Dungeons Yes & Dragons
It is your turn for action!
Words by Orlando Callegari Jr.
When you step into the Spring Hall theater at the Williams Center you step into a different world. Swords, skeletons and lights decorate the theater in addition to stuffed dragons and unicorns. Mood music plays along with the occasional dragon’s growl or a wolf’s howl.
Dungeons YES & Dragons is run by Eddy and Beth Rolon, two halves of the one couple that assumes control over the Williams Center every other Monday. With the couple’s lively take on the popular strategy game, players are transported to a new world full of fantasy and adventure. Play groups are separated by age: first kids at 6:00pm, teens at 7:15pm and adults at 8:30pm.
Instead of a typical table-top, players sit in the theater’s balcony seating and toss giant soft die to the stage where Eddy Rolon leads the game as Dungeon Master. Boisterous and jovial, Rolon is the perfect host for a game like this which requires imagination and improvisation. The former MMA fighter says this about his audiences: “The silliest group is the teenagers. Kids are more serious. The adults are a mixed bag.” He continues, “it is definitely different than the show or the game. It’s as serious or silly as you want it to be.”
For the uninitiated (or those whose knowledge of the game extends no further than the few snippets viewed on Netflix’s ‘Stranger Things’), it’s a role-playing, turn-based game in which players choose a character or game avatar that they play as. This character’s abilities and powers are determined before the game begins and consist of magical abilities, strength, speed and health. Once the game starts the players take turns by calling out what their player will do next. They can either explore the terrain or do battle with whatever the Dungeon Master throws at them. They can cast spells, swing swords or flee when necessary. The Dungeon Master and the roll of the die determines the outcome.
Created in 1974 by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, the game has only grown in popularity, gaining a significant boost in the last decade. With expansion packs and multiple accessories, there’s always more for the well-seasoned player. For newcomers, Dungeons YES & Dragons offers the perfect springboard to get started. The Rolons create a warm and welcoming atmosphere that is just as much a performance as it is gameplay.
Parent, Adam Wolf, stopped by with his daughter and her friend for the first time this February. “I saw that Soldato (book store) just moved here and I thought it would be good to bring the kids. Get them off the tablets and using their brains,” he said.
He’s not wrong. With lots of improv, problem solving and creative thinking the game allows for plenty of thought in an incredibly entertaining package.
Tickets for Dungeons YES & Dragons events can be found at viewcy.com/e/dungeons_yes__drago_3
For more information about The Williams Center and to arrange to speak to a company spokesperson, please contact Jordan Fried at 201-613-1844 or info@williamscenter.co
