Welcome to the Highland High School Tabletop Club's official website!
We play games. It's what we do.
We play board games and card games of all manner of complexities, both mainstream and obscure. The games do not stop there if there is enough student interest, however. Collectible card games are also typically on the menu. Personally, I play plenty of Magic the Gathering. Tabletop roleplaying is also potentially on the menu, although I am probably not available to DM/GM/Referee a campaign this year. I have, however, been GMing for over 25 years and am happy to help support you in this hobby. In the past even miniatures combat has been a thing, although I simply do not have the funds to invest in Warhammer 40K, although there is a teacher here at Highland who does play.
There will be an organizational meeting during lunch on September 1st in my room, B-64, where we will figure out what days are best for which activities. Please feel free to join us then!
We will have a Google Classroom for this club as well. If you are interested in the club (and especially if you are interested in helping to determine what direction we take the club in this year) please consider using your student account to join the google classroom.
The code is 6fta257
Not the Only Game in Town
It is worth noting, and I love this fact, that we are not the school's only club dedicated to the many methods of gaming, nor are we honestly all that picky about how you care to nerd. For those of you who feel my grammar is incorrect, I assure you that I know many people who harness nerd as a verb, but if you still do not believe me, perchance come see for yourself.
In an effort to help the wayward find their homes, we are inclined to help you be as aware as possible of clubs with similar, overlapping, or even identical fields of interest. These will be referred to as "Related Clubs" and a section on this website will be dedicated to giving a brief description of the club and how to join it. If you are aware of a club or gathering that falls in this category, please check with the advisor to make sure they do not mind, and if they are good with it, let Mr. Sanford know and we are happy to include a description of that club on this website.
After School Game Night
While this is not the only activity which our club hosts, it is the most consistent and generally the best attended one. We will determine a night of the week where my classroom will host club members as they play games. I have many, many games available and there will generally be a club member that can help you learn a new one if learning new games is your thing, or even if you just get curious about a specific game. Out of my own pocket I do provide limited snacks and drinks at these events (but I dream on a budget, so the feast simply has to do its best), but due to the wording a federal law I am best served by waiting until 30 minutes after the end of the school day before serving them.
I have a wide variety of chess sets, as well as mancala and go, for those of you who like to get really old school. I have a variety of more mainstream games such as Catan and Uno. I also have a wide variety of other games that range from highly tactical two-player games to party games for groups of 8 or more people. Due to school district guidelines we avoid games which derive their fun from deliberately inappropriate humor (such as Cards Against Humanity or Lunch Money) but with relatively few exceptions you are welcome to bring in a game of your own.
You are also welcome to play CCGs as well. Personally, I am heavily invested into Magic the Gathering, Shadowfist, and Dice Masters. There is a link at the top of the page which will take you to a list of games I am prepared to have available for game night.
Magic Draft Tournaments
Mr. Sanford has all of the necessary supplies to do draft tournaments for Magic the Gathering. The drafting format can be a lot of fun and it can help you to build your card collection with cards that work well together instead of just the assorted mish-mash found in a typical pack. If there are draft tournaments, any participation cost or fee will run at or below cost, in order to provide players with limited means access to this sort of thing.
If circumstances permit and interest is present there are also no-cost alternatives (although players will not be able to keep their cards in such cases) as well, including using Jumpstart packs, drafting from a cube, and even possibly just making arrangements with Mr. Sanford to draft but then he will keep the cards you draft. This last arrangement is very final financially draining and may not always be an option.
Historically, when draft tournaments have occurred, this has happened on a Saturday, starting about 10am and going until it is done (which has been as late as 4pm when there are one or more significantly new players involved).
Continuing Education
While there are many people who enjoy learning new games, there are other people who truly live for it. If interest permits, it is my plan this year to have a weekly get-together devoted to learning a specific new game, with trimesters having themes that connect the games. This would be a new thing being attempted this year, so I am hopeful it will go well, but can make no promises.
A Night of Tabletop
In the past when I have run roleplaying campaigns through the club, the number of interested players often far exceeds the amount you can successfully have in a group. I would, however, still like to continue to foster this hobby among students that are interested. I am considering having a dedicated night where one or more groups could do an after-school campaign in my classroom as a club activity. I own many, many roleplaying systems as well as dozens of books and supplements which are designed to help with the fine art of Gamemastering in addition to my own experience. Even if regular gaming groups do not form, I might still attempt to provide a seminar designed to help with some specific aspect of Gamemastering after school every few weeks if interest is present for that.
Sharing Is Caring
This club is not my only club. I also advise a club for anime and manga and I will be one of the advisors for the school's Creative Writing Club. Also, it turns out that I am employed as a teacher and most of my students are just the sort of college-bound honors-track seniors who will sometimes need to make up work during lunches.
My usual policy is that you are welcome to be in my room for lunch most days, but if you interrupt my cartoons...so help me, you will be asked to leave. Similarly, if you are in my room during a Creative Writing club meeting and causing a problem, you will be asked to leave. In the event that you are being too disruptive while a student is making up a quiz or test, you might also have to be asked to leave. In these cases, I will strive to ask quite politely that you cease interrupting and only if that continues to be a problem will you need to be asked to leave.
Beyond these scenarios, however, I am generally inclined to share my space and my games during lunches as well. I have had days where getting to take a break to play a game has definitely been a key part of getting through the day. There is a certain expectation of being civil and being a good sport, however, since our club seeks to embrace the Ram Fam notion that this school is like a large family.