The Basics

The Game

Our program uses Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition, the world's most popular tabletop RPG system.  Players each create a character, and then play as that character as if they were an actor on stage, determining their choices and actions with the help of dice.

The Setup

Players meet one to three times a week depending on availability, for 2 hour sessions at a time.

The price

$180 monthly for one session per week, 4 sessions per month
$300 monthly for two sessions per week, 8 sessions per month
$420 monthly for three sessions per week, 12 sessions per month

Group Referral Discount
It's dangerous to go adventuring alone!  If you begin your new adventure alongside 2 or more friends, all of you will be able to play at a 30% discount for the first 2 months.

Note:
We base our pricing on the assumption that each group will have a consistent number of sessions per month.  As such, when 5th days crop up during months, we take the opportunity to close the studio for cleaning, maintenance, and administrative work.  These closures will not have an affect on an adventurer's monthly costs.

Why Dungeons and Dragons?

Theoretically, we could play any Tabletop RPG here at Portal to Adventure.  But we start with D&D for a few important reasons.  The game has a very low skill floor- there are only a few basic mechanics that players need to learn before they can get started.  But the potential for creativity, expression, and character evolution is EXTREMELY high, giving players control over their own story.  The system is very versatile, enough to tell stories of different genres and maturity levels that suit the age groups we work with here at Portal to Adventure.  And the simplification of the rules in 5th edition leaves more room for players to explore their own creativity.

Benefits of the Game

Academic
As a system, D&D offers a variety of important academic benefits.  It's narrative focus offers a strong foundation for reading and story comprehension, as players navigate the story and try to unravel mysteries and puzzles.  The actual gameplay centers on math- players roll dice, and then add, subtract, multiply, and divide them on the fly to determine whether their character's actions succeed or fail.  And as an experience, D&D promotes critical thinking and logical problem solving at a high level.  Every challenge the players face, from combat to puzzle solving to negotiating, is a problem with no clear solution that they must reason their way through to succeed.

Social
​It isn't all combat and death traps- players live and die by how well they can interact with each other and the world of the game.  Combat will only get them so far- can they haggle with a shopkeep for the supplies they need?  Negotiate with a local noble to secure aid?  Convince a town that danger is coming?  Improvisation and conversation are key parts of gameplay, and encourage players to learn to communicate well.  But it isn't just the world- they need to learn to cooperate and work together as well.  Each character has different skills and abilities, with none suited to handle EVERY situation that the players will find themselves in.  To win, they'll need to understand how to work together, balancing out each others weaknesses and building on each others strengths.

Creative
Playing Tabletop RPGs isn't like any other kind of story experience- the players immerse themselves in the world, taking on the roll of their character and making decisions for them on a scale that no other medium really allows.  Each participant writes their character's backstory, and works with the game's Dungeon Master to shape their future story as things progress.  At the end of the day, even with the dice and rule books, the game is just cooperative storytelling!  The DM may build the world, but each player gets to decide how their characters move through it.

2022  |  Portal to Adventure 

1116 Great Plain Ave, Suite 5, Needham, MA 
[email protected]