High School Pathfinder Clubs: A serious consideration


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Liberty's Edge

Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber

I went to a Catholic high school while lunatic parents were passing around copies of "Dark Dungeons" like it was Gospel truth. I'll never forget the feeling of abject persecution the morning I was called into the Dean's office and told that he knew I had D&D books in my home. "I've never read the books," he said, "but I know they're Satanic." I was told that if my mother didn't call the following morning to let the school know the books were removed from my home that I would be indefinitely suspended.

My mother, much less concerned at the time about the peril my immortal soul was in, and much happier that I was gaming with friends instead of doing drugs or knocking a gal up, told me to walk into the principal's office the next morning to let the school know that if anyone ever bothered me about the games I play again that she'd have her attorney call the school.

I guess the school was much less concerned after that about the peril my immortal soul was in than they were an ugly lawsuit. I still have all my books.

Now I was always pretty shrewd. I was never a good student until I got to grad school, but I understood from the earliest age that education came in many forms. When I was ten I got the comic book that began a collection that exists to this day, and in that issue I read in passing about these two guys named "Lovecraft" and "Bierce" who wrote the same kind of stuff another guy named "Poe" wrote about (a year earlier an aunt had condemned me to a life of darkness by giving me a collection of Edgar Poe for my birthday). I had no idea who Lovecraft and Bierce were, but I made it a point to find out the next time I went to the library.

Gaming was no different. I know reading through the first edition AD&D books raised by SAT Verbal score by at least one hundred points. So even back then, when I first started to entertain thoughts of teaching, I swore I'd do whatever I had to so a new group of kids like my friends and me would gain the same benefits from RPGs.

I guess I lucked out landing at the school I'm in now. My principal's brother is a gamer, so she understands that not only isn't there anything diabolical in playing the game, but also that there's a world of value in it. We game in two different ways in my school- there's a freshman who fancies himself the greatest GM in the world (it's so adorable) who runs games one a week during our Sci-Fi Club meetings, and I'm running a Kingmaker campaign for a select group of eight tenth graders that I'm using to gather data showing a correlation between gaming and improved literacy and computational skills (they'll be posting their gaming journals here beginning in about two weeks).

The biggest challenge has been funding (imagine that). I'm endlessly grateful that we have the money that I can get paid to run an after school program, but that and more goes directly back into the club for snacks and supplies. I was able to get some stuff through Donors Choose, but right now they're a little mad at me for not getting them some of the stuff back I was supposed to after the kids I got some books for (an elective class, not the Sci-Fi Club) absolutely refused to write the Thank You letters (I'm trying to get back in their good graces right now). A few years back the folks at Paizo sent me an amazing assortment of stuff that we've been using ever since. And a few months back I was bothering everyone here and anywhere else I could think of to vote for a small grant to get us some copies of the Pathfinder Core Rules through We Are Teachers (which we won, but scrambling for votes in that last week was absolutely exhausting). Other than that, I'm buying everything. My school is in one of the poorest parts of NYC, and I feel bad enough when I have to ask the kids to try to round up cash to buy books for class much less for gaming.

But we make do. I'm seeing the effects on the kids involved that I wanted to see. They're having a great time, they're learning, they're reading, and in a few of them I can sense gaming is a hobby they'll enjoy for a lifetime.


IconoclasticScream wrote:
I went to a Catholic high school while lunatic parents were passing around copies of "Dark Dungeons" like it was Gospel truth. I'll never forget the feeling of abject persecution the morning I was called into the Dean's office and told that he knew I had D&D books in my home. "I've never read the books," he said, "but I know they're Satanic." I was told that if my mother didn't call the following morning to let the school know the books were removed from my home that I would be indefinitely suspended.

!!!

Wow! I lived through those dark years, went to a private Christian grade school and still have nothing that quite compares to the above.

"I've never read the books," he said, "but I know they're Satanic."

/shudder


I like many was part of a school gaming club. My initial introduction to the game was through my cousin, but my first steady game came in school. First in middle school then in highschool with some of the people that would form my gaming group to this day.

If you consider writing short (or long) stories, or doing arithmatic to be positive things for a child's education and growth, then roleplaying games are as well. I would definately be willing to support some kind of fund or group to help promote gaming clubs in schools.


Here's an idea; most schools have some kind of community service requirement now, this includes such things as delivering old magazines to nursing homes from what i understand, what if instead , you could possibly bring joy to some grognard stuck there, by running a pathfinder game in one, not all the folks in nursing homes are senile, yet, a lot have severe physical disabilities while their minds remain sharp.

Just a suggestion, and probably not a good one, at least not until the gaming population ages some more.

I do know id appreciate it more if i was there than a 5 year old copy of popular mechanics.


Can't believe I just now noticed this thread. Believe it or not (and remember some things are true whether or not you believe them) I came to Pathfinder because the RPG club I started, at the high school I am an English teacher at, became disillusioned with playing D&D 4e. Many of the long time gamers felt 4e was just too computer game replicative. So they asked me to search for a new system. Since we were all familiar with 3.5, and the school did me the favor of buying the 3.5 core set, I looked for 3.5 compatible material, and just happened upon Pathfinder. After doing thorough research, and seeing a lot of positives, I decided to move in the Pathfinder direction, and immediately bought the Core Rulebook (with my own money no less since the state budget crunches forbid "extraneous" spending). We've never looked back. I'm currently GMing two different 6-7 player groups, with a potential third on hold because of schedules (that last group is graduates, who have jobs and college schedules, but still want to game when they are in town, and have time, sometimes it works out that we can). As the advisor, I donate all my time, much of which happens after school for an hour or two at a time, or in lengthy Saturday sessions (yes that's right I game with high schoolers without getting paid for it because I love this hobby so much :) We all love the system. I'd be greatly interested in any "pro bono" material Paizo wanted to throw my way. I've purchased a few things here and there (mostly through Amazon because even with shipping it's cheaper than buying direct, I know to some that sounds blasphemous, but I figure I'm still supporting the hobby, even if I'm not directly supporting Paizo) but as you say Zuxious, any kind of Public Relations gifts Paizo wanted to give would be greatly appreciated by our club.

