One of the things that the Meeple has become known for is our role playing program. We strive to be the premier role playing provider in Northeast Ohio, and that’s a mission we take seriously!

Since we opened six years ago we have offered a variety of role playing content, covering a wide range of systems and spanning settings far and wide. From our two hour Encounters programs to our twelve hour charity marathons, role playing at the Meeple has really run the gamut!

As we relaunch the Malted Meeple this week, we are taking the opportunity to revamp our role playing programs. Our goal is to continue providing a myriad of role playing opportunities, while also offering our established role playing community increased flexibility in when and how they enjoy their gaming sessions at the Meeple. To that end, we are dividing role playing content into two types, Open sessions and Sponsored sessions.

Open Role Playing – Over the past few years we have run regularly scheduled weekly role playing sessions. We are thrilled that during these sessions – typically scheduled on Monday and Wednesday nights – many of our players and volunteer dungeon masters have gelled into long standing groups. As many of these groups have become self-sufficient at this point, the requirements of our former schedule, and in fact the involvement of the Meeple in scheduling at all, is needlessly restrictive. Open Role Playing provides these groups the flexibility to schedule the time, length, content, and group makeup of their sessions at their own discretion. These sessions will no longer be restricted to certain start times on Monday and Wednesday nights, nor will they be asked to accept additional players – though of course they are welcome to do so!

As we’ve discussed the new Open Role Playing concept with the community, the biggest question we received was regarding seating. Would Open Role Playing groups be guaranteed a table, or a private room? The short answer is no. As the Malted Meeple will not be scheduling these sessions we will not be setting aside tables for them, groups will be seated on a first come first served basis. While we do not expect capacity to be a significant concern, we do understand that some groups may prefer the certainty of a guaranteed spot. To that end we are now offering rental of our private gaming rooms specifically for Open Role Playing purposes. These four hour rentals are available Monday through Thursday nights at a variety of start times. The $50 rental fee includes a private room and a waived table fee for each member of your group, up to a maximum of 10. Private Game Rooms can be booked online up to one month in advance.

Finally, as it relates to Open Role Playing sessions, we know it can sometimes be difficult for players to find private groups, and for groups to fill those last few seats. We will continue to strive to facilitate that matchmaking as best we can, and hope to be rolling out some Looking For Group matchmaking tools in the near future.

Sponsored Role Playing – Unlike Open Role Playing, our Sponsored Role Playing sessions are scheduled by the Malted Meeple. These ticketed sessions feature a dedicated Malted Meeple Game Master, leading a specific role playing experience in a private room. While these premium gaming experiences will cover a wide range of systems and settings, we plan to focus on a variety of specific play groups and systems that may not otherwise be widely available.

Our Sponsored Role Playing sessions will fall into three broad categories: Kids Dungeons & Dragons (two hour D&D sessions specifically for the younger crowd), Role Playing Encounters (two hour role playing sessions) and Role Playing Expeditions (four hour role playing sessions). All sessions will be announced on Facebook and our website, and all current sessions can be booked online.

For our initial launch we started with a small set of sessions:

• 06/19/21 Kids Dungeons & Dragons (sold out!)
• 06/22/21 Expedition – The Lost RPG (sold out!)
• 06/25/21 Expedition – A Wild Sheep Case
• 06/26/21 Kids Dungeons & Dragons (sold out!)
• 06/29/21 Expedition – The Lost RPG (Encore)
• 07/01/21 Expedition – Gorgoldands Gauntlet

To say these sessions have been well received is a bit of an understatement! We’re quickly adding more sessions to the lineup, stay tuned here and on our social media.

Whether in one of our Sponsored Role Playing sessions, or in Open Role Playing with a group of your own making, we hope to see you role playing at the Meeple soon!