The What.
Dungeons and Dragons is a group storytelling, dice-based, role-playing tabletop game. Players create a fictional character and then take on the role of that character to participate in a story with their peers. The person running the story, often called the Game Master or Dungeon Master helps guide the story and allows players to interact with people and things in the story.
The D&D Club is a place for players of any experience level! We welcome anyone who is interested in playing, even if they are brand new. The Game Masters are teachers or experienced students and are happy to teach you how to play.
The D&D Club is a place for players of any experience level! We welcome anyone who is interested in playing, even if they are brand new. The Game Masters are teachers or experienced students and are happy to teach you how to play.
Party Placement.
D&D is played in groups of 3 to 7, and those groups need to remain consistent for story reasons. If a student decides to join D&D, they will be placed in a group (called a party) with a few other players and a Dungeon Master. These groups allow friendships to form and foster safe environments. We try to keep these groups together for the year, but if there are ever any problems with party groupings (such as schedule issues, personality conflicts, or age/maturity disparities), we are happy to accommodate moving people.
There is often a shortage of dungeon masters, and parties max out at 5 or 6. Because of that, students may not be placed in a party immediately (especially if you are joining part way through the year). There may be a waiting period for us to find an opening in a party. Please be patient with that process!
If you are interested in joining a D&D party, please ask for the survey link.
There is often a shortage of dungeon masters, and parties max out at 5 or 6. Because of that, students may not be placed in a party immediately (especially if you are joining part way through the year). There may be a waiting period for us to find an opening in a party. Please be patient with that process!
If you are interested in joining a D&D party, please ask for the survey link.
Time Commitment.
D&D parties meet every week for about an hour. This can be a big-time commitment for players, and an even bigger time commitment for DMs. The nature of group storytelling is such that you cannot dip in and out of it the way you can with other games in Surge. Your party and your DM are counting on you! If you intend to join a party, you need to be willing to make this time commitment every week. There are acceptable circumstances for missing a week, and the DMs will often cancel sessions if there is a school-wide reason students will be unavailable, but please try to make it to your sessions! If you find you can’t make your sessions anymore, talk to Mrs. Fuhriman about finding a party that meets at a better time for your schedule, or step down so that someone else can take your spot.
Technology and Cost.
Most D&D sessions will be held on the same program used for regular classroom CC’s. Some may move to Discord, Roll20, or another program they find more suitable.
To create characters, we recommend using dndbeyond.com. This website streamlines character creation and is free to use! It does require account creation, so we do not require anyone to use it if they don’t want to. Making characters on paper is also perfectly acceptable.
To play D&D you will need access to an array of dice. You can use physical or digital dice. Digital dice are free and handy on google, DnDbeyond, and a plethora of other websites.
D&D is free! You will not be required to buy anything to participate in the club. You also can spend quite a bit on D&D if you want to (on books, dice, content on DnDBeyond, and other paraphernalia). It's up to you what you want to do with your money!
To create characters, we recommend using dndbeyond.com. This website streamlines character creation and is free to use! It does require account creation, so we do not require anyone to use it if they don’t want to. Making characters on paper is also perfectly acceptable.
To play D&D you will need access to an array of dice. You can use physical or digital dice. Digital dice are free and handy on google, DnDbeyond, and a plethora of other websites.
D&D is free! You will not be required to buy anything to participate in the club. You also can spend quite a bit on D&D if you want to (on books, dice, content on DnDBeyond, and other paraphernalia). It's up to you what you want to do with your money!
Behavior, Content, Safety.
As in other parts of Surge, you must be respectful, kind, and a team player to participate in D&D club. In some ways your behavior is even more important here because of the nature of community storytelling. Not only do you need to have basic respect for your fellow humans, you also need to be respectful of your DM’s time and creations as well as the creativity of your fellow party members. The best D&D parties have a strong sense of mutual trust, friendship, and kindness. If you are found violating their trust, being unkind, disrespectful, or ignoring your DM’s corrections about your behavior, you will be swiftly removed from participating. We cannot tolerate that kind of behavior. It is of utmost importance that we are a safe environment for everyone. If you are making others feel unsafe, you will be removed. This includes things done “In character”. You are welcome to play edgy or otherwise devious characters, but rude, tasteless, lascivious, or disrespectful behavior is not okay here. If that is how your character would act, you need to make a new character.
Some behavior (see above) or content (anything not safe for work or against school guidelines) is not permitted in our club. DM’s are aware of these guidelines, and should not introduce this kind of content in their stories. If you think your DM may have violated this guideline you are encouraged to reach out to Mrs. Fuhriman or Mr. Penn.
