I began a Dungeons and Dragons club in my school library after the students began asking about it due to the popular television show Stranger Things.
I had played D&D as a teenager and had always loved the books. Back then I made my own “homebrew” dungeons, getting lost in the world of D&D for years, but I never actually played the game all that much because I lived in an isolated part of Canada.
And so, after numerous requests from students, I became a Dungeon Master in 2018 and the game’s popularity in the school has exploded since. This article looks at how we set this up and the impact it has had.
What is Dungeons and Dragons?
D&D is a fantasy role-playing game that was created in the 1970s. It primarily uses multi-sided dice, pencils, and paper to create an engrossing fantasy realm where players adopt the roles of wizards, barbarians, rogues and more.
One player, known as the Dungeon Master (DM), creates a world filled with deadly monsters, intrigue and of course treasure. Together, the players roll dice to solve mysteries, fight creatures, explore worlds while trying to “level up” in order to become stronger, wiser, and more powerful. It is an open-ended game that in some instances can see the same people play for years on end in the same setting with the same characters.
How I set it up
I started with six students. I recommend starting with six or fewer as any more can become difficult to manage for new Dungeon Masters.
I initially ran ours after school but have since changed to lunch hours. Having said this, I recommend running it after school as this offers a bit more time.
A “regular” D&D session that I might play with adults can run between four and six hours. Obviously, this is not possible in a school setting, but you really need to set aside at least one hour to get a game in.
We currently have around 50 students taking part in D&D with several sub-groups playing at all kinds of different times of day.
The impact on students
As well as being a leisure activity which brings great pleasure to many students, D&D helps to embed social and other skills, such as turn-taking, critical thinking, empathy, team-work, communication, maths, creativity and story-telling just to name a few.
It also teaches empathy as students are literally putting themselves into the shoes of other genders, sizes, shapes, races, and perspectives. They also gain empathy through learning and understanding the stories of their team-mates.
And it boosts confidence.D&D teaches students to believe in their abilities. In a combat scenario, everyone gets a turn to try and help the group overcome whatever is in front of them. Students who have low self-esteem get to be the hero of the day, solve the puzzle, deliver the final blow to the demon, and save the town. It’s a huge confidence booster.
And public speaking skills – what better way to help someone overcome the fear of talking in front of a group than to let them try to persuade a guard to let them into a village because they know the king is about to eat a poisoned chicken!? In these safe settings I have seen students who rarely speak in lessons adopt voices and tell long stories from the perspective of their character.
Neurodiverse learners
D&D acts like a beacon for neurodiverse learners. Many struggle to find social groups where they can be themselves without any fear of being mocked, having to mask, or being made to feel uncomfortable. With D&D, everyone is on the same playing field, there is no small talk to overcome and no unspoken social cues to navigate – everyone is there for the same reason and social barriers fall away. The game can be a huge “way-in” for neurodiverse students. It is not only a conversation starter, but it can be the beginning of life-long friendships.
D&D is also rules-based yet at the same time completely open-ended. In my opinion, and as a neurodiverse player myself, this creates a perfect scenario. I love clear-cut rules especially when it comes to actions a character can take in specific situations, but it is also completely flexible. The level of creativity I see from my players, especially neurodiverse ones, is astronomical – they are creating characters with fleshed out back-stories and worlds full of danger and treasure. It can be a true haven for neurodiverse students.
What you need to play
You do not need maps, fancy dice rollers or anything expensive. What you need to play the game are pencils, paper, tables, chairs, and dice.
Having the Player’s Handbook is important as this will help greatly with character-creation, looking up spells and other rules of the game.
You may want to buy the D&D starter set. It is cheap, it comes with pre-made characters, dice, maps, and a condensed Player’s Handbook. It will be your best friend!
Lessons learned
I have learned a lot playing D&D in the library with these amazing students and so here are some of my “lessons learned” for those interesting in setting up a club.
Write recaps and send them to the players: This not only allows you to fall back on the story, but it also helps you to keep on top of the game – especially if you go a few weeks without playing because of school breaks or unforeseen circumstances. In my experience, the players also really enjoy reading the recaps. This can be done after every session or simply once a week.
Have a seating plan: This is helpful for everyone, but especially if your players like routine – as many of our neurodiverse students do. It also brings a sense of order to a game that can get very chaotic at times (in a good way).
Have turn order, even out of combat: I recommend this especially if you have a larger group or if you have a group of new or young students. What will inevitably happen is that some personalities will try and take over the game, leaving others feeling left out. If you have a turn order in situations where players are speaking to an NPC (non-player character) or are exploring a scene where there might not be combat involved but perhaps a riddle or puzzle, it will ensure everyone gets a turn.
Display the turn order in combat: This is something else that our neurodiverse players appreciate. When a student player (and often adult players) is not in combat, there can be a tendency for them to become distracted. I find that by displaying the turn order and showing who is next up to attack helps players to focus. As a Dungeon Master, it’s important that you are reminding your players, especially younger ones – “hey, you’re up next, think about what you’d like to do” – as this will save a lot of time and keep things moving.
Pre-roll your initiative: As a Dungeon Master, you should be pre-rolling your combat initiative if you are confident your players will fight a creature or numerous creatures in that session. Rolling initiative is simply rolling the 20-sided dice and adding the creature’s dexterity bonus to the result. Going from highest to lowest, you write down the names of the monsters and the number they rolled. Once in combat, all you need to do is have the players roll their initiative results and slot their turns in around the creatures. Nothing slows a game down more than a Dungeon Master rolling initiative for a bunch of creatures and trying to work out where they are in combat order.
Don’t worry about the rules: Don’t misunderstand me – the rules of D&D are important. But what I mean here is do not get bogged down in minute details as this can create a situation where players, especially younger ones, get bored and might be turned off. My rule around rules is that they are there to be bent and shaped to the situation at hand. As long as things are fair and no-one is left feeling hard done by, the rules are yours to work with.
Let the students try new things: Following on from my last point, as long as it is not upsetting other players, let students try new things – their characters should be given the freedom to try something fun and cool even if it “breaks the rules”.
Have a session zero: A session zero is where you meet with players before you start the campaign or game in general and you go over expectations, timings, and character-creation. It’s a really important time to get to know the players and what they want to get out of the game and to inform them how the game is going to work.
Now they are the master: Once you get the hang of it, you can let your students become Dungeon Masters if they want to. In my experience, students really love writing their own campaigns and running them for other students.
Final thought
In the end, it is about having fun and letting the students have a voice, be themselves and express themselves through their characters. I guarantee that if you start a D&D club you won’t regret it.
- Lucas Maxwell is the school librarian at Glenthorne High School in south London. In 2017 he was named the UK’s School Librarian of the Year. In 2022 he was named the UK Literacy Association’s Reading for Pleasure Champion. He is a writer for Book Riot and his new book Let’s Roll is about helping librarians start games like D&D in their public or school libraries.