About The Waikato Role-Playing Guild
The Waikato Role-Playing Guild was established many years ago with the goal of bringing together players old and new, those seeking out GM's, and those who wish to become GM's. Our aim is to cultivate a safe and welcoming space for them to connect with others and offer support to newcomers in the Waikato region.
The Beginning
The Waikato Role-Playing Guild was originally formed as a Facebook group in 2015. The release of the 5th edition of Dungeons & Dragons had led to a huge resurgence in the TTRPG hobby. With social media on the rise, Facebook groups became the perfect environment to connect with others and discuss TTRPGs and find games.
The bulk of these groups in New Zealand were very Auckland focused and many posts got lost in the chatter of the big city. The Waikato Role-Playing Guild’s purpose was to provide a platform for people from The Waikato, without Auckland taking the spotlight.
The Conception Of Convergence
The group gained popularity, resulting in gaming groups forming throughout the Waikato. The Guild became a booming online community, facilitating the distribution of knowledge and support. As great as this was, groups were still very isolated. In 2017, two enterprising members of the groups saw a brighter future for the Guild and set out to organise the Guild’s first convention, known then as ‘The Convergence’ (“The” would be dropped in later years). The goal was for people to connect offline, meet new people and try out new games. ‘The Convergence’ was extremely successful and you can read more about the history of Convergence here.
The Incorporation of the Guild
In 2019 the Guild became an incorporated society due to the rapid success of Convergence. No longer was the Guild a disorderly, eclectic group, organising small events. The Waikato Role-playing Guild was now a formidable organisation, charged with growing and nurturing the TTRPG community within the Waikato region.
The first AGM was held in the Chartwell Mall just minutes after the Justice of the Peace witnessed the incorporation. If that doesn’t sum up the original Guild, I don’t know what does!
The Evolution of the Guild
Despite this inauspicious start, the Guild continued to grow and develop. The passion of its members meant that, in addition to Convergence, more projects emerged. A regular monthly social was organised, initially aimed at GMs to complain about their players but quickly became open to all. The first “Intro to D&D” sessions were run, ensuring a new generation of players were brought into the fold.
The Pandemic's Pause
The rise of COVID saw the fall of in-person gaming and the necessary move back to online, resulted in the cancellation of two Convergences and temporarily halted the “Intro to D&D” sessions. The Guild’s new Discord server quickly became a hub of activity. Socials continued online, as well as the establishment of online gaming spaces so that people could continue to connect and game together, whilst maintaining social distancing.
All of this meant that, when restrictions were lifted, the Guild was raring and ready to go. Lock down gave many an opportunity to devise new events, one of those being Regular Play. This was the Guild’s first attempt at running regular games. After a few teething issues it has become a runaway success with a devoted crowd of regular attendees and has spread across two nights a week!
The Present Guild
With Hamilton quickly becoming a hub for TTRPGs, members of the Guild began to turn their attention to the “Waikato” part of the title. “Dice & Districts” is a roughly quarterly event that takes TTRPGs out to the regional centres. Dice & Districts is a day of TTRPG one-shots that provides rural players face-to-face gaming and helps those people who might be interested in the hobby find a community of like minded individuals.
As the Guild now enters its second decade, it is healthier than ever. In addition to the regular events it runs, there are frequent one-offs such as Halloween horror one-shots, multi-table experiences and introductory sessions to all manner of different and unusual systems. More importantly, it provides a safe community for those interested in TTRPGs to meet others, ask for advice and feel like they belong. Welcome...