D&D often deals with the struggle of evil and good. This makes it a healthy and safe place to explore some of the difficult themes of life and stories. Some stories will have violence, big scary monsters, oppressive governments, racism and classism, poverty, good and bad experiences with religions, good and bad magic, good and bad laws, fear, societal unrest, mental health struggles, loss of life and all sorts of other things that have connections to experiences in the real world. Just because these things are part of the story, does not mean we are promoting or supporting them. Every story needs a bad guy, and learning to deal with these things in a fantasy setting often helps young people process their real-life experiences. It's also important to remember that the characters and events in D&D stories are make-believe, and even if they share names or attributes with real things, they are a fantasy representation. Additionally, we will never be running “evil” campaigns, and the things the students will learn about fighting for good and developing friendships will have only positive impacts on their real lives. Good triumphing over evil will always be the overarching theme!
Some content can be preference. We realize that some types of content can be triggering or dealt with poorly and can cause people to feel uncomfortable. If you are feeling uncomfortable with the content in the DM’s story, or with the actions of your fellow party members, don’t hesitate to tell someone! This is a situation where a party meeting might benefit everyone. If we think you will fit better in a different party, you will be quickly and quietly moved somewhere else. Sometimes the maturity levels, story themes, or content of your party’s story don’t align with what you are comfortable with. That’s okay! We will find somewhere you fit better.
Some behavior (see above) or content (anything not safe for work or against school guidelines) is not permitted in our club. DM’s are aware of these guidelines, and should not introduce this kind of content in their stories. If you think your DM may have violated this guideline you are encouraged to reach out to Mrs. Fuhriman or Mr. Penn.
D&D often deals with the struggle of evil and good. This makes it a healthy and safe place to explore some of the difficult themes of life and stories. Some stories will have violence, big scary monsters, oppressive governments, racism and classism, poverty, good and bad experiences with religions, good and bad magic, good and bad laws, fear, societal unrest, mental health struggles, loss of life and all sorts of other things that have connections to experiences in the real world. Just because these things are part of the story, does not mean we are promoting or supporting them. Every story needs a bad guy, and learning to deal with these things in a fantasy setting often helps young people process their real-life experiences. It's also important to remember that the characters and events in D&D stories are make-believe, and even if they share names or attributes with real things, they are a fantasy representation. Additionally, we will never be running “evil” campaigns, and the things the students will learn about fighting for good and developing friendships will have only positive impacts on their real lives. Good triumphing over evil will always be the overarching theme!
Some content can be preference. We realize that some types of content can be triggering or dealt with poorly and can cause people to feel uncomfortable. If you are feeling uncomfortable with the content in the DM’s story, or with the actions of your fellow party members, don’t hesitate to tell someone! This is a situation where a party meeting might benefit everyone. If we think you will fit better in a different party, you will be quickly and quietly moved somewhere else. Sometimes the maturity levels, story themes, or content of your party’s story don’t align with what you are comfortable with. That’s okay! We will find somewhere you fit better.
Grade Requirement.
The grade requirement for D&D Club is the same requirement as it is for Surge overall. Students will be put on probation for failing classes. They will not be excluded from meeting with their party until they reach tier 3 probation.
Communication & Discord
The D&D club has a Discord! While this is a fun and safe place to interact with other D&D nerds from MGLVA, it is not a requirement for participation in a D&D Party. Students are welcome to join if they wish! If they do, they will be asked to take a permission slip for their learning coach to sign. The Discord has its own rules and violating them may get students timed out or kicked from the Discord. Always be respectful and kind.
While Discord is not a requirement, students will need to be in frequent communication with their DM. That means they will be asked to provide a reliable way to contact them – preferably an email. Failing to respond to communication will likely result in removal from your party. Keep in touch!
While Discord is not a requirement, students will need to be in frequent communication with their DM. That means they will be asked to provide a reliable way to contact them – preferably an email. Failing to respond to communication will likely result in removal from your party. Keep in touch!
Dungeon Masters.
We are always looking for student DMs! If you have experience playing D&D and want to try DMing, we would love to organize a party for you! You will always have a teacher present in your sessions and help if you need it.
DMing is awesome but can be a huge time commitment! If you have doubts about that time commitment, we recommend waiting until you can be confident in that commitment. It is a lot of work to organize a party for you, and cancelling every week can be really disappointing for them. Occasionally is okay, but we’re really looking for consistency.
DMing can look great on job applications, and you can even do it professionally! If you think you would be a good candidate, reach out! This is a safe place to try something new, and we have a lot of support available for you.
DMing is awesome but can be a huge time commitment! If you have doubts about that time commitment, we recommend waiting until you can be confident in that commitment. It is a lot of work to organize a party for you, and cancelling every week can be really disappointing for them. Occasionally is okay, but we’re really looking for consistency.
DMing can look great on job applications, and you can even do it professionally! If you think you would be a good candidate, reach out! This is a safe place to try something new, and we have a lot of support available for you.
Questions.
Mrs. Fuhriman has run a D&D club for her entire teaching career, and has lots of experience playing D&D, teaching D&D, DMing, and running the organization side of things. She is happy to answer any questions you have about the club! D&D is a relatively new part of Surge, and we are still getting our feet under us. Be patient with us, and feedback is welcome!