OLCHS’ goal is to represent and support their students, even those with less mainstream interests. Owen Dziemiela, a freshman, with the help of Mr Kallenborn, recently established an official tabletop club that meets to play Dungeons and Dragons, also known as D&D.

D&D is an imaginative role-playing game where players combine their wits and intelligence to explore their surroundings, as well as defeat a variety of different creatures. Luck plays a huge part in these combat scenarios, with each player having to roll certain dice to determine how well they execute their actions. Even if new players are unfamiliar with the game, it is fairly easy to grasp the basic concepts essential to being a useful player. John Parquette, a freshman who is new to the world of D&D says, “It’s really fun to play because you can do almost anything in the game. The people in the club are really nice, and make it easy to learn how to play.”

Dungeons and Dragons is a simple game to take part in as a player, but the amount of hard work behind constructing these clever combat situations, complex worlds, and original quests is far overlooked. The people who design these campaigns are referred to as Dungeon Masters, or DMs. Jonathan Mexicano, one of the club’s DMs says, “It takes a lot of work upfront, but it’s fun, rewarding, and well worth the time investment.” Tabletop club currently has two Dungeon Masters, Jonathan Mexicano and Owen Dziemiela, but will have more once the current campaign is finished due to the growing amount of players. Each DM has established their own, individual unique storyline for their players, but the plots of each will eventually intertwine.

If students are looking to join this entertaining club, they can stop by the media center on Tuesdays after school from 3:00-4:30 to spectate a session, or take part in it. “Tabletop games have always been a definitive outlet into creativity and storytelling,” says Dziemiela. “So why shouldn’t there be a club for this?”