The Tabletop Games Club, currently in its first semester at UFV, has a total of 10 students who meet up to play RPGs, or role-playing games — a type of interactive game where members create characters that respond to, and interact with, a storyline.
We sat down with President Lucy Riemer and Vice President Cole Jennings to talk about what the club looks like, and why tabletop gaming is important to them.
How did the Tabletop Games Club start and what do you guys do?
~~Cole:~~ It started with our club founder Isaac; he made a post on the UFV subreddit looking for people for a [Dungeons and Dragons] (D&D) game … [and] it basically evolved into a club.
So what role-playing game are you playing?
~~Cole:~~ I run Dungeons and Dragons … the most popular RPG right now.
Do you guys play other tabletop or RPG games?
~~Lucy:~~ We’re working on getting other games … but Dungeons and Dragons is very mainstream and a name that most people know.
Do you find that’s what most people are drawn to the club to play?
~~Lucy:~~ I think so … Dungeons and Dragons is a very community-based game … it’s really hard to find that group of people … and we’re trying to provide a space … for people to find those other students and … for them to be able to play these games, and learn how to play them, and foster that community.
~~Cole:~~ Our primary focus is Dungeons and Dragons and RPGs generally because it’s so underserved.
What does a typical game look like?
~~Cole:~~ If you’re a player, all you need to show up with is the dice, maybe the rules, and your character sheet, which is [the] character that you’re playing in the world; they’ve got equipment and abilities and personality traits. You’re playing someone other than yourself; you might be playing an elf wizard who’s kind of surly and closed off even if you’re very bubbly and talkative in real life.
The players interact with the dungeon master or game master who has the adventure prepared.
Why do you think people are interested in role-playing in a game where they would create a character that’s so different from themselves?
~~Lucy:~~ I think part of it is you can create this fantastical character of who you can see yourself being. If you have really low self-esteem, you can create a character with really high self-esteem and … you can slowly work out and gain those traits as well.
Coming from a theatre standpoint, I played many characters who were not me, but then I ended up taking some of those [character] traits and putting them into my day-to-day use unknowingly.
Why do you think people play tabletop games rather than video games or online gaming?
~~Lucy:~~ I think it creates a sense of community. You can [also] problem solve in ways that video games can’t really prepare for you because video games are scripted. D&D gives you creativity, it gives you communication skills, improv skills. I think a lot of people who are introverts find it hard to get into D&D because it’s so cooperation based; you really have to work together. I think for people who want to have friends and want to have community and want to build those relationships either with random people or their best friends, D&D is such a good way of doing that … it’s a really good place for people to figure out who they are and [to] work with other people.
Lucy mentioned that you are trying to destigmatize D&D. Can you tell me about that?
~~Lucy:~~ There’s a bit of a stigma around Dungeons and Dragons … so we’re trying to break that down by having a lot of people from different programs [at] the school.
I was one of those kids in high school who was kind of a wallflower, but also … I was a theatre kid, I was a band kid, I was on the soccer team. I did a lot of things, but I felt like I’m not sporty enough for the soccer people, I’m not ‘theatre kid’ enough for the theatre people. When I played D&D I was like, ‘I can do whatever I want right now and nobody’s gonna judge me, ‘cause this is my character.’ [And I] feel very, very included because I’m a vital, integral part to this story, as well as all of my other friends and all of [the] other players. It’s something that we work together on; everyone has an important role to play.
If you’re interested in joining the Tabletop Games Club, you can find a link to their Discord chat on the Student Union Society’s Clubs & Associations page.
Darien Johnsen is a UFV alumni who obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree with double extended minors in Global Development Studies and Sociology in 2020. She started writing for The Cascade in 2018, taking on the role of features editor shortly after. She’s passionate about justice, sustainable development, and education.
