Warsaw (PL) Tabletop Role Playing Game Group for Expats Only. D&D Fortnightly

NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY - watch YouTube video for example of the group.

Tabletop Role Playing Games is a collaborative story told by a group of players around a table. One player acts as the narrator. It is his (or her) job to bring the imaginary world alive by voice acting the characters and situations not in the control of the other players. This is the Game Master (GM) player. The GM prepares the game ahead of time. The other players each control one hero, just like in a computer game. The GM explains and describes situations the other players react to overcome or exploit.

An example of what an evening playing this game with other people can be.
YOUTUBE VIDEO HERE youtube.com/watch?v=TJN1JvnRGWE

The evening of Saturday 3 April (Easter weekend) is the date set for new intakes into our group of expats. We will decide upon a GM and a convenient time to play fortnightly in the centre of Warsaw, Poland.

PM me or reply here if interested.

I would be so up for that.. argh why Warsaw sob sob :(

Sounds a bit geeky to me.

I think I've already said that in the same thread you've created a few days ago but I'd so play with you guys, unfortunately I'm in Silesia.. it would be nice if there was such a group in Silesia. What rpg systems are you guys playing anyway?

are u gonna run through warsaw centre with swords and shields yelling "for the horde!"? :D

The thing you're talking about is called LARP ( live action role playing ).. and they are talking about the tabletop game..

Frd, I wish I had known in Sep 2006 as we had a major thing going from then til June 2007. Several native speakers played and we even had the luxury of a second GM when the Aussie was ill. I really learned a lot about feats, spells and all manner of other things. It was a nice excuse for a few Żubr beers and some creativity came from it.

The best play I made was polymorphing one of our crew into an orc so that he could enter an orc camp appearing to be one of them. The character who played him was legendary!

D&D v3.5

Heh I've been playing a bit here and there with some of my friends but never had enought time for longer sessions. But I'd love to play someday again. I'm always up for a game if there's a team with some room :)


Sounds awesome, that's what I really like about these games so much room for creativity, different ideas and approaches. Although I sometimes found the amount of rules and dice rolls a bit too much in D&D, a tad overwhelmed by the amount of everything especially during characters creation :) hence my warm feeling towards "storytelling" systems such as for instance Vampire the Masquarade when there's nearly no dice throwing and a lot of talking and acting..

by the way Seanus what realm were you guys playing Forgotten Realms which is probably most popular or maybe something else from D&D?


Haven't played the newest one.. I think I stopped somewhere around AD&D.. which if I remember correctly is 2.0..

The Aussie GM painted the scenario from extensive home preparation. We followed his lead and played from, to my knowledge, the standard manuals. Voluminous is an understatement. I was Arek the Cleric, I thought Eric was too corny.

So far the forming group consists of one Hellenic male, a Canadian male, an American female, a British female, and one interested Polish female who has recently returned from a lengthy stay abroad so we have made the exception. All but two are inexperienced players so it should be fun.

Anyone wanting to know what this is, is directed to Youtube:
youtube.com/watch?v=TJN1JvnRGWE

We are looking for more players in Warsaw for fortnightly ongoing fun.

hehe good one, I'm always having a brainstorm over Tolkienesque names, something that has an apostrophe in the middle and sounds "elvish" ; )

As for the gm sometimes it's hard to find someone who's got enough time to create something truly interesting. I gm'ed several games when I was in primary and had a lot of free time, it was amazing how you could create a great mood with proper "fantasy" themed music or some special sound effects. I especially remember one game where we used "Court of the Crimson King" song by King Crimson as a conundrum for the players to solve to get into the crimson king's castle. Good times :)


Put a laptop somewhere hehe and I'll join you guys via Skype ; D bwaaa why am I living in such a backwater city :(

Essentially, this is a group being formed for expats to do something together that is not tied to bar hoping on a Saturday.

