Noah Johnson | Daily Press Brighton Denholm makes a move in a game of Dungeons and Dragons with Jim Gehling supervising.

ESCANABA — The Civic Center in Escanaba has a program where kids get to be elves, dwarves, warlocks, sorcerers and more.

Jim Gehling, board member of the Youth Assistance Program (YAP), is running a Dungeons and Dragons campaign every Tuesday from 12 to 4 p.m. at the Civic Center. Currently, the program is for sixth grade through ninth grade. Gehling said the idea came to him and he approached Parks and Recreation Director Kim Peterson about the idea.

“We talked about it and she put it on her site and the first day we had 14 kids sign up,” Gehling said.

Dungeons and Dragons, commonly referred to as DnD, is a tabletop role-playing game that has been around since the 1960s.

The game is in its fifth edition so there are substantial differences between today’s game and the past. However, the core idea of the game is the same.

To begin the campaign, the “dungeon master” sets up a scenario, such as a library with a man sitting at a table and reading a book. The characters or players walk into the room and decide what their characters are going to do.

“It’s like a movie in which the actors decide what they’re going to do,” Gehling said.

The difference is for the players, there is no script.

“Each of the characters run their own persons and see what they want to do and they’ll decide (that) well, I want to go and talk to that guy (or) I want to look for secret doors,” he said.

Once the scenario is set, players will role the die to determine the next move.

“At that point, they look at their sheet, and each character has different strengths and weaknesses and they add up any bonuses or subtract any minuses they have because of what kind of a character they have. That determines whether or not they succeeded at what they do,” Gehling explained.

Players need to roll a certain amount to pass the difficulty level, whether that be opening a secret door, defeating a monster or climbing up a tall tower.

On top of the game being fun, Gehling said it offers an educational component. The game requires players to do math problems in their heads when adding up bonuses or subtracting minuses. The game also requires teamwork, players have to work together to progress in the campaign.

“They have to work together. They can’t work against each other, if somebody has a necklace somebody else can’t come and steal it and beat them up and take it. They have to work together as a team, so they learn team spirit things,” Gehling said.

Additionally, the game makes players critically think about their next move which can help them in their real life.

“They’re starting to learn critical thinking which is going to help them throughout their life. Rather than just jump in look at the data, look at the facts think about the different options that you have and what are the consequences of things you should do. So, it’s learning how to live life through a game,” he said.

DnD is a game that never stops and can never be won, it is all about survival.

“You can never win this game. It will continue as long as you want to play and you can’t lose because even if you die, you just roll up a new character,” Gehling said.

Gehling said he encourages others to give DnD a chance, and if you don’t like it, that’s okay.

“It is not for everybody. Some kids, you know, they tried it really wasn’t for them and that’s you know, just like people who try football and they don’t like it.”

A few players spoke about what they liked about the game as well as the friendships they make.

Trinity Pepin, a sorceress, said she’s not really a game person, but wanted to try something new.

“It was an opportunity to try something new with my sister,” Pepin said.

Brighton Denholm, a wood elf, said he likes the game because he gets to see his friends.

“It’s just really nice and fun,” Denholm said.

Lucas Pastorick, a sorcerer, said he likes the game because it gets him out of the house.

“My favorite part is it gets me out of the house for a bit and I get to make new friends,” Pastorick said.

If this type of game sounds interesting to you, Gehling still has room for more players. If players want to sign up, all you have to do is show up at the Civic Center on Tuesdays between 12 and 4 p.m. When school starts back, the hours will go to 3 to 6 p.m.

“They’re welcome to come in anytime they want. I provide everything, I provide the dice, I provide the character sheets the miniatures,” Gehling said.

On top of all that, players get to listen to music and snack on Gehling’s homemade brownies.

For more details, call the Civic Center at 906-786-4141.