, first time, this will take time and encouragement. Matt Colville’s videos are great for this – I didn’t have them two years ago, so make use of them today! What it boils down to is they have to believe that Dungeon Mastering is do-able and easy.
Add a Dungeon Master’s Guide and a Monster Manual to the club shelf if you can afford it, but remember that the Basic Dungeon Master’s Guide has everything they need for free!
Into Year Three…
As I plan for the third year at my school, what am I aiming to do?
The summer game will be a delve into Rappan Athuk, the mega-dungeon of dubious fame. I have the Swords & Wizardry edition and plan to run it using D&D5e. The aim is a good day of old-school dungeon fun… but also to test the water. Do they like the idea of a mega-dungeon? If so, that’s my offer next year (“Keep going!”), and if not, I’m going to develop my Mistamere Fells setting and offer more of the same.
Yes, that’s right – I’m going to follow my own advice.
Hope this helps someone! Game on!
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