Donations and Dragons

February 13, 2009 4:23 PM

How can I contact local high school roleplaying game clubs?

I've been reflecting recently on my early experiences as a fan of roleplaying games, and how much of the enjoyment that I got out of them as a teenager wouldn't have been possible if one of my friends hadn't had an older brother who allowed us to use all of his gaming books that he was no longer using. I'm currently in possession of a considerable collection of Dungeons and Dragons 3rd (and 3.5) edition game books, and I'll likely never use them again. With that in mind, I'd like to pass them along to a group of worthy teens who'll put them to good use. There's only one problem... I don't really know any teenagers.

I'd like to figure out a way to donate the books in question to a local (Los Angeles) high school roleplaying game club. I know that such clubs exist; my old high school had one way back when. Unfortunately, I have no idea how to get in touch with any of them. Google hasn't provided me with any useful contact information, and I suspect that no school administration will give me contact information for a student group. Frankly, I'd like to keep my contact as minimal as possible, as I don't want to come across as being that creepy guy who's always hanging out with teenagers half his age. I tried doing something similar with Craigslist when I made the transition from 2nd edition to 3rd, but the guy who showed up to get my books was in his thirties, and I'm fairly sure he just turned around and sold them on eBay. I'd like to avoid something like that.

Help me out, hivemind. Is there any way for me to locate and contact a local Los Angeles high school roleplaying game group? If there isn't, is there some other worthy cause to which I can put my books? Shipping isn't exactly an option; at 40+ hardcover books, it would be too costly.

posted by Parasite Unseen to sports, hobbies, & recreation (17 answers total)

What a cool idea. Maybe a place to start would be to contact "grownup" roleplaying groups and find out if any of them include members who have younger siblings who might be plugged into the high school rpg "scene."
posted by Neofelis at 4:32 PM on February 13, 2009

You could contact the local high school's library and ask the librarians if they'd set up a "free books" table you could donate the books to. It wouldn't be going directly to a role playing group, but it could start one, or get some students interested. There would still be some risk of a student grabbing them all and selling them, but that risk is always there when you donate.
posted by pseudonick at 4:32 PM on February 13, 2009 [1 favorite]

Calling school office:

"Hello, is there a way to find out the adult advisor or organizer of your school's gaming club?"

"Okay, if not, can you give me the contact emails for the English teachers at your school?"

At least one of the English/Language Arts teachers ought to know something or which kids are into that.
posted by RedEmma at 4:33 PM on February 13, 2009

So, I graduated from high school in 2001. We didn't have a roleplaying club. We had an anime club, a Magic: the Gathering club, several video game clubs, a horror movie club, an AV club, drama club, and all other manner of dorky clubs. But, no roleplaying club. None of the other high schools in the area did either.

There were certainly roleplayers (I was one of them), but we formed small groups who played at each others' houses on weekends.

Coincidentally, I was talking to my sister, who is in her senior year of high school, about this the other day. She had asked me how I found people to play with. I said I just found friends who were into it, but maybe there was a club? She said there still wasn't.

Pen and paper RPGs really aren't especially cool anymore, even for nerdy values of "cool". Most kids, even if they play, aren't going to expose themselves to the ridicule that a formal high school club would bring.

I'm not saying that the clubs don't exist in your neck of the woods. But, you shouldn't assume that your experience of having one in the 80's or early 90's relates to 2008.

I'd say your best bet is to ask your friends if they have any younger acquaintances who play. You should be working your network here, if you're really serious about it. You could also post a craigslist ad saying that you're trying to donate the books to a kid who couldn't otherwise afford them--that if you're above the age of 18, even if you show up, you get nothing.
posted by Netzapper at 4:34 PM on February 13, 2009

You can always donate them to a library. When I was a kid and started playing D&D, we checked a lot of stuff out from the library because we didn't yet have the money to get $20 Player's Handbooks and supplements.

You could also see if anyone on these forums knows of any high school gaming groups.
posted by ignignokt at 4:37 PM on February 13, 2009

That is a fantastic idea!

I would go through your local game shop. I'm in Los Angeles and there are no shops that I can think of off of the top of my head. I know there's a Games Workshop in the Glendale Galleria -- that might be a good start.

Lots of kids hang out in those stores, I'm sure if you spoke to one of the staff members or a manager, they'd know of a group of kids who would be dying for your books.

Perhaps someone here knows of a better locally owned game shop in LA that would be better to receive those books.
posted by pazazygeek at 4:38 PM on February 13, 2009

Call the schools and ask about getting in touch with the yearbook advisor. The students who put together the yearbook know all the clubs.
posted by amyms at 5:05 PM on February 13, 2009

Try Aero Hobbies in Santa Monica.
posted by equalpants at 6:00 PM on February 13, 2009

I think the older brother ~> younger brother links still live, as the world still contains brothers. Instead of stepping into the breach as the surrogate older brother, you can just go ahead and sell/donate those books to a local gaming store where the existing stock of older brothers can buy them used with the money they skimmed from the till of the convenience stores where they work.
posted by fleacircus at 6:16 PM on February 13, 2009

Also, maybe think outside of schools: homeless shelters that also have kids, battered women's shelters.

