We call ourselves The Coven. This is a name that dates back to the group's inception in the late 1970's, around 1977 I think though a few of the guys in the group had the original Chainmail and Greyhawk rules so maybe even earlier. I joined in 1979, dissatisfied with the school group. I responded to a hand-drawn poster in the local modelling shop. Most people in the group were in their early 20's. I was 14. Imagine a 14 year old kid nowadays telling their Mum they are going to go and spend their weekend hanging around with a bunch of strange 20 year-olds that call themselves The Coven.
But things were different then.
I was part of the second wave of newcomers to join the group. Sadly we no longer have any founder members among us though one rejoined us for a while a couple of years back, but dropped out again a while later citing health reasons. We do still have three people who joined in the third wave of the early 80's. We've had a fairly solid line-up for quite a while now. Generation X, largely.
Besides tabletop RPGs, we have participated in early medieval historical re-enactments, and established the local regional Regia Angolorum group. Members have also been heavily involved in the Curious Pastimes LARP scene.
We play D&D almost exclusively these days for our tabletop games, using 3rd edition rules (3.5, with a bit of 3.0 and Pathfinder in the mix). We have a long-running variant World of Greyhawk campaign setting though some higher-level PCs have been dipping toes in the waters of other worlds and settings via planar travel.
I think if we all had more time available and fewer commitments elsewhere we might play other systems for variety, as we used to in the past.
The success of 5th edition is pleasing, though we do not play it. Editions from AD&D up until 3rd edition assumed that the target market was existing RPG players, and freely expanded in complexity. Fourth ed seemed to have been designed to recruit Warcraft players into the hobby, and was too radical a departure from the core feel of D&D for many. But Fifth ed seems to be designed to bring new players in who want to play a game that is authentically D&D, but updated for today's cultural values, which is a smart move. From our viewpoint, though, we have a thriving and ongoing campaign with many, many fully realised characters and NPCs in the 3rd edition system, and plenty of published d20 material to provide us with adventure. Some of us also found the conversion from 1st edition to 3rd edition that we underwent in the early 2000's to be a painful experience; ultimately, it was good for the campaign and extended its life, but we are in no hurry to repeat that treatment.
The Covid-19 crisis has driven us to the virtual tabletop. Our sessions continue weekly on Roll20 and the number of players has actually expanded to re-include past members who had moved away. We routinely have an attendance of 8 people. One day, we will resume our face-to-face sessions, but I think the virtual meetups are here to stay as a means to maintain links to our satellite membership.
I like to maintain links to other gaming groups. I know of at least 3 other groups in the local area. Maybe more though some of them I have lost contact with and unsure if they are still going. Keeping gaming groups together is an accomplishment; so many wither and die or implode. Every gaming group that lives long has a right to feel a well-earned sense of pride. Sometimes there's a little patriotic tribalism to be wary of. We are all tempted to feel we know best, when really, all we really know is what is best for our own group; for every gaming group is a highly individual beast. But even figuring out what works best for one's own group, one's own campaign and players, is an achievement.
So hats off to us :)
