Tag: roleplaying

Posted in Fiction, Fiction, geek culture, Graphic Novels, Middle Grade, Middle School, Realistic Fiction, Tween Reads

Table Titans Club – read it!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Table Titans Club, by Scott Kurtz, (March 2024, Holiday House), $22.99, ISBN: 9780823453160

Ages 8-12

Eisner Award Winner Scott Kurtz crafts a hands-down fantastic story about the power of a good role-playing group in this middle grade graphic novel. Val – short for Valeria – is the new kid in school, and she’s got a bit of a temper. Luckily, a schoolmate named Andrew decides she’s just what the Table Titans – a school role-playing group – needs in their campaign. He and friends Alan and Darius invite Val to be part of the group, and Val discovers she loves the game and the fact that she’s finally found a place where she feels like she belongs. But the teacher who sponsors the group is about to go out on leave, and unless they can secure another teacher sponsor, the Table Titans are looking at an early retirement. Val agrees to join the school’s wrestling team in return for having the coach sponsor the group, and takes on Kate, a fellow classmate who seems to have it out for Val. But why? Table Titans touches on the basics of being in a fantasy role-playing group, and the storytelling is there as a support for Val’s story, as she learns to navigate new friendships and work on controlling her reactions to people around her. Support characters are recognizable and relatable. Kurtz’s artwork is vibrant, bold, and fun to read. All around, an excellent addition to graphic novel collections and another great entry into the gaming-centric stories that have been published lately. Anything that shows folks gaming as social-emotional learning is tops with me. Don’t miss this one.

Table Titans Club has a starred review from Booklist.

Scott Kurtz’s website is a treasure trove of webcomics, including his Table Titans series that follows a group of Dungeons & Dragons players in and out of the game (not the characters from Table Titans Club).

Posted in Fiction, Graphic Novels, Middle Grade, Tween Reads

Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Club Roll Call: Where Middle School is the Dungeon

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Dungeons & Dragons: Dungeon Club: Roll Call, Molly Knox Ostertag/Illustrated by Xanthe Bouma, (Nov. 2022, HarperAlley), $19.99, ISBN: 9780063039247

Ages 8-12

This graphic novel is just what I needed to booktalk D&D to my Corona Kids! Combining D&D fantasy roleplaying with fantasy storytelling, Roll Call is the first in a new series, written by the amazing Molly Knox Ostertag and illustrated by Xanthe Bouma, who illustrates the 5 Worlds series – another series I can’t keep on my shelves. Olivia and Jess are best friends who make up incredible stories: it’s how they met on a school playground, and it’s brought them even closer in their 2-person Dungeons & Dragons campaign. They’re heading to middle school, which Olivia is really excited about. Jess? Not so much, especially when Olivia decides to expand their D&D campaign into a full-on school club. Not willing to share her game time and her best friend with anyone, Jess expresses her frustration through the game, and when it affects one of the new members of the club, Jess discovers that sometimes, you need to find room in your heart – and in your dungeon-raiding party – for new friends.

Ostertag’s got storytelling down, effortlessly moving back and forth between fantasy and reality. I’m excited for more backstory as the series develops; Jess is Diné from the Navajo Nation, living with her father, and playing a character named Sir Corius. Olivia is Afro-Latina, sporting hot-pink hair and can effortlessly rattle off character and monster stats, several of which are incorporated into the story; it gives readers a sense of game play. Having story characters create genderfluid, speciesfluid characters is wonderful, inviting readers to see what so many of us have known for a while: you don’t have to conform to any gender in the game. It says so in the Player’s Handbook! Bouma’s vibrant illustration creates personable characters and exciting fantasy settings. The whole story comes together beautifully and is an excellent choice for readers who are interested in gaming, fantasy, and realistic fiction. Display and booktalk these with any of your fantasy roleplaying graphic novels, like 5 Worlds and Dragon Prince; The Witch Boy; Popular MMOs and Dan TDM, and the Dungeon Academy middle grade novel series by Madeline Roux.

 

Posted in gaming, geek culture, Librarianing

Free RPG Day, and what can libraries do next year?

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Earlier this year, I learned that Free RPG Day is a thing! Similar to Free Comic Book Day, gaming stores can purchase kits with free modules and giveaways to promote role-playing games. I mentioned this to our gaming committee, and we were EXCITED. It’s right in line with what we want to do, and bring gaming to our library spaces. We didn’t hear about it early enough to plan events for it, so we discussed what to do, and decided we’d continue to promote gaming in our branches and mention that Free RPG was coming up, and encourage our patrons to visit their local retailers for goodies.

SO! My teen and I hit the local gaming store in our area – shout out to Gamestoria in Astoria, Queens! – and picked up some modules. The staff is fantastic, very approachable and knowledgeable. We picked up:

 

Epic Encounters: Bridge of the Duerger Cult, from Steamforged Games (compatible with D&D 5e, playable for novices through experienced players). I saw this box set at GaryCon earlier this year and wanted to give them all the money. This free module gives me a chance to play, get a feel for gameplay and ease, and with luck, I’ll be able to invest in this for my library (or home. Or both.)

Dungeon Crawl Classics: Danger in the Air!, from Goodman Games. My brother-in-law introduced me to Dungeon Crawl Classics back in March, when we were at GaryCon. They put out consistently good modules (I have a few that I picked up in March), and they are great about giving free modules away at events, to promote their games. DCCs are stand-alone and world-neutral; it’s compatible with Dungeons and Dragons 5e. This is a Level 0 adventure; great for introducing new players to a D&D-type world.

Also from Goodman Games, the Teen picked up Three Wizard Conundrum, another 5e compatible module. This one is better for 3rd or 4th level players.

