What is a TTRPG?

TTRPG stands for Tabletop Role-Playing Game. It’s like playing board game, video game, and live-improv all at the same time. It’s fun! See our TTRPG Basics page for more details.

How much experience do I need to attend?

None! Whether you’ve never played before, or if you’ve been playing for decades, we welcome attendees of all skill levels at RPG Nights. 

We believe that attending RPG Nights as a first time player is a great way to get introduced to the TTRPG hobby, as well as a great way to socialize and meet new people. See the Player section of this page for more details.

Interested in GMing for the first time? RPG Nights is a great place to try it out! We recommend that a new GM has played a TTRPG as a player at least once before registering to run a session. See the Game Master section of this page for more details.

How many people will I be playing with?

It depends! The main limitation is how many people can sit around the same table. On average games are between 3 and 5 players plus the GM. Additionally, groups signing up together may be seated separately. 

See our Event Information page for more details on how we seat players for RPG Nights.

What happens if I start to feel too uncomfortable while playing?

Tension, uncertainty, challenge, and mild levels of discomfort are expected parts of TTRPGs. It can be scary to be vulnerable and roleplay with a group of strangers! With that said, it is extremely important to us at Goodland Gaming Guild (“G3”) to ensure that all of our participants are each empowered to make their own decisions about how much discomfort they want to tolerate in their sessions.

To help players make more informed decisions about the games they are registering for, all games being run at RPG Nights have content warnings written by the GMs that describe common topics that certain players may object to. We ask players to read the entirety of each game description to get an idea of the theme and tone that the GM intends for the session.

While playing, if someone is exceeding their own desired levels of discomfort, we ask that they speak up and pause the session. We recommend communicating with the other players and/or the GM if anything can be amended in the session to lower the discomfort. An explanation of why something in particular was too distressing is not required.

If it is not possible for the players and GM to find a solution to the problem, please immediately inform a Goodland Gaming Guild team member who will help to find a resolution.

Where is it?

RPG Nights are currently located at Faklandia Brewpub in St. Francis.

3807 S Packard Ave, St Francis, WI 53235

When is it?

RPG Nights are held the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of each month.

The event starts at 6:00pm for seating and character creation, with sessions themselves starting around 6:30pm. Game length is determined by the GM, with a hard cut-off of 10:00 pm when Faklandia itself closes. Games typically run until between 9:00 pm and 10:00 pm.

How do I register?

Do I need to bring anything?

Players are not required to bring anything, but the following items may be helpful depending on the game being played.

• Pencil: to write on your character sheet and/or take notes.

  • • Tip: A pencil with an eraser is recommended over a pen for situations such as tracking health and other resources which are likely to fluctuate back and forth over the course of the session.

• Paper / Journal: to take notes while playing.

  • • Tip: It may be helpful at the start of the session to write down everyone’s character names as well as their real names for easy reference while playing.

• Set of dice: d6, d20, d10, etc.

  • • Tip: If you don’t own any dice, or even if you aren’t sure what a “d6” even is, it’s highly likely that your GM and/or other players will have dice available for you to use while playing.

What game will I be playing?

It depends! When registering to attend, Players will be able to read descriptions for every game a GM will be running at the next RPG Night. Players will then be asked to rank each game based on how much they would like to be seated at that table. 

Before the event, Goodland Gaming Guild team members will look at all the registrations and match all Players to the various games. Our priority is to ensure as many Players and GMs are able to enjoy RPG Nights as possible. Since games have a minimum and maximum number of players needed in order to run, Players may not be seated at their first choice.

Do I need to know the rules?

Nope! Although certain GMs may request that their players have a passing familiarity with the system being played, the majority of all games at RPG Nights are beginner friendly and do not require any previous understanding of the rules before playing.

Do I need to have my character ready in advance?

Nope! Depending on the game, GMs may guide all players through character creation before starting to play, or they may instead have a selection of pre-made characters for Players to select from before starting the session.

Do I need to be good at acting or improvisation?

Are there any restrictions on the games I can run?

Nope! RPG Nights are open to any and all TTRPGs. Whether they’re brand new or decades old; 300 page rulebook with dozens of expansions or a “One-page RPG”. We even allow for “GM-less” games where all attendees work together to both roleplay as characters and come up with the story together.

To help players make informed decisions about the games they want to register for, we ask that GMs spend time filling out every question on the GM registration form. This includes descriptions about the session itself as well as any relevant content warnings.

How much experience do I need to run a game?

The short answer: it depends, and is something each GM should decide for themselves.

Goodland Gaming Guild does not have any rules about how much experience someone needs before they can run a game. On the contrary, we welcome first time GMs to use RPG Nights as a place to learn how to develop these skills for the first time.

Rather than provide a specific list of requirements before a first-time GM can run a session, we instead think it's more helpful to provide three questions that we think potential GMs should ask themselves. Once a GM has picked the game system they want to run a session with, they should ask themselves the following three questions:

• Interpreting the Rules: is there a “good enough” understanding of the game’s rules to be able to refer to them quickly during play?

  • • Tip: being an effective GM involves deciding when to stop looking at the rules and instead how to come-up with a “home-rule” if an existing rule can’t be found quickly or does not exist.

• Narrating the Game: is there enough familiarity with the game’s world to be able to quickly narrate how the player’s actions affect the world around them?

  • • Tip: part of the answer to this involves the GMs comfort with managing the desires of the non-player characters (NPCs) as well the Player characters (PCs) to have the world react in a believable way.

• Having a Clear Goal: is there a broad understanding of the type of experience you want your Players to have in the few hours you’ll all be together?

  • • Tip: rather than saying “players will do X and then I will do Y”, this is instead a question for GMs to ask themselves if they have a vague idea of how they want their players to be spending their time. Depending on the game, this can mean being prepared to guide players in how everyone will be creating the world together, or it can mean having a set of locations, factions, and NPCs prepared for the players to potentially interact with.

In our opinion, it’s okay if a GM says “I don’t know!” in response to these questions. More than viewing them as a definite “yes or no” type of answer, these three questions should instead be used as a potential list of things for a novice GM to think about when preparing for potentially their first session.

What do I need to prepare in advance?

The short answer: it depends, and is something each GM should decide for themselves.

Similar to the answer for the question above, “How much experience do I need to run a game?”, what a GM needs to prepare for their session depends on the type of session the GM wants to have. The players will be arriving ready to follow any instructions their GM gives them. It’s up to the GM to decide for themselves how they want to structure their session time. Below are some general considerations to think about:

• How do I want to explain the rules to Players?

• Will I guide the Players through character creation, or will I pass out pre-made characters?

• Will I include the Players in designing parts of the world before we begin?

• Are there any table rules I want to clarify before we begin?

• Do I have a set of events I want the Players to experience, or is the session entirely open ended?

The GMs answers to these questions will help to determine what needs to be prepared in advance, and what can be improvised while playing. 

Below are a list of things that GMs may or may not want to prepare:

• A pre-made published module that you will be running a part of.

• A location that the Players will be starting the session at.

• Non-player characters (“NPCs”) that the Players may interact with.

• A set of pre-made characters for Players to choose from before starting.

• The description for items that Players can purchase or find while playing.

• A few open ended encounters that may or may not come up while playing.

What do I need to bring to the event?