Most of my GMing in 2023 was at the weekly RPG night in Ancient Robot Games, the new FLGS which opened here in Leith back in May. I wanted to do my bit to help grow the community but I’ve always been more of a campaign GM than someone who runs one-shots. I didn’t think asking players to commit to a dozen weeks of play was likely to work (scheduling is of course always the most frustrating part of GMing), and anyway I wanted my table to be open to new players. My solution was to try running an old-school fantasy campaign, but make it open table. Whoever shows up on the night gets to play. Not quite West Marches, but a similar set up.
The plan was to give the group a choice of home base in a small town. The bulk of each session would be a dungeon adventure, then they come back to town, level up, spend their loot on upgrades for their base, do some research in the magic school and the chapel and then choose next week’s adventure. The base and town would be the connective tissue showing the ongoing impact the players were having in the setting and it would provide familiarity to returning players. It would also help me with my campaign brain to remain focused and happy.
Overall it was a huge success! That campaign lasted ten sessions and moved through seven OSR adventures. I think I had about 25 different players over those ten sessions, most of whom were either totally new to roleplaying or only familiar with 5e, all of them got stuck right in. Two players stayed with the game from the first session, they would usually be accompanied by two or three new players who would roll up new adventurers who were hanging around in the tavern. Although the five who played in session six ended up sticking with the game right to the end.
I particularly enjoyed that it felt like a campaign from my side and all the “Previously on…” stuff at the start of the sessions made the town feel like a living place and also gave the new players a good idea of what to expect. The sessions were always very high energy too. I think with the players not knowing each other well there wasn’t the usual table talk and endless catch-up that you get with your best friends at home. In the shop everyone is focused and keen to get on with the game. It was a really fun energy!
That campaign wrapped up with the OSE adventure Halls of the Blood King, which made for a suitably high-stakes finale. I then immediately repeated my open-table success with five sessions of Destroyer of Worlds for the Alien RPG and then nine sessions of The Desert Moon of Karth, although that one I ran with Troika! rather than Mothership. I am happy to report that both those games went great too. Also, the five players who saw out the end of my fantasy game, are still playing together every week which feels kind of great since they all met at my table.
Ancient Robot Games has a vibrant community of gamers keen to try out new games, clearly that’s a big factor in how viable this format is, but if you have the opportunity I highly recommend it. It is a little nerve wracking sometimes when you sit down to run an ongoing campaign with no real idea who is going to be joining you, but so far, it hasn’t failed!
If you are in the Edinburgh area come and visit Ancient Robot Games, and if you are around on Thursdays, grab a ticket for RPG night and you can have a seat at my table. Next up is a|state!
Ominosity 