IDENTIFY THE MONSTERS THAT PLAGUE YOU WITH D&D’S NEW MODULE, “GARDENS OF FOG”

IDENTIFY THE MONSTERS THAT PLAGUE YOU WITH D&D’S NEW MODULE, “GARDENS OF FOG”

Take This and Wizards of the Coast Give Voice to Mental Illness with Play
and #MyMonsters Campaign

 

June 18, 2019 – (Seattle, Washington) Despite all the monsters, ghouls, and dragons players often face in Wizard of the Coast’s popular Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), the toughest adversary often come from within players themselves – Anxiety and Depression.  Starting today on the Dungeon Masters Guild, D&D players can take on Anxiety and Depression in the “Gardens of Fog” adventure module, giving a compassionate voice to challenges that plague so many, all while benefiting Take This, a non-profit that provides mental health best practices and resources that cater to the unique needs of those in the video game and tabletop game communities. Sales of this module will support Take This’ mission of eradicating mental health stigma.

This new charity D&D adventure module was created in collaboration between Dr. Raffael Boccamazzo, Clinical Director for Take This; Bill Benham, associate producer for Wizards of the Coast; and Hannah Rose, best-selling author of such Dungeon Master Guild material as the College of the Opera and Cartographer subclasses. In “Gardens of Fog,” a dear friend lies stricken, a prisoner in their own mind. The locals are baffled, unable to provide aid, and without your intervention, your companion is surely lost. Steel yourself, enter the realm of the mind, and face the struggles within. This D&D module contains a complete adventure, monster encounters, information on how to take on anxiety and depression in the real world, and a new character subclass inspired by Take This’ mascot: the psychomancer! It’s dangerous to go alone, so grab your party and face these challenges together! Win or lose, Wizards of the Coast and Take This strive to aid gamers, and game makers alike, who face their own monsters.

To kick off the new module, several live play groups will feature “Gardens of Fog” on their online streams.  Tales from the Mists started it off this past weekend with their live stream,  featuring psychologist Dr. Megan Connell. Other live play groups will be featuring the module in the next two weeks, including:

• Hyper RPG on June 18th, 9pm – 12am PDT.  Joining HyperRPG’s Malika Lim Eubank, will be an amazing group of tabletop enthusiasts including, Yoshi Sudarso, Peter Sudarso, Cristina Vee, Emma Fyffe, Emily Rose Jacobson, Cameron Rice and Michelle “Chubby Bunny” Bradley.
• Rival of the Waterdeep on June 22nd, 12pm-3pm PDT.  Joining moderator Surena Marie will be Carlos Luna, Cicero Holmes, Tanya DePass, Shareef Jackson, and Brandon Stennis
• Clinical Roll on June 24th 5pm – 6pm PDT.  Clinical Roll will feature mental health professionals in the games community. They include Megan Connell, PsyD, ABPP; Adam Davis, MEd; Adam Johns, MA, LMFT; Jack Berkenstock, MHS; Rachel Kowert, PhD; and Raffael Boccamazzo, PsyD.

Real mental health professionals will join the broadcasts to help bring fact to the fiction and discuss mental health themes from the games and in the adventure module.

“Thousands of players have told us how D&D helped them to explore and overcome the real-life challenges they face,” says Dr. Raffael Boccamazzo, clinical director of Take This and co-author of the adventure module. “We’ve named our problems. Now, we help our friends find hope.”

Make sure you catch all the action the final two weeks of June on all the live streams listed above and download the “Gardens of Fog” adventure on the Wizards of the Coast Dungeon Masters Guild.

Beyond the D&D module, Take This wants to continue to help players put a voice to and identify mental and emotional monsters through its #MyMonster social media campaign, where anyone worldwide can contribute to the fight for good mental health. Thousands of gamers have jumped on Twitter to talk about the issues they face each day, describing them as monsters. From depression that lumbers around like a giant ogre blocking someone from moving past to an insecurity that speaks with a thousand mouths, people share their monsters and their struggles online. Take This sees that taking the first step is often about giving a name and a face to your monster so that you can beat them. For more mental health resources, please visit Take This’ website.  

D&D “Gardens of Fog” Module can be found here for $6.99.  

About Take This Inc.

Take This is a mental health non-profit that provides resources, guidelines, training, and support that is tailored for the unique needs of the game development community and embraces the diverse cultures and issues of the game community.  Take This helps those who suffer by letting them know that they are not alone and providing information on treatment options and how to find help. Take This’ key programs are its AFK Room Program at conventions, its mental health consulting program for game developers, and its ambassador program for streamers.  For more information, visit http://www.takethis.org