Colesville Indie RPG Group

If you're looking for a friendly roleplaying group that's welcoming to anyone from complete novices to experienced roleplayers the Colesville Indie RPG Group (CIRG) is what you're looking for! New players are welcome to join any of our meetups. Our approach gives you the freedom to pop into a game when real life allows and to focus on having a fun time. You need bring nothing except enthusiasm. This group is wonderfully supportive; this is tabletop roleplaying as it should be! We have been around since September 2013 and have hosted about 250 events, where over a hundred different indie RPGs have been run.

From September to June, CIRG meets once a month at our RPG Galas where three to four indie tabletop RPGs will be run with 12-20 participants.

From January to April, we run two to three Live Action Roleplaying Games (LARPs).

These are all once and done games, you don’t need prior experience.

My wife (Michelle) and I (Kirk) host these sessions at our house and will provide vegetarian meals and snacks.

There are three types of meetups:

RPG Gala: This involves up to 3-4 RPGs being facilitated at different tables, with 4-5 players at each table. These will be held on Saturday from 1pm to 5pm.

LARP: Three to four times a year we run LARPs. This is a great opportunity to experience a LARP in a friendly environment, these have proven our most popular and memorable events. You don’t need any previous LARP experience or costuming.

Imperfect GM: Six times a year we will run these sessions, probably virtually. This is an opportunity to learn about running roleplaying games from some of our experienced GMs. These are an evolution of the Good Enough Gaming sessions we used to run.  

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is an RPG?
RPG stands for roleplaying game, a game where the players pretend to be characters who are in an adventure that can reflect any genre or setting imaginable. There are many types of RPGs, including video games, when we use the term, we are referring to tabletop roleplaying games, where the players are cooperatively creating a story, usually around a table.

What types of RPGs does your group play?
We play INDIE RPGs, indie meaning independent, basically, those RPGs that don’t dominate the market. Currently, the only RPGs we don’t play are Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder, the two most popular RPGs. Otherwise, about anything goes and we’ve had well over a hundred different RPGs played at our events, some are serious, some are silly, but all of them are chosen to provide a rewarding experience. There is typically three to four different RPGs being offered during an RPG Gala.

Sounds cool, but I’ve never roleplayed before, is it okay for me to participate?
Absolutely! Our RPG Galas are one of the best ways to experiences tabletop roleplaying games. Those facilitating the games expect no one to know anything about the game and that there will be a few complete novices. You are only committing to a few hours playing a game, there’s no expectations or pressure. However, since all RPGs are different as are those playing them, you should try roleplaying three times before deciding whether it’s for you or not.

So, what’s the process for participating in events?
You just need to RSVP on Meetup. Often our events fill up quickly, please make use of the Waitlist – there’s always people who can’t make an event. Related to that if you can’t make an event then please change your RSVP.

What will be provided at the session?
There will be snacks. Food will be vegetarian and usually there will be sodas and some snack food; hot water and an assortment of tea bags will always be provided. We also have plenty of pens, pencils, paper, notecards, and dice. 

What should I bring?
Nothing, just a sense of fun and teamwork! No rules knowledge or prior experience is presumed. Contributions of snacks or sodas are always appreciated but keep it to vegetarian.  

What should I not bring?
No alcohol nor pets please.

Can I bring my child?
Maybe. If you are considering bringing a minor, please contact me. Most of our games are PG or PG-13 by cinema ratings, but it is best for us to have a talk beforehand. We’ve had several teenagers participate over the years; I think the youngest player we’ve had might be 12. Just reach out to me ahead of time.

How accessible is the venue?
It’s a home so not ideal perhaps, but please contact me with any accessibility needs and we will do our best to accommodate them. We want to share roleplaying with everyone so let us do that!

What's the parking situation?
Parking is available in the driveway and along the street. The best location if not in the driveway is alongside the curb of the nearby park between our house and Tamarack Road. There is always parking in the neighborhood.

I would like to be a Game Master (GM) at one of your RPG Galas, is that possible?
Yes, we love to have new GMs, but there are a few conditions.

First and foremost, you must attend two RPG Galas as a player. We require this to make sure all our GMs understand how we do things and have experienced the type of community we’re trying to build.

Second, you will need to run an indie RPG, and we can reject an RPG if we don’t think it’s appropriate for a particular RPG Gala.

Third, you should be familiar with and when possible incorporate safety tools, which if you’re not familiar with will be explained to you as a player when you attend your first two RPG Galas.