SLM May/June 2023

Page 60

EVERYONE IS PLAYING

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS (no, really)

Any experienced player will tell you that a lot has changed since the first edition of Dungeons & Dragons came out 50 years ago. But few things demonstrate better the change in the perceptions of D&D and its players than the recent events at a local charter school. BY CHRISTIE PORTER

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PHOTOS BY ADAM FINKLE /

ILLUSTR ATIONS BY ARIANNA JIMENE Z

T A L AY T O N J U N I O R H I G H S C H O O L , on an average

Friday afternoon, tables filled with students playing Dungeons & Dragons fill up two classrooms and spill out into the hallway and across a second-story landing. Students perch in their chairs, scour their lists of spells and items and call out in dismay or triumph, as the various Dungeon Masters do their best to react to the often maddening exploits of each respective adventuring party. It truly is a sight to behold. A beautiful, nerdy sight. Last school year, teacher Cameron Pingree started a gaming club at North Davis Preparatory Academy (NDPA) in Layton, inviting students to come learn how to play Dungeons & Dragons. A handful of students signed up and played D&D almost every Friday for the whole year. This school year, Pingree and the club’s other teachers set about recruiting for the club, going class to class, handing out permission slips to interested students. “We printed about 50 permission slips, thinking that would be more than enough,” says Pingree. It wasn’t. By the third class, they were out of permission slips. In the end, 140 students handed in signed permission slips to join the

58 SALTLAKEMAGAZINE.COM | M AY/JU NE 2 0 2 3

gaming club. NDPA’s 6-9 grades combined have a few more than 350 students. More than one-third of the junior high is playing D&D almost every Friday after school…not many after-school clubs can boast that kind of attendance. The tabletop roleplaying game first came into existence in the 1970s, before these students’ parents were born, and now, what is arguably the most famous tabletop roleplaying game is experiencing a renaissance. Wizards of the Coast, which owns D&D, says that in 2020, an estimated 50 million people were playing the game, making it more popular than ever. And, Utah is partially to thank for that. According to a 2023 search-data analysis, Utah plays more D&D than any other state in the nation. For decades, the perception was that Dungeons & Dragons is a niche pastime reserved for a socially awkward and sunlight-averse subset of humanity. It also took a turn as a tool for the devil to corrupt the souls of innocent youngsters during the Satanic Panic. So how did this game become the chief hobby of a diverse and discerning group of middle school kids? Maybe you have to play the game to understand, or see it through the eyes of the kids who love it.


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Articles inside

What’s Next for Junior’s Tavern?

7min
pages 116-117

Bar Fly ACME BAR IS AN ESCAPIST’S PARADISE

11min
pages 113-116

ON THE TABLE

5min
pages 110-113

ON THE TABLE

18min
pages 104-109

ON THE TABLE

6min
pages 102-103

Moon Bakery

8min
pages 98-101

Move Over, Corn Dogs

14min
pages 92-97

WHERE TO EAT

3min
pages 90-91

Indulge Korean Cuisine Cravings To-Go

1min
pages 87-89

WHAT ABOUT THOSE BYOB RULES?

0
pages 85-86

PARK CITY SONGS OF SUMMER

1min
pages 84-85

FROM THE TOP DOWN

2min
pages 82-83

WHO’S FUNDING THESE CHANGES?

0
page 82

Top of the Stack

1min
pages 80-81

Park City NOT JUST A SANDWICH

0
pages 79-80

RUSTIC INN AT JACKSON HOLE

1min
pages 77-78

GROUP BUNGALOWS KEY LARGO

2min
pages 75-76

RIVER RETREAT LODGE

5min
pages 72-75

SO, YOU WANT TO PLAY DUNGEONS & DRAGONS

1min
page 67

SIDON

0
pages 65-66

TAVERN…’

2min
page 64

ERIEVE

3min
pages 62-63

EVERYONE IS PLAYING DUNGEONS & DRAGONS

2min
pages 60-61

SANDWICHES OF DISTINCTION

20min
pages 50-59

THE ‘OLD’ FRIENDS LUNCH

0
page 49

The Weekend Lunch

0
page 49

The Buffet Lunch

0
page 48

THE FOOD HALL LUNCH

1min
pages 47-48

The Power Lunch

2min
pages 46-47

LET ’ S TA K E L U N C H BACK! LUNCH LO V E YOUR LEARN TO

0
page 45

‘Oh, the Places You’ll Go!’

2min
pages 38-45

JOURNEY WONDERFUL ON AN AWARD-WINNING EUROPEAN VACATION

0
pages 36-37

LEAVING SO SOON?

1min
pages 35-36

Adventures Top of Your National Park Bucket List

2min
pages 33-34

Lessons Learned

4min
pages 30-32

HOLES IN THE WALL

1min
pages 28-30

How Do You Climb Kilimanjaro?

3min
pages 24-25

HOW TO HIKE WITH YOUR DOG!

1min
page 22

THE HIVE FESTIVALS

1min
pages 20-21

The Hive

0
page 19

WHAT’S NEXT AT YOUR NEW MORE ADDITIONS ARRIVING 2023-2024

0
page 17

‘I’ve Been Everywhere’

1min
pages 16-17

WHAT MAKES A ROLEX A ROLEX?

2min
pages 5-8, 10-12
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