By Bailie Stowell
Staff Writer
SPRINGFIELD – Dice rolled and spells cast as Lincoln Land’s Games Club got down to business.
Dungeons & Dragons was the order a business – a fantasy, tabletop, role-playing game.
The Games Club is one of many Lincoln Land clubs. But this one helps students with an interest in board, video or any tabletop games find others who share their interest, said Tyler Blankenship, a member of the club.
“It’s an organization that gets together to have a good time and also to flex the mental muscle every now and then,” said member Jason Gephart.
Gephart added: “Games are challenging, and there is game theory where you don’t just play the game but you play other people in the game so you have to know them or try calculating how they’re going to do their moves to base how your moves are going to go so you have to think three or four steps ahead.”
There are no requirements to join the club – other than an interest in game-playing.
Interested members can come to the general business meeting in the in the Student Life Resource Room from 2 to 3 p.m. on the last Wednesday of each month. Currently, a game of fifth edition Dungeons and Dragons is being played from 3 to 5:30 p.m. each Wednesday in the room at the back of the Logger Lair.
“There is great socializing, and we frequently have some nice refreshments during our games,” said Kirk Yenerall, faculty adviser and mathematics professor. “Over the years we have had a nice variety of different games run by students – from card games like Magic and Munchkin and Apples to Apples, to computer gaming parties, to murder mystery party games.”
Yenerall really enjoys role-playing games personally, especially D&D.
D&D was originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules Inc. The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997.
“I love to learn new games, though, whenever I can, and I go to the Gen Con gaming convention in Indianapolis every summer to discover new ones,” Yenerall said. “Last fall, one of our visitors to the club brought in the card game ‘Love Letter,’ and that was a great game to learn – quick and very challenging.”
Member Cassandra Lazar said the people make the Games Club great.
The players are “so much fun, and I feel like I’ve met a lot of good people,” Lazar said. “And that was one of the things I was kind of worried about coming to LLCC and having a hard time making friends that share the same interest as me.”
Don’t be afraid to join, Lazar said.
“It is a lot to take in, especially when you’re forming your first character,” Lazar said. “There is a lot of minor details, but when you get down to it, it’s just a really great game that you can get some friends together and play together and have fun.”
This is Lazar’s second semester in Games Club, playing D&D with the character she created: Caramel L’Oréal”.
Another LLCC student and Games Club member Nathan Janusweski said the first game he played in Games Club was ‘Forbidden Island.”
“It was a team game where everyone goes around and tries to get treasure from an island where chucks of the treasure is sinking in the sea where basically four people work together against the clock and it gets harder and harder as the game goes on,” Janusweski said.
But his favorite is D&D.
One very cool thing about Dungeons and dragons is that the game gives you the opportunity to create the world and your own characters, Blankenship said.
“You build your own character, and the way you build your character is based upon how you want to play the game and your knowledge of the way the game mechanics work and the way you like to play and then you have to incorporate your back story into making sense with what your character is capable of doing,” Blankenship said.
Right now, Blankenship’s character is an elf warlock who casts spells.
The club currently has about 10 members and is always happy to have more players to join.
Yenerall encouraged anyone with an interest to contact him about the club and that person’s game-playing interests.
Yenerall can be reached at 786-4925.
“I’d be very happy to learn about their particular game playing interests and do what I can to help get them involved,” Yenerall said.
Bailie Stowell can be reached at [email protected].