I thought this Thread would be better suited to the category of "Meet-Ups, Events" since a meet up is, in fact, being sought; and would get better exposure in that category where individual persons are posting they are looking for contact with others, rather than be relegated to a miscellaneous category of "other classified."

Unfortunately I cannot contact a moderator to inform any moderator of this since my access is blocked because I am a newbie here.

Maybe someone would be kind enough to help me spread the word by notifying others who want to meet outside of the bar scene that this opportunity exists..?


FYI: the newest one is 4.0.
I started RPG back up a few years ago in Poland when I got fed up of meeting in bars, smelling like cigarettes and sharing space with drunks. You could say I traded back up from Leisure Suit Larry to tabletop RPG. The latest version at that time was 3.5.

Before then I was a player of AD&D 1st ed: THAC0 from 1979!

Forgot that they have already released the 4th edition, they are earning some serious money heh all this worthless additional content, special editions..


heh I haven't played 1st ed. only in computer games like Baldur's Gate 1, hence my vague knowledge about the whole THAC0 thingie ; )
I played a lot of AD&D 2ed, a bit of Vampire Masquarade, a bit of Earthdawn.. a lot of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay and Neuroshima a polish post-apocalyptic rpg...

I'll take an rpg session over a bar crawl anyday, the problem is you need much more time for a session and usually much more time to finish a campaign...

From my perspective, a fortnightly four-hour meeting (e.g. 18:00 - 22:00) with an expanding group of friendly people vs coming home deafened, scratchy throat and smelling like an ashtray after bar hopping between 22:00 - 02:00 does not have a problem inside it. I think having fun this way has many more benefits including saving the PLN 200+ bar bill. People are usually complaining that they cannot meet people so I see a real opportunity to solve that challenge. At least it works that way for me focusing on the opportunity.

One poster to this forum wrote that he played almost a year and had a blast doing it. Playing tabletop RPGs may not suit everyone's taste. Neither would a weekly Toastmasters meeting or a weekend bar hop, or many other activities I can think of that would be considered relaxing and fun.

So you're agreeing with me? Because I get the notion that you are challenging my point of view somehow.. : o

Anyways I partially agree but it probably depends on the person - maybe you are different but I visit pubs once or twice a month or even more seldomly and if you wanna play campaign it makes sense to meet at least once or even more times a week and if there's somebody missing and you're playing a solid campaign it can break the game.

Anyone who haven't had any experience with playing pen and paper games should be aware of that they are time consuming and based on certain commitment and presance of all the players from the very beginning of the campaign to its end.

The game is fortnightly, meaning once every two weeks. About two times a month. The host and the players are all busy working professionals with lives that include business travel, outside organisations, family and sport activities. We take the time to socialize together in a creative recreation once every two weeks in someone's home.

The search for new players is done so that we can have people casually join the game.

Commitment is too strong a word unless you apply it in relation to going to the theatre, watching a film, going to a bar, getting a haircut... etc. The relaxing and entertaining game environment, including the story and the players, is what keeps people coming back It is not the commitment. No one is married to the group. LOL

Not really, missing one player can ruin the experience. Synchronizing 5 or 6 people is not always easy. It all looks nice on paper ha ha good luck.

In my very humble opinion, you must be refering to convention style games that are heavily structured, competitive and played within a fixed (short) time frame.

The loose structure of informal games, such as what our group structure is, is centred around an ongoing campaign. Players build their characters with an outlook over a longer term. That said, one of our members will be leaving Poland at summer's end. Sorry to see her go but she will be replaced eventually because our group enviroment is co-operative.

There is always some player's character the GM has to manage from time to time over the course of the game's life. But it is the GM's main task (not the individual players') to create a fantasy world that players find to be engrossing, motivating them to voluntary return to the game time and time again. The GM is the supplier and the addictor: the nicotine in cigarettes; the high in heroin; the serotonin of fun. For a GM, being the addictor is the addicting factor.

Aside from that there are three essential features of gaming: rule-governed structure; outcome unpredicability; and voluntary involvement.

