Victoria Powell stacks dice as she tries to decide which ones to use during a Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game session on Saturday in Marietta. (Photo by Michelle Dillon)

MARIETTA — Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) is a roleplaying game that has been played by people for more than 50 years, including in the Mid-Ohio Valley.

D&D is the world’s most popular tabletop roleplaying game and is a cooperative, storytelling game where players take on the roles of different characters within a story where they make friends and enemies, fight monsters, discover loot and complete quests, according to D&D Beyond’s website. D&D Beyond is a D&D tool made by Wizards of the Coast LLC, a subdivision of Hasbro Inc., and the owner of the game.

John Powell and his wife Victoria Powell are Marietta residents who play D&D. John Powell is the Dungeon Master (DM), the game’s term for the person who runs the game, for a D&D fifth edition game for people aged 14 and up that just started in Marietta at the BB2C Markespace at 107 Lancaster Street. It will meet the second Saturday of every month from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

The first gaming session was held on Saturday, according to John Powell.

Victoria Powell said she and John decided to have the game at BB2C Makerspace because she works there.

Gary Salter, left, attacks a troll while David Carpenter, right, gives advice during a Dungeons and Dragons session at Lost Legion Games and Comics Sunday. Fellow adventurer Aaron Gaskins and Dungeon Master Kevin Oliphant follow the action. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)

John Powell and Victoria Powell grew up in Meigs County Ohio and their parents played D&D together in high school. Victoria’s mother taught her how to play D&D she said, and John Powell said he taught himself how to play.

They decided to start the game in Marietta because they wanted in-person connection according to Victoria Powell.

“During COVID it was really hard to connect with a bunch of players and we had to do it all digitally and it’s just not quite the same experience,” Victoria Powell said.

A lot of people have asked about the game and they even saw interest from parents for their children to play. They will soon be starting a childrens’ D&D gaming session for those 14 and under at the BB2C Makerspace.

Victoria Powell thinks that parents want their children to learn D&D because of the math and narrative storytelling skills they can learn and for the fun social interactions.

Dungeon Master Kevin Oliphant leads a troll attack against adventurers during a Dungeons and Dragons session at Lost Legion Games and Comics Sunday. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)

“I think it’s a lot of storytelling and just being around other people, it’s a great opportunity to meet people,” Victoria Powell said.

The children’s D&D session they are starting is not the only way for children to play D&D in Marietta. There is also a D&D club at Marietta High School, according to Victoria Powell.

On Saturday one of the players that showed up for the game was John Powell’s uncle, David Powell. He used to play D&D with both John Powell and Victoria Powell’s parents.

David Powell said that growing up playing D&D in the 1970s and 1980s was a really good way to pretend and to be able to be something you couldn’t normally be.

“It allowed you to express yourself at a time when expressing yourself wasn’t really approved by everybody,” David Powell said. “As an older guy I was supposed to hold all my feelings in and all that stuff. (I) didn’t have to in D&D.”

Pictured above is a 3D map that players will be able to use the second Saturday of every month when playing a D&D roleplaying game session at the BB2C Makerspace in Marietta. The 3D map was made in-house at the BB2C Makerspace. (Photo by Michelle Dillon)

Players can use figurines to represent their characters during D&D and the BB2C Makerspace can help with that. People can design and print miniatures there, Victoria Powell said.

She made a 3D game map and some figures that players will be able to use during the game. All of them were made in-house at the BB2C Makerspace, Victoria Powell said.

David Powell said there are a lot of rules in D&D and they can be intimidating, but they are there to help you enjoy yourself.

If you have an idea about what you want to do with your character, your DM can help you figure out how to do so, because D&D is more about ideas than the rules, according to David Powell.

“That’s special,” David Powell said.

For questions about the adult or children’s game with the Powells, contact Victoria Powell at vfpowell@BB2Career.org.

To learn more about the BB2C Makerspace at https://www.bb2careers.org/makerspace.

Marietta is not the only place where people play D&D in the MOV. Jackson Hartenstine volunteers at and runs games in Vienna at Lost Legions Games & Comics at 517 21st St.

Hartenshine said that D&D game sessions have been going on at Lost Legions since 2014. He runs a D&D fifth edition gaming session every Sunday.

There are four other groups that play D&D and one group that plays Pathfinder, another tabletop roleplaying game, at Lost Legions. In total 60 to 89 people play in these groups, so there are a lot of people playing, Hartenshine said.

Hartenshine said that the amount of people playing D&D has picked up because of celebrities.

“Mostly it’s the (celebrities), the movies, the TV shows, the cartoons (that) have brought more people into the hobby, which is good for the hobby,” he said.

Hartenshine sees people of all ages playing. Some people even bring their children in to play, though there is a general level of maturity needed to play, so he doesn’t suggest kids under 12 play.

Hartenshine said some of the gaming groups are kid friendly and that there are kid friendly role playing games for which Lost Legion sells the books and supplies.

He said has played every edition of D&D there is, and that while some of the games are still majority male, there are more women than ever before playing the game.

“It was always seen as kind of a guy’s hobby,” Hartenshine said. “It’s no longer just a guy’s hobby. It’s a hobby for everyone”.

According to Hartenshine there are several ways to find D&D and other role playing gaming sessions in the MOV. Lost Legions has a whiteboard for locals to advertise games or to seek games with openings. There are also online bulletin boards, Reddit boards, and other ways to find games listed online.

There even used to be a D&D club at Parkersburg High School, he said.

Hartenshine thinks it’s a shame this isn’t one anymore.

“Especially kids nowadays, (they) need to be able to socialize face to face,” he said. “Everything’s all screen time anymore. Things like D&D clubs allow kids, adolescent people, to learn to socialize.”

To learn more about Lost Legion visit their Facebook page.

Michelle Dillon can be reached at mdillon@newsandsentinel.com.