The Pierce County Library recently had a fungal infestation evening which required a special crew of exterminators to remove several deadly purple mushrooms.
Luckily, the fatal fungi were only products of a shared imaginative landscape known as Dungeons and Dragons (DnD).
A popular role-playing game first created by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson in 1974, Dungeons and Dragons has gone through many changes and several editions in the decades since. The current version in use at Pierce County Library’s regular Thursday night meeting is DnD’s fifth edition.
Four players, Karlie Beard, Oli Goettie, Cooper Hay and Charlie Copprell, create heroic player characters to take on various monsters, mysteries and obstacles presented to them by Dungeonmaster Nikki Gilleland. Think of the players as the heroes from a popular fantasy movie such as Lord of the Rings or, well, the recent Dungeons and Dragons movie and of the dungeonmaster as a storyteller who guides events and plays every other character in the movie, good, evil, human, or inhuman, and you have a rough idea of what is going on.
The heroes various attributes, such as strength, dexterity, wisdom and charisma are expressed as numbers and the rolls of various colorful dice determine if the heroes can successfully pull off their various actions, anything from swinging swords and tracking someone through the woods to convincing a guard you aren’t really trespassing in the villain’s lair, or if they fail — sometimes miserably.
Dungeonmaster Gilleland says the individual game sessions are meant to be episodic, allowing players to easily drop in and out of the ongoing campaign (series of game sessions) as their schedule requires.
Of the four players at the table last Thursday, Beard and Copprell were both playing DnD for the very first time. Beard had long been fascinated by the art, lore and general aesthetic of the game, but had never played it. She saw the library’s post on Facebook and decided to jump in with both feet.
Copprell, a shy, softspoken first time player, says he saw an event calendar while visiting the library.
Hay, a more seasoned player, used to campaign with a different group and had been looking for a new one. His mother frequented the library and suggested the group there might be a good replacement.
The atmosphere is relaxed, inclusive and encouraging to new players with both the dungeonmaster and more experienced adventurers giving lots of guidance and support. The jokes and bad puns fly fast and furious around the table and the general vibe is one of funloving chaos.
In their search to find their missing friend Ambrose, the players easily see-saw from hacking, shooting and zapping unfriendly giant mushrooms to encouraging a depressed and apparently not-that-evil rock monster that looks like a giant boulder with a face to not give up on finding love.
This is the library’s 18 and up group. Until recently, they met 6 p.m. every Thursday, but recent changes in library staffing and evening programs have shifted games to the second Thursday of each month. Seekers of adventure are encouraged to bring their own brand of magic to the next game.
