Incorporating Dungeons & Dragons into the Classroom Setting

                For the past few weeks, I have been playing Dungeons & Dragons with Chucky, the kid I tutor after school on Saturdays. I have had a lot of great sessions with Chucky: reading Asimov’s Nightfall; talking about dystopian fiction like 1984, Fahrenheit 451; having Chucky teach me about Chinese history (especially the juicy bits about the many dynasties and the atrocities of the cultural revolution - Mao’s tyrannical doing); getting a better understanding of how Chinese education works (for better and for worse); reliving the cruel nature of the SAT through the many reading and grammatical exercises we’ve worked on; working on innovative essays; chatting about Yu-Gi-Oh cards; playing with legos and robots; comparing our vastly different cultures; learning not for the sake of learning, but for the passion of better understanding that which we shall never understand - the existential angst of the godless man searching for meaning past dogmatic slavery. This past Saturday, Chucky and I completed our final session in our first installment of DND, which I hope we will continue soon. Starting off, this is a story I had Chucky write for introducing his character: the enchanter wizard Charles (and as you will be able to tell, Chucky used the plot from Hellboy to make this story)

“Something about the wizard Charles

His name is Charles, he was born in the world of D&D.

Charles once worked for a famous designing company, he is

especially good at designing and building complex machines.

Unlike his colleagues, he believes in the power of magic spells

and magic tools. Sometimes, he would put some spells into the

machine, and lucky, the machines worked well. He became very

famous, known as “the wizard mechanic”

However, war started, the emperor asked Charles to design a

war machine, a kind of robot that’s nearly impossible to destroy,

so he did, he created “The golden army”

With the help of the golden army, the emperor won the war.

worship the god of greedy.

After 5 years, he came back for revenge. He destroyed the

golden army and he murdered the king. In the end, he left the

city, put on an old robe, and started to wander in the world of

D&D.

 Charles is very kind, and he always helps others, as long as

he can reap profit. “

I showed Chucky a map of what we would be conquering and he built a lego set so we could move the legomen around and about:

                Our mission consisted mainly of speechcraft, an objective of finding three ancient keys which required Charles to fool the heads of the family into giving him their ancestor’s relic. To be fair, I am pretty laid back in how I construct my DND narrative (note: I use the 2^nd edition rulebook as my guide, but at the end of the day, I make the fucking rules and what I say is the god damn law of the decrepit land). By the beginning of our final mission, Charles obtained the key from the Megnaniums and the Crobats, and only had left the key from the Sunfloras (note: these family names are taken from second generation pokemon…for those who can’t follow such complex allusions): the gender neutral family whose head, Rainbow, was very confusing to Chucky because he did not understand how someone could identify as genderless. Here is my write-up for our final mission, that was used alongside my flawless improvising.

Final Key

-Meet Pyro next to the monument. Wants to sell lighter fluid at a ridiculous price. Can roll (>9) will lower the price to a quarter. Guards approach as sale goes down; Pyro runs away with the lighter fluid and money. Can roll (>18) and they will let you be. If you fail this interaction:

                -In the prison, talk to the prisoner who goes by the name of X. He says they can team up to take down the guards. You can talk to a guard and convince him to give you a key out (>13). If this doesn’t work, the other option is to lure the guard over to the cell and attack him through the bars and take the key from his unconscious body. As you get to the gate to get back to the city, a guard stops you saying you don’t look familiar. Either roll a (>10) or you must run away and go into the sewer. Down there talk to the hobo and he will help you with how to get back to the surface.

-When free or if you avoid the prison encounter, head to the fields at night and begin dousing the crops with lighter fluid. Cid Meganium will approach you from behind and tell you to leave or you will have to fight him. You can talk him down (>12) and if this does not work you will need to kill him and throw his body onto the crops before burning. Drop the match and set the fields ablaze…running away for the night. When it is morning, go back to the Crobats and report what you have done. From here, he will give you the final key. Head out to the lake and you will notice guards spread throughout. Try to hide from them. Talk to a man carrying pots and with (>7) he will let you blend in with him. If you can’t do this, your other option is to go through back streets and find your way to the lake. Once at the lake, you will see Ted and he will help you put the keys together.

