Last Friday, Goshen and Dragons hosted storytellers and adventurers alike to celebrate their shared love of the tabletop role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons. This marks the fourth year the organization has held the event, aiming to fulfill their mission of “building a network of community members interested in D&D around the Michiana Region,” as stated in the opening announcements. 

Since its inception in 2021, the event has experienced exponential growth, evolving from a small one-day gathering in the ballroom of the Goshen Theater to necessitating the use of the entire venue to accommodate all the new attendees. Nick Matthews, co-coordinator of the event, shared that most publicity has come through word of mouth, attracting more vendors, sponsors and D&D players over the years. “The support has just grown tremendously,” Matthews said. 

Doors opened to the public for a free D&D ‘live play’ on the first night, inviting audience members to sit back and enjoy a professional group of players acting out a story. It showcased the talents of “Theater Geeks, Dweebs and Weirdos” – a collective of Michiana artists and actors who describe themselves as “local theater geeks who play D&D and maybe some other board games from time to time.” 

The group regularly streams on Twitch, every Sunday with some variety of tabletop roleplay or board games and broadcasts the live show onto their channel for viewers on Friday night. Audience members were also encouraged to join the stream, as it offered interactive ways to engage with the show, such as allowing a poor dice roll to be rerolled or instructing the cast to take a sip of water before continuing.

The live show itself featured the Theater Geeks portraying several charming backyard creatures, ranging from a nurturing southern owl with everything one might need in her Dollar General tote bag to a somber turtle jester who entertained the crowd with terrible puns. Together, they formed the Amber Brigade, an adventuring group tasked with returning an artifact to the very familiar fantasy realm of “Go-Shen” and its surrounding territories. The audience was even given the opportunity to select the great evil villain of the story, which the Amber Brigade confronted by the end of the night. 

D&D players were able to play for themselves on the second day of Goshen and Dragons through the purchase of badges for a full or half-day within the event. Participants reserved spots in small groups scattered around Downtown Goshen, which were hosted by professional players and went on throughout the day. The stories available to be played ranged from seeking out the source of strange disappearances to retrieving a magical ring for a group of wizards and lasted two hours each. The event also offered premade characters to play for those who haven’t played before, so all were able to be included in the adventure. Other activities included getting a custom-made dice, painting your own minifigurine and having a photoshoot for it at a minifigure photo booth. 

The money raised from the event went directly to the Goshen Arthouse, from the sales of the second day’s badges, raffles before the live show and during intermission, which included prizes such as dice sets, gift cards and a large 3D-printed Dungeon Master’s screen. The organization  will use the money to help with future events and to support local artists. “What we do with the funds from this event is it actually goes to support all of our local artists and to support the mission of the art house,” Matthews said.

Goshen and Dragons plans to continue hosting the event next year, along with “Sidequest,” a similar event that the group hosts in the fall, with more and more participants from the community and to continue sharing the magic of D&D with the Michiana area, as Matthews noted, “It’s been a massive impact and we are so proud.”