A Dungeons and Dragons playing board at the SPC Ross A. McGinnis Warrior Zone on Camp Humphreys, South Korea, on Dec. 22, 2024. (Eric Mendiola/Stars and Stripes)
CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea — Dungeons and Dragons marked its 50th anniversary this year and with the attention it receives from U.S. service members at this base in South Korea, the tabletop fantasy game is well on its way to 100.
At the SPC Ross A. McGinnis Warrior Zone, a high-tech recreational facility on Camp Humphreys built for online gaming, eight soldiers gathered Sunday to play the old-fashioned way.
Dungeons and Dragons is a tabletop game whose players create characters and participate in adventures through interactive storytelling. The game is known for its mythical characters, ranging from spell-casting wizards to sword-wielding barbarians and conniving rogues.
A dungeon master sets up the game parameters and referees the action.
“This isn’t the first campaign I’ve ran, but it’s definitely been the largest. People are really taking to the characters they have created and putting their own spin on it,” said Sunday’s dungeon master, Spc. Jesse Svevo of the 23rd Brigade Engineer Battalion.
Spc. Tom Amsboro, left, and Spc. Andrew Jancy of the 23rd Brigade Engineer Battalion play Dungeons and Dragons at the SPC Ross A. McGinnis Warrior Zone on Camp Humphreys, South Korea, on Dec. 22, 2024. (Eric Mendiola/Stars and Stripes)
First marketed in 1974 by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, about 50 million people have played Dungeons and Dragons, according to Dice Cove, an online collective of experienced Dungeons and Dragons players.
Many see the game as therapeutic for people who’ve experienced stressful situations, including warfare. In Ukraine, the game and other roleplaying games grew in popularity, including with soldiers and veterans, amid the ongoing conflict with Russia, according to a December 2023 story in New Lines magazine.
The game is a common sight on military installations like Camp Humphreys, where game times are advertised at the Warrior Zone.
Some soldiers played Dungeons and Dragons prior to joining the Army, but some were introduced to the game while serving.
“I’ve always heard other people talk about it and they have a lot of fun. It just sounded interesting and entertaining, and I like stuff like roleplaying games and fantasy,” said Spc. Brianna Oliver of the 8th Army Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion.
The USO at Maude Hall on Camp Humphreys also set up a Dungeons and Dragons group a year ago that meets weekly and has grown into a very popular program, said Keith Choison, the USO operations coordinator.
Spc. Andrew Jancy of the 23rd Brigade Engineer Battalion reviews his Dungeons and Dragons character sheet at the SPC Ross A. McGinnis Warrior Zone on Camp Humphreys, South Korea, on Dec. 22, 2024. (Eric Mendiola/Stars and Stripes)
Volunteers, mostly service members, run the program and the games can be as short or long as players like, sometimes several hours, he said Thursday.
That game grew from four players to dozens who play at multiple tables, according to an article in October on the Pacific USO webpage by center manager Danny Morris.
Many troops struggle with being alone during the holiday season and, for some, meeting with fellow service members to play the game has been a healthy outlet.
At the end of the hour-long session at the McGinnis center, the game is paused, to be picked up where it left off. The world, strategies and characters in the game may be fantasy, but the camaraderie built while playing Dungeons and Dragons is real.
“It’s very nice. I personally don’t have a lot of connection with my family, so being with these guys playing and letting myself have that focus on something else is really nice,” said Spc. Andrew Jancy of the 23rd Brigade Engineer Battalion.
