The Lumberjack



Students Serving The Cal Poly Humboldt Campus and Community Since 1929

Tag: games

  • The fantastical world of D&D

    The fantastical world of D&D

    by Alina Ferguson

    Roll the dice. Feel the pressure. You are rolling to see if you will make it out alive, or to sneak away from danger. 

    Cal Poly Humboldt has many things to offer. One thing that people may not be aware of is the very active Dungeons and Dragons scene. 

    Dungeons and Dragons, also known as D&D, is a tabletop fantasy role playing game that often takes place over a series of campaigns. You become a part of a story, creating a character and playing through scenarios that the Dungeon Master, or ‘DM’, envisions. 

    It is common in the D&D world to refer to the DM as a sort of God, who creates the imaginary world that the campaign takes place in. It does not always have to be Earth. It can be anywhere and anytime. 

    The community is very friendly and always welcoming of new players. Cal Poly Humboldt student William Bellairs is a geospatial and technology major who has been playing D&D on and off since high school. He enjoys the communal and imaginative experience of the game.

    Photo by Alina Ferguson. The Solar Nuawlen campaign enjoying a game night.

    “I really love the collaborative storytelling aspect, how you can get a group of people all invested in something that each person is in part responsible for,” said Bellairs. “I haven’t played with anyone on campus, but I have some friends who do or who are looking to.” 

    Another facet that brings people together for D&D is the character art. Artists bring their characters to life and even do commissions to illustrate other player’s characters.

    Chris Talso, a student at Cal Poly Humboldt, runs a campaign called “Solar Nuawlen” with players studying at both Cal Poly Humboldt and College of the Redwoods. Nuawlen is the name of the planet that the campaign takes place on; a post-apocalyptic earth. 

    “Basically, Earth right now went through some type of apocalypse,” described Talso. “It sent Earth to dinosaur times and it had to evolve back. Then quite a few million years later, instead of having a focus on science, the new races and humanoid people of the planet now are focusing on magic. There’s quite a few people on this planet. They have brought a whole new life to the world. All the continents of the world have Pangaea-d again.”

    Throughout D&D campaigns, there are multiple different side quests that the party goes on. Solar Nuawlen was on a random little side mission to bring back the perfect Griffowl to the home dimension. A Griffowl is an owl and cat mixed together. 

    Judah Benson, an environmental science management and restoration major has played D&D on and off for over five years, and currently plays at school. Her current character has different moods that are based on the seasons. She plays a male character, because she can.  

    “It’s like video games but less expensive and less rules,” said Benson. “A good game if you’ve got a lot of creative friends!”

  • 6 Modern Board Games You’ve Never Heard Of

    6 Modern Board Games You’ve Never Heard Of

    Board games don’t have to be boring if you find the right fit

    When you hear “board game,” you might think of games like “Monopoly,” “Scrabble,” “Clue” or “Sorry.” Those games are classics, but they can suck.

    Luckily, an explosion of new board game designs in recent years has created a thriving modern board game scene.

    Many of these games are crap, immensely complicated or so dry they would bore even your grandparents. But some are actually fun.

    I’ve been playing board games for years. Here are some of my most accessible favorites for various crowds.

    For the actor:

    “Monikers” is charades, but with a reliable set of cards to act out. To make things better, Monikers offers three rounds of increasing difficulty.

    In the first round, you can do anything and say anything but the title of your card to try to get your friends to guess what’s on the card. In the second round, you get one word. In the third, you get only your miming ability. Monikers makes you laugh.

    Monikers. | Photo by James Wilde

    For the detective:

    “Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective” hands you a pamphlet for a crime mystery and tells you to go solve it. You and your friends work together, going to locations on a map to find clues or reading from facsimile newspapers to find leads.

    The goal is to use as few clues as possible to solve the case. The game is reading-intensive and the cases often involve illogical jumps, but if you’ve ever wanted to be a detective this is probably the closest you can get without actually becoming one.

    Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective. | Photo by James Wilde

    For the artist:

    “A Fake Artist Goes to New York” begins with everyone secretly receiving the same object to draw. However, one player, the fake artist, has no idea what they’re supposed to be drawing.