Sovereign Court

I think that the idea of approaching this from a chess club perspective and being very open about what the club is is a necessary. I know a vast majority of people who would STILL claim that D&D is a satanic ritual used to pull children down to hell all while allowing there son or daughter play WoW. It is a sad fact and the biggest obstacle in which to overcome while attempting to put together a group like this. I think it is an awesome idea and hats off to those who put them toghether. You'll have my support 100%!!


I need suggestions. I'm working to get a club going at the middle school I teach at. I was denied an after-school club charter (for a ridiculous reason I don't want to get into) and so my only available time slot now is a 30-minute window each Friday. I really think this club would excel here and I'd be very excited to run it, but I can't imagine only playing for 30 minute increments...probably closer to 20-25 minutes with set up and clean up. And that's just once a week! I think it might be so short that no one would really get into it enough to fully appreciate it. Most encounters go at least 20 minutes, often much more. Has anyone ever played in such short increments? How did it go? Would I be better off running a more general loot-hunt than a real story arc? Are these simply not the right circumstances to sustain a club? I'd love input.


brock wrote:

Query: how many folks would be willing to become $5 monthly subscribers to the Pathfinder Outreach line, and receive nothing in return except for a message board tag and the knowledge that money had gone to using RPGs to promote literacy and other life-skills to teens?

I think the production of high-quality teacher support material is vital for this though. I also realise that Paizo might not want to attach their brands to this particular endeavour  — it opens them up to attack somewhat.

I would.


Your main focus should be quality, Wildebob. It sounds like you've only got about one encounter a week, so make it count. Make cool encounters (and try to succeed, and all that other obvious stuff)and try and include any important knowledge in the encounter.

Sczarni RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

I started playing in 7th grade, and during that time I convinced most of my friends to play with me. Funny enough, I was picked on heavily in middle school but when one bully found out I played D&D, he stopped picking on me and started playing with me! D&D really has taught me that a good game can bring people together.

In the last several years I have been introducing tabletop RPGs to many new people and in one case I played with high school students. When school started up I was not able to run games for them anymore but one of the kids picked up where I left off and still GMs to this day. Last I heard he was doing pretty good.

I would more then love to find a way to reach larger audiences. High Schools and Collages are great places to introduce these games to people. Should I ever have the time to volunteer my services I would love to go to schools and set up clubs or groups so people can gather and play together. Heck, I think table top RPGs are healthier then video games in many ways.

By the way, in all my years of gaming (about 12) I have only played with someone over the age of 30 twice. I have played with around 100 people, and almost every time they have been very close to my age. I have no fear for the future of this industry. Anyone who claims games like Pathfinder or D&D are going to die because of lack of new and young players is not doing enough to introduce it to new and young players. It takes you simply asking if they want to join you for a game.

Sczarni RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

A separate thought:

How about suggesting or opening a charity that buys basic books and materials for clubs and programs that actively introduce new players to the game?

Liberty's Edge

Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber

Here's why I love running Pathfinder at my school.

This little gaming group of eight tenth graders I put together? We're finally at a point that we're beginning to create characters for Kingmaker (that they'll be keeping weekly journals about here), which I expect to last us through the end of their eleventh grade year (if not longer). A few weeks backs I needed to design new electives classes for the tenth grade, and since I was the one putting it all together and ultimately had carte blanche putting who where and for what reason, I decided I would teach an elective with the gamers in which we read _The Lord of the Rings_. Eight kids in an elective wasn't quite enough, so I filled a few more seats with other students from the cohort that wanted to read the book. We're just shy of half-way through it now. Today, three of the girls in the elective start asking the gamers in the class about the Pathfinder game, and they're utterly enraptured- they want to game now, too. Which is great, because apart from the Kingmaker game I'm running, I'm showing the GM ropes to a freshman (who started the school year proclaiming himself the best game master in the Bronx (it was very cute :) ) who is dying to start his own PF game. And he's got two or three others now interested.

All I need now is a mountain of cash to buy everything we need as this thing grows by orders of magnitude, and a dozen more hours in my week to get all of this together. lol


DungeonmasterCal wrote:
Doug Daulton wrote:
I was introduced to D&D though a high school gaming club back in the day. I think this is a brilliant idea!

My Father-In-Law was a teacher up in Red Lake Ontario, and he ran a D&D gaming club at his school. He recently passed away at the age of 80, but the kids and he had a fantastic time. I have heard stories of the different events they ran, and how it brought a bunch of students together who wouldn't have had reason previously. My husband has been hooked ever since.


I'm thinking of starting a pathfinder after school club and need something to propose to the principal. I remember someone posting a good educational proposal on these boards recently, but am having trouble finding it.

Could someone please link? Thanks in advance!


Never mind, just found it here:
http://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/paizoPublishing/pathfinder/pathfinderR PG/general/archives/pathfinderAsEducation

Liberty's Edge

Linkified for everyone's pleasure!


Joey Virtue wrote:
I keep thinking about somthing like this being a high school teacher but just havent gotten all my ducks in a row yet

Just make sure you've got your tenure =p

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