You Must Gather Your Party Before
Venturing Forth
My favorite old-school
video game is Black Isle’s Baldur’s Gate
series. A player creates one character
and must find additional characters to make a well-rounded and functional
party. You need a good combination of
skills—fighters, clerics, magic-users, and thieves make for the most successful
gameplay. It’s a hard choice sometimes,
deciding who to take. Imoen is with you
from the start, though you soon outgrow her lock-picking skills. Sorcerer Xzar and his fighting friend Montaron
are a strong team, but threaten to leave if you don’t travel where they want to
go. Since they won’t travel with Minsc,
who’s searching for the abducted Dynahier, trading the two for the one makes
for some tough battles. Navigating these
conflicts came to mind as I watched Walton’s newest D&D group begin to play.
The first day they created
characters, a daunting process of blending specialties and skills that will
complement the group. Jack and Isaiah
both wanted to be rangers (noble nature warriors), but only Jack rolled the
right scores for it. Isaiah graciously
agreed to be a fighter instead, so it’ll be his job to step forward into the
face of danger. Lindon opted to be a
neutral rogue rather than an evil assassin, balancing the alignment of the
party. Cody will depend on the group to
protect his magic-user during spell-casting, as he has only one hit point! John’s druid can provide that healing support
as they stay toward the rear of the battle.
Working together, they found character
classes that suited their own interests while creating a stronger group. Hearing about the process, I realized that
this is what I want for all of my students.
I want them to learn to work together to solve problems, to compromise,
to achieve greatness, and to reach for the treasure hidden in the most unlikely
of places. As we form and reform table
arrangements, work on group projects, partner up for analysis activities, or
peer-edit to help others grow, I want them to realize that they are stronger
when they support each other. Wandering
alone into the wilderness of 21st century learning can be
unnecessarily challenging. As Baldur’s Gate reminds each solo player,
“You must gather your party before venturing forth!”
Natalie M. Capps, Gifted Resource Teacher
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