students have become Game Masters themselves and the sessions now have standing-room-only observers who have created their own after-school clubs. Public libraries also have the space and the means to bring in new faces to their libraries by running tabletop roleplay- ing clubs like Dungeons & Dragons and it is an amazing outlet for creativity.
Therapy sessions
When I was researching my book, I spoke to a mental health therapist in North Carolina named Katie Lear who uses Dungeons & Dragons as part of her therapy sessions with teens. She said something that has stuck with me long after speaking to her – “When people see you playing games like D&D, they think you’re just playing a board game, but what you’re really doing is taking part in active therapy.” I’ve had the pleasure of running library programmes for young people in both public and school libraries for over 15 years and I’ve never seen a programme as popular as Dungeons & Dragons. I am the Game Master for students twice a week at lunch, it runs for about an hour. For many young players, it becomes an important part of their week because they know for that hour they are going to be in a safe environment where they can be them- selves without judgement. They know that they are going to laugh and have fun and be ridiculous and be listened to for those two hours per week, no matter how tough the rest of their week has been.
Skills away from the table Tabletop roleplaying games strengthen confidence, public speaking skills, organisation, empathy and creativity. I
March 2023
have students who, if you stopped them in the corridor this very moment would tell you that they don’t like to read. However, trust me when I say that they are in before school, break, lunch and after school poring over the D&D rulebooks, monster manuals and campaign books. They have also created a strong friend- ship group, I believe it’s because D&D has provided them a unique school experience that they would not have had elsewhere. D&D has given, especially to neurodi- vergent students who may struggle with social interactions or anxiety, a place where they can feel welcome, express themselves the way they want to with- out fear of being ridiculed or judged. As a neurodivergent Game Master, I get a lot out of Dungeons & Dragons, for one thing, it removes what I call the
“social barbed wire” from everyday life because everyone is there for the same reason, there’s no small talk or awkward exchanges, we all know why we are there and what we need to do, which is have a lot of fun, really.
When thinking about running or hosting a tabletop roleplaying game, it’s important that the youth who have signed up are aware of how the game works. This is often referred to as “Session Zero” where you simply break down the basic etiquette and rules that you will establish around the table. These rules are up to you as the Game Master but for me, I establish right away that our D&D sessions will not involve “player versus player” scenarios. This means that the players are aware that they need to work together to survive the world that I as the
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