Dungeons and Dragons in the Composition Classroom

[#1]

Assignment by Leah Washburn, Bedford New Scholar 2021

Introducing an essay prompt through games and critical thinking

Materials Needed (for printing and running the campaign)

• List of 20 random riddles for Rangers
• 7 Narration Sheets for each room laminated (paper)
• 7 sets of Trap Cards for each rogue
• 7 sets of Character sheets laminated (42 total)
• 7 counterspells cards (same as trap cards)
• 7 Ranger riddle sheets
• A few D20s for the checks (really 1 per group)
• DM instructions
• Candy
• Essay 3 prompt

(See materials attached)

Dungeons and Dragons 1B Notes

Tasks

Task 1: Organizing Paragraphs

• Modified version of the cut/paste method; groups given a short essay chopped into pieces. They have to rearrange it then reverse outline it
• Based on that result, DM decides if they get advantage, disadvantage, or straight DC for an INTELLIGENCE check. If they pass yay, if not they have to come up with a different organization for the information
• Fighter Challenge: logical fallacies, fighter clue: altered hint

Task 2: Citation

• Given a paragraph and endnote citation and have to mark it with MLA formatting
• Fighter Challenge: Logical fallacies matching test; fighter clue Purdue OWL page on citation

Task 3: Analyzing Story

• Teams are given a short story to analyze and write up a paragraph explaining their interpretation🡪what it’s doing, why it’s doing, what the author is trying to do, etc.
• Like previous task depending on the result, the DM decides if they get advantage, disadvantage, or straight DC for a WISDOM check. If they pass, they move on, if not they have to try again with a different paragraph.
• Fighter Challenge: Fantasy Einstein puzzle; Fighter clue: an annotated story (annotations made by the DM)

Task 4: Convincing the Sentry

• Teams must present an oral argument to the DM sentry to gain access to the final chamber. They must explain WHY THEY DESERVE TO ENTER THE CHAMBER. They may use any argumentative tactics at their disposal. One person will act as the speaker for the group
• Like previous tasks, depending on the strength of their argument, they have to pass a DC CHARISMA check. If they fail, another person in the group must try again. AND they get a penalty of they have to wait 2 minutes before approaching the sentry again
• Fighter Challenge: none

Characters
6 Class choices and teams can only have one of each class. They will be choosing what Class they don’t want on their team.

Stats should equal a total of +10 in the character traits.

RANGER

Stats

• Strength +1
• Dexterity +3
• Constitution +1
• Intelligence +2
• Wisdom +3
• Charisma +0

Special Skills

• Scout Ahead: can scout the room ahead of them to see what tasks await them. Recharges every 20 min.
• Disable Traps: can disable a trap left by a previous team by solving a quick riddle. They have 90 seconds to solve the riddle. If they get it right, the trap is completely disabled, if they get it wrong the penalty time is halved but still in place.
  Recharges every 15 min
• Track: may inquire about another team’s progress. Recharges every 15 minutes

ROGUE

Stats

• Strength +0
• Dexterity +4
• Constitution +1
• Intelligence +2
• Wisdom +1
• Charisma +2

Special Skills

• Spy: has the ability to sit in on another group’s conversation for 5 min. Cannot communicate with their group or the group they’re spying on. They just have to observe. Recharges every 20 min.
• Set Traps: can leave a trap in the room the group is leaving the trap can be one of three choices below. The Rogue has access to ONE of each trap. Once it is used, it cannot be used again. The must Roll a d20 to see how successful their trap is, adding their dexterity modifier.
  • Trap 1 (Net): Time out penalty for the entire group. The group may not move on or access the next task for 5-10 MIN depending on the strength
    of the Rogues dexterity roll
  • Trap 2 (Trip wire): Time penalty for one player. A single player may not participate in their team’s conversation for 5 minutes depending on the strength of the Rogue’s dexterity roll. If the group moves to the next room, THE TIME PENALTY STILL AFFECTS THIS PLAYER. The rogue
    may choose to target a specific class who enters the next room, BUT if that team does not have that class in their party, a random target activates their trap and the penalty time is halved.
  • Trap 3 (Sabotage): Sabotage information. The party affected gets access to spotty information. The Rogue may choose whether they get poor instructions or poor materials to work with.
• Steal: Can steal 1 perk from another team. The perk is randomly determined by a D6 roll. Can be used twice.

FIGHTER

Stats

• Strength +4
• Dexterity +2
• Constitution +2
• Intelligence +0
• Wisdom +1
• Charisma +1

Special Skills

• Fighter Challenge: May attempt the fighter challenge ONCE PER TASK which will allow their team to access a substantial hint to help them along the way
  • Task 1 Hint: Print out of Purdue Owl citation page corresponding to that citation
  • Task 2: Completed version of essay so the group just has to reverse outline
  • Task 3: Annotated version of the story
  • Task 4: N/A
• Sacrifice: can take a trap for another player, taking the time penalty for themselves. Only applicable for trap 2. Can only use twice.
• Take one for the team: Can choose chose to take a trap that is not trap 2 BUT they lose access to all future fighter challenges.

BARD

Stats

• Strength +0
• Dexterity +3
• Constitution +0
• Intelligence +1
• Wisdom +2
• Charisma +4
  

Special Skills

• Inspiration: Can provide aid to a party member by singing a song, reciting an inspirational quote, or any other type of performance. This can only be done after a failed roll. Recharges every 30 min. The dice rolled depends on the DMs appreciation of the performance.
  • Okay: D6
  • Wow: D8
  • You’re too much but I love it: D10
• Charm: Can bring a player from another team over to their party for 5 min. The player is charmed and must do whatever the bard commands INCLUDING USING THEIR SPECIAL SKILLS. Can only be used 2 times.
• Are you sure?: Roll a D4 and add that to any existing DC for the party. Can only be used 4 times per game.

WIZARD

Stats

• Strength +1
• Dexterity +2
• Constitution +1
• Intelligence +3
• Wisdom +2
• Charisma +1

Special Skills

• Consult the Sages: May access the internet on any 1 DEVICE for five minutes. Recharges every 20 min.
• Teleport: May move an entire party back to a previous room where they have to repeat the previous task. May only be used once per game.
• Counterspell: Negates a trap, debuff, or a spell placed on them by another team. (i.e. can negate a Charm spell and teleport). May only be used once per game.

CLERIC

Stats

• Strength +2
• Dexterity +0
• Constitution +3
• Intelligence +1
• Wisdom +3
• Charisma +1

Special Skills

• Call for aid: asks a set number of questions of the DM depending on the Wisdom DC. The DM must answer truthfully, although can be sneaky if the questions are worded poorly. Recharges every 30 min
• Heal: can heal a team member who has been affected by a trap. Recharges every 30 min. If the cleric is the one affected by the trap, can do nothing
• Divine Interference: may request a hint for the task from the DM Can only be used once per task. THESE HINTS SHOULD BE LESS SUBSTANTIAL THAN THOSE GIVEN AS REWARDS TO THE FIGHTER CHALLENGE.
  

Note: The teams will not know what stat trait each DC check is. It should be a surprise.

For more support for playing Leah's D&D game in the comp room download the materials attached to this post.

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