A community where students can connect through tabletop roleplaying games.
Photo by Darken Wolf of Apollo Carlson, Treasurer of the Level Up Lounge.
From exploring the dark depths of a goblin-infested cave in Dungeons and Dragons to saving the world from a powerful lich in Dragonheart, the Level-Up Lounge is University of Wyoming’s on-campus club dedicated to playing tabletop role-playing games.
In an interview, Apollo Carlson, treasurer of the Level-Up Lounge, said, “we are a tabletop role-playing game group; it’s a way for students who don’t necessarily want to spend the money or aren’t necessarily like wanting to join a campaign that might disband super early on in its lifespan. So we’re just there for students to get to know the systems, get to play with other students who are interested, and really build those communication skills.”
Tabletop games use a set of rules within specific codices, based on the system a person is interested in. The overarching motif of tabletop games is using one’s imagination to roleplay their chosen player character.
“So those games are based on imagination,” said Carlson. “[There are] rules to them, yes, but those are really made by the person who creates that world for you, which is called the dungeon master or the game master, depending on what you’re playing. And those are the people who are going to lead you through a story,” Carlson explained. “You play as a fantasy character, or in the case of cyberpunk, a science fiction character, and you fight monsters, you do puzzles, you do all [these] fun, amazing things, or things that you don’t necessarily get from just board games or something like that. It’s strategy, it’s math, it’s really learning how to communicate with other people as well. That’s good.”
Tabletop games also encourage their players to express themselves in unique ways. Within this type of game system, players are almost allowed to be anything, as long as it fits the campaign the party is set in. This freedom of expression can help some players be themselves in these settings.
“As someone who has a lot of troubles with expressing myself, it really helped me, especially when I was first learning more about myself, [understand] how to really express myself,” said Carlson. “It helped me kind of slip into this persona and act as this other person to just try to explore the world a little bit around me. And it’s also a great way for empathy to arise for some people, because you’re learning how to express yourself as another person,” Carlson added. “With a lot of campaigns, you help other people, you learn how to talk to other people in your team to figure out the solution to a problem, so it builds the sense of friendship. It builds the sense of understanding. And I feel like it’s really hard, especially nowadays, with technology, to really make those connections.” Carlson explained how “tabletop RPGs [are] just such an easy way for people to do that, and it’s also just a lot of fun. You can play as a swashbuckling pirate on the open seas, [or a] small little dwarf. You can play anything, and it’s a sandbox.” Carlson said “I think that’s the greatest thing about tabletops.”
The Level-Up Lounge hosts game nights every Tuesday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the IT building at the end of Sorority Row. It is free for students who are interested in attending, with members of the club willing to help new players.
“Even if it seems scary at first, and even if it does seem a bit intimidating, come and try, even just once,” said Carlson. “We’re welcome to anyone who is a new player,” or, “who’s an old player. We don’t care. We just want to see you come and explore with us.”
