Mr. Justin Derickson, seventh grade ELA teacher,  started the Dungeons and Dragons Club (D & D) in April of last year.  Students get to have fun by rolling dice and deciding their fate after school on Wednesday. 

D & D is a popular role playing game where the Dungeon Master (DM) narrates an adventure and the other players have to respond to different spells or attacks by rolling dice. 

In the realm of D & D, there are six abilities that a player can exhibit. These are strength, dexterity, constitution, intelligence, wisdom, and charisma. The types of character that a player can choose from are fighter, cleric, wizard, and rogue. 

D & D relies on dice for the game play. A 20 sided dice decides the success or failure of a player, ability checks, and saving throws. 

“I had an idea, and there were some kids in my class who didn’t have anything to do after school that I thought would enjoy it,” Mr. Derickson stated.  Right now, the club is only for eighth grade, but he is willing to work with anyone from seventh to sixth grade who is interested in learning  D & D.  Students make decisions based on the story that is given. Mr. Derickson commented that the students that are in the club are always “jazzed and excited” for the next meeting or practice. 

“They are all exploring on the same fictional continent, but [the groups] do not interact,” Mr. Derickson said. Each week, the D & D groups rotate. The group ranges from five to around seven kids.  

“Practices have been going well. D & D has been smooth and fast-paced, which has made the game more enjoyable,” Kateyln Clawson, eighth grader, said. Her friends inspired her to join D & D so they could spend more time together.  She has been in it for all of this year, and a few practices of last year. 

“I’ve always heard about D & D in like shows and stuff and I wanted to see what it was really like. Plus I like colorful dice,” Ashlynn Wagner, eighth grader, stated. She thinks the practices are going really well. “We’re all having a lot of fun and just socializing a lot.” Wagner doesn’t exactly know how long she has been playing, but since the start of the year she has been going to almost every session.

It is not too late to join, but if you would like to, make sure you see Mr. Derickson in room F110.