Month: December 2018

By the Numbers: Metro Boston Stats for 2018, Q4

For the period of October 1 through December 31, Metro Boston Organized Play ran 78 tables of games for 370 (non-unique) players. (That’s roughly 5.5 tables per week.) For the 2018 calendar year, Metro Boston ran 501 tables for 2,406 (non-unique) players.

These stats include Pathfinder Society RPG, Pathfinder Society CORE, Pathfinder Society ACG, Pathfinder Playtest, and Starfinder Society games. We have intentionally omitted data from Pathfinder Academy games that were run for kids ages 6-16.

These stats include games run specifically at Metro Boston venues which currently are: Barnes & Noble (Prudential), Comicazi (Davis), Knight Moves Cafe (Brookline), Knight Moves Cafe (Somerville), Omar’s World of Comics (Lexington), Pandemonium Books and Games (Central), and special events.

Players were counted even if they were not reported in the online record. (E.G.: new player didn’t want a chronicle sheet but played at one of our events to try the game.)

Ten Things to Keep You Busy During the Holidays

The Metro Boston Lodge wishes you all a happy holiday season! Stay warm, stay happy, stay safe, and keep gaming!

Do you have some time on your hands coming up?  Do you need something to read on a plane, train, or automobile?  Do you need to get away from the holiday hustle and bustle for just a moment?  Don’t fret; we’ve got you covered whether you’ve got 5 hours to wait in an airport or 5 minutes to take your mind off the cold at a bus stop.

Here are some quick, easy reads with substance:

  1. How Men Can Become Better Allies to Women
  2. Five Ways Men Can Improve Gender Diversity at Work
  3. Why More Black Women Should Play Tabletop RPGs
  4. I Fit the Description (trigger warning: This piece contains a true account of fear and racism.)
  5. Men as Allies: Engaging Men to Advance Women in the Workplace

Here are some longer options, if you’ve got the time:

  1. More Fun and Games
  2. Pathfinder Tales Novels

If you get queasy while reading in a moving vehicle, here are some things to watch or listen to:

  1. 8 Women in Tabletop Gaming You Should be Following
  2. Creative Space with Monte Cook & Shanna Germain
  3. Watch A Mini-Documentary About A Group Of Girls Playing Dungeons & Dragons For The First Time

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Update: Metro Boston Lodge and the Somerville Homeless Coalition

As many of you know, the Metro Boston Lodge has enjoyed a long partnership with the Somerville Homeless Coalition (SHC) to provide badly needed supplies for the most vulnerable members of our neighborhoods–homeless families and children. We dropped off winter clothing at the SHC office in Davis Square earlier this week. That was our final delivery for the calendar year as they can no longer accept clothing items. They do, however, have a continued need for non-perishable food and for personal hygiene items (such as toothpaste, deodorant, baby wipes, etc.).

If you would like to help, you can drop off donations during one of our game events. Please contact our organizers (metro-boston-venture-officers@googlegroups.com) at least a couple of days before the game, and one of our volunteers will coordinate receipt/delivery of the donation with you. For a list of SHC needs, please reference their in-kind donations page.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you all for being good stewards of the communities in which we live, especially during the holidays.

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A chat with the Northeast Region’s RVC, June Soler

We recently chatted with one of Organized Play’s Regional Venture-Coordinators (RVC), June Soler, about conventions, Pathfinder, and a smattering of other topics. You can listen in here: https://youtu.be/53Fx2Q6efaQ

Did you know that you can find your local game organizers on Paizo’s Coordinators page?  If you have questions about finding a game, finding another type of event (such as a convention or charity fundraiser), game rules, or anything related to Organized Play, you can reach out to your local organizer!

If you don’t know what all these “Venture” titles mean, you can read the full description of their responsibilities on Paizo’s Volunteer page.  In the meantime, here’s a quick summary:

Regional Venture-Coordinator: Organized Play happens at many locations worldwide, and each RVC is in charge of a large region that might encompass several states or even multiple countries. RVCs are proven volunteers and serve as experienced resources in their territories.  Among a myriad of tasks, they help the Venture-Captains in their region with convention planning and with the logistics of managing local volunteers.

Venture-Captain: VCs are in charge of a large area–usually several towns, or even a whole state.  They’re familiar with the individual locations where Organized Play is offered, and they help local volunteers with tasks like scheduling, rules questions, etc.  They typically help setup Organized Play at local conventions.

Venture-Lieutenant: VLs are the metaphorical “strong right hand” of their VC.  They aid with any or all tasks a VC might do–such as convention organizing.  They also play a strong role in the mentoring and recruitment of local volunteers such as Venture-Agents and Game Masters (GMs).  A VC typically has one VL to help them.  There might be exceptions in geographically large regions where it is impractical for one person to travel to each game venue.

Venture-Agent: VAs are typically in charge of Organized Play at one particular venue.  Venues are often friendly local game stores, libraries, cafes, and other places that permit gaming events on a regular basis.  VAs schedule which adventures and campaigns take place at each venue.  They manage sign-ups for GMs and players.

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