Governors State kicked off the first Jaguar Anime and Gaming Club event of the fall term on the 6th of September with a good old game of DND in the Hall of Honors with snacks, music, and great energy among the club members. I can testify as I attended.
To newcomers wondering what DND is, it’s a fantasy roleplaying tabletop created in 1974. The objective is to build your own story where you and your party create your characters, personality, and even design if you choose and embark on different adventures in a fictional world. The one who leads the story and controls the game environment is called the Dungeon Master or DM for short. Players roll dice to determine the outcomes of their actions, blending DND into a game of chance and strategy.
I joined the game, and the character I created was an elf wizard named Jaxar who was kicked out of his wizard society and forced to join the outside world. My dice rolls gave Jaxar good strength, dexterity, and constitution but left him short on wisdom, charisma, and intelligence. Other characters include a monk, a paladin, and even a ranger with the form of a rock gnome.
As a newcomer, I wondered what about the game created such a big community that even finds its way into popular YouTube watch parties of people playing it to even inspired video games with similar concepts like Baldur’s Gate and high-budget Hollywood blockbusters like the movie Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves that made over $200 million at the box office.
Mona Antolin, the Dungeon Master during the session, said: “We all have that imagination inside us ever since we were kids and imagine what it’ll be like to be a fictional character and to go those adventures that we read or watch that never left and with DND we can get immersed in a world of storytelling without judgment and create a version of ourselves through the characters and tell our stories no matter how high or low the feat is.”
Time ran out before we could actually launch our game campaign. Disappointing as that was, I realized how the next meeting on Sept. 11 will give me the opportunity to bring you readers along and join the journey of DND.
Who knows maybe after that game you might become the next big DND fan and create your own DND party.