Starting Your Own Tabletop Game Night

What is a Tabletop RPG?

Tabletop roleplaying games allow players to assume the role of a heroic character and engage in collaborative storytelling with a Game Master (called a GM) and other players. Typical games require dice, pencil, paper, and a rulebook.

About Kobold Press

Kobold Press is a tabletop roleplaying game (TTRPG) publisher with experience in organizing and managing public game sessions. With over 400 public games hosted annually, Kobold Press knows the hints and tips worth sharing.

Tales of the Valiant RPG (ToV) is our latest roleplaying game, fully compatible with Dungeons & Dragons.  Tales of the Valiant RPG lets you advance your game while keeping your Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition materials relevant and useful. This means it’s full of exciting options for new gamers, and retains familiar basics for the more advanced D&D gamer.

The Tales of the Valiant RPG relies on two core rulebooks: the Player’s Guide and Monster Vault.  The Player’s Guide includes rules for 13 different heroic base classes, lineages including elves and dwarves, and more from classic fantasy roleplaying. It has all the rules you need to be a player or GM in one volume. The Monster Vault includes more than 400 dungeon-crawling fantasy creatures any GM needs to craft compelling fantasy game sessions–the foes for heroes to overcome.

You only need these two books to bring the Tales of the Valiant RPG to your group or organization’s game night.

Group Discount
Contact [email protected] to speak with our Sales Manager directly to ensure you receive a 35% library or club discount on Tales of the Valiant books and other Kobold Press stock.

Learning Through TTRPGs

Schools often consider role-playing games because they encourage building reading, math, and communication skills all while playing a game. Tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs) are an enjoyable and immersive way to help anyone engage with and experience curriculum material in a fun way. They also strengthen key social, emotional, and problem-solving skills.

To host your game days, consider these core skills used in tabletop gaming and include them in any forms or permissions requests:

• teamwork and cooperation
• reading comprehension
• quick math
• critical thinking
• Improvisation
• creativity and storytelling

To learn more, check out Steph Campbell, engineering professor, TTRPG writer, and owner/writer for TTRPGkids, as they share their experiences with both pre-K and college-level applied TTRPG experience in learning.

Kobold Press publishes a series of instructive soft-cover books, the Kobold Guides, filled with essays written by gaming, entertainment, and creative industry leaders on various topics related to game design, storytelling, and worldbuilding. These helpful guides are often used in college-level fiction writing and tabletop game design classes, and they are ideal for classroom learning and additional preparations before rolling dice.

Location: Where to Play

It is crucial to select an appropriate location for your tabletop game nights. Look for a space that accommodates multiple tables and chairs and allows for natural conversation volume and easy movement. Depending on the number of people who sign up, meeting rooms, reading areas, or other dedicated common spaces (like lunch rooms) can be great options for hosting game days.

Sign-Ups: Gathering Players

You can organize participants using a sign-up system for your tabletop game nights; this helps you cap the number of participants and also ensures everyone gets a fair chance to play. Depending on your resources, the library’s online event registration system, in-person sign-ups, or a combination are great options.

Below are documents and websites that can help facilitate the sign-up process if no other option is available.

• https://signup.com/
• Start Playing Games (Ideal for paid, online games)

Each game should have a single Game Master and 3 to 6 players with a dedicated table space. The more players at the table, the longer the gameplay will be. Keep this in mind as you build out your schedule.

Promotion

Once your sign-ups are public, promote your tabletop game nights through newsletters, social media, posters, and word-of-mouth. Highlight the benefits of tabletop gaming, such as fostering social interaction, critical thinking, and creativity.

Knowing your audience will help you reach them. TTRPGs are often (but not always) set in a fantasy setting with endless possibilities. Inspire people to sign up and play by drawing from related movies, TV, and pop culture, such as:

• Stranger Things 
• Lord of the Rings
• Game of Thrones
• The Elder Scrolls aka Skyrim
• World of Warcraft
• Elden Ring

Resources: What You Need

When planning tabletop game nights, you may want to offer various resources for your library community. This may include board games, rulebooks, dice, character sheets, and other gaming accessories like colorful maps and miniature figures. You can start by building a collection of games specifically for these events, or you can encourage participants to bring their own.

