Why You Should Start a D&D After School Club 

We had so much fun making this video, and I'm so happy to see the positive response to it!! These kids are truly my inspiration and I feel so privileged to be helping and mentoring the next generation of D&D players. Something that we didn't touch on in this video is how essential it is to have great student leadership in school clubs, and especially a D&D Club. The student DMs you see in this video are the backbone of these clubs, and none of this would have happened without them. My recommendation for other educators is to find ways to empower your students at every opportunity. By giving your students responsibilities, your job will be made easier, while also making them more invested in the program and allowing them to make it their own. Please feel free to get in contact if you would like some guidance or consultation on running D&D for students, or if you need a DM for your next game. My contact information is on my channel page :)

My life would of beeen a thousand times better if I had this after school

I have started to use D&D at my disciplinary alternative education campus to build collaboration and communication among students who lack these critical social skills.

Ahhhh! I’m so glad this is finally out! I had so much fun filming it. Playing D&D with my friends is truly one of the most magical things I have ever experienced! I think so many more people would love to play D&D and I value our club so much! I encourage everyone to reach out and start a club with kids in your community, trust me, we love it! Thanks to Zac for the opportunity, and I hope we can inspire even more people to find this amazing game!

I'm an 8th grade English teacher. Last year, I started teaching an elective class at my school called "Collaborative Storytelling" because I had several students who were into D&D. A few of my experienced 8th graders were the DMs for the younger middle schoolers. The students had a blast, and they keep asking me to bring it back again this year.

Incredibly heartwarming video! I wish I had this in middle school or high school. If you have any unused RPG books, check your local schools to see if they have a club like this to donate to!

My kids and thier friends are my group , for the last 3 years... every Thursday, they come over , get thier homework done. I cook dinner , or we order out , watch Critical Role rebroadcast , begin around 7 , play till 9 and then the kids watch Stranger things and that is our plan.

I can proudly say that my brother was in this. (Heal 11 hit points) he taught me how to Dm (despite me being an aweful dm because i struggle with imagining things) and he has helped me get reinvested into this. D&D is truly life changing. And big thanks to you mr. Zac for introducing D&D to me first. I was truly Amazed about this type of thing. I now always look forward to being able to play D&D

I just started one at my school, are first meeting is tomorrow!

This is wholesome as heck. Love it AAAAH THE KID IN THE ELVEN COSTUME AT 0.56 I LOVE IT

If your school doesn't have one of these, check your public library. Many have or are open to starting D&D clubs.

I love that dragon reading a book at :24. There so many options for inexpensive miniatures as a starting point. An excellent time for a kid to get into the hobby.

As someone who ran a club two years in a row, my recommendation for larger schools, if you have open tables (anyone can join) I would separate it into sections by year. The seniors are not going to want to play the same type of game as the freshman, (or the 7th grader if the middle school is connected). Obviously if they want to put a private group together don’t stop them.

I’m a teacher and run our school’s D&D club. We have 5 DMs across students and staff and it’s been a beautiful journey. There’s been real bonding that’s gone on around the table and it has become a really safe space for so many students. I’m really proud of what has been achieved with the club. It’s so much more than just a game.

This is an absolutely great thing to promote and I wish D&D hadn't ended the D&D Beyond free books program for schools/libraries.

This was a ton of fun to participate in and I hope that this helps to encourage more people to start their own D&D clubs and campaigns at their schools! Big thank you to Zac for giving us this opportunity!!!

That's how I got started! Thanks Mr. Zackarias from Willow Park Public School, Ontario, Canada, Scarborough circa 1987!

Been running D&D after school, at lunchtimes and during our timetabled (lesson time) Friday activities for nearly 20 years now. The timetable one is also linked to relevant curriculum outcomes in Literacy, Numeracy and Health & Wellbeing.

Great video! Always good to see more people enjoying D&D for the first time

I run a D&D Club at the school I work at. It’s been growing in participation numbers every year! Year 5, 25-30 players. 4 tables.

I helped start our Middle School and High School club at our school, and help run it. I also started an Elementary D&D club for 4th and 5th graders, and it’s gone great. If you want to start a club, go for it!

This Turned out awesome, Thanks zac for the opprotunity to be a part of this project

Funny, at my high school we do have a D&D Club and better yet… I'M IN ChARGE. I have 3 years of Player and DM knowledge up my belt. I started professionally homebrewing my adventures for 2 years. I make my own adventures for the club, thankfully for me, we have one and a half hour sessions. This makes it easy for me since I normally prep for 4-hour sessions outside school. We currently have 6 people, and I'm the only dm so far. For the club I'm doing my best to make it like an Adventures Guild where the Heros can go on different dms adventures.

Great video! We had a D&D club in middle school back in ‘83! Great way to get a break from school even just during lunch period.

My oldest grandson is playing in after school DnD club and he loves it.

