by Ed Fortune
“Let’s pretend” is one of the most important games we play as kids. Exploring the world in a safe and friendly environment is vital, and in a way, table-top gaming is a progression of this process, allowing people to add structure to play as they mature and still benefit from the power of imagination. Adventures! Journey Through Dungeons with Dragons is a bold attempt to introduce the stage version of fantasy tabletop gaming to young kids.
Adventures! is a super-simplified version of a live-action improvised fantasy RPG show. Our dungeon master is Donal Vaughan, a soft-spoken, Dublin-born, award-winning comedian who has a quick sense of humour and beyond legendary patience. He’s assisted each show by two other comedians who take on other D&D roles, as well as a member of the public. In the show, we saw this was a 10-year-old boy who wasn’t shy and was having the time of their life playing a fantasy game.
The game elements are quite simplified – it’s an oversized comedy 6-sided dice instead of a d20, the rules of the game are very stripped down and audience interaction uses a Wheel of Fortune-style tool to slow down audience participation. Children have no inhibitions when it comes to making suggestions to the performers. This does mean, however, that Donal, as Dungeon Master, has to keep the pace very steady, so there’s little room for creative chaos from the other performers, which is the hallmark of this style of show. It’s okay, though; a room full of young minds contains plenty of anarchy for everyone!
Entertaining children can be tough. Kids have a famously short attention span, and it can be a challenge to find something to keep them entertained, especially as the end of summer looms. Donal is incredibly skilled at keeping the littluns distracted for about a blessed hour with fantasy TTRPGs and silly stories.
Adventures! Journey through Dungeons with Dragons is a fun little show and entertaining enough for the adults that come with kids. Fantastic fun for children!
You can find out more about Donal’s work here.