I was so excited for this one! Root is a roleplaying game from Magpie Games, where players play woodland creatures in a fantasy setting. I loved the Mouse Guard comics, (also an RPG!) and I am all about anything that lets me be a cute woodland creature who’s also a little badass, so this speaks to me. This year, Magpie gave out a Quickstart module for their Talon Hill story, and I cannot wait to show this to my library kids (because my 10 year old is already on board for this one). It’s an E for Everyone game, so definitely get a good look at this one.

 

Finally, we get to A Familiar Problem, a one-page RPG from Darrington Press, the tabletop publishing arm of Critical Role, a weekly livestreamed show that’s also a roleplaying campaign. One of the folx at Gamestoria talked this one up for me, and I am so glad. In A Familiar Problem, the players are familiars – magical creatures who assist magic users (think Hedwig in Harry Potter). Players can pick from 12 different Familiars, including Bats, Lizards, Owls, or Hawks. The point of the game is to go on your own adventure with your Familiar companions when your magic users are away, and how can you NOT talk that up? My Teen devoured Adam Jay Epstein’s series The Familiars when he was a middle grader, and immediately said, “We’re playing this, Mom.” Again, this looks like a quick, easy, fun game to bring to your younger gamers as well as your more experienced gamers. Because honestly, who doesn’t want to be a smart alecky raven who can summon a horse? (Yes, that’s absolutely going to be me.)

There was much more available, but I wanted to make sure other people had a chance to get stuff. For those of you, like us, new to Free RPG Day, let me also direct you to Level 1, an anthology of indie RPGs collected and distributed for free by 9th Level Games. There’s something for everyone in these (I’ve downloaded 2020’s and 2021’s), and am hoping to use one or two of these this summer in my branch’s RPG program.

So this is great, but how can libraries get involved? I’d love to work with Free RPG Day to buy kits to distribute at my branch! I’m waiting to hear from Free RPG Day on how we can work together in the future, but until then, here are some things I’ve been thinking of:

  • Keep an eye on when Free RPG Day is happening, and plan events close to the day. Follow Free RPG Day on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram; bookmark the Free RPG Day website.
  • Schedule some roleplaying events! I’m keeping PDFs of RPGs (including Level 1 anthologies and Free RPG Day modules) in a binder at Reference, ready for anyone who wants to try something out while at the library.
  • Search DriveThruRPG for freebies. There is a search feature that includes price, language, genre, and more; navigate and find games to introduce.
  • Promote your gaming library! If your branch or system has RPG books and resources, promote them with displays, flyers, bookmarks, or anything you want to come up with.
  • Get in touch with Free RPG Day and ask how libraries can work with them! The best way to show the people behind Free RPG Day that we are interested is to let them know we’re here and willing to help.

More resources for your RPG collection:

Dungeons & Dragons were superstars during the 2020 shutdown, making a lot of their gaming modules available for free. You can download the Basic Rules at the DnD website. The Basic Rules is a 180-page document that runs from Levels 1-20 and covers major classes: cleric, fighter, rogue, and wizard, with a handful of race options (dward, elf, halfing, human). It’s a quick and affordable way to get started. Visit DnD’s downloadable’s page for free adventures and character sheets. Hit Dice Cove’s webpage for more DnD-related downloadable adventures. WhatNerd has a good article on more DnD freebies.

And if you’re ready to start planning for another upcoming RPG Day, D20 is December 20th!

Posted in Fantasy, Fiction, gaming, geek, geek culture, Humor, roleplaying, Science Fiction, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

Attack the Geek: Geek Culture Gone Wild!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

attackthegeekAttack the Geek, by Michael R. Underwood. Gallery, Threshold, Pocket Books (2014), $2.99, ISBN: 9781476757780

Recommended for 18+

Attack the Geek is more of a New Adult read than it is a YA read, but there are plenty of pop culture, gaming, and garden variety geek references in there that will appeal to younger audiences. There’s a content heads-up for language, but it’s nothing the kids aren’t screaming at each other these days.

Attack the Geek is a side adventure to a series created by Michael R. Underwood; his previous two books, Geekomancy and Celebromancy, are available via digital download on Amazon for a very reasonable price. I haven’t read the two previous books which could be a reason why I felt off-kilter with Attack the Geek.

For any gamers out there – did you ever have a roleplaying session where one bar fight or battle took up hours of your campaign? If you know what I’m talking about, that’s how I felt while reading Attack the Geek. It’s a single combat story, with barista Ree Reyes, the heroine and protagonist of the series, and her fellow geekomancers coming under attack at Grognards, the establishment owned by Ree’s boss, Grognard. The geekomancers have the ability to channel the power of geek culture by consuming it – Ree, for instance, keeps clips from her favorite movies, like X-Men or Spider-Man, to draw upon when she needs power – and she’ll be able to shoot webs or toss people with telekinesis. There are props aplenty, including working Star Trek phasers and Star Wars lightsabers, and collectible card game cards merely need to be torn to release their  magic in this world, if channeled by the geekomancer. So when they come under attack from a Strega witch named Lucretia, it’s a hairy battle, loaded with pop culture references and witty banter.

This being a side adventure is my own issue – I am unfamiliar with the geekomancy power and these characters, so in a sense, I was at a disadvantage. But I also thought the book was trying to be too witty, throw too many references in, for its own good. The references took over the plot, and after a while, I was just reading about a battle where there was Spider-Man web slinging, Star Trek phasers, and lots of collectible card game references. This just wasn’t my book. For anyone who’s a devoted sci-fi/fantasy/gaming/comic book fan, it’s worth a shot. It’s why I requested it from NetGalley, after all, and I may read Geekomancy now just to see if having more of a background will help me better grasp the book.