LCM’s tabletop gaming club started from the simple perseverance of a student. Sophomore Laethin Nash attended math teacher Julie Mahaney’s class on a weekly basis after school from last April to this October with the goal of starting a dungeons and dragons club until it was finally an official club. 

Before Christmas, the tabletop gaming club hosted an organizational meeting in which they created six sessions, two on Tuesdays and four on Fridays. 

“It starts off with a dozen students descending upon my room to get snacks, character sheets, and dice,” Mashaney, the club sponsor, said. “Groups will meet in my room, or the teachers’ lounge where they will lay out the storyline for that session, then they have two hours to finish. There are a lot of strange character voices, laughter, and random shrieking. Some days they’re just creating characters. Other days the Dungeon Master is telling them a story that they then navigate by asking questions, making statements, and rolling dice.”   

The tabletop gaming club was originally supposed to be the Dungeons and Dragons club, but the sponsors wanted students to play any role playing game they are interested in.  

“The students have played Dungeons and Dragons, Yahtzee, and Munchkin so far,” Mashaney said.  

The gaming club has twice monthly meetings and there is no club fee, although there is a request for participants to chip in a $10 semester fee for snacks.  

The gaming club’s main form of advertisement is word of mouth. 

“It spread like fire over Discords and group chats,” Mashaney said. “I put up a QR code that led to a Microsoft Form, and we had over 50 students initially fill it out. We currently have about 30 who play regularly – some groups are all girls, some all boys, and some mixed. We have people who have never played before and students who have been playing for years.” 

The gaming club has officer positions as well as bylaws and procedures of the group. There are rules and regulations that all participants sign that require them to maintain good grades, attendance, and behavior. 

“We have a Game Master (President), a Sergeant at Arms (Vice President), a Lore Keeper (Secretary) and a Cave Troll (Treasurer),” Mashaney said. “I humbly serve as the Red Dragon. We also have a Rules and Regulations contract that requires students to keep good attendance and grades, stay out of trouble, be on time, clean up afterward and never, ever, EVER take their shoes off.” 

Next year, the gaming club would like to host a fundraiser for ExtraLife, a charity created by a former LCM student who passed away from acute lymphoblastic leukemia. 

 The gaming club has fostered a fun, social environment for students of all walks of life to come together to play all sorts of games. 

 “I knew nothing about Dungeons & Dragons before I started this club,” Mashaney said. “I was expecting a bit of chaos and some strange interactions. I was not prepared for how wildly creative and incredibly kind these students would be. I love listening to them play and usually cannot contain my laughter. It truly touches my heart each time they invite someone who is curious to the meeting and treat them like an honored guest. They’ve created these little families and seeing them walk down the halls together later in the week is wonderful.”