In the Fall of 2023, I had the opportunity to lead a group of UHP students though Tales of Resilience, an honors experience that explores identity and connection through the 5th Edition of Dungeons & Dragons.
Tales of Resilience was one of my first honors experiences. That was also my first experience with D&D, so when I began my role as Lead Storyteller, I had only been playing for about a year. As such, I had passion for collaborative storytelling, but I struggled with the more niche aspects of the mechanics. D&D is a very complex and, at times, overwhelming system. A major part of my initial journey through my time as DM was battling imposter syndrome and developing the confidence to continue with the story. I relied on my players experience; they let me know every week how much they enjoyed this part of their week. No matter how skewed or biased my perception of my work is, their feedback always grounded me in the knowledge that my players were having fun and learning.
The latter half of my time as a Lead Storyteller was centered around advocating for our table to be a safe space, for both the players and myself. Having the opportunity to stand up for myself, and learning how to do so wisely, was a very impactful part of this experience for me. I noticed that as I became more open to my group, we actually came closer together. My biggest fear going into these sessions was that I was going to "break" the party by advocating for myself, but it did the opposite. My group had some really interesting encounters that forced them to think through difficult scenarios in a safe space. Many of my players chose to explore complex relationships, community, time, and self-worth. At any given moment in the campaign, my players and I worked together to create an environment that allowed room for these themes to develop. But we were not always so serious; the quotes from our sessions became quickly known as the most chaotic. While we did go into this experience open to difficult emotions, it is also important to allow space for the fun, spontaneous, and silly encounters as well. On occasion those become even more memorable and impactful than the meticulously designed scenarios I entered the session with.
I am very grateful for the opportunity that I have had to return to Zardigash, this time on the other side of the DM screen.
