Mastering the Dragon

When they finish their homework, students in the Graham and Parks Alternative Public School after-school program don’t play tag or watch TV. They battle giants and demons.

Shannon B. Maene ’07 creates an alternate universe for the middle-school students through a role-playing game known as Dungeons & Dragons (D&D). Hired by the after-school program, Maene acts as the game’s “Dungeon Master” (DM) once a week for about 12 kids.

Maene takes his role very seriously, spending more time each week planning the game than actually playing it. As the DM, he is responsible for setting up the imagined universe. He dictates the players’ situations, the powers of their characters, and the enemies they meet. The game transpires entirely through spoken conversation—no computers necessary—and every round is unique.

“The D&D universe possesses a great energy. It is full of spontaneous choices and responses that can never be repeated,” says Maene.

At a recent session, the kids eagerly discussed how to defeat their current opponents—a dragon and an ether snake. “The daylight spell you guys have just used is sucked up by the viper and it has weakened it...What are you going to do now?” Maene asked one of the players, Giulio Marchetti.

“Well, my ninja stars are double-teaming the dragon,” Giulio said. The others cheered in unison at the result of Giulio’s die roll, patting him on the back.

For Maene, D&D is about more than destroying monsters. He believes the game teaches kids important skills like cooperation, situational analysis, and problem solving. He likes to make the game challenging, keeping the players on their toes. “If a player decides to throw a stone, I will make the stone defy gravity,” says Maene. “I want to remind them that anything is possible.”

The kids, however, say they enjoy D&D for their own reasons. “I like the game because it’s all about imagination. It’s different from video games or building models because we decide what to do,” says Isaac T. Bell, a 13-year-old Graham and Parks student.