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Neighbors | Jessica Harker.Members of the Boardman library's Apprentice's Inn Dungeons and Dragons playing group met on Jan. 16.
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Neighbors | Jessica Harker.A group of local teenagers met at the Boardman library Jan. 16 for the monthly meeting of the Apprentice's Inn Dungeons and Dragons group.
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Neighbors | Jessica Harker.Teenagers prepared to continue their Dungeons and Dragons campaign at the Boardman library Jan. 16.
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Neighbors | Jessica Harker.The dungeon master of the Apprentice's Inn DnD campaign prepared for the Jan. 16 meeting at the Boardman library.
By JESSICA HARKER
Boardman’s Apprentice’s Inn Dungeons and Dragons play club met on Jan. 16.
Librarian Amy Burkard, who also runs the teen advisory board at the library, organized the event after a group of teenagers showed interest.
“I think it’s becoming more popular with shows like ‘The Big Bang Theory’ and ‘Stranger Things,’ so its popping up in pop culture,” Burkard said.
The group is comprised of seventh- through twelfth-graders who meet once a month at the Boardman library large meeting room.
Buckard said there are about 10-15 regular members who play, and that new members are always welcome.
“What’s really great is we have teen interest so the teens are actually the dungeon masters so if we have a lot of interest we have a few people who are confident enough to run multiple games,” Burkard said.
New members are able to come to the library at any time to start filling out their character sheet, or can just attend the next meeting and jump right in.
The group plays the fifth version of DnD, and has played one campaign that started January 2018.
“We have played one campaign broken up into two parts, so we are on the second section of that first campaign we started a year ago,” Burkard said.
The group usually meets on the third Wednesday of every month, though that is subject to change.
Burkard said that the group meets starting at 6:30 p.m., where they spend time setting up and leveling up before they game play begins at 6:45 p.m.
“We always have snacks, so everyone takes a minute and gets comfortable and gets some food before they really get into it,” Burkard said.
She said that the game usually goes until 8 p.m., but can go over if the teenagers are in the middle of a campaign.
“They were on boats last time, and so it’s boats and pirate zombies,” Burkard said. “Understandably, it’s important to continue until they’re at a good place.”
Burkard said that this campaign will continue until May at least.
“I am really proud because this is teens and they get to help other teens and they are all over the area and a lot of them didn’t know each other before this,” Burkard said. “They got to know each other after a while and they all stuck around.”