The University of Mississippi Dungeons & Dragons Club offers more than just a place to play games — it is an environment where imagination and creativity have sparked close friendships and a sense of community.
Dungeons & Dragons, often referred to as D&D, is a popular tabletop role-playing game invented in the 1970s. Players work with friends through fantasy storytelling to reach a common goal, whether that is engaging in battles, exploring or becoming increasingly powerful in the cultivated fantasy world.
The UM D&D Club’s president is junior English major Josiah Morrigan Avery, who uses the pronoun they. Collaboration through storytelling is one of the many aspects they love about the game.
“There’s something really captivating about telling a beautiful story that only exists in the minds and hearts of you and your friends who experienced it,” Avery said. “When you have a group of people who are working together towards a collective task, even if that task is imaginary, you form really close bonds, both in and out of the game.”
The club hosts events nearly every week, from monthly board game nights that include D&D, among other games, to “Playing the Game” workshops.
Reice Hicks, a senior Southern studies major and vice president of the UM D&D Club, said he had hardly any experience with D&D before joining.
“So, I tried learning through some free online sources, but beyond that, I wasn’t actually learning,” Hicks said. “I was just kind of trying to make my own weird morphed version of (D&D). But then, when I got to the actual club, Wyatt Dunn (a previous D&D club member) actually taught me how to play.”
According to Avery, there are many programs and events within the club that are geared toward first-time players.
“We have so many programs for people who have never played before,” Avery said. “We are, first and foremost, a social club.”
The club has given its more than 100 members much more than a place to learn D&D. Avery said that before joining the club three years ago, they had not felt like they belonged on campus.
“During my freshman year, I really didn’t feel like I fit in, and it was to the point where I was considering dropping out,” Avery said. “And then I joined this club, and I found a community, I made a ton of friends, and I got a wonderful partner.”
Avery said that while being president, they want to reciprocate the love that was given to them by fostering a caring community in the UM D&D Club.
“My personal goal with this club is just to give back to what I see as something of a second family,” Avery said. “I care very deeply for the people in this club. I want more people to be able to have that experience I had of going from feeling alone to knowing that you have people here on this campus.”
Besides offering a sense of community, the UM D&D Club has also helped its members feel more confident outside of club meetings.
Hicks said that through being a dungeon master, a role in D&D that serves as a narrative voice and storyteller, he was able to improve his public speaking skills.
“The reason why I enjoy doing that so much (being a dungeon master) was because it really helped me with my oratory skills for public policy because I learned how to adapt on the fly,” Hicks said. “I learned how to read rooms and change narratives based on what I know people want and don’t want. If there’s conflict between various players, it helps me figure out how to solve set scenarios in real life.”
Although the club has a strong core community, it has faced its fair share of challenges. With the new registered student organization funding plan, many student organizations on campus have lost funding that promoted their clubs.
Avery said that although other clubs have been hit harder, the UM D&D Club could feel the effects of the new funding plan.
“We don’t use a ton of RSO funding, for which we’re lucky,” Avery said. “A lot of my peers have been hit really hard. The big things we do are club t-shirts, and, occasionally, we provide food for events. Last year, we missed the opportunity to do both of those things. This year, we were really hoping to be able to do it, and we’re really in this position where we are trying to figure out how — if we can at all.”
Despite occasional challenges, the UM D&D Club members continue to promote and teach what they are passionate about.
According to Avery, the club is ultimately a place to explore your love for games while cultivating a strong community.
“Much like any hobby, there’s a lot to love about these games, the stories that we tell and the people we tell them with,” Avery said. “I think it comes down to the community, though. That’s the large part of why we do what we do.”