What is Dungeons & Dragons?
Dungeons & Dragons, or D&D, is a cooperative choose-your-own adventure story. This "story" is controlled by a Dungeon Master (DM) who creates scenarios for players and describes what happens based off of the player's actions.
Players create a character who is their in-game persona. This character has unique skills and abilities that help the player navigate the world and defend themselves. In D&D the characters can level up and grow stronger as they adventure, allowing players to customize their character's growth and development.
Players and their characters work together on quests through a fantasy world full of magic and exploration. Although characters can combat enemies there are many more things to do as well, such as: solving puzzles and mysteries, treasure hunting, and an endless amount of silly activities. Some players may prefer to have spider races or maybe challenge powerful wizards to talent shows. The great thing about D&D is the players and their interests drive the story.
Many of the obstacles and challenges that players may face are impossible to overcome individually. This means that players will have the greatest chances for success working together and utilizing each other's strengths. D&D requires teamwork and a little luck!
D&D: A Place to Make Mistakes
D&D gives children a safe space to test out ideas and roleplay. The world and story changes based off of player decisions so D&D is a great tool for illustrating cause and effects.
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"After the heroes defeated the dragon on top of the mountain a giant eagle built its nest up there and started eating our village's sheep!" ​​-Daggerford Mayor​​​
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Roleplay is when someone pretends to be a unique character and they behave and react in the way that character would.
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Roleplaying is always encouraged while playing D&D and this gives children an opportunity to see through the lens of someone else's eyes. This lens can help children learn that circumstances can influence a certain way an individual acts or thinks. Roleplaying also gives a player an opportunity to do or say something that they would normally never do. This can lead to some truly magical and heroic moments that bring a group together.
"I jump in front of the incoming fireball to protect our healer"
-Theron the Paladin
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Roleplay has also been acknowledged as a therapeutic tool that can help teach empathy, improve negative behavior, and develop social skills.

Other Benefits of D&D?
Social Benefits

D&D requires working together to overcome challenges. Players need to come together and rely on each other instead of competing with one another. This results in building trust quickly. This trust and reliance on each other breaks down barriers and builds bonds.
This takes the awkwardness out of getting to know new people and allows children to become fast friends. Other social benefits are:
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Conflict resolution
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Cooperation and teamwork
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Group dynamics and empathy
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Public Speaking
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Confidence
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Expression
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Educational Benefits
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Reading and Literacy
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A Player's reading skill will develop while playing D&D and will be tested while they utilize their character sheets and also learn the rules to the game.​
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There is a vast amount of source material that they can explore such as; books on monsters, lore, and spells.
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The DM will always help navigate all of this reading but players often study up and read outside of play sessions.
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Math and Arithmetic
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Players frequently utilize math during sessions in order to determine the outcomes of their rolls.
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A certain number is either added or subtracted to a roll based off of the character's skills and stats. These added or subtracted numbers can be the difference between a success or failure while playing.
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Players also deal with many numbers in the form of health totals, armor values, weight, and inventory.
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Players will need to track and manage any gold or resources they acquire while adventuring as well.​​​
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 Interested in Learning More?
Here are some scholarly articles about the benefits of D&D and Minecraft .
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​Exploring mental dungeons and slaying psychic dragons: an exploratory study.
https://scholarworks.smith.edu/theses/837/
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Let Your Clients Fight Dragons: A Rapid Evidence Assessment regarding the Therapeutic Utility of 'Dungeons & Dragons'
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/15401383.2021.1987367?needAccess=true
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A Qualitative Exploration of the Perceived Social Benefits of Playing Tabletop Role-playing Games​https://journals.uu.se/IJRP/article/view/277/204
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"Minecraft," Teachers, Parents, and Learning: What They Need to know and Understand https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1123979
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It doesn't matter if you live in California or New York! Discover a safe, kid-friendly D&D or Minecraft group today! We also offer party and group packages for special occasions!