City's history reimagined in fantasy tabletop game

Adventurers used to fighting monsters in fantasy worlds will soon be able to explore an alternate and magical version of 18th Century Derby - called "Darbye".

It follows six months of research by a group of Dungeons & Dragons players and Derby Libraries, delving into local archives.

The popular tabletop role-playing game, often abbreviated to D&D, sees participants create a fictional character, which they use to explore a fantasy game world refereed and controlled by a player designated as the dungeon master.

Derby Libraries said a public launch of the game was intended for autumn, but no exact date has been confirmed.

Professional dungeon master Toby Tyrrell-Jones, 36, is overseeing a test campaign being played by volunteers who helped create the fictional world.

"I guess the really special thing about the world of Darbye is that it is Derby with just a bit of a twist," he said.

"In this world, we are in 1793, and it is about three weeks after the King of France has been executed and Derby and Darbye are politically unstable.

"Everything in it is from the archive in the Local Studies and Family History Library. There are some absolutely amazing items in there, like a 16th Century guide to making the Philosopher's Stone, handwritten.

"There are accounts of spells. There are all sorts of different things that real people from Derby wrote down at some point. So we've been mixing all of that with all of the wonder and magic of Dungeons and Dragons," Tyrrell-Jones said.

He added D&D was a "unique" and "immersive" method of storytelling.

"And hopefully that will mean as many people in Derby [as possible] can access their history," Tyrell-Jones said.

Ben Dawson, project coordinator for Derby Libraries, said the service had not done anything like this before.

"I think for us at the library, it's a really good opportunity for us to meet young people where they're at," he said.

"It's much in contrast to both our usual clientele, who tend to be older, and also the fact that we are bringing the library to young people."

A so-called "DarbyeCon" - a mini convention celebrating role-playing games and D&D - is also planned to take place in the future, involving free family-friendly events in libraries.

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