Roleplaying Games

Schedule:

• Monday Evenings
• Shop Open: 10:00-22:00
• RPG Sessions: 19:00-22:00

Sessions are £5 per player; and Free for GMs.

The idea is a '3-hour session within a 4-hour slot' (after 6pm, for a 7pm start, until 10pm-ish).

All players should be aged 18+.
If you have younger players that are interested (or are a younger player yourself), talk to us and we will attempt to arrange something suitable. Hosting any event with/for under-18s brings some additional practical (and legal) complications. Parents (carers, siblings, etc.) may bring younger players with them to any session they are attending.

Information for Players

No experience necessary.

We cannot promise to be running exactly the game you imagined, in the way you imagined, on the first session that you turn up. We will do our best to fit you in somewhere, with some people you get along with, playing a game that you enjoy… even if it wasn’t quite what you are expecting.

Depending on what you are looking for, it might take us a few sessions to gather the players together to make it happen.

An infinite choice of characters, in an unlimited choice of worlds, and endlessly possibilities for adventure … can be a little overwhelming. So it may take a few attempts to narrow it down to - or even just put into words - exactly what you are looking for. Be honest, but also a bit flexible.

Information for Groups

If you are an established group that simply needs somewhere to play, then come and talk to us. Much of the GM section (below) is necessary for new games and new players, but in practice most games naturally settle down into reasonably consistent groups quite quickly.

Information for GMs

Clifton Road Games is a business and open to the public. Consequently, games are subject to some restrictions and people cannot simply do whatever they want. There are other people in the room; it's not just about your own group and what they are comfortable with.

Hopefully we’re not asking you to do anything that you wouldn’t normally in the course of running a game, but we do need you to bear a few things in mind and ideally to have a few specific things prepared in advance.

When new players turn up, it is important for there to be games for them to join in with, so:

1. Linked scenarios and flexible mini-campaigns are good.
    
   Try to end each session in a place where you can continue - or take a detour - without requiring everybody to turn up to every session.
    
2. Consider your game to be full when you could still reasonably cope with 1-2 extra players.
    
   Most games that could run with 5-7, flow better with 3-5 and this way there are always spaces for new players on any given evening.
    
3. GMs should ideally have 4-6 NPC equivalent player characters (mostly) drafted and ready to go, along with a couple of plot hooks to tie that character into more or less any scenario they happen to be running.
    
   It's the sort of thing that most GMs have 'in their head' anyway. Actually filling out the character sheets and keeping them on hand is another way that new players can quickly find a place within a game.
    

As a practical consideraton, if three (or more) new people turn up on the same evening, we can run an additional game to accommodate them. When one or two new faces arrive, ideally we need to have spaces so that they can fit in naturally without overwhelming a table.

Time is a factor. You have 3 hours - with a bit of flexibility - to find a suitable end point to the game session. The majority of Creating a New Character is best done in advance and/or between sessions if at all possible.
Note: Some GMs favour leaving 20%+ of any new character template open, so that appropriate traits or items can be added as the need arises in game.

The character templates you have on hand should reflect the sort of NPC characters that you might want to include to advance a particular aspect of the story: A local guide, to deal with particular inhabitants or terrain; A scoundrel, with access to particular items or skills; A fighter, if some extra muscle might be required; A specialist, if you have a particularly tricky problem to throw at the players;; A healer, if you’re expecting the adventure to be dangerous; … These templates should cover a broad range of characters both to give new players a quick suitable choice and because they also double as a resource for the GM to use as NPCs.