Philly’s big Dungeons & Dragons community welcomes the new movie and new players, too

For all the powerful weapons and complex magic in the newly released Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, one scene shows the fantastical crew saved by a deftly aimed potato. That clever silliness is on brand for the popular role-playing game, where quests can succeed or fail hilariously depending on the dice roll.

In Honor Among Thieves, the beloved 1974 game finally gets star treatment with big-budget effects and a celebrity cast aiming to please both hard-core adventurers and novices alike. In Philly, the legions of diverse and creative fans are happy for the Hollywood glow up – but also right at home in the region’s weird and wonderful gaming scene.

D&D players have long waited for a movie to take the universe seriously. A film trilogy — Dungeons & Dragons (2000), Wrath of the Dragon God (2005), and The Book of Vile Darkness (2012) — bombed spectacularly. With a $150 million budget, Honor Among Thieves leaves shoddy special effects in the past and delivers a rollicking adventure with actors including Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Hugh Grant, and Regé-Jean Page.

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“It’s been really exciting to see something that you love appearing in popular culture, especially when it’s something that typically gets a bad rap as being for nerds or antisocial kids,” said Amy Dzura, a longtime D&D player and organizer, based in Phoenixville. “It’s nice to see that someone thinks that the D&D audience is worth making a movie for.”

At an early Honor Among Thieves screening in Old City in March, attendee Gus Gerstle of Philly cosplayed as a druid with a long, gray feathered robe. Gerstle thought the movie nailed the comic atmosphere of the game.

“That [humor] also plays into how a real D&D session is — it’s just as chaotic, because you can get away with almost anything,” said Philly-based Khaseem Miller, who has played online as the Dungeon Master, in charge of storytelling.

Anthony Cristiano, of University City, plans to see Honor Among Thieves soon, though he doesn’t really care if the movie is actually any good.

“It just has to be fun,” he said. Cristiano, 22, has been playing the game for more than half of his life. “D&D is one of those over the table [things], beer and pretzels, hang out, have a bunch of laughs.”

“There’s just something about D&D’s vibe that feels very Philly to me.”

Cristiano works at Redcap’s Corner, a gaming shop in West Philly especially welcoming to the LGBTQ+ and women gaming community. Redcap hosts weekly D&D sessions that are open to both experienced players and first timers.

“There’s just something about D&D’s vibe that feels very Philly to me,” said John de Leon Martin, of South Jersey. Martin first started playing while he lived in Los Angeles, where it was hard to wrangle everyone together.

He’s since returned and started attending Redcap’s Corner’s weekly sessions, where he says he’s never played with a group of people so dedicated to their campaigns.

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“Nobody ever misses it,” he said. Their current campaign embodies the absurdity and creative rule-breaking that makes D&D; it takes place in hell, and instead of creating an original character from a far-off fantasy land, Martin plays as the Pink Power Ranger.

“I’m missing this week for my mom’s birthday, and it’s like, that’s the level of an activity that it would take for me to miss D&D.”

“I love being in Philly. There’s so many nerds here of all different sorts … whether it’s reading, going to [conventions], gaming, all those kind of things,” said Ariell Johnson of Germantown, the owner of Amalgam Comics & Coffeehouse, which recently closed its Kensington store but still operates online. “It’s just really exciting to be a part of it.”

While Amalgam was open, Sunday afternoons were reserved for people to play D&D.

Feliza Casano, who lives in Center City and started playing in 2014, was a regular at Amalgam, where she joined campaigns with Philly’s Rainbow D&D group for LGBTQ and women players.

“I love being in Philly. There’s so many nerds here of all different sorts.”

The group was “a way to make a space … where especially new players, who would maybe not feel super comfortable at another table, would feel comfortable to learn,” Casano said. “Amalgam was such a great base to make people feel included.”

» READ MORE: Amalgam Comics, the first comics shop owned by a Black woman on the East Coast, announces closure

Johnson said that Philly’s broader nerd community is similarly inclusive. But, as she works to reopen Amalgam’s physical space, she hopes other spaces for LGBTQ nerds and nerds of color can grow, too.

“I think there could be more of that,” she said.

Beyond game shops, Philly folks have played D&D all over the city. Casano’s most memorable game was hosted on the historic ship Gazela.

“We just played this nautical Dungeons & Dragons epic on the deck of a boat,” said Casano. “That feels like a very Philadelphia thing to do.”

As the game nears its 50th anniversary next year, Dungeons & Dragons may be as popular as it’s ever been. New major projects are in the works, including a live-action TV show, a documentary, and more movies. The success of Honor Among Thieves may bring in another group of dice rollers.

And Philly’s D&D community is happily welcoming them into their weird, fantastical worlds.

“It’s just like, have fun, we’re all here for the same thing.”

Bryce Farnell, of Germantown, watched the Stranger Things boys roll their twenty-sided D&D dice and started getting curious about playing himself. About six months ago, Farnell attended a session at Redcap’s Corner.

“Making things up on the fly made me a little nervous,” he said. But the other players welcomed him and made it easy.

“There’s no ‘gotcha’ moment,” he said. “It’s just like, have fun, we’re all here for the same thing.”

He saw Honor Among Thieves last weekend, and loved how it reflected the world-building piece of the game. Now a regular at Redcap, Farnell hopes he can help other D&D-curious people get started.

“The more people who play it, the better,” he said.