Roleplaying club

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Role play clubs are associations of people who pursue their hobby, role play , together . One can distinguish between two main forms, the playgroups and the registered clubs.

Playgroups

Playgroups are usually associations of four to ten people. Game rounds are not registered clubs and usually have no special organizational structure. Usually these are people from their circle of friends who meet occasionally to play role-playing games. Playgroups have no official character, but there are now many game rounds, some of which have excellent websites.

Registered role-playing clubs (eV)

This article or paragraph presents the situation in Germany . Help us to describe the situation in other countries.

Playgroups and rounds that act together over a longer period of time sometimes become a club . This is always the case when at least seven people of legal age decide to give their playgroup an official character and want to step out of the niche existence in order to appeal to a wider public. As a rule, this happens for two reasons: Either the game group wants to recruit members more efficiently in order to be able to offer a wider range of games and / or the members of the game group want to add a social component to their hobby. Such clubs are also often active in youth work and use role play as a tool for this.

Another reason is the possibility of using publicly owned youth recreation homes as an event location, as these do not make their rooms available to private persons.

Characteristics of registered role-playing clubs

  • Role playing clubs always have at least seven adult members (at least when they are founded)
  • Role play clubs give themselves a statute (and optionally also other regulations, such as membership or internal rules) that regulate life within the club.
  • The establishment of the association must be certified by a notary and registered with the responsible local court.
  • Such associations usually have the addition "eV" or are entitled to run it.
  • A registered role-playing club has a board of directors according to § 26 BGB , which consists of at least three people. How big the board is in detail is left to the association, only the minimum number of board members is regulated by law.
  • The association must hold general meetings at regular intervals in which resolutions are passed and offices within the association are filled. The board of directors must present an accountability report to the members at these meetings. These meetings are to be recorded. This is the job of a secretary or recorder, who is often also a member of the board.

Possibilities of registered role play clubs

The amalgamation of a playgroup to a registered club opens up many possibilities. The association can now officially operate and appear as an organization with a serious character. There are better advertising opportunities for events and projects, public grants can be applied for and the association can work with companies and associations or join forces with youth welfare offices to get involved in youth work. A role-playing club that gets involved in youth work can, among other things, acquire the status of a “non-profit association” or that of a “free sponsor in youth welfare” if the conditions are right.

Role play clubs in youth work

A not inconsiderable number of role-playing clubs in Germany have achieved the status of " non-profit ". The association can achieve this status if it does not primarily pursue self-economic purposes and if its work is, for example, geared towards the "promotion of cultural activities that primarily serve leisure activities".

The next step of such an association can then submit an application for recognition as an “independent organization in youth welfare” according to § 75 SGB ​​VIII . If the application is well-founded, it can be approved at the discretion of the competent authority . With the achievement of such a status, a (role-playing) club can now increasingly get involved in youth work.

The important aspect of the educational work of such associations is the promotion of anticipation , empathy , decision-making ability and a sense of responsibility, communication and media competence , creativity , self-determination , situational awareness and the ability to cooperate of the young members. This also indirectly promotes a sense of community, camaraderie, team spirit and moral courage on the part of the players. When playing under professional supervision, the boundaries between the (mostly persistent) game world and reality are clearly shown. In addition to strengthening the players' imagination and cognition, the consequences of their own actions are also shown. Ideally, the fellow player expands his social skills in the community of a game round. In the game, people approach each other and look for problem-solving strategies together, which are then implemented together. In order to be able to achieve these goals together, an adequate rule acceptance with a corresponding understanding of the rules is essential. Individual responsibility, consideration and discipline are required for each individual so that one can find their way around the community of the game round. Everyone is jointly responsible for the positive success of a game evening, which can increase the conscientiousness of the player. The game rounds in such clubs usually take place regularly, which demands continuity from the members to participate independently in the game rounds. The young people are shown that it is important to be reliable, as it is difficult for the rest of the group to have a planned game round take place if members are absent unannounced, are unnecessarily late or do not keep to other agreements. Since everyone involved in a game has positive experiences of achievement relatively quickly, it strengthens the self-esteem of the player and the confidence in their own decisions and the group. Just as playing conveys self-esteem, the player also learns to deal with defeat and frustration. He learns - also in a group - to master difficult situations and to experience his own limits. Introverted people can be encouraged once extrovert to act and extrovert people are encouraged to - to have to behave passive come to train other - where necessary. Players who are neurotic to a certain extent can learn through play to deal better with nervousness , stress and anxiety. The game promotes openness to new experiences and facilitates dealing with them through the continuous learning process . The active members of a role-playing club are often equally involved in the design and implementation of the game evenings and other events of the club, whereby the opportunity may arise to transfer the experience gained in the game with regard to group processes to real situations. Last but not least, they also learn altruistic behavior.

The offers from many role-playing clubs include, among other things, mutual exchange (telling, reading aloud, experiencing stories) with one another, creative activities such as drawing, painting and handicrafts (e.g. miniatures and models), opportunities for expression (in role-playing games and free games) and last but not least also social and cultural activities (festivals, events, social events), as known from other associations.

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