This page is a work in progress. As we get pictures to accompany this information we will update this page accordingly.

What to expect

You arrive at Ye Olde Commons on Friday evening between 5 and 9 PM and unload your gear wherever you’ll be sleeping for the weekend: a cabin, a tent, or a bunk in the tavern if you’re a PC and a bunk in one of a couple places if you’re an NPC. If you’re an NPC, you can report to Ops and we’ll help you get situated.

Around 6:30 PM or so check-in for PCs will start. You’ll take your weapons and armor with you to be inspected and go to check-in where a staff member will give you your character sheet and answer any questions you might have.

After that you’re free to hang out and chat with folks until about 9:30 when the opening meeting will take place in the tavern. It generally lasts about 20 minutes and is a chance for the staff to introduce themselves, go over important safety information, and make any important announcements for the weekend.

Once the opening meeting is finished, if it’s your first event the staff will direct you to where to wait for the new player tutorial to start. Otherwise you can get comfortable and wait for game on to be called. If you’re an NPC, you’ll head up to Ops along with the staff.

Once game on is called, the game will run will run until Sunday around noon. Game doesn’t technically stop at night but the staff will stop running plot once it gets late, usually around 2 AM, and we’ll let you know when you can go to bed without having to worry about missing any of the action.

After game has ended, we’ll hold a closing meeting to go over any important announcement and then you’ll check out, turning in your character sheet and any game items you have. We’ll hold onto those items for you until the next time you come play Travail.

After that, you can clean up your sleeping area, pack up your things, and head home.

The New Player Tutorial

At your first event, whether you’re a PC or NPC, you’ll go through the new player tutorial experience where the staff will help you get acclimated to how the game is played, what combat is like (if you’re interested in combat), and other details about what to expect. This is a perfect opportunity to ask questions while you’re learning about playing the game.

During game as a PC

As a PC you’ll have lots of options for what to do during the event. You’ll get to talk with other players about your character, where you’re from, and current events across the universe. You’ll meet NPCs from different places that might want to trade items with you, send you on a quest, tell you stories about where they’re from or places they’ve been, or answer questions you might have about the game world.

At some point you’ll have to option to participate in combat if you’re interested which will give you a chance to use your character’s abilities to fight monsters and other bad guys. When you defeat those enemies or go on adventures you’ll find different kinds of treasure that you can use to craft items, sell for coin, or maybe offer to NPCs or other PCs for favors and information.

Some NPCs will come to the tavern looking for help and you can decide if you want to help them or not. Outside of the tavern you might find monsters, people in trouble, a puzzle to solve, or some combination of all of those things.

We have a system in place to let people know where the action is so you can comfortably use the tavern as a home base and go off on adventures from there and come back to the air conditioning or warmth and get some water when you’re done.

During game as an NPC

If you choose to NPC with us for the weekend we’ll provide you with costumes, masks, makeup, and weapons so you can play a bunch of different characters and creatures to help the staff tell the stories and plots that are written for the event.

We’ll check in with you regularly to make sure you’re enjoying the roles you’re given and have a chance to see different aspects of the game. The schedule for the event is written in advance, but you’ll have lots of different opportunities as an NPC to engage with the PCs.