Fortnightly Kids D&D

 

EPIC Ipswich has reliably been running Dungeons and Dragons since our store opened, even branching out to make a kid-friendly event to train up the next generation of D&D Players. Dungeons and Wyrmlings (or as it is often referred to Kids D&D) made waves with kids creating unique characters of their own and taking them week in and week out to venture into different territories, levelling them up as they had done so.

With the increased demand for the Dungeon Masters to run the games, bookings became inevitable, and even then the booking system has failed as parents no longer call the store to let us know when their child is next attending.

Rant Incoming - feel free to skip to the next heading

Speaking as a DM myself, the sheer frustration of not knowing which kids will be able to attend the game and then making up a one-shot on the fly as everyone is at a different level and experience became stressful. What's worse is the days I showed up expecting to run and found out my table wasn't there and spent all morning preparing for a game that wasn't going to go ahead. To be frank and summarise - it's rude. Moreover, a child that was on a waiting list and was told we couldn't run a game missed out when they instead could've experienced the joys of D&D.

There is so much time and effort that goes into DMing a game and making it up on the fly is stressful. Kids sitting down and playing Minecraft on their laptops instead of participating in the game is disrespectful and so is failing to notify the store when we have prepared a game specifically for your child.

The Future of Dungeons and Wyrmlings

Moving forward, Dungeons and Wyrmlings will be run fortnightly to give us Dungeon Masters a week off so as to not stress over the organisation of a D&D game. This will hopefully enable us to also create reliable ongoing campaigns (storylines) that your child can actively participate in.

Will we ever return to a weekly schedule? That will depend on how Kids D&D continues, with a huge waiting list and DM's eager to run fulfilling games, it's possible but for the time being unlikely.

This will also mean in off weeks, EPIC Ipswich may run introductory games instead, or a learn-to-play Magic the Gathering or other potential child-friendly games.

Dungeons and Wyrmlings will be on this Saturday (the 10th) and will return on the 24th. We ask that you please be patient with us as we evolve and adapt to the new schedule.

Your Friend and Ally,

Lachy