My first introduction to D&D (3rd edition, at the time) was through a RPG club (mostly D&D) at my junior high/middle school. I absolutely loved it.

Loved the animations of Tiamat, so cool.

I'm french, and i'm teatcher. I created in my school a School Club (we play DnD and others games). I know it's a huge pedagogic tool !

I’m an educator and starting an after school D&D club NEXT WEEK! I am so excited!

this is a great video i smiled the entire way through. im so glad tht i have experience a really amazing game and others are getting into the hobby as well.

I started a dnd club at my highschool in grade 9, it’s been going strong for 5 years now, my only wish is that more teachers would take interest and help run the club. At this point it’s all student run and hasn’t reached its full potential. Still totally worth it!

This is so amazing! I love seeing all these yoots playing!

I have been running one at my low income middle school for 25 years! It even inspired one at the Highschool so now they can continue to play longer. They come back and run games for me so it is awesome. I completely agree with how much this helps kids learn to be leaders, followers, and problem solvers. I believe in this absolutely!

My school had a D&D club, but our principal shut it down because he thought: "It wasn't educational and didn't meet club rules & standards of learning and achieving fundamental to help you in the real world.." (Some BS of a statement he told us.) But yet, we have a video game club that, has kids bringing in there consoles and controllers to play on in a classroom!?. Me and my friends were heartbroken. But I am so happy to see they these students were lucky to be introduced to Dungeons & Dragons. Brought a smile to my face knowing and seeing what dnd can do for others when given a chance.🎲🐲

When I first started playing D&D, over 40 years ago, I was in 8th Grade, and we didn't have an official D&D club, but there was a bunch of students who did play after school in one of the classrooms. My high school did have a D&D club, but I didn't join it. I played with a group outside of school, but my high school extra curricular activities were mostly music theatre related. In college, again, I'm sure we probably had an official D&D club, but I didn't join, I had a private group of friends for whom I mostly DMed.

I am a teacher and I just started looking into this yesterday. This video has crazy good timing

Definitely showing this to my school

This makes me so happy! The kids are all right.

Man, this makes me so jealous. I tried forming a D&D club at my highschool. Got only 11 students, 7 of which fluked 2 hours before session 0. Of the remaining 4, one was a no show. By session 3, one dropped out. The two left started to come progressively late and leave progressively early, and session 5 was only 20 minutes. Session 6 never happened because Covid.

I’m a college professor getting back into DnD, trying to get my family back into it, and even considering writing about DnD’s efforts to promote diversity and inclusion. I’m worried about the new OGL plans and it’s having a chilling effect on my enthusiasm, my desire to invest my time, and my purchase decisions-decided against buying a WOTC book on sale on Amazon, and against purchasing backgrounds a la carte on DnD Beyond. Please fix this asap! I want to be excited about my new hobby again.

I want to become a Dungeon Master

Ah man , i wish i had this where I live

I run one of these for my high school students in Australia

I used to play after school. Someone decided we were a club. I had a different vibe; just kids playing a game. I guess there were some math skills. For me (already a math and science fan), it stimulated interest in literature, mythology, and geography.

I agree!

I’m not crying, you’re crying 😢

i am a pe teacher at a school it would be great to start a club. wizards of the cost it would be awesome if you guys can help out with that. i feel like this is what some kids need to grow there social skills. just a little help would go a long way.

this is realy wholesome

Darn!! My daughter is in middle school, but they only have a D&D club in high school!!

Are there any studies one could look up to why D&D helps students to develop the mentioned skills?

I saw a Stranger Things 4 Eddie cameo several times! 😉

Dude I totally would if I could

I started one, yes it does make us more obvious nerds, it is really fun

Gold

I go to the school where this was filmed. I know the people in it, and my sibling was playing in this. Not to flex… 😅

Back in my days in the early 80s most people considered Dungeons & Dragons a form of devil worshiping and it's good to see that some people have more of an open mind to the game and it's process so good on these people.

Sadly, even if my HS had this...I would not have gone. Because I was the victim of some misinformation, I believed D&D was 'unplayable' until 3rd ed. released...which was after my time in HS.

I already did 4 years ago. My advice, go to club rush and bribe people with candy

My biggest regret is not getting into Dnd in highschool...

The ironic thing is so many teachers have spent more time trying to boycott the game than do what THIS guy created

Last time I tried to start a D&D club, I had 36 kids show up. Sounds great, but I didn't know what to do with them all.

Now students in Belarus cant play a DnD, becouse ban our game in our country Я не могу поиграть в DnD из-за санкций!

As cool as an idea for an after school club may sounds , i dont think it works out. If my classmates wanted me to become their dungeon master i would dicline because many people want to play , but most wont take it seriously and everyone will be screaming etc. Thats why I am dming a group with my friends only. I know that they are gonna respect my work and not make fun of everything I come up with.

not a fan of adults playing a game like this with children.