Not much less than a week ago, I noted wrapping up my local library’s pilot program of running a game of Dungeons & Dragons for middle schoolers. I continue to think it was a good experience for them and for me, and I continue to think that what the game taught us is worth having learned or having been brought back to mind.

I’m particularly pleased, therefore, that the program looks like it will resume next month. That is, I will continue to run Dungeons & Dragons games for middle schoolers at my local library. I rather expect, based on the feedback I got from participants, that those who have already been at my table will return to it, and that will be good; I have things to do with them (including walking them through character advancement / improvement, which I had meant to do at the end of the last session but which events and time constraints prohibited), and there is value in having stories continue.

There is some talk, too, of the program expanding, whether to a second session of middle schoolers or to a session of high school students is not yet clear. Either would work well, although each presents different challenges. With middle schoolers, there are more concerns of maturity than with high schoolers, although the ones with whom I’ve worked thus far did decently well being redirected when they needed it; really, the issue was all of them wanting to talk at once, most of them wanting to be the focus of attention. It’s not bad in itself, but taking turns being the star is still something they’re working on; they’ll get there, I’m sure. High schoolers will, in some ways, be easier; there’s more they can do and can be expected to do. But there’s also more concern about their needs; middle schoolers are still largely children, while high schoolers are more nearly adult and will have more things going on that are potentially problematic for me to address.

I know who and what I am, after all, and I am aware that my addressing particular issues is fraught.

That said, I am looking forward to resuming play in and around Hanlon. I’m looking forward to deepening my understanding and insights, as well as to seeing what else from my past experiences still holds up in current play, when I am so many years older and my players do not have the shared experience and cultural immersion–including the (internalized?) shame at pursuing a hobby that used to earn scorn, derision, and an uncomfortable amount of suspicion from religious leaders and law enforcement officials–I shared with my earlier play-groups. Also, to be sure, I’m looking forward to passing on some of the more “academic” parts of what I know about all this; there is scholarship on the matter, in addition to the ways in which tabletop roleplaying games do have educational value. After all, to play, players have to read, they have to navigate rules sets and so learn index use, they have to do quick arithmetic, and they learn quite well that random chance isn’t always, but that no roll depends on the last one made. Narrative theories can be explored, as can philosophies, and it might be that I include some short reflections on why characters take the actions they do or somesuch thing.

There’s a lot to do, and it will be good to do it.

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