IVHIGH: Tabletop Club sparks imagination with D&D

A student enters into a cave filled with roaring laughter, expressive voices, and adventures where the only limit is their own imagination. Various campaigns are running and a mixture of humor and fantasy are tossed into the room. Tabletop Club is a Southwest High School ARC club that got its name due to the anticipated tabletop games that were meant to be played.

However, as of this year, only Dungeons and Dragons campaigns have been running because it is a greater commitment. Yoshiko Kodama, the club supervisor, said the reason why the club did not pursue other games was because there was already a D&D game in progress. “The students were already in the middle of the campaign and they wanted to finish it by the end of the year,” said Kodama.



Kodama said that the club members actually preferred the more time-consuming campaigns rather than a short low-commitment game. “A lot of the students wanted to do a full campaign,” said Kodama. "It takes up a lot of time because we meet up once a week and we only have an hour.

” Daniel Luera Chong, a sophomore at the age of 15, was one of the first-ever dungeon masters when the D&D campaigns started. Dungeon masters are people who set the scene for the players and oversee their roles and decisions. Luera Chong explained that the campaign had a rough start.

“It was hard trying to start and end a campaign when people kept coming and leaving...

but we powered through it,” said Luera Chong. Iceely Cisneros is a 17-year-old senior who said that the club also underwent some challenges in regards to attendance. “The first session or two, barely anyone showed, and we had to share a room with two smaller clubs,” said Cisneros.

Brock Moler, a 15-year-old freshman who joined this year, said that although the club had a rough start, it was worth it when some dedicated players decided to stick around. “It's tough, but with enough effort, I feel like you get the most dedicated people in your campaign,” said Moler. Innuen Torres, a freshman who is 15 years old, had also joined this year and said that the club was a great place to socialize.

“There are so many people in the club and they are all willing to talk,” said Torres. “All of them are trying to have fun,” Tabletop Club runs every Friday at S-64 from 3:30 p.m.

to 4:30 p.m. and welcomes any traveler who wishes to stay.

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