I’ll update this page as activities are added. Right now we have:

RPGs:

Winterwall (original D&D) 2/6 slots reserved

Marvel Heroic Roleplaying 0/6 slots filled

Pathfinder Society: Tide of Twilight First come, first serve

Board games:

7 Wonders (+Leaders expansion)

All of our 2012 Game Days have had a healthy dose of pick-up board gaming, especially after the RPGs wrap (around 4). Feel free to BYO games.

If you would like to GM an RPG, please post a pitch on our forums, and I’ll add it to all of our postings. If you need any assistance, comment here and I’ll be glad to help.

Check out our last Game Day post and our archives for information on the sort of event you can expect. We host these the 3rd Saturday of every month; we’ll be in Fayetteville June 16th. 

No experience required.

It’s the 4th month of the year, and–no coincidence–our 4th Game Day!

Once again, we’ll be at Gamer Utopia in Rogers. Scheduled events will (unless noted) start at 12:30, but expect for there to be open board gaming all day long, and maybe a couple of pick up RPGs.

RSVPs are not required for scheduled games, and slots may be available at the event;  if you want to guarantee a slot or encourage the host/GM of a game, make sure to RSVP! Last time we had a game fold due to insufficient participation, although interested parties showed up late hoping to play. Don’t let this happen to you (or our awesome GMs).

I’ll update this post as games are pitched; RSVP on the linked forum posts. Currently offered games:

Misspent Youth (3/4 slots reserved)

Serenity Brawl (see thread)

Pathfinder Society (1/6 slots reserved)

GMs: we would love to have you run a game! Please post a pitch thread on our forums. I will be happy to help you through any confusion, and you can see examples in our archives. Board/card/war game hosts are similarly encouraged to post what they’ll be bringing.

Our intention is to hold a Game Day every third Saturday, rotating between Benton and Washington Counties. Right now we don’t have a suitable location in Washington County, so Gamer Utopia will be hosting us exclusively until we find it.

Curious about our events? Here are details, pictures, and reviews of our last Game Day.

We're heavy on traditional fantasy this time around.

We’re hosting our 3rd Game Day of the year Saturday, March 24th at Gamer Utopia in Rogers. The scheduled events (RPGs) will start at 12:30.

For the uninitiated: 2012′s Game Days are fairly casual gatherings of one-shot (or open table) RPGs and BYO board games. You can RSVP for the RPGs, or show up and fill one of the empty slots. I encourage you to RSVP on the forums, if only to let the GMs know you’re interested! Registration for the forums is fairly painless, but you don’t have to be a member to attend the event.

Don’t worry if you’re inexperienced; newbies are VERY welcome.

If you enjoy a D&D-like experience, you have three flavors to choose from:

Dungeon World (1 of 4 slots filled)

Pathfinder Open Table: The Jade Regent (1 of 6 slots claimed)

Winterwall Open Table (Original D&D/Swords and Wizardry) (1 of 6 slots reserved)

If, however, you’d prefer something markedly different:

Cat (3 of 4-6 slots taken)

Should tradition hold, you can expect for there to be board gaming all day long, but around 4:30 the RPGs will end and board games will become the focus.

If you’re curious about our past events, here’s Meetup’s take of our February Game Day and the last one Gamer Utopia hosted.

Everyone had a good time last month playing Winterwall, an Old School Revival game

It’s time again for our monthly Game Day. This is our second one of 2012 and we expect (and hope) for a good turn out again.

You only need to show up to Castle House Hobbies and Games on Feb 25 to play. The Game Day runs from 12:30 to 9 p.m.

Some games encourage registration if you want a guaranteed spot at the table, but it’s not required.

Also, there will be quite a few board games in play. Last month, we got some Dominion and Pandemic action. Who knows what will be offered this month.

Look in the forum for more information on the offered games:

Winterwall 

Jade Regent 

Did you see our flyer? Well here’s another copy.

