Chelsea High School’s Gamer’s Guild, a club for individuals with a shared love for tabletop gaming, has for two years now hosted a gaming tournament, and this year’s competition was by far more expansive than the one held last year. With teams coming to compete from several schools all across the state, the club had much to prepare before the competition on Saturday, April 6. Lori Campbell, organizer of the annual tournament, advisor of the Gamer’s Guild, and substitute teacher within the district, shouldered the responsibility of overseeing the planning of the tournament.
Much goes into planning any school event, but an event as big and complex as this one took a lot of work and many steps to secure. Campbell had a long list of things to do before the tournament could begin.
“[Planning includes] securing space, soliciting donations and making those community connections, recruiting dungeon masters, talking to other principals, advisors, and clubs, PR, rules, scheduling, brainstorming new things I think the kids will find exciting, set up, getting the CHS kids ready, information tables, thank yous, meeting with kids, DMs, and community donors after to ensure success the next year,” Campbell said.
The difficulties did not cease at the basic planning; even finding schools to participate was a challenge.
“It was difficult to find many gaming clubs,” Campbell said. “This year it was calls, emails, and flyers mailed to all schools within a one-hour radius of Chelsea.”
Even beyond that, Campbell works during the day and has to take care of her children and pets. Finding the time to be able to put everything together proved troublesome.
“The hardest part of tournament planning was the pressure I put on myself to make everything perfect,” Campbell said. “When I commit to something, I am all in. I do as much as possible on weekends, taking the two weeks before the tournament off from subbing.”
For both years it has been held, the Gamer’s Guild tournament has been planned in majority by Campbell herself, but neither the work of the Gamer’s Guild nor the tournament fell on Campbell alone.
“[Dungeon Masters] Rich Grimes, and Kadin Campbell (‘24), and former students Zach Handloser (‘19), and Erin Lightfoot (‘00), had all DMed for the tournament previously and gave me some fabulous ideas for how to make things smoother for DMs and players. They were able to make some valuable suggestions that I think made the tournament more exciting,” Campbell said.
As well as having help in the planning of the competition, Campbell was far from alone in running the club.
“I do want to recognize Travis Smalley for coming to almost all our Friday meetings and helping to develop some very strong players. CHS para professional Alec Woods was also able to come to a few of the meetings. Karen Kurcz was such an enthusiastic staff advisor. She’s amazing. Ms. Krug was also very generous in letting us take over the media center every Friday. I also want to recognize Walker Desai (‘17) for joining us as a DM this year,” Campbell said.
With the competition tirelessly planned out, the tournament proceeded nearly seamlessly. What commenced on Saturday, April 6 was an amiable and exciting competition that engaged players and promised both difficult gameplay and enticing rewards.
“All of the Dungeons and Dragons teams were able to play three rounds lasting two hours each, so six total hours of play. There were $2,180 in prizes for the players thanks to the generosity of many local businesses. Also, every DM brought in their own unique campaign for the students to play in. With four DMs, four unique worlds, and four different styles, the players had to be ready for absolutely anything,” Campbell said. “When the teams sat down at a table, they had no idea what they would be facing.”
Though it may have been a lot of work for everyone involved, the tournament proved to be a great success.
“There was a lot of feedback from players that they really enjoyed meeting and playing with kids from a larger geographical area,” Campbell said. “It worked out beautifully in the end.”
Now that the tournament has come to an end, the Gamer’s Guild has a lot to think about in preparation for next year, both in regards to the club and the tournament.
“The club and the tournament both need to find ways to bring some money in. We do not get funding from the school or the district, and will need to generate revenue to continue to grow,” Campbell said.
Although Campbell is handing the reins of the Gamer’s Guild to friends of the club and Dungeon Master Lightfoot, the club plans on hosting a similar event annually for Chelsea Schools’ many lovers of Dungeons and Dragons and Magic the Gathering.
“I truly love all my gaming students, and the tournament is such a fabulous opportunity for them to experience friendly competition with a supportive team. The only limit to how big the tournament can become is how much physical space we have!” Campbell said.
