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Tabletop club advice - Club Rush at my university - suggestions?
delroland
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Hey all, I'm starting a gaming club on my campus and wanted to trawl for ideas on activities I could run at my table to attract members during Club Rush.
Preferably I'm looking for either a quick, fun activity or perhaps a good, short board game or Pathfinder module that I could run multiple times in an hour.
I thank you in advance for any ideas.
I also realize this might be better suited to H&A but would prefer this thread remain here as the topic is primarily involving tabletop gaming.
Preferably I'm looking for either a quick, fun activity or perhaps a good, short board game or Pathfinder module that I could run multiple times in an hour.
I thank you in advance for any ideas.
I also realize this might be better suited to H&A but would prefer this thread remain here as the topic is primarily involving tabletop gaming.
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"Go up, thou bald head." -2 Kings 2:23
"Go up, thou bald head." -2 Kings 2:23
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I'm going to have a table set up in the quad at our school for a couple of hours during which I will attempt to lure unsuspecting freshmen (and -women?) into the lurid hobby that is tabletop gaming. I'd like a game or three on hand to generate interest, but they should be fast, easy, and repeatably runnable.
So far, my idea is to have a traditional mafia/phalla game (though that may require too many people), a Pathfinder encounter (with minis and pregen characters), and a board game of some sort.
Please share any thoughts you might have on this; suggestions and criticisms are equally welcome.
Edit: the club is also lacking a name, any suggestions? Something nautically themed would be especially appropriate.
"Go up, thou bald head." -2 Kings 2:23
I also want to recommend King of Tokyo, but it comes with a caveat. It is a game about taking on the role of a kaiju monster attacking Tokyo, so it's pretty geeky. That might turn people off before even giving it second glance. But it has very lite rules and it will get everyone at the table in a riot. That alone will draw people in. It's very colorful with wonderful artwork that will appeal to a broad spectrum of people. I've never seen a group of people play this game and not have a good time.
As for mafia/phalla, The Resistance is a very similiar game of hidden roles but has no player elimination and lower minimum number of players required. Minimum five players and maxes out at ten. Sweet spot seems to be somewhere between 6 and 8 players.
EDIT @PMAvers is right. Definitely not poker. Any of those other things are fine, though.
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In a public setting? I mean I enjoy those games, too; but all it takes is one Christian fundamentalist student coming round the corner...
...and then I can quote the bible verse in my signature. :twisted:
We have CaH, including all the expansions, and no, I will not run it in a public area in the middle of the day.
Thanks for the suggestions so far.
"Go up, thou bald head." -2 Kings 2:23
Oh, definitely a bad idea in regards to those two too.
While I'm unfamiliar with his specific Club Rush setting, is there even enough space to *run* something? Most Campusfests (which I'm assuming is similar) around here you usually have enough space for a table, some posters, maybe some props and a couple of chairs for someone to sit down behind the table with.
Sort of like a mini-convention, really. You can try to catch people's eye, give them some information, find out what kind of things they are interested in, and give them a push to try to get them to show up for a meeting.
What kind of logistics in the background do you have for this club already set up? Do you have to register with the uni as a organization of some sort to get meeting space? Do you have to draw up a constitution and have elections? Etc.
A old friend wrote a column on RPG.net called Dormitories & Dragons with some notes and thoughts he's compiled over the years about helping to run a campus gaming society. Might be worth skimming for ideas.
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I'll second the call for quick games eg Zombie Dice. However I'd strongly advise against Fluxx - I've tried many times to introduce non-gamers to it and they all scratch their heads and lose interest. Remember too that the majority of people are not going to want to stop at any particular club table for more than maybe 15 minutes - it's called 'Club Rush'.
If you're wanting to represent RPGs to non-gamers then a simplified D&D set-up with some nice minis and dungeon tiles could work. It will look good on display and being actual D&D will have brand recognition. You could also run Pathfinder and just call it "D&D" - either way you might want to look for simplified rules so that people can just roll dice and kill monsters without having to do any maths or real thinking. Having a handful of ideas of quick 2-3 person skirmishes with pre-gens would give people the chance to try it out for 15 minutes. You can explain roleplaying, character-progression, other games etc if you get them hooked.
Also, don't forget that if you're the only person at the table you can't DM/ play and answer question at the same time - if you can get a friend to do one or other that would help a lot.
Have a fun looking board games set up. Fantasy Flight stuff with lots of colourful bits or something.
Lay out some dungeon tiles, figures, character sheets and funny shaped dice.
Something simple elegant and recognisable as board game to the Monopoly crowd. Like Ticket to Ride or something.
Maybe have a few guys playing dice or card games but nothing more complex and remember the game is second priority to talking to people.
Your plan should be:
- Visitor passes by your booth.
- Eye is caught by weird/wonderful stuff.
- Says to his mate "woah, what's that all about?" or "I used to play with those back home" or something similar.
- You swoop in with sales pitch.
In the booth time playing a game with three people you'll have missed the chance to chat up another 30 passing by.