So I cannot see the word commitment when a GM is focussed on the task of addiction.
youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=9oSb4RDCq1Y

Nicely said.


I'm happy that all of your players have overlapping free time then.

Nice thing to watch that Robot Chicken D&D, but not much roleplaying from the players ... But nicely done taking into consideration they are beginners. Wonder how would they play in a casual city encounter, shopping and talking.

The most important thing about getting together every two weeks is to spend some fun time relaxing with your friends.

Yes, the time gets scheduled. It has to be because we're all busy (family, friends, overtime at work, etc). It is no secret that, once in a while, we only meet up once a month during vacation times. I can report that we're all expat adults; the very strong inference is we are responsible enough to call ahead when our time management is off-schedule and we can plan ahead in our diaries too.

It is a different bunch of people that regularly plan to come over to a house to have some wine and laughs than the spontaneous gang that meets up ad hoc at a bar. I am not sure how to express it. "A closer group of people" than the individual soldiers lined up for drinks on separate checks. The guy who wrote on this topic that he played for a year described it with the right flavour. And then there is the new party member someone eventually brings along to fill a spot with a pre-made character (NPC).

At the end of the day, it is about the fun of the game. Not the strict application of rules by an iron first Game Master/Rules lawyer. At the end of the game the question is: Did everyone have fun playing together?

Meet up tonight with a couple of new group intakes at a Japanese sushi place in Mokotow. If anyone is interested in joining the group, this would be a good time and place to get acquainted.

The actual game meetings will begin again after Easter. Tonight is just a get acquainted night over a little sake. (These folks and I have never met each other, and they have never played D&D!) It should be fun.

If anyone is interested to join us for a little dinner, PM me. Another get acquainted is scheduled for Saturday 2 April. Gaming will happen after that.

youtube.com/watch?v=L8XjEKfv76k

Just wondering. What's your players count cap Shadow? Are you guys playing a ready bought campaign or is your gm usually creating something by himself?

Have a good time..

6 - 8 players is a good number because it allows for times when not everyone is present. But, let’s be real too. The expat community willing to play this game is rather small to begin with and constantly changing through attrition. I do not see a need to impose an artificial player cap per se.

I have a library of ready-made v3.5 adventures/campaigns set in the default realm of the core rules. The library is stocked with



I really like the Robot Chicken video idea of making cue cards for new players. If I have the time, I just might do that project myself. Trouble is preparation time; not so much the time to play.

So you guys are playing greyhawk.. never tried it, only played Forgotten Realms and a bit of Dragonlance ( after reading the books I got a tad interested in Dragonlance.. ).

Pretty big players number but I guess it makes sense when there's a big players rotation. For me the best number of players is 5 plus GM. If there's more, people usually get a bit bored especially at a time when they are doing something by themselves and not as a team, waiting for their turn is boring and decreases the immersion factor.

In my humble experience, the trick I found is to make a variety of challenges in one encounter: skill checks and/or action checks and build in some mystery element to rooms beit traps, climate elements, residue spell effects, shadowy (spawning!) alcoves, or something along those lines preferably behind a wall of opponents!

I think every session needs one of those "wow" type rooms. Later on, as players get comfortable with the game mechanics (note the Robot Chicken hack'n slash is for new players), the role gaming can get more involving. For experience that would average between levels 2 - 3. That's when the murder mysteries and realm politics start!

The Dummies guide is great for flipping through during adventure creation.

Believe it or not, building a good adventure, including the action flow chart, is allot like creating a lesson plan. A language class can have 6 - 10+ students and each one will want to have their "money's worth" so-to-speak. Likewise, players in a game will want to be (and should be!) the hero at every session.

Creating a tailor made adventure/lesson that makes all the players/students individual heroes will greatly help to keep everyone's interest.
;-)

With sushi (and a bottle of sake) on the tabletop, how can the meeting be anything but a success?! Oh, and this was the meeting for the women and me! (Bonus) Getting to know players is an important step before inviting anyone to a game. Unlike the women, the men have all played before in their home country so they do not need a get acquainted session as much as the women. So far, so good.

