Tag: resources

How to Start a School RPG Club

Monique FranzsenLeave a comment

This is a writeup of my first few months of running Quest Club at my school. I hope this post serves as a guide for other teachers and adults who want to implement a roleplaying games club. I also hope it helps people avoid making the same mistakes that I did in the process! There is nothing like sharing your passion with kids and teaching them one of the best ways to explore a story, not to mention that a club setting is so vital for certain children.

Quest Club is the school name for an after-school roleplaying club that I started in 2019, aimed at children in older classes in my primary school: ages 9 – 13. I’ve run roleplaying clubs before at previous schools with a younger age bracket, using Hero Kids (which is brilliant), but this is the first time I have aimed Dungeons & Dragons at kids. I could write a whole other post about why I chose D&D, but that’s for another day.

Round 1: Critical Failure

Firstly, I want to be honest and tell you that my first try at starting a roleplaying club at this school failed. Here’s why:

  • I signed up to run a roleplaying club within the school’s existing after-school club system, and called it ‘Roleplaying Club’.
  • I didn’t reach out to any children about the idea or promote the club concept in any way.
  • I found out that the parents mostly sign their kids up for clubs without consulting their kids The children didn’t know about it, so didn’t bring the message home – the parents weren’t aware, so they just skipped it.

A few weeks later, the club co-ordinator came by and told me that zero children had signed up for my club. It was frustrating, but I learned a massive amount about how to approach it the next time. I gave myself a term off to work on how I was going to draw these children in to the idea of RPGs.

Round 2: Critical Success

When I tried again, I launched the idea of Quest Club way before the term even started. I approached Twitter. I learned a bunch from Scriv the Bard, Ethan Schoonover, Detentions & Dragons, HHS Librarians and Rich Oxenham. I was incredibly grateful to the community, who chatted to me, sent me resources and promoted my attempts!

Here are some of the strategies I tried:

  • I deliberately picked a catchy name that would appeal to parents and kids, and that sounded inviting/fun.
  • I designed and put up some posters and blurbs advertising the club and Dungeons & Dragons.
  • I spoke about my club idea with colleagues, and specifically asked them for children that might be suitable. This helped me reach children in year groups I don’t teach.
  • I approached specific children that I thought might be attracted to the idea.
  • I held improvised chat sessions at break-times, where I showed interested kids the dice, some D&D books and pitched my heart out.
  • I handed out flyers to take home to parents, explaining the concept of the club and targeted kids who enjoy video games, writing and fantasy readers in my marketing.

I signed up on the school’s system with the name Quest Club, having laid the groundwork better this time. I requested a maximum of 12 children, hoping that we would end up with a ‘big’ group of ‘only’ 6 to start the club. What happened was that the club co-ordinator contacted me, this time saying that the club was full, forwarding emails from parents asking for more spaces in the club, to be put on a waiting list, for a second session to get their child a chance to play. In the end, I agreed to running two afternoons in order to give more children an opportunity to join.

I was elated that the club was so popular this time around, but immediately daunted by the large group sizes, compared to the stereotypical RPG group of 4-6 players. I can write more about large kid groups, which is always a challenge, but I’ve already signed myself up for a group of 10 when school starts again in September.

The first round of Quest Club ran from April – July, with 7 attending on Mondays and 11 on Tuesdays after school. Attendance fluxuated slightly at the end as it was the end of the school year, so many children were on school trips. We had a great time, and I am super proud of the fact that 18 children have been introduced to Dungeons & Dragons. Some are definitely hooked, some maybe not, but I’m happy that I have been able to share such a beneficial hobby that I love with them.

Resources

When I was starting out this time around, I would have loved a collated list of resources to give me inspiration for organising my club plans. Here’s a small list of things that I found helpful in the actual setting up of the club or more generally giving me motivation to run with children. Please contact me and share more!