Library hosts Dungeons and Dragons

By CAROL SOUTH
Special to the Record-Eagle

September 17, 2008 12:00 am

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Tapping three decades experience, countless hours of study, and keeping a few levels ahead of his players, Dungeon Master Jim Schultz launched a year-long quest Saturday.

Volunteering his time to guide the Traverse Area District Library's new Dungeons & Dragons Quest, Schultz helped eight attendees set up the characters that will be used throughout. The gamers are using the new 4th edition D&D rules from Wizards of the Coast, which was just released in June and has the role-playing world abuzz.

"This is brand new to everybody!" said Schultz of Traverse City. "They say it's an upgrade and I like some points and don't like some points."

The library welcomes attendees ages 15 and up to attend future gatherings, which are scheduled for subsequent Saturdays once a month throughout the school year. The next session will be held on October 11 beginning at 10 a.m. in the main library meeting room.

"This just reaches a different population rather than the standard library patron you think of," said Linda Smith, public computer center coordinator for the library. "It becomes more of a community center rather than a place to get a book."

The goal is to span existing groups to draw in people with like interests.

"This is not just a bunch of friends who have been playing together but it brings together people from all different schools," added Smith.

Conner Hursh, a freshman at Traverse City West Senior High, knew two people when he arrived but quickly made new friends. He plans to return weekly throughout the school year.

"We all have similar tastes so I feel like I belong," said Hursh, whose whole family enjoys role-playing games. "Sometimes being kind of a nerdy kid you don't always get that feeling at school."

Choosing character to play is a serious and detailed business. Schultz guided the process step by step as players worked through detailed work sheets and completed supplemental cards of information.

Gaming since he was eight years old, Lance Eriksen of Traverse City chose to be a wizard, something out of character for his usual hard-hitting warrior roles. But when a number of warrior characters were already created he decided to jump out of his comfort zone.

An Army veteran contemplating a return to military service, Eriksen relishes the unlimited imagination of Dungeons & Dragons.

"The Dungeon Master wrote the book but everything's in flux you're the hero in the book so it's like living in the book," said Eriksen. "It's more than roles of the dice, when D&D is at it's best, you kind of create a persona and then you act that out at the table."

The Dungeon Master, or DM, who guides the game turn by turn, creates the rest of the gaming world and portrays the non-player characters. As DM, Schultz also has many tricks, twists and turns up his sleeve for the players.

With gaming roots stretching back to one the game's creators his first DM was Ernest Gary Gygax -- to Schultz creating and running a world is sort of a benign form of megalomania. It is a hobby that challenges him while allowing him to share deeply imaginative and intellectually challenging pursuits with like-minded people.

"You're always pushing yourself," he said. "This game got me through high school, taught me how to read, how to reason, how to do math."

The Traverse Area District Library welcomes people ages 15 and up to join future sessions of Dungeons and Dragons Quest to role play using the 4th edition D&D rules from Wizards of the Coast. Upcoming Saturday dates, which begin at 10 a.m. and may go four hours or more, include October 11, November 8, December 6, January 10, February 7, March 7, April 11 and May 9. For more information, call 932-8500. The sessions are free.

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