The group composition, as of this moment, looks like this:
3 - female
3 - male

WOW a balanced party!
An integration meeting between the female and male players is in order maybe for Friday or Saturday at the same restaurant. Warm sake is great for loosening things up!

If anyone else is also interested in this way to have fun, now is a good time to PM me. We want to be playing in April.

As I've already said I would be but unfortunately I live to far away from Warsaw ;)

Anyways, if you'll have some time please write something about how it is going, characters and first impressions of the rpg by the newcomers, I'm quite curious.

Have fun.

I did this years ago with Polish English language students. I was using RPG to practice English conversation with proficient English speakers. I had even forgot about the forum - now totally overrun by spammers. I tried to delete some of it (page by page) but killed some of the stories my language students had written by mistake!

Anyways, I stickied what was left to whet your appetite.
Here's the link:
crowcommunications.com/rpg/blogs/index.php

Do not bother with the spammers. 1,000's of them! Just read the stickies if you're interested.

If only something like Information of the Tabletop RPG in Japan for speaker of English were available in Poland
trpg.net/en
Great way to practice language at proficiency level in a non-linear structured environment. The Asians are leading the way here.

As Barry White sings, we're getting it together baby, so too is the group assembling.

Another meeting tonight with a new female player and, alas, it appears the Irish girl has found herself a boyfriend and plans to make the most of her time in Poland snogging.

So the current score is:
Men: 3
Women: 2

Here's a little amusement for readers while we're on temporary hold.
youtube.com/watch?v=NTPCiUwinLU

So, delayed response after our meeting last Wednesday but...

As I said I'm really up for this; I hope other English-speaking expats are interested also.
Let's keep the ball rolling and see where it ends up.
Please keep me in the loop about whatever happens.

Dan

Well, finally all the men meet and we may even have one of the women join us tonight. The men are all former RPGers from elsewhere so tonight is a get to know you drink.

One of the men will be away on a skiing trip starting tomorrow until 18 April so I will bring some dice and in 20 minutes he will have a v3.5 character - equipped and ready to begin upon his return. (Yes, I have a system - it normally does not take 20 minutes.)

I read a few Blogs and one, Newbie DM,
newbiedm.com/2010/03/29/how-to-be-an-effective-dungeon-master
was recently brought to my attention by fellow Canadian Johnn Four
roleplayingtips.com/index.php
I thought I would share it.

And how did it end for the Robot Chicken guys, you may ask? Well, ponder no further. Here is the last full 10-minute installment.
youtube.com/watch?v=wa23uCrlM7w

There is always room at the gaming table if anyone wants to join in the fun.

Here is the opening of the campaign for this group. I have one Gygaxian dungeon ahead for the group. It might even be worth publishing....

Local World Background - Celene, Land of Elves.

It is the time of Goldfields just after the Richfest Festival, which marks the middle of the year between the white blankets of Sleep and the green carpets of Revivification when our story begins on a warm, humid day of travel.

Arn, Authnir, Wulfgar, and Bea found themselves on the road together confronted with a runaway Pony. Arthnir suggested the group leave the pony because there is always someone who will come looking for what they lost, and Wulfgar got into a philosophical question about what was more lawful for the good of all. Bea acted to calm the animal and Arn, the Cleric, healed grievous wounds on the obviously mistreated animal.

Pleasantries were exchanged and all decided to walk together down the road another few hours, all the while listening to Wulfgar Ironfounderson explain how being born Human does not necessarily make him less of a Dwarf: an exceptionally tall Dwarf at 6 foot 3 inches.

Then, as a loosely associated party, they came to an Inn where they heard rumours about the village of Mahm and the Baron Gladhor Rúdhon from two of his plated knights. All is not happy in the area, and not all may be as it seems. Firstly, what Elf would mistreat an animal...?