Battle

Upon the assembling of the keys, four beasts will rise up from the lake and engage in battle. Their stats/ attacks are as follows (note: Charles takes half magical damage if he rolls >11)

Ally: Ted – Summon 1 ~ Goblins (1d6 for quantity) HP: 4 / AC:10 / Thaco:20 / 1d4

-Summon 2 ~ Ogres (1d4 for quantity) HP: 8 / AC:8 / Thaco:16 / Attack:1d6

Enemies:

·         Red Draconous / HP: 15 / AC:10 / Thaco: 20 / Melee attack: 1d4/ Spell (capacity:6) : Fireball ~ 2d4, plus 1d4 firee damage for 3 consecutive turns (if a failure in saving throw)

·         Yellow Disease / HP:15 / Ac:10 / Thaco:20 / Melee attack: 1d6 / Spell (capacity:3) : Lightning bolt ~ 2d4 damage plus paralyze for one turn (if failure in saving throw)

·         Blue Diamond / HP:15 / AC:10 / Thaco:20 / Melee attack:1d6 / Spell (capacity:3) : Frozen bolt ~2d4 damage plus freeze for one turn (if failure in saving throw)

·         Black Dick / HP:30 / AC:6 / Thaco:15 / Melee attack:1d12

Aftermath

                After defeating the monsters, Ted and Charles descend further into the lake and come across a giant door. Charles opens with hesitation and finds an ancient tomb inside. In the middle of the tomb is a colossal sarcophagus and the y take back the top and look inside. There is a mummified body wearing a crown holding a golden staff decorated in rubies and sapphires. Ted takes it and points it to Charle’s face. This man was put here long before the fishermen who formed this city were here. This corpse before you was once the most powerful wizard in the land and he ruled with an iron fist. All the people of our ancient world were his servants and they responded to his every command. No man has attempted to ravage his tomb, either from fear or lack of knowledge. I came across the story of this man’s staff from an elder, who I murdered immediately after so he would tell no one else. That man was my master: Sorgan Decaprio. He did not die in vain though, I shall assure you of that. I’ll be taking this if you care for your well-being. Normally I would take your life, but I like you kid and I think you have some potential. I hope you can harbor your anger from this betrayal and one day use it against me for an epic battle. For now, I will use this staff and harbor its forgotten powers hoping to rule this land for time to come. The end of times is upon…forever, and after. A flash of light, darkness soon following.

                Charles awaken in a bed and see food next to his person. As he starts eating, mayor Ivonov appears from the door; Charles looks around and notices there are no walls around him…this is a destroyed house. This is all that’s left of my once fair town. Sir Ted has struck down all the people houses, just leaving me so I could attend to you in this hollow room until you awaken. There is the city of Assad south of here and he left two horses alive. WE will travel there together but we must make haste; Ted’s power is increasing rapidly and I’m afraid we were too late the moment he put his hand on the rod. What compelled you to trust such a foul man?

                They ride off into the sun, and they head for Assad. They soon come across a giant forest and Ivonov looks back at Charles. The city is on the other side of here, we must battle through the find the entrance. There ae many creatures in there: both friends and enemies. Are you prepared my child?

                We had a great campaign for what it lasted, and if I choose to continue Chucky in the fall alongside my university gig, we will continue the story where we left off. For the next monh, we will read/analyze A Streetcar Named Desire.

                I also used the DND model at my current employment; a presentation for the students’ parents. The realization I could mold such a creation dawned upon me the bus ride to school (note: certainly coffee and god’s green land assisted this manifestation of greatness). I jammed together both a simple board game of rolling dice for movement, same concept as snakes and ladders, with the level-gaining and combat of any traditional RPG. Here is the image of the completed project I showcased:

                Hard to read, but here is the basic set-up:

-First: I split the kids into two groups. They roll a D20 to determine who goes first.

-Second: losing team asks the opposing team a question (one that comes from the school’s selected texts because I am a fucking corporate slave the time being) and the opposing team answers.

-Third: whoever answers rolls a D20: this accounts for movement

                -1 equates to no movement

                -2~12 you roll a D6 to determine movement

                -13~19 you roll 2D6 to determine movement

                -20 you roll 3D6 to determine movement

                -(note: at one point,  I had parents roll to determine movement and the response from both student/parent was too fucking hilarious for words. Chinese kids never talk back to their parents, but in such a heated debacle, these kids let loose if their parents rolled jackshit)

-Fourth: upon moving they receive one of five options

                -Nothing, as it is

                -Experience boost

                -Roll again

                -Lose a turn

                -Teleportation

-Fifth: when someone gets to the end of the line, the winning team gains a 5000 exp boost and the game restarts with the losing team going first.

-Sixth: at the conclusion of the game (when class time commences), the two teams fight, and they roll aD20 to determine who strikes first. Their stats are as follows (note: level 2 is at 500 exp and every corresponding level is the previous level multiplied by 2)

                -HP: 15 (+3 for each additional level)

                -Attack: 1d6 (+1d6 for each additional level)

                -Defense: 0 (+2 for each additional level)

                And that’s the conclusion of introducing RPGs into the classroom, something I would have thought unimaginable in the learning environment regardless the practicality of implementing the learning into the students. I just hope I will be able to use this in my graduate seminar come this Fall. Cheers friends, and may the force be with yah.