Venture-Agent, Illinois—Kakankee
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Hello all,
Some friends and I are trying to form a new Lodge in Kankakee county IL, and we are looking for any advice to make it successful. We have done a fairly good job publizing it locally and organizing ourselves and potential players.
I was wondering if there was a way we could get some boons to help launch our first events in September and who I could write to to ask for those things. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Venture-Captain, Michigan—Mt. Pleasant
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Hey Socar! Generally boons are reserved for larger events (15+ tables over 3-4 days). Your best start though would be to contact your nearest Venture-Officer Illinois has quite a few and being unfamiliar with what cities are where in the state I'm not sure who your closest one would be. I'm guessing one of the Chicago VOs is the closest but you'd know better than I.
There used to be a thread around here that had a great list with steps to take to start a game at a new location. I tried finding it the other day for another poster but failed in my searches.
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Venture-Agent, Illinois—Kakankee
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Ahhhh cool, I have sent a message to nearby VC just waiting for a response. Currently we have 5 tables scheduled over the entire month at this time with a 6th soon to be.I was unsure if this was something that could happen, but if you don't ask you don't get. Thanks for the help. Any other advice for a new Lodge?
Venture-Captain, Washington—Spokane
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Socar,
Congratulations on setting up a new lodge and thank you for stepping up as the Event Coordinator. Now for new lodge advice...
- Set up some central means of contact (Facebook, E-Mail, GroupMe, Meetup). This will provide a means of knowing when you will be playing and what is being offered.
- Post your events on both the central contact point location and here at Paizo.com. Make sure that no matter what month it is there are dates setup in the event listing.
- Try to get a good pool of GMs going and rotate them best you are able. Let them know when they will be needed to GM and either provide them what they will be GMing or have them provide what they will be GMing.
- Make sure you and/or your GMs get to take a break and play when possible. Losing GMs to burnout is never a good thing.
- Don't be afraid to ask questions or post questions here!
Best success in your new lodge!
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Venture-Agent, Illinois—Kakankee
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- Central Contact Pathfinder Players of Kankakee County, Facebook group page.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/PPoKC/
- Events posted on paizo event section and our FB page, And local store hosting the events has also listed it on their FB page.
https://www.facebook.com/TheDragonsRefuge
- a pool of 4 in house GM/Players, able to GM or Play as needed at events
- and always looking for more GMs if others would like to volunteer.
- And as good as we feel we have things, we know there are aspects or areas that could using shoring up. So please if you have any advice at all even if you think its something everyone knows, please assume we know nothing and clue us in.....
Not to mention you guys have done this before and could offer suggestions to help us avoid common pit falls or short comings.
Any help is greatly appreciated.
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Hey Socar!
I'm from a bit south of you, down in Central IL, but if you'd like some advice on getting a group going, I can tell you what I started a year ago, with three or four tables in a month, to get up to six to eight.
1) Definitely build your GM base. If you have people who are considering it, but nervous, encourage them to run something easy, like The Confirmation, The Wounded Wisp, or Master of the Fallen Fortress. Host a GM 101 session on a day that isn't a game day for new and interested GMs. I ran on a 4 GM pool for about 4 months before I could broaden it, and would frequently run two slots back to back myself, just to help prevent burn out.
2) For building a player base, advertise. If it wasn't for the combined efforts of word of mouth of my players, my GMs, and my FLGS owner, I don't think I'd grow at nearly the rate that I did. Adveritse. Get your name out there. If you find someone who enjoys or is interested in gaming, encourage them to come out, and have pregens, pencils, and if you can afford it dice and figures for them.
3) Something all my players seem to love is immersion. Try and use the Iconic Heroes figures for pregens, or to loan out to people. If you can get the Bestiary Pawns or flip mats for a scenario, do so. People love the pretty, even if they say they don't.
4) Work with your FLGS on incentives. I know I lured a couple of GMs with a discount offered by my FLGS to get them to run, just so they could buy something that day as a discount.
5) Stay organized. Figure out what you're going to run early, and post it early and often. I try to have my next game day posted within a week of the one before it. (e.g. I just had a game day this past Saturday, and I plan to post the next one, with at least a tentative schedule before this coming weekend). I'll likely make 2-3 posts about it (and my FLGS will make one) before it happens, including a call for GMs, and a call for players.
6) Attend cons near you, and talk with people there. This is an amazing way to build your player base, because even with all the advertising you did, you're still going to miss people. Also, cons are the best place to learn new and amazing GMing tricks. I know that I've stolen more than a little of my GM style from people I've met at all sorts of cons, from local to GenCon.
I have other ideas I can pitch your way too, but I didn't want this to get too long. Also, Preston's ideas are GOLDEN. Steal them, use them, and grow as best you can.
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Venture-Agent, Illinois—Kakankee
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Just an update for those who were wondering.....
We launched our groups events in September.
We organized and publicized the snot out of it locally and we have found that Friday nights (roughly every 3rd one)work best for our group of players.
So far our progress and attendance is modest but dedicated with the potential to expand. although we have not yet had a multiple table event each one has been a full table. We are extremely happy with the results so far.
With the favorable attendance and dedicated players we have started discussions to do a, in February, "3 Scenario Day" event. When I have the details I post them here.
As we move forward any advice or suggestions to keep our group involved and motivated would be greatly appreciated.
Organized Play Coordinator
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Welcome to the PFS family.
Thank you to the people that jumped on the thread and provided support! This is why I love our community.
Sounds like you have the monthly event in hand. The Venture Officers in your area can provide guidance on how to proceed with your February event. If you aren't hearing back from them, send me a message and I can assist.
Explore, Report, Cooperate!
T
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Venture-Captain, Washington—Spokane
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Socar, congratulations on a successful launch.
At this point, I would work on expanding the suggestions that have already been made so far in this post. Keep an eye on the conventions and events in your area to include opportunities for starting new events. Given time and exposure, your lodge will become more known and you will see your numbers grow. Do not get discouraged when you have slow times as these will occur.
Keep up the great work and, most of all, have fun!!
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Venture-Agent, Illinois—Kakankee
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Just an update for those who are interested. Our little group has had our first multi-table event as of last Friday. We have a small but dedicated group of players, along with that each week we get new faces, both of which is what has made our scenarios successful. Thank you to all of you who have been giving advice and tips to make our group thrive.