A pair of Burnley friends have launched an exclusive Dungeons and Dragons, also known as D&D, group to encourage more women to play the “male dominated” fantasy game.

Amy Goldsack and Kirsty Lauder launched 'Women Who D&D' in June and have seen its popularity “catapult” since then.

The fantasy tabletop role-playing game sees people create their own characters and be led on an adventure by the dungeon master, who creates an exciting story where bold adventurers confront deadly perils.

Kirsty said: “Amy and I have been playing D&D together for about a year but have been fans of the game for a few years.

“At the moment we are just online but are looking at growing it and growing this into a business with headquarters where we can run our sessions and workshops.

“For now we are just present on social media and we are doing workshops in spaces we can hire out in Lancashire.”

Kirsty, 31, said the fantasy tabletop role-playing game is very male dominated.

She hopes to build a community, giving women the skills and confidence they need to make game campaigns for themselves or take part in others.

She said: “This isn’t an ‘anti men’ group. It is just a male dominated game that can be quite intimidating to a lot of people, especially if you have never played before.

“We really liked the idea of having an all-female campaign. We put feelers out on Facebook to see if we had any friends that were fans of the game and wanted to play.

“We found that there were a lot of people who wanted to play but didn’t really know how to go about starting or how to play.

“We are teaching people the basics of the game and giving women who want to play the game the essential skills, so they feel comfortable starting their own game or joining in with wider campaigns.”

Kirsty said they are slowly building a positive social media community.

She said: “We were surprised at how quickly this has taken off. The reason Amy and I started playing was we wanted to learn how to play for ages and didn’t know of campaigns with a space for us.

“It has taken over our lives in a positive way. It is interesting to see how many people really want to play the game and get involved but just didn’t know how to.

“There are beginners and also female players who have been playing for years and just wanted to meet like-minded people.

“Some Facebook groups can be a bit toxic but this one is not like that, it is really positive.”

“It is a fantastic escapism method,” she added: “If you have had a stressful day at work or your home life isn’t great you can disappear into this game world and escape reality for a few hours.

“It is hard to describe how helpful it can be.

“If it is something you have had a passing interest in you should join the group or come to one of our workshops.”

D&D started off as a tabletop game in the 1970s, where players would take the role of fantasy characters.

The fantasy content was adapted into a video game series called Neverwinter Nights, based in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, and the 2000 film Dungeons & Dragons, starring Jeremy Irons.

The game saw a resurgence after being featured as a central focus in the hit Netflix drama series Stranger Things, and a movie based on the game, Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves, was released in the UK earlier this year.

The heist comedy sees Star Trek actor Chris Pine in the main role as a bard called Edgin Darvis who tries to look after his daughter Kira, played by Avatar: The Way Of Water actress Chloe Coleman.

Michelle Rodriguez, who starred in The Fast And The Furious films, Bridgerton star Rege-Jean Page, I Am Not Okay With This actress Sophia Lillis and Notting Hill actor Hugh Grant are also among the cast.