Arn decided to stay with the pony outside while the rest of the group laid down on simple straw filled beds within the Inn's common sleeping chamber. After a rough night, and a battle outside against giant scavenger ants, the party reassembled for breakfast before confronting their trip through the beckoning Welkwood forest, hoping for safety in numbers.

There are new faces taking their morning meal at the Inn as they sit down to eat and, as always, adventure awaits the party.

Become a fan on Facebook as the story unfolds:

facebook.com/?ref=home#!/group.php?gid=114651881879023

Well, the party continued towards their goal travelling ahead on the caravan path leaving their Wizard, Bea, behind at the Inn to take care of personal business. Arn the cleric, Wulfgar the tall Dwarf and Arthnir the Elven thief travelled on to the village of Mahm.

Here the mysteries of Celene began to unravel. Just what is going on in this are and what's happening at the ruined castle. Confusion set in when it became apparent that not all good and evil stories are clearly all evil or all good.

They met a Sorcerer in the village and, together, the four adventures went to explore the ruined castle, entering via a secret passage. Here, in this first room of the underground castle ruins, they met their end at the hands of many foes. Only the sorcerer made it out alive after being trapped in a net trap and struggling to get free the whole time while the rest of the party were overwhlemed with ranged and melee attacks. Once free of the net, she fled the site of bloodshed to alert the village.

But when reinforcements arrived there was nothing to be found underneath the old drum tower.....

The Elven wizard Bea had a message sent to her by her cousin Sten. It appears Goblins are the cause of troubles at the little shop in Willow's Edge. Here Sten and his wife run a small shop for the local farmers and try to increase their profits by selling along the Narwell caravan trail. But with the farmers loosing crops in the field and the threat of Goblin attack more real than ever before, Sten set our to intercept his cousin and found her with a note at the Inn.

Determined to help her cousin, Bea made the fortunate choice to break company with her travelling companions and travel to Willow's Edge. But she was not alone. Three new travelling companions soon joined her from the Inn. Catching up to Sten while his wagon was under attack, Sten's mysterious scout/helper and Bea formed a party dedicated to wiping out the Goblin horde, who carry allot of gold from the local Bannorn of Lord Lamaenon....

Now all that stands between them and success is about a 1,000 howling Goblins bent on burning every last farmstead in the area.

The adventure continues on 12 June.

Well, we watched some DVDs and chatted at the last meeting.

The Polish girl, who is afraid of her English, did not show up. We kind of laughed at that because we're busy (senior-level position) men and she made the excuse that she is busy as an assistant on a Saturday.

The French guy did not even call.... he is not really into it. Strange guy. I cannot figure him out.

The Dutch player is on holiday we all know. Busy people have to live to schedules unlike whimsical assistants on a carefree shopping Saturday.

The Greek guy came straight from the airport because he knew where he was scheduled to be.

Anyway, a boy's night in is not the worst thing for people interested in socializing. So three of us chatted and got to know each other better. The group is shaking itself out which is a good thing.

On the 27 June we will resume the life and death struggles of our characters. Do you want to join us...?


Hard to believe that was almost 10 months ago... wow time flies when you're occuppied.

Let's see.. the Greek guy, the Dutch guy and a new Finish guy became the core during the summer 2010. Then we had a Danish guy, a Canadian, an Italian and another Canadian - followed by a Bulgarian gal and an American gal. One Canadian returned home at the beginning of spring 2011. Not a bad group. We're even doing a film night at the premiere of the fantasy/comedy Your Highness in May. And with a group of people who can manage their time, we schedule regular games now.

The Greek guy is worried we have too many people.... to which I say, let the group become a once a week affair, instead of the twice a month it is currently!

So I am giving this topic a bump. We are still playing in Warsaw and we are still enjoying ourselves. You are welcome to join us.

This might be of interest
escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/i-hit-it-with-my-axe/1533-Episode-One-Meet-the-Party