What's with the dice?

YPSILANTI, Mich – Graham Bennett, an Eastern Michigan University Alumni, has recently been introduced into the world of Dungeons and Dragons. Although his first experience was over a year ago, he has grown from a N00b (a new player) into a significantly more advanced player who DMs (dungeon masters) as well as still plays regularly.

Although Graham has been a gamer, so to speak, as soon as he had the fine motor skills to operate a Super Nintendo controller almost twenty years ago, he has only recently been involved in tabletop RPGs (role playing games). “My thought on the game (Dungeons and Dragons) was that of nervousness, I didn’t know what to expect and I did not want to give into that schema,” Bennett said. This schema which he was referring to was that of the stereotypical “Nerd” who plays these types of games, and is looked down on for what they do.

“I was not particularly worried about any kind of demonic influences, like some people seem to be,” Bennett said. “I knew that wasn’t the problem. I was worried of how people would act toward me once they knew I played.” Although he was somewhat apprehensive of this stereotype, he decided to give it a shot.



He was worried about the game, since it had been described to him as “You can do anything.” There was some slight confusion as to where it would go. “So what’s up with the dice?” Bennett said, not knowing what they were needed for.
Recalling his first session Bennett stated, “I remember it being my turn and asking,

“What can I do?” and our dungeon master replying. Anything,” This was a huge deal for Graham, being a new player. Until that point his gaming experiences had been limited to computer and videogames which have a limit, as it is games like Dungeons and Dragons are only limited to the human imagination. This could be the simplest dungeon crawl, or the most legendary battle to have ever happened in any number of worlds.

His first session which involved kicking a zombie in the face, has evolved into something more interesting for the once skeptic. He has since then began his own DM-ing his own group in a chain of islands of varying sizes on a fantasy world created by him and his friends. “There was no reason not to try Dm-ing,” Bennett said. “It would make me a better player and it is a new experience,” from there he went to work becoming a good DM to better himself as a gamer. The biggest reward, he said was getting to see his players smile and laugh during an element he created.

From here Graham hopes to become more familiar with the official rules so he can continue to progress as a DM and player. His encounters are primarily small combat sequences scattered with more heavy role-playing scenarios. Graham wants to expand his knowledge of the combat system to allow for more major battles and war-like combat. For prospective players Bennett said, “If you are at all interested in a good story, or RPG you owe it to yourself to check this out.”

What's with the dice?