By STEVEN JUPITER
Would you like to be a wizard? The pointed hat, the flowing robes, the gnarled staff, the spells, oh yes, definitely the spells…it’s all just so enticing to a kid with an eager imagination. Or maybe your thing is crazy Japanese critters with names like Ghetsis, Acerola, or Xerosic, in which case game of Pokémon may be more your speed. But whether you prefer to assume a role or simply control an army of characters, you and/or your kids can find your groove with Eric Drzewianowski at the Brandon Free Public Library.
Mr. Drzewianowski, a professional bookbinder, leather worker, and self-professed “nerd” who works part time at the library, has organized and led gaming clubs there that focus on Pokémon, Magic: The Gathering, and Dungeons & Dragons. The clubs are free, require no prior experience, and are open to ages 5 and up.
Pokémon is a “trading card” games, in which players collect and deploy specially made cards that depict characters who are pitted against each other in battles for dominance. There are thousands of characters, each of which has specific powers and abilities that allow it to vanquish other characters or withstand certain types of attacks. The cards are richly illustrated and highly collectible as art, especially the rarer, flashier cards (though there are 3,000 Pokémon characters, about 100 of the most popular ones form the bulk of most players’ collections). No cards are lost during the game; kids can trade cards with one another if they wish to swap out characters in their decks, but the rules of the game do not require surrender of cards to other players.
“It’s a simple game to learn,” said Drzewianowski. “Little kids can pick it up. It’s a good game for families to play at home on game night.”
The Pokémon Club has been a big success at the library, drawing anywhere from 16 to 25 kids on any given Tuesday (the club meets from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.). Any child who wants to learn is welcome to join and will be given a starter deck to begin play (they can keep the deck after they’ve attended a few club meetings). Drzewianowski estimates he’s distributed over 25 decks since the club formed. And the club’s growth also prompted him to seek outside funding to keep up with demand.
“We got some grant money, and I was even able to buy some of the rarer cards that the kids wanted,” said Drzewianowski. The gaming clubs received $2,500 from the Walter Cerf Foundation (specifically for Pokémon), about $2,000 from the Livak Foundation, $500 from Nifty Thrifty, and $100 from the Brandon Area Toy Project.
Much of the grant money was used to fund the Pokémon camp that the library ran this past summer. The camp was a big success, enrolling 14 kids who met from 12 to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. The camp culminated in a tournament with prizes. The library will offer another Pokémon camp during February school vacation and again next summer.
“Working with kids all day long, I learned a huge appreciation for teachers,” laughed Dzrewianowski.
Magic: The Gathering (MTG) is another popular trading-card game kids can learn at the library. A bit more complex than Pokémon, it’s more suitable for kids 11 and older. In MTG, players are “Planeswalkers” who travel between dimensions (planes) and do battle with one another, by casting spells, wielding artifacts, and summoning creatures, all of which depend on the specific cards that a player holds in their deck. MTG cards are more expensive than Pokémon cards, so the library MTG club plays a version called “Commander” in which cards can be printed at home rather than purchased. The MTG club meets at the library on Tuesdays from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. and usually has 8 or 9 members.
And then, of course, there’s the classic role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, known widely as D & D. The structure of D & D is very different from the trading-card games in that the players take on roles themselves and immerse themselves in an ongoing story (“campaign”). The roles will be familiar to anyone who enjoys Lord of the Rings and other fantasy literature/movies: wizards, elves, clerics, etc. The narrative is controlled by someone who acts as Dungeon Master (DM) and who essentially creates the world in which the campaign takes place. The length and complexity of play make D & D appropriate for older kids and adults.
“D & D is great for teens because you get to try on different personas,” said Drzewianowski. “You can play as the character you always saw yourself as in your head.”
Campaigns can last days, weeks, months or even years. Drzewianowski once played a campaign that lasted three years.
The D & D club meets every other week.
Drzewianowski is aided in these gaming clubs by Cary Palmer, who recently moved to the area from Florida and had been a judge for Pokémon and MTG tournaments down there.
“Cary has definitely taught me things I didn’t even know,” said Drzewianowski. In fact, mutual assistance is key to the clubs. More experienced players help out newcomers.
“It’s to everyone’s advantage to help boost the quality of play, so the older kids want to teach the younger ones how to improve.”
There are also gaming stores in Middlebury and Rutland for anyone interested in exploring this world with their kids, or even for themselves.
“The big thing is social interaction,” said Drzrewianowski. “It teaches kids how to interact with other kids. It teaches sportsmanship. We always end with ‘good game,’ no matter how it went. We really just want to build a good community.”
