Wow, it’s December. We’re entering the 10th month of Raleigh Tabletop going virtual, so I wanted to take a moment to update everyone on the status of the organization.
Virtual Tabletop Continues
For the foreseeable future, all of our Semi-Organized Play, Special Event, Try-It-Out, and Workshop programs will be held online through a variety of platforms such as Roll20, Jit.si, Zoom, Discord, Google Meet, etc.
The news of a potential vaccine is promising, but I don’t expect RTR will return to in-person programs until Summer 2021. I miss all of you terribly, but everyone’s safety comes first. Of course, we’ll continue to reevaluate as new information becomes available from the CDC and other health organizations. We’ll alert the community well before our virtual-only policy ends.
Social Reality
Much like our programs have gone digital, so has the Social side of RTR. We now have virtual happy-hour after many of our events so we can all hang out, chat, and talk about the exciting games we just played. It’s not as great as Deja Brew or Bada Wings, but it’s still pretty great.
I invite each of you to join us on Discord and Facebook. Discord is the most active place to chat right now and Facebook is still a great way to share favorite links, funny gaming memes, or RPG-related stuff with the community.
Loot Tables
Some of you have reached out, concerned about RTR’s finances since we aren’t really doing any of our usual donation drives. Our finances are solid at the moment and we have no reason to worry for the foreseeable future. Our expenses are far less right now than when we met in person and our Organizers Emeritus left us with a good reserve to draw from in times like this.
Burnout Is Real
The current volunteer staff at RTR is very much suffering from the same sort of burnout that you might be feeling in your daily life. Several of you have come forward to volunteer with our SOP programs and, trust me, that is greatly appreciated. Some of our current volunteers will cycle off or reduce their commitments in the coming months, so we are in search of new volunteers to help out.
Wasteland Vendors Need Caps Too
Local businesses are hurting due to us all being locked up at home. Our Friendly Local Gaming Stores are no different. Our long-time host, Event Horizon, recently closed. If you’re looking for RPG books, board games, CCGs, or other gaming supplies, I strongly request you consider calling one of the excellent gaming stores in our area. Many are offering a variety of limited-contact methods to get your goodies and the money goes directly into making it easier for RTR to return to in-person events in the future.
If you don’t know of a store near you, drop by Facebook or Discord and we’ll get you pointed to one near you.
Thank You
RTR is still going strong and providing a much needed service in this time of social distancing because of each of us putting our time in, from players to volunteers. A huge Thank You to everyone for keeping our community thriving through these challenging times.