It’s a beautiful, sunny day at the track in Monaco, a popular racing destination lately. Indeed, it’s almost as if the fans refuse to watch races anywhere else. There are three teams entering this race, two Yellow drivers under Team Bney, two Red drivers under Team Branduan, and two White drivers under Team Adesazz. One yellow driver takes pole position, the other brings up the rear, and everyone else fills out the middle spots.

And they’re off!

Welcome to the world of Formula D, a 2008 boardgame from Asmodee that emulates the speed of Formula racing. On a recent day, several NWARPG members pitted their skill against one another at Bears at the Maul.

Into Turn 2 and White is in the lead followed by Yellow. Yellow attempts to pass but is cut off, cut off again, cut off a third time! The Yellow car starts making funny gearbox noises as the driver desperately pulls out the stops in trying to take the lead. The remainder of the pack enters Turn 2, with Team Branduan bringing up the rear, er biding its time.

The battle for Loews

Going into the trickiest turn of the race, Loews is a 3-stop corner that proves to be decisive; White is able to gain a gear against the frustrated Yellow and come out of the turn at high speed. The slower Yellow car (3^rd) and the faster Red car (4^th) are just entering into the turn – and it looks like they’ve collided. Debris on the track, smoke and brake fluid everywhere.

The slower Red car (5^th), along with the slower White car (6^th), weave in and out of the hazards in a race to the bottom. At this point poor Team Branduan’s rolls are so reliably low that this team is consistently in one higher gear than anyone else.

It’s a drag race out of Loews! The White car is comfortably in the lead as the pack comes up to the rear of the grandstands. On his heels is the Yellow team, neck and neck. Far behind in a cloud of smoke is the other White car and the two Red cars. Reminds me of those cartoons where all you see is a cloud with speech balloons containing punctuation coming out of it, folks.

Looks like lead White is finishing up Lap 1. The Red Team leaves the other White car in the dust, but looks like they’re being awfully hard on their brakes and tires to do it. The Yellow drivers have a mix-up and trade paint – I’m getting worried there may not be many cars left to finish this race.

That’s what pit stops are for!  Both Red cars, as well as one Yellow car elect to familiarize themselves with pit stop rules. It seems to work for them, and by the time Lap 2 is underway we find a closely-packed mob, with the exception of the leading White car. Thankfully, the venom and insults coming from the other drivers seems to have no effect on his performance.

"Loews II: The Debris Edition" - We ARE getting the stabilizers for next time, John, I’m feeling sick

Five battered, bruised, angry drivers enter Loews for the 2^nd time. Loews II: The Debris Edition. Pieces of car bodies, brakes, engine parts (that looks important…) are flying everywhere. Looks like the first Red driver just brake-checked the rear White car, and the 2^ndRed driver rammed him from behind. Are these guys serious?? The rammer has to downshift to avoid the ensuing debris, and it looks like he’s going to have an agonizingly slow ramp-up going into the straight.

We’re going back to the grandstands for one last time – OHH White overcompensates! He got a little too cocky with his lead and overshot the corner! He’s down to some frayed, 2^nd-lap tires and the sorry leftovers of an overheated braking system. At the same time RED comes out of the straight HOT! He nails the S-curve and comes into the final series in 2^nd place! Followed by the Yellow Team, I mean talk about a Team that plays together, stays together. Followed by who cares. I hope White enjoyed his daunting lead, because 3 drivers are close on his heels and he has no margin for error!

Pictured: The finish line. Not Pictured: Margin for error

It’s a nail-biting series of turns to the finish, and all drivers expertly maneuver through them. White, true to form manages to hold his car together and even widens the gap. Coming into the last turn it’s White by a long margin. Followed by Yellow. Followed by Red – and the second Yellow peeling around the turn after him! They drag race to the finish and in a hail of engine smoke and rev limiters…It’s Yellow by a nose! The driver squeezed 110% out of Bney Engineering there folks.

