Friday Night "Fiasco"

Before you RSVP: Please read all the way through to the end before RSVP'ing. I use the Seattle RPG Variety Society Discord group to confirm and communicate with all people who have RSVP'ed. I will remove you from the attendees list if I can't get a confirmation from you there.

If this session is full, please join the waitlist. In our experience, cancellations are more common than you might think, and people on the waitlist are often moved into open spots. Even if you are on the waitlist, please message on Discord per the confirmation instructions below. This allows me to ping you to confirm your spot if have been moved to an open spot.

The Pitch

Fiasco is a narrative tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) for 3–5 players about ordinary people with terrible judgment. You play characters with big wants, bad plans, and no impulse control. The fun comes from watching small decisions spiral into chaos. The story that we'll create together can resemble Coen Brother movies like Fargo, Burn After Reading, or any story where everyone is convinced they’re the smartest person in the room.

There’s no game master and no prep required. Instead, everyone takes turns setting scenes, playing their character, and occasionally jumping in as side characters. A scene might look like:

“I’m trying to blackmail my boss in the parking lot.”

The table helps decide what goes right, what goes wrong, and how it escalates. Prompts keep things moving so no one has to “perform” or invent everything on the spot.

You don’t need acting experience or improv skills. You can speak in first person (“I threaten him”) or third person (“My character threatens him”). Both are totally fine. The goal isn’t to win. It’s to make bold, messy choices and enjoy the consequences together.

I’ll act as a facilitator to explain the rules, keep the pacing tight, and help if anyone feels stuck. But the story itself belongs to the whole table.

Each session is a complete, one-night story. At the start, we’ll choose a playset, which sets the tone and situation (for example: suburban neighbors with secrets, retail employees with a bad idea, etc). If you have a favorite playset, you’re welcome to bring it—just let me know ahead of time.

If you’ve never played a tabletop RPG before, this is honestly one of the best entry points: no homework, no long campaigns, just a couple hours of shared chaos and dark comedy.

New players are absolutely welcome.
Fiasco is a zero-prep, rules-light storytelling game. There are no character sheets, no dice sets to pack, no materials needed. Everything is created collaboratively at the table, and the entire story plays out in a single session.

This event uses the newer card-driven “board game” version of Fiasco, which streamlines play and makes it especially friendly to first-timers.

Timing
I will be there at 5:30 setting up. The meetup begins promptly at 5:45pm to allow for introductions with the game starting very soon after. The venue has a hard stop at 8:00pm, so we will be moving at a brisk but comfortable pace. Anyone who wants to keep chatting or wrap up loose narrative threads is welcome to join me afterward for drinks nearby.

What to Bring
Nothing at all.

Just bring yourself and a willingness to lean into messy choices and improvisation. If you enjoy taking notes, a phone or notepad is fine, but completely optional.

How to Confirm your Spot
Please do the following to confirm your spot, even if you are only on the waitlist or just thinking about registering and want to ask more questions.

• Join the Discord server for the Seattle RPG Variety Society
• Send a confirmation message to the Discord channel for this specific event

That’s it. No rules reading, no character creation, no prep required.

Table Rules
Content rating: 21+
Themes may include crime, disasters, or poor choices.
We will not depict graphic violence or sexual content.

• This table is LGBTQ+ friendly.
• The X-Card is available at any time for safety and tone adjustments.