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City of Wollongong

Monsters beware! Library members answer call to adventure

Friday 29 October 2021

D&D Adventure League Wollongong City Libraries

A three-foot tall halfling, who transforms once a day into a brown bear, may be a bit of a strange library member. But for the participants of Wollongong City Libraries’ new online Dungeons and Dragons campaign, it’s a useful character to have by your side when facing enemies.

Wollongong City Libraries has kicked off a new library program that brings players together in the virtual world to join forces by playing the classic fantasy tabletop game, Dungeons and Dragons.

For Will Goss, the first couple of games with the library have been a lot of fun, despite the participants’ lack of expertise when it comes to battling monsters.

“Our group isn't particularly competent but that has, if anything, made things even better. Watching us try to achieve simple tasks has been like watching a group of drunk Labradors run an obstacle course. 10 out of 10. Would laugh again,” Mr Goss said.

“Dungeons and Dragons just ticks all of the boxes. Side-achingly hilarious? Tick. Creating stories and unravelling mysteries? Tick. Rolling dice and killing monsters? Tick.”

For those new to the world of monsters, heroes and adventure, Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game that was first published in the early 70’s. Unlike other table-top games, the only game pieces you need to play are paper, pencils, dice and your imagination.

Programs and Events Librarian, Mitchell Crouch who developed the program and acts as Dungeon Master (DM) for the games says that he’s pleased to see such a quick take up.

“We had a waiting list for our first sessions which was really exciting! We’ve also heard from members of the community who are interested in volunteering as a DM so there’s a lot of potential for growth and expansion,” Mr Crouch said.

“At the moment, as this program is online, we’ve kept it open to players aged 18+. But once we can reopen the library, I’d like to look into expanding the program to teenagers as there’s a lot of interest in this sort of thing.”

For those who have never played before, don’t worry! Dungeons and Dragons is a truly inclusive game that appeals to different interests and strengths.

For D&D regular, Alexander Cetinski the best fun is in designing a great character and his druidic half-giant, Fenfir Wildwish (otherwise known as Fen) is no exception.

“I like to design the characters most of all but am having a lot of fun roleplaying in this campaign too. I find the open-ended systems in D&D to be great to try to make interesting characters that do interesting things,” Mr Cetinski said.

“The first library D&D session was amazing and fun. I would absolutely recommend it to others. Unless there are limited spots in which case, they'll have to fight me for them."

To register your interest and find out more, visit the Wollongong City Libraries website.

For more great library programs and activities, visit the Wollongong City Libraries Facebook page.


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