In this installment of AMA-UTA CreateCollab, Andrew Swille invites you inside DND night in his original photo essay, A Group of Friends Meet for Dungeons and Dragons Night
Read more about our CreateCollab partnership below.
A GROUP OF FRIENDS MEET FOR DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS NIGHT
ABOUT MY PHOTO ESSAY
A Group of Friends Meet for Dungeons and Dragons Night by Andrew Swille
MCKINNEY, Texas – A dungeons and dragons group meets for their weekly campaign. Dungeons and dragons, often stylized as DND, is a roleplaying game in which players create their characters and associate attributes to them.
Stephen Gonzales has played DND for years, and this is his party. Joined on his side of the table sits his brother Joseph Gonzales. Across the table, Ville Jokittulpo and Abby Aden round out the cast of players. The dungeon master, Jake Ogden, runs the game. As the dungeon master, he is in complete control of their adventure. It is his job to keep the game on track, narrate the story and remain impartial to the events occurring in the game.
To start things off, each member of the group decides what race they’d like their character to be. Some chose to be humans, while others prefer to be mythical creatures such as elves or dwarves. It is important to note that each race has special abilities that affect the players later in the game.
Whenever it is a player’s turn, they are allowed to do whatever they want. They can attack, use their special abilities or physically move their character. However, one should use the turn to progress the campaign because the goal is to win.
In what is called a homebrew campaign, Ogden himself has written the story for the group. He utilizes the locations, monsters and ancient weapons from DND’s lore to create a completely new quest.
Throughout the game, the players roll dice when it is their turn. These dice determine the success rate of their character’s moves. If the DM says to roll a 15 or higher, their dice must reach that minimum for their character to successfully attack.
This particular campaign is referred to as a one-shot, meaning it is meant to conclude in one session. Gonzales’ regular campaign spans weeks or even months, which builds tension and further invests the players.
Meet Andrew Swille
Andrew Swille is a journalism senior at the University of Texas at Arlington. He has an associate of arts from Tarrant County College, and hopes to use a degree in journalism to professionally discuss art forms such as film and television. A part-time Target employee, Andrew spends his time off-the-clock with friends and family, watching movies, playing instruments or reading.
About AMA-UTA CreateCollab
Throughout the Fall 2022 semester, the Arlington Museum of Art is partnering with The University of Texas at Arlington and a senior-level digital storytelling class to explore a wide variety of contemporary themes inspired by “A Knight’s Tale.”
Class projects include photo essays, one-minute documentaries, and one-minute podcasts about themes as broad as sword fighting with light sabers, fulfilling family legacies, every day heroes, and modern metalsmithing.
Associate Professor of Communication Erika Pribanic-Smith, who teaches the class, values opportunities to bring real-world experiences to her students.
“My goal is to give my students real-world experience in all of my classes, creating real stories using real sources,” said Dr. Pribanic-Smith. “Creating stories that will be published for the public to see, not just submitted for a grade, gives students extra incentive to put forth their best effort. Furthermore, working with professionals gives the students another layer of feedback to re-enforce what they’re learning in the classroom. I prefer to work with organizations like the Arlington Museum of Art who will benefit in some way from the students’ content so that we are providing a service to the community.”
