Passion for board games and tabletop games surged during the pandemic, as many new people experimented with being shut-ins. One sector that was already on a roll, however, is the fantasy game Dungeons & Dragons. There are basic versions, played with a book, pen and paper, and more elaborate versions with plastic dragons and castles. Somewhere in between are the people who draw out maps for every scenario, which can be time consuming at the start of a four-hour game session.

One Portland company has been trying to solve that problem. 1985 Games, which has its office at 1319 S.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. in Portland’s inner east side, publishes ready-made maps and terrains which can be placed and replaced as the game rolls on. They also sell Dungeon Notes journals for recording character and story notes, the Deck of Stories adventure system and Counterspell Miniatures.

Joseph Gallivan is a news and features writer based in Portland, Ore.

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“As a reporter, my job has changed a lot in the last five years, but telling readable, entertaining stories remains my goal. I believe: 1. Local news carries as much weight as national news. 2. News should be like a utility. We would complain if our drinking water was brown, our Wi-Fi was spotty, or our electricity kept going out. So, we need to know our news sources are legitimate and factual, rather than being a patchwork of friends’ opinions on social media. 3. And finally, you gets what you pays for.  Also, as a volunteer, I produce and present Art Focus on KBOO radio 90.7 FM as my way of keeping visual arts coverage alive.

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