Play With Us in a Proactive Game! · Game Master's Laboratory

Play With Us in a Proactive Game!

Starting Wednesday March 18th, we'll be running a West Marches style, ongoing campaign that anyone can join! We'll use the practices of our books to build an emergent, proactive game, starting with a Session -1 and creating character goals. We're expecting to run a few different games in the future, but to start, we'll be using Blades in the Dark for it's pretty easy-to-pickup rules, and its crew rules (which facilitate a rotating table).

Something we've been seeing in the lab a lot is that most of the GMs here haven't actually been able to play in a proactive game (as a PC, that is). So much of this hobby is learned via experience, plus we just want to run more games, so this is our way of getting both.

So how will it work? On the 18th, we'll have a Session -1. There will be polls and other events in the leadup for folks who can't make it, so everyone will help shape the variation of the Blades in the Dark setting we'll be playing in. Afterwards, we'll play each Wednesday. Signups for a game will go out two weeks before it starts for our Gold members, and one week before for the rest of the lab---seats are first come, first serve! Our tables will start at a max of five players---this may change as we learn and adjust. The games will be absolutely free of charge to make them as accessible as possible (for reference, StartPlaying games will usually be about 15--30 bucks a seat).

This is what's called a "West Marches" game. For anyone who doesn't know this style, it's basically an open table campaign with an ongoing setting. Whoever can make it to a session forms the group, they set their own objectives, and they usually work as some sort of broader organization (in this case, a crew of criminals). A player could attend a dozen sessions, or they could just try once and not need to feel pressured to continue. If you're interested in more info about what this style of game is, give it a google! If you want a longer explanation, this video has a great overview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGAC-gBoX9k

I'll be running every Wednesday at 7:00 PM EST, probably for around 2--3 hours. We know there are people from lots of different time zones and with lots of different obligations, so Jonah will also be running games on occasion at different TBD times, and if needed, I'll rotate my times as well.

We're super excited to get to play with everyone! I'll update the calendar tonight with dates and times. I'll also put up some polls to get Session -1 rolling early, a sheet with more information, and the first sign up links over the next few days. For anyone who wants to sign up for Session -1 (7:00 PM EST on March 18th) leave a comment and I'll DM a confirmation! We'll have no maximum number of people for the table for that night---can't wait to see everyone!

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