Casting Shadows

About to launch for its fifth consecutive run, RPGaDay, the brain-child of David Chapman, is only a week away. How fast a year slips by when you are gaming and having fun, right? Let’s get the basics out of the way:

What is #RPGaDay?

#RPGaDay is a list of 31 questions intended to get gamers sharing the things they enjoy about gaming. Blogs, Vlogs, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook… if you interact with people through a form of social media, that is where #RPGaDay lives and breathes. Put the hashtag #RPGaDay2018 on your post and help add to the positive discourse on gaming. To  ice the cake, use the hashtag yourself to seek out gamers outside your own circles, check out their answers, and share them.

Are you up for translating the questions? Let us know on our Facebook page or in the comments below!

How does #RPGaDay work?

On our Facebook page, on the Autocratik blog, here in this post and soon other places as well, an infographic designed by Will Brooks has all the questions and the few instructions needed to communicate the idea of #RPGaDay. Sharing the infographic early and often helps to ensure that lots of gamers all over the world see it and have a chance to get involved. Last year, thanks to translations into even more languages than usual by talented volunteers, #RPGaDay sparked positive gaming conversations in more countries than ever before! Share it in as many places as you talk about gaming from now until August.

On August 1st, the answering starts. Each day on the infographic has a prompt for a positive post about gaming. Long or short, text, image, or video, respond to the prompt, put the hashtag #RPGaDay2018 on it and you are done for the day. It’s not a race or a competition, it’s a celebration more than anything. There is no need to complete each and every day or to keep up a daily pace when responding – but the more that you can do, the more often that you can share, the better that celebration will be. Some people post daily (some people post in different formats or different languages every day!), while others post groups of responses every few days, or once a week. As long as you are involved, it is good. The questions run for 31 days, and there are alternate questions below for those days when a question is not a good fit for you or your gaming. If the listed questions or the listed alternates are still not what you need, check back with the older lists – there may be something there that works for you.

As we go through August, use the hashtag to search for what people are posting. If you like the post, let them know! If you really like it, share it so that others can see it. You never know what response will tip the balance to bring someone back to gaming after a long hiatus, or to encourage someone to try it for the first time – that isn’t all that #RPGaDay is about, but it is a distinct part of it.

One thing that would make us happy is if you could stop by the #RPGaDay Facebook page from time to time to share links to your responses and to those of others that you have enjoyed – that would be great!

The text prompts for 2018

For those who respond while on the move, here are the questions freed from the lovely purple grip of the infographic.

Alternate Prompts for 2018

This list will expand a little as we move through the month and as questions from it get used. If you hit a day that is tough to answer, check here for this list.

• Tell us about a memorable character retirement
• Describe an ambitious campaign idea
• Share an innovative game from the last 12 months
• Describe your thoughts on playing a character
• Tell of a narrow escape
• How do you prepare for a one-shot?
• How do you prepare for an extended campaign?
• What’s your favorite character “hook”?
• What makes you want to GM?
• What appeals to you about GM-less games?
• Describe making a tough choice that mattered to the game
• Who would you like to share this hobby with?

The #RPGaDay2018 Infographic

Designed by Will Brooks and filled with prompts from gamers around the world distilled down to fit into our character limit by Dave and myself, the infographic can be found below. Please share it wherever RPGs are spoken about.

This year I was able to change the format a bit which let the themes of each week shine through a little more clearly, so you will note that each calendar week has a prompt in grey. Week one asks “What…?”, Week 2 asks “How…?” and so on. Dave worked his magic and turned the weekends into distinct parties of their own. It should be a fun list to explore, and the themes should help stir the memory – even among we older gamers~

Enjoy!