I wish my first newsletter didn't have to be the product of such difficult times, but alas. There is good news, however! After a week-long beta, Tabletop now has a Digital Edition release, in order to keep you all connected, sociable, and able to play the tabletop games that you love. This newsletter will thus be your handy dandy guide to getting involved with Tabletop (Digital Edition).
But first, a quick announcement - hoodies!
The time has come again to drape yourself in Tabletop-branded finery. Hoodies, to be exact, in all the colours of the rainbow*, emblazoned with our society logo on the back and an impeccably embroidered logo on the front. To top it off, up to 3 lines of your customization of choice can be added – your name, your catchphrase, morse code, a rick roll… the sky’s the limit! (Oh, and the max character count of 20 characters per line). All of the above is available now for the low, low price of £24.70, so why wait? Order now to show your love for this lil’ society.
*(except Exec Purple™️ and purple-adjacent colours if you’re not an exec member. Sorry!)
Our Discord
All of our online tabletop gaming is organised through our Discord server. Discord is an amazing platform for text and voice chat while you play games together. If you are new to Discord, and do not have an account, you can sign up here. Once you've got an account, you can join our server by using this link: https://discord.gg/xdDZnYQ
Once you've joined, remember to read the rules in the welcome channel, and write a little bit about yourself in intros!
We have a whole host of channels on our server, all of which will have an introduction to them as a pinned post. We've created some special new channels specifically for online gaming. Our Wargames exec Jon, well practised in the art of demanding people declare their intentions to game, will make a post every Sunday (before Tabletop Monday, see "What's Happening This Week" for more info on our schedule) asking who is doing what.
Channels to help you find and play online games:
looking-for-games: a place to put your intention to host or play a game, and/or join up with those who have already done so. This isn't a place for discussion, solely somewhere to find games.online-games-discussion: a place for discussion oriented around online games, whether these are tabletop-related or actual gaming games.ccgs-online-games-discussion: a place specifically for the discussion of online CCGs, such as Magic: the Gathering and Netrunner.voice channels: here's where you go to speak over the mic to each other when playing games. Click on a channel that has a speaker symbol next to it and it will automatically connect you to the voice chat.board games tables: under this category is a list of "tables." Once you've organised a game, you can all move over to a specific table as a place to talk together without disturbing anyone else (or anyone else disturbing you!)
But what games are we playing? And how?
A little preface: if you want to run something, be it a board game, an RPG, a game that isn't a traditional tabletop game etc... Please do! You can always post any ideas you have in the relevant channel on our Discord.
Board Games
Welcome our lord and saviour, Tabletop Simulator (available on Steam). Yes it does cost money (insert cry emoji here), but it allows you to play almost any board game under the sun with your friends.
Aside from Tabletop Simulator, there are many miscellaneous websites for board games, so you can participate even if you don't have Tabletop Simulator. Keep an eye on the looking-for-games channel to see who's found what, and if you've found a good platform, talk about it in online-games-discussion! Tim, our outgoing Quartermaster, has even added a Werewolf bot to the server, if you wish to play that!
Wargames
A variety of wargames can be enjoyed online, including X-Wing, Armada and Warhammer 40k being possible to play on Tabletop Simulator, and Warmachine can be played on Tabletop Simulator or Vassal. Jon had some fun creating 21 different pregens for X-Wing Aces High (a free-for-all, 2-8 player game with 1 ship per player), if that's your jam.
CCGs
CCGs can be played on a variety of platforms, including MTG Arena and MTGO. MTGO (Magic: the Gathering Online) is our main go-to, given that most of us are commander players! To help out those who have never used MTGO, we've decided to play 3DH, a format where your commander deck must cost 3 Tix or less (not including basic lands or the commander). For full rules, see the pinned post in our magic-the-gathering channel in our Discord server!
RPGs
Oli, our incoming Assistant RPGs Rep, has already run a homebrew oneshot, and will probably be running more in the future! He requests that you give yourself the @RPGs role in our Discord to keep up to date with advertisement of future games.
Gamey games
Of course, online gaming isn't just restricted to tabletop-related games. Jackbox games are a firm favourite, and there has been discussion about playing Worms. We even have a Minecraft server...
Our (unofficial) modded Minecraft Server!
Our wonderful outgoing LARP rep Jakub (who has now been dubbed temporary Minecraft exec in my head), alongside his team of hard-working mods, has created a modded Minecraft server for patrons of Tabletop. If you wish to join our new city, Tabletopolis, you can join the Tabletopolis Discord server here: https://discord.gg/F9y7Sak
What's happening this week?
It is still the Easter Holiday, so we are running to our Easter Holiday timetable of events.
- Tabletop Evening - Monday 5-10pm on our Discord - a time to play any and all kinds of games: board games, wargames, jackbox, werewolf, CCGs... Whatever you can get people to play with you!
- CCGs Evening - Thursday 5-10pm on our Discord - this classic CCGs spot is the time to play CCGs specifically.
What happened last week?
We had 14+ people join us for Virtual Board Games last Monday! People certainly aren't bored of worm jokes yet (haha, get it?)
Our new city Tabletopolis was born in Minecraft. The Ender Dragon was slain on Day One, and on Day Two, at the heart of Tabletopolis, our beloved Tabletop logo was created. A few rogue states have split away from our haven, including Southern Canada, Britannia Incorporated, and the 2 Hobo Holes. Our resident mad wizards had a flux up apiece, with Apprentice Thaumaturge Jakub threatening the sanctity of Tabletopolis by opening an unstable rift. But, after a mad half-hour or so, he managed to bomb it into non-existence with nary a scratch on the logo. Phew.
Callum began a game of King's Dilemma: Houses Marvol, Trees, McHouseface, ComLarp, Lafayette, AJ's as yet unnamed house, and Uraeus Lysander argue at the political table while wrestling to determine the fate of the land.
Well, that's all from me folks. I hope you enjoy our digital offerings!
Wash your hands, stay inside, and come play some games with us <3
Ares Osborn (Communications and Operations)
@dovahbutt#7544 on Discord
e.osborn@warwick.ac.uk
Society Website
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Board Games Facebook Group
RPG Facebook Group
LARP Facebook Group