TTRPG Supply List

• Core Rule Books (Tales of the Valiant: Players Guide & Monster Vault)
• Select an adventure or write your own
• polyhedral dice (d20, d12, d10, d100, d8, d6 d4)
• Printed Character Sheets
• Pen/Pencils
• Snacks
• Maps & Minis (optional)

Safety Tools

Before starting a game, consider using TTRPG safety tools to establish both shared expectations and a social contract among everyone at the table. These tools ensure that everyone has a good time and understands the boundaries of gameplay. 

Here are a few options to consider for game days:

• Deck of Player Safety
• TTRPG Safety Toolkit
• Consent Check List

Game Masters & Adventures

Someone needs to run the game, and finding Game Masters can be the hardest part. Dedicated Game Masters will not only need to help facilitate the story but also answer rules questions for all the players. This may mean they ask players for specific rolls or present and describe random characters that the players meet in the game’s world.

Adventures Are the Story

Various tools, including prewritten adventures, can help new Game Masters guide the gameplay. With structured story ideas and game rules, these prewritten adventures mean less prep for the Game Master and more time for gaming! 

When selecting an adventure for your game days, consider its level. The lower the level, the easier it will be for new GMs and players to dive in.

Kobold Press offers short-form adventures in the Prepared! Expanded Collection for Dungeons & Dragons and for the Tales of the Valiant RPG:

• Adventures of Dib (Level 1)
• Caverns of the Spore Lord (Level 1)
• Trouble at Mossbeard Mill (Level 2)
• Sea of Bones (Level 3)
• The Clattering Keep (Level 4)
• Hidden Tome of Nargoth Level 4)
• Secret of the Silver Rune (level 5)
• The Sunken Pyramid (Level 8) – Coming Soon

Players & Characters

Like the Game Master, players can prepare before gaming. Unless the game is advertised as a “Learn to Play” game, players will want access to the core rule books to create heroic characters and understand the game’s rules.

Ensure they can access books, dice, and either prepared characters or blank character sheets 

Creating Characters

As players begin the character-building process, they have two options: choose a ready-to-play character or create their own personalized characters. 

Ready-to-Play Heroes

Generating new characters can take from 30 minutes to an hour and is not ideal for new players. If you are unfamiliar with TTRPG character creation, use pre-generated characters such as the free Valiant 6 characters. These iconic characters are ready to play at levels 1 to 4, and are available for download now.

Creating Heroic Characters

If you expect more experienced players to attend or if the Game Master is comfortable guiding character creation, they can provide players with details such as their character level, special story information, or other inspiration that might influence their character design process–as well as help them with rules questions. Players should record their character details and decisions on a blank character sheet. They will need this character for each game session.

How to Play

Tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs) are collaborative games where players create fictional characters and embark on adventures guided by a Game Master (GM). The GM describes the imaginary world and its inhabitants, while the players interact with the environment, tackle challenges, and make decisions as their characters. 

TTRPGs often involve dice rolls to determine the outcomes of actions, and the storytelling unfolds through a combination of structured rules and the participants’ creativity. Players can shape the narrative and the game’s direction, making each play session unique and engaging. Adopting a heroic role and succeeding in resolving a story in a satisfying way create a thrilling, creative, and fun experience for tabletop players.

Let’s break it down…

1. Meet for a pre-game or “Session 0” to discuss Safety Tools and solidify character building. Share pre-made characters for new players.
2. Once characters and adventures are ready, everyone gathers around the table and gets into character.
3. Each player may describe their character, including their appearance, personality, and background.
4. The game master sets the scene and provides the starting point for the adventure.
5. As the game progresses, the players make decisions for their characters, interact with the world and other characters, and navigate the challenges and opportunities the GM presents.
6. Dice are rolled to determine the outcomes of actions, and the game master describes the results of the player’s choices. The players use their creativity and problem-solving skills to overcome obstacles and advance the story.
7. The game master presents new challenges and plot developments, keeping the players engaged and immersed in the game world as the adventure unfolds.

In the Tales of the Valiant RPG you use a twenty-sided dice (d20) as the core dice along with a full set of polyhedral dice (d12, d10, d8, d6, d4) for certain rolls.