Gaming in Libraries

This is my first post on what I’m calling choice diversity. The elements of ourselves that make us different by choice.

There is little doubt of the popularity of video games in modern culture. Whether you understand it or not people enjoy playing games, often with other people, on a couch or online as a way to socialise or just have fun. There are many people who upload videos of themselves online playing, with varying levels of skill. Eurogamer and Outside Xbox both showcase a variety of games. Platform32 is a different beast, he is known for his weekly “Sausage Streams” where Ian and his mates play Player Unknowns Battlegrounds (badly) for comedic value, you don’t watch the Sausage Squad for the skill you watch them for the laughter and idiocy. In Australia, Bond University studies video gaming in Australia annually providing useful infographics for pushing back against people saying it is only young people or men playing (it really isn’t). Many public libraries now embrace video games, loaning them and some having consoles for use in the branch. I’m not here to talk about that I’m here to talk about pen and paper gaming. (D&D fans look away now I’m not a player, I have had to cobble this together).

So in this context pen and paper games is referring to the tabletop role playing games the most famous of which is Dungeons and dragons. For the sake of attempted brevity, I will only talk about that. The best description I’ve read for D&D comes from the website “The Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game is about storytelling in worlds of swords and sorcery. It shares elements with childhood games of make-believe. Like those games, D&D is driven by imagination. It’s about picturing the towering castle beneath the stormy night sky and imagining how a fantasy adventurer might react to the challenges that scene presents.” ("Player's basic rules," 2014). D&D is about people creating a unique character and fighting in a world created by a Dungeon Master (DM), who unlike most games is in the room and just another person usually the role of DM is moved around a group of friends. The biggest and most confusing aspect of D&D is the playing materials D&D uses 6 different polyhedral dice in different situations but like all good games, the rules explain everything (and it is a hefty rulebook).

There will be two ways to get the best understanding of D&D read introduction to the basic rules or watch people play it. This video is the first of OxBoxtra’s (the conjoined name for Outside Xbox and their sibling channel Outside Xtra) second of D&D adventure but the first with Egbert the Careless.

I wanted to include this because I can see a huge amount of potential for libraries to become a hub for tabletop RPG gamers. It suits the libraries interest in fair play, creativity, imagination and fun, I really can’t think of a place this sort of gaming is more at home than a library. While dressing up is an option it isn’t mandatory, libraries often have the space to run this sort of event and if the library was to advertise for a DM they may get a volunteer it doesn’t need to be a staff member (not to say it couldn’t be). Johnny Chiodini, the OxBoxtra DM and Eurogamers resident pen and paper fan, created a How to DM a Pen and Paper RPG video for people wanted to get started.

Something to keep in mind next time your library is running a tabletop gaming day maybe you might want to put feelers out and see if there is a local group of tabletop RPG gamers that want to come and showcase a little adventure. Try local game shops selling tabletop RPG materials, flyers, social networking sites, your own staff may be a staff member is a gamer and hasn’t said anything. No one ever said video gamers should have the monopoly of the libraries attention.

Sorry, I know this one was long and a bit waffly, and possibly not all that useful as a description.

References

Brand, J. E., Todhunter, S., & Jervis, J. (2017a). DA18: Digital Australia report 2018. Retrieved from https://www.igea.net/2017/07/digital-australia-2018-da18/

Brand, J. E., Todhunter, S., & Jervis, J. (2017b). DA18: Digital Australia report 2018: Key findings and infographic. Retrieved from https://www.igea.net/2017/07/digital-australia-2018-da18/

Eurogamer. (2018a, April 19). Home [YouTube Channel]. Retrieved April 20 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/user/Eurogamer

Eurogamer. (2018b, January 13). How to DM a pen and paper RPG: 9 tips to get you started. [YouTube Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoiNewMMyhQ

outsidexbox. (2017, December 29). Dungeons & Dragons: A spot of bother!: Ep. 1 of 3. [YouTube Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJxyayCAhNE

outsidexbox. (2018, April 20). Home [YouTube Channel]. Retrieved April 20 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/user/outsidexbox

Platform32. (2018, April 18). Home [YouTube Channel]. Retrieved April 20 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/user/PlatformThirtyTwo

Player's basic rules. (2014). In Dungeons & Dragons. Retrieved April 20, 2018, from http://dnd.wizards.com/products/tabletop/players-basic-rules