    Everyone goes around in a circle adding one line to the same drawing, and the players must then suss out who the fake artist is, before the fake artist successfully guesses what the object is. Bonus points to this game for coming in a tiny box.

    A Fake Artist Goes to New York. | Photo by James Wilde

    For the talker:

    “Funemployed” is like a riff on “Monikers.” You get a hand of cards with varying words on them. When it’s your turn, you have to “apply” for a a job determined by a card drawn from a deck. Essentially, you’re giving your pitch in front of your friends.

    The catch is that in your pitch, you have to include the terms from all of the cards in your hand. Good luck fitting “Fifty Cats” or “Scientology” into your pitch for that internship. Another game that’s guaranteed to make you laugh, so long as you play with people comfortable ad-libbing and talking a lot.

    Funemployed. | Photo by James Wilde

    For the gambler:

    “Lords of Vegas” makes you into a prospective businessperson setting out to build Las Vegas. Compete with your friends to buy lots, build casinos, and talk your way into questionable trades to win the game.

    It’s also very probable that at some point you’ll gamble your money at another player’s casino and lose everything. This game is basically what Monopoly should be. It’s also a little more complex than other games on this list.

    Lords of Vegas. | Photo by James Wilde

    For the storyteller:

    “Tales of the Arabian Nights” is a choose-your-own-adventure book on steroids. You and your friends traverse around a map while reading from a booklet of stories and choosing your reaction to said stories.

    There’s not much of a game here. Mostly, there are lots of laughs as your character gets captured by fire worshippers, turned into an elephant or has some other bizarre encounter. I recommend using the app to streamline the choose-your-own-adventure part.

    Tales of the Arabian Nights. | Photo by James Wilde
  • High school friendships can change and that’s okay

    High school friendships can change and that’s okay

    By Ashley Groze

    It seems when I was in high school I never did find my place. Of course I had tons of “friends” whom I would see on campus or at games that I would say hey to. But the group of friends that I mainly kicked it with during break and lunch were friends that I’ve known since grade school. We will always have a bond, but the bond is there because of the years we’ve spent together. I have friends that I’ve met in college that I feel like I’ve known my whole life.

    Over break, I reflected whom I still remain close to and whom I’ve drifted from. It seems that many people don’t find their place until after high school. There are many different places the high school friends veer toward:

    • The One Who Ghosted but Instantly Reconnects in Person
    • The One Who’s Always There for You
    • The One You Didn’t Want to Bump into but You Have an Unfortunately Small Hometown
    • The One Who Drastically Changed
    • The One Who Still Thinks We’re in High School
    • The One Who Peaked in High School
    • The One Who Went to Harvard
    • The One Who’s Now a Stoner
    • The One that Has Two Kids
    • The One Who’s Already Landed Five Internships
    • The One You Realize Was Never Actually Your Friend

    There are friends that remain in touch through social media, but the relationship never extends past a like or a share. The main point is, reconnecting with high school friends is usually bittersweet because either you change, they change or you both do.

    Sometimes this change is good. Sometimes you both matured and you share stories for inspiration. In other situations, this change creates tension and pushes you apart. The friendship slowly drifts because you just don’t talk as much and you’re not in each other’s lives anymore.

    Although we had four weeks off this break, I chose to spend only 10 days of it at home.

    I realized when I’m home, I’m not happy. Humboldt is where my life is at. Guiltily but truthfully, I’m admitting that I simply don’t feel as close to certain people from back home anymore. There are places I’d rather be exploring and other college friends whom I want to spend time with.

    Though it’s depressing, drifting is natural. When you make memories with new people, it becomes apparent how desolate the memories of your old friendships are, especially when my college friends were there for me during my struggles while high school friends weren’t. I learned to depend on my newer friends for support.

    We need friends to be stable and accessible. The bitterest realization I ever made was when I thought to myself, “You weren’t there for me when I needed you and I got through it. So I don’t need you.”

    If I saw some of my high school friends today, it just wouldn’t be the same. One of the most hopeless feelings in the world is chasing after something when it’s already gone.

    With that in mind, what will never change is the impact these people had on me. To many, high school would be considered our formative years, and the people who surrounded me in high school influenced and shaped me into the respectable person I am today. The friends I made in high school will always be a part of me. Wherever we go out into the world, I know that in a way we’re always going to be connected.