Oh geez, the last two cars are ambling quietly down the last turn. White’s tires have finally had enough and he spins out!  The Team Adesazz chief is over in the pits with his hand over his eyes. Just as all hope is lost, Red spins out!  It might just be faster to settle this rivalry with a fistfight… (you remember the whole ramming debacle)… OH NO! White in trying to capitalize makes a miscalculation and spins out AGAIN!! Red putts across the finish line just as White finishes up putting holes in the floorboards so he can run on the track.

Will the champion be able to compensate for the pitiful performance of his teammate?? In a word, no.

FINAL RESULTS – Winner: TEAM BNEY!!!

Team Bney (Yellow)…….…8+6 = 14

Team Adesazz (White)….10 + 3 = 13

Team Branduan (Red)…..4 + 5 = 9

via Initial Impressions of the New D&D : Critical Hits.

Brendon, Anders, Ron, and Takuma playing Formula D.

The holiday season was a slim time for our meetings, with 3-6 members attending the events through mid-November and December.

I was disappointed, but years of experience kept me (mostly) hopeful for the new year, especially with the strong Game Day showing on November 12th.

January – opening with an ambitious Game Day on the 7th – has seen a resurgence in attendance.

The meeting this Friday night pulled around 13 people.

Gamer Utopia hosted us again, and we claimed the round table at the back of the store.

As members trickled in, we were forced to pull over another, long table as well. We shared the store with a Magic tournament, but that worked to our advantage. A few of the players came by to see what we were doing, and one – curious about RPGs – even sat down to hear about them and our group.

Initial discussion focused on hot forum topics.

We talked about the upcoming Game Day, NWARPG promotion, and the various editions of D&D.

Anders reported on his research into RPG group sites (apparently ours is a good one), and his desire to help out with the forums and wordpress blog. Of course there was the usual talk of our favorite systems, with one of our members astounded at the sheer number of RPGs on the shelves.

Mouse Guard

Mouse Guard, however, captivated much of the discussion. Anders had a set of cards he’d made from a fan-created file, with Petersen’s evocative artwork; Ron had a borrowed hardcover that we passed around. I was surprised to hear about the research some of our lurkers had put into the system! One of our members even bought the hardcover on the spot in anticipation of Ander’s Game Day adventure. I will be shocked if a campaign does not develop out of this enthusiasm.

There was some frustration from our newer members that there weren’t enough LFG posts and that they were unable to get into a game. I understand this disappointment, but the passing of the new year and the frequent Game Days should bring together campaigns.

There was also some consternation with the events section of our site and its lack of Game Day information. Hopefully the Meetup plugin that Christopher quickly installed (seen on the right margin) will alleviate that confusion.

Formula D

The second half of the meeting was dominated by Formula D. I didn’t participate, but 5 or 6 of the others did, and it looked surprisingly intense. Ron finished in first, with Takuma close behind. In traditional NWARPG fashion, my idle curiosity netted me a brief and coherent explanation of the basic and advanced rules and a sudden interest in a theme that didn’t previously appeal to me!

Those of us who didn’t play had pleasant, meandering conversation.

It was a nice close to January for NWARPG, with an encouraging show of investment in its future.

“What I will try to look at are what I see as the general trends rather than specific rules. (Some of these trends I have brought up in past articles in different contexts, so if I repeat myself much I apologize. Just consider it practice for when I will start embarrassing my family. More than I already do.) AD&D (sometimes called First Edition) was a mess of a rules set, in terms of mechanics of a game—and yet it was probably the most fun I’ve ever had gaming. I’m sure some of this is nostalgia, but not all of it is. I’m sure some of this is the newness of the game and the genre, but not all of it is. Looking back at that edition from the perspective of a designer and through the lens of countless RPGs, the game just excelled at getting to the stories. It might be because the game “borrowed” from so many great works of fiction that you couldn’t help be in a story as you played. Part of it had to be because there were so few choices that a character could make in terms of game elements that all of the decisions were made in the game.”

via Where D&D is Heading; or, How the Internet Changed a Game : Critical Hits.

Bad news: We have to wait a year.