Goodman Games

I teach in a public school in WV and sponsor a couple nerdy clubs. I sponsor a larping club and a board game club. In my board game club I just started running a Tomb of the Ghast Queen funnel for a handful of kids and they had an absolute blast. I drew the map on the white board as we went through it (marking where characters died) and they loved every minute of it. At the end of the hour they took photos of the board and were already discussing whose turn it was to go when we pick it up next week.

That being said, any other academic sponsors on here? I would love to touch base with some just to share ideas and such.

I'm a public school teacher too. I've had my kids asking about RPGs, so this one has come to mind. While the kids are comfortable with some of the weirder stuff, I actually fear the parents a little more. Even though they are ok with the kids playing violent video games, sometimes other stuff spooks them. Has there been any push back in that regard?

I'm a public school teacher, and I sponsored a game club years ago. The problem I had was that I wanted to make the club meaningful and discuss probabilities and game design, whereas the students just wanted to play games. I finally decided that their version wasn't "academic" enough for my taste and after a few years I dropped the club. (The original students who started it had graduated, anyway.)

Shingen wrote:I'm a public school teacher too. I've had my kids asking about RPGs, so this one has come to mind. While the kids are comfortable with some of the weirder stuff, I actually fear the parents a little more. Even though they are ok with the kids playing violent video games, sometimes other stuff spooks them. Has there been any push back in that regard?

There hasn't yet - but I also had a pretty developed board game club. In general I think many of the parents simply don't pay attention. That being said, I will probably re-theme anything overly demonic in any modules just because I know that word acts as a trigger word for some folks. A "large leathery reptilian monster out to get you" seems more innocuous than "a demon."

I will probably also use the word "Patron" in place of the word "deity" as well for the same reason.

One of the students in particular wants to eventually design and run his own campaign after we make it through a couple modules and he understands things. This also amuses me because it means I can probably get the school to reimburse me for buying some modules for the club.

finarvyn wrote:I'm a public school teacher, and I sponsored a game club years ago. The problem I had was that I wanted to make the club meaningful and discuss probabilities and game design, whereas the students just wanted to play games. I finally decided that their version wasn't "academic" enough for my taste and after a few years I dropped the club. (The original students who started it had graduated, anyway.)

I hear you on that. I sponsored a middle-school game club for a few years and then when I moved to high school started one up here. It was purely playing games - no real design. My larping club on the other hand talks game design because they want to go out in the field and play it.

What I did do for design though was I constructed a curriculum for a class called HOTS (Higher Order Thinking Skills through puzzles and games) and pitched it to the school. It was accepted and I taught game design as an elective for several years. That was really fun because it had all that meaty analysis and then construction that interested me so much. Unfortunately (or fortunately as the case may be) my other academic classes got such large numbers I had to drop the elective to add another section of Spanish.

finarvyn wrote:I'm a public school teacher, and I sponsored a game club years ago. The problem I had was that I wanted to make the club meaningful and discuss probabilities and game design, whereas the students just wanted to play games. I finally decided that their version wasn't "academic" enough for my taste and after a few years I dropped the club. (The original students who started it had graduated, anyway.)

The Anime Club I advise is the same. The first incarnation (talking about Anime) had almost no attendance except for the club president. The second incarnation (watching Anime) and the kids are all about it - my room fills up.

Some of the kids might transition from straight games to design or discussion, I suppose.

Are these clubs at lunch or after school? Trying to fit gaming into a 40 minute lunch period sounds difficult.

My clubs are after school. From about 3:30-4:15. So not much time, but the anticipation keeps them excited.

I started up a lunch club about a month ago. We play twice a week during both lunch periods (one is my lunch and the other my planning period). I have one group going through Sailors on the Starless Sea and the other group going through Peril of the Sunken City. Both groups are having a blast!

I did have some reservations about parents getting incomplete information, so I was sure to clear it with my principal...and then I sent permission slips home. One girl came back and said she couldn't play, because her father thought it was witchcraft. Other than that, there have been no concerns so far.

The kids really enjoy the "Time of Death/Cause of Death" stamp I had made at Staples...they can't get stamped fast enough when their characters are dead...lol.

DM Cojo wrote:
The kids really enjoy the "Time of Death/Cause of Death" stamp I had made at Staples...they can't get stamped fast enough when their characters are dead...lol.

What is the stamp exactly and what do you do with it?

Made it a touch further in the Tomb today. So far one kid has lost 3/4 characters due to stupidity. Another boy has also lost 3/4 due to terrible die rolls. The girl is playing it more carefully and has maintained all four characters.

Of note, I had my first person actually upset his character died. The fact he finished Of Mice and Men in English class that day I think made him a little more on edge.

Good day though!