Gaming with students
- Thread starter nakia
- Start date
Stormborn
Explorer
I would just say be careful. I have been a proffesor or on staff at 3 different universities/colleges and know that each one has a very different atmosphere when it comes to faculty/staff-student relations, even if in print their polcies were basically the same. At one it was not uncommon, although not publisized either, for students and faculty to date in situations where the student was not enrolled in the staff memebers courses, and certainly friendships were common and openly acceptable. At other places this was certainly not the case and a distance had to be maintained between Faculty and Students.
The difference between a pick up game of basket ball and an RPG is significant. The RPG is more social, and creates different ties.
Talk to a friend who works there about the issue, and proceed with caution. Personally I would think it safe to start as even an unofficial gaming club on campus than a purelly social gathering. The unofficial club might either become official or move off campus to the social, but a club is safer place to start.
The difference between a pick up game of basket ball and an RPG is significant. The RPG is more social, and creates different ties.
Talk to a friend who works there about the issue, and proceed with caution. Personally I would think it safe to start as even an unofficial gaming club on campus than a purelly social gathering. The unofficial club might either become official or move off campus to the social, but a club is safer place to start.
nakia
First Post
Stormborn said:
Thanks, Stormborn. The university culture is one I am still trying to figure out and has important bearing on the situation. For a long time, my university was primarily a commuter school, so little outside of class interaction between student and teacher was probably the norm. That has begun to change recently, although I would describe the atmosphere as a little more distant than other universities at which I have been. But I don't want to date anyone (I'm happily married), I just want to kill some monsters and take their stuff.
shilsen
Adventurer
My first D&D experience was with a group which a student I was currently teaching played in. I played in the group for close to a year, and there were always 1 or 2 of my current students in it. I was quite open to my colleagues and superiors about it, and I never had any trouble at all.
Mark Chance
Boingy! Boingy!
I wouldn't do it, but I'm something of an essentialist, a philosophical position of distinguished pedigree that has been tarnished by modern interpretations. YMMV.
nakia
First Post
Just a quick follow up and an amusing story:
I was able to contact some of the students who game on campus. It turns out they run a fairly extensive RPGA/Living Arcanis series of games in the commons of one of the large dorms on campus. They were running a game at 3:00 today, so I stopped by on my way out of the office.
A couple of students I had in my class this semester were there playing and seemed pleasantly suprised to see me. One fellow asked "How long have you been playing D&D?" I then asked him, "How old are you?" He said "18." I say "about as long as you've been alive."
The afternoon continued about the same way. Another guy asked me if I started playing when 2nd edition was out. I told him I started with the Red Box Basic Set. His response "whoah."
The leader of this crew (I really couldn't tell if he was playing the game or kinda supervising; it may have been some RPGA thing) and I talked a bit more. I told him I had run a 3.0/3.5 campaign for about two years before I moved and had played in games during the same time. He was nice enough. I told him I wasn't in the RPGA, but was interested in running a game of some sort, even if if wasn't an RPGA game. He says to me "Well, you may want to play for awhile first. The 3.5 rules take a little getting used to."
I wasn't sure what to say. Am I old and out of touch? Did he miss the part when I said I ran a 3.0/3.5 game for two years? Or is it some RPGA thing? All in all, it was a good experience to meet those guys and I hope to get some players out of the whole deal, but that last statement was a little wierd.
The upside was that the group is organized and at least semi-sanctioned, so having a professor involved wouldn't be that big a deal.
I was able to contact some of the students who game on campus. It turns out they run a fairly extensive RPGA/Living Arcanis series of games in the commons of one of the large dorms on campus. They were running a game at 3:00 today, so I stopped by on my way out of the office.
A couple of students I had in my class this semester were there playing and seemed pleasantly suprised to see me. One fellow asked "How long have you been playing D&D?" I then asked him, "How old are you?" He said "18." I say "about as long as you've been alive."
The afternoon continued about the same way. Another guy asked me if I started playing when 2nd edition was out. I told him I started with the Red Box Basic Set. His response "whoah."
The leader of this crew (I really couldn't tell if he was playing the game or kinda supervising; it may have been some RPGA thing) and I talked a bit more. I told him I had run a 3.0/3.5 campaign for about two years before I moved and had played in games during the same time. He was nice enough. I told him I wasn't in the RPGA, but was interested in running a game of some sort, even if if wasn't an RPGA game. He says to me "Well, you may want to play for awhile first. The 3.5 rules take a little getting used to."
I wasn't sure what to say. Am I old and out of touch? Did he miss the part when I said I ran a 3.0/3.5 game for two years? Or is it some RPGA thing? All in all, it was a good experience to meet those guys and I hope to get some players out of the whole deal, but that last statement was a little wierd.
The upside was that the group is organized and at least semi-sanctioned, so having a professor involved wouldn't be that big a deal.