I have a friend who works with lots of schools, I will check with her and send you an email or you can send me an email off list.
posted by Vaike at 6:26 PM on February 13, 2009

p.s. I am a non geek geek. What is the age range for playing?
posted by Vaike at 6:27 PM on February 13, 2009

What is the age range for playing?

Most regularly? My favorite RPG memories are of several large games when I was 12 and 13. I've played before and since, infrequently.

But that's partly because I've had lots of other hobbies and commitments dividing my time. One of my babysitters taught me the basic BattleTech rules when I was 5. I hope to teach AD&D to grandkids when I'm 75. So I'd say anywhere in between there.
posted by roystgnr at 6:59 PM on February 13, 2009

What is the age range for playing?

I started at 12. Twenty-five or so years later, my gaming group spans ages 23 to 42.


And I concur with the comments above that suggest it may be hard to find pen-and-paper RPG fans in high schools. A gamer friend of mine introduced his son to AD&D a couple of years ago, and when the son took a liking to it and told his buddies, he had to field questions about what the graphics were like and what console it was on. Me, I would try a games store. The owners might well know a deserving bunch of teenagers who come by to browse and occasionally spend their allowance.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:31 PM on February 13, 2009

Pen and paper RPGs really aren't especially cool anymore, even for nerdy values of "cool". Most kids, even if they play, aren't going to expose themselves to the ridicule that a formal high school club would bring.

well, i know of one very active group of 11-13 yr olds that meets at a neighborhood game store on Friday afternoons to play D&D. there's another super-large group of boys around the same age that play on Saturday at the same store. there are also clubs at two of our local high schools that i know of, and that's without even trying to know about it. like they advertise very actively around the schools. this is Duluth MN, but i would guess this isn't some sort of crazy hotbed of pen/paper gaming. it might be, but i doubt it.

so i guess i disagree completely with your assessment. from what i understand, the younger kids are the same kids who play WoW, but whose dads are former RPGers and got them into the more freeing creativity that goes with pen/paper gaming. the high schoolers i know of picked it up because they're geeks, but being a geek is no longer uncool as far as i can tell, at least at the charter school where i sub.
posted by RedEmma at 8:05 PM on February 13, 2009

I graduated from high school last year, and no such club existed. I do think I knew some kids my age who played, but I think it was mostly through game stores and such. I'm sure you can find some independent board game/comic/RPG supplies/nerdery store in your area. The ones in my suburb were in the oldest mall in the area and a strip mall. Since there's probably at least one guy working there who'll be sympathetic to your cause (being a middle-aged player himself), you should be golden. Good luck.
posted by MadamM at 9:28 PM on February 13, 2009

Game stores are definitely the nucleus for gaming these days.

But, I feel I should point out that they may not be as sympathetic to your mission as others are so quick to suggest.

You see, game stores make their money off of roleplayers by selling game books. They encourage people to come and play in the store because they know that they'll sell more dice, sodas, and books that way. The GM will have some supplement guide, and one of the players will decide he's really interested, so he'll buy a copy. Or some new player won't have the player's guide, and realizes that his life would be much easier if he did. Or a group will switch from AD&D to Dark Conspiracy, and so the group buys out the entire store's supply. That kind of thing. I don't think my group ever made it through an in-store session without that somebody bought some book... even if it was just that the dude leveled up and finally had a reason to buy the $8 prestige class pamphlet.

So, while it's where you'll find the gamers, the store may not be especially friendly toward your desire to give away a metric fuckton of books. You're literally screwing them out of probably $500 in revenue if you have an average collection.
posted by Netzapper at 11:09 PM on February 13, 2009 [1 favorite]

I say, don't give into the naysayers on here. Here's some advce:

• Don't limit your search to just schools! Check out local libraries as they often have such specail-topics clubs for their patrons.
• If you're not adverse to the idea, call up the Campus/Student Activities offices at your local Colleges and Universities as well. Even the smallest of colleges tend to have thriving and diverse student organizations. My school on the east coast has it's own, all-encompassing, "Anime & Gaming Organization," which is all-inclusive on such geekery.
• Find an area Youth/Church Group or Teen Shelter that might benefit from having such a library.
• Got some time on your hands? Maybe you coud be a Big Brother to a kid who could use an older mentor like yourself, and share your interest in D&D together.

As for contacting the schools/colleges, I'd say call the main office or office for student/campus activities and ask if you can receive contact information for the advisor and/or president for their local gaming-related organization. Explain who you are and what you're looking to give to the group, and leave them your contact information.
I admire your desire to pass on your love of the hobby to pass onto the upcoming generation. I hope you find passing it on equally gratifying. Best of luck and let us know what you decide to do with the books!
posted by nayten at 11:53 AM on February 16, 2009