About 2 years ago, I had the idea to start an English-language roleplaying event here in Düsseldorf, where people can try out RPGs, get to know other roleplayers, or find like-minded people. Previously to that, I had already been managing the Düsselgamers community for several years, which originated as the Düsseldorf Boardgamers Meetup group. I used to co-host public weekly board game nights through meetup, until I got a bit tired of random people and now that’s mainly a closed WhatsApp thing.

However, since I manage the discord and continue to always have an eye on the community, I saw a rapid increase in people interested in RPGs or people trying to find a local RPG group since around 2023. Being the too-helpful-for-my-own-good person that I am, I spent some time pondering on a possible format, recruited potential GMs, and planned the event for 11th January 2024. I had 9 GMs who were willing to run something at the event, which seemed plenty. The location would be the partyroom inside a residential complex where we had hosted some board game events in the past.

Then I foolishly went to Berlin a week before the event and came back with a horrendous stomach infection the likes of which I had never experienced before. Have you ever felt like your insides are made of sulfur? I do not recommend it. Well, as you might surmise, I was unable to attend my own event. Instead of cancelling, it still took place though, as thankfully some of the people in the Düsselgamers community took over the hosting duties. Out of the 9 GMs who volunteered, two had to cancel, but 5 actually ran their games (with the other 2 not having enough players, joined as players themselves). I got a lot of feedback on the event, and people seemed happy and liked the idea of this event, requesting a continuation.

Well, I kinda lost my mojo after spending so much time and effort into planning this event and then being unable to attend it. So I didn’t pursue a continuation until months later, when one of the community members started asking me about when we’d be doing the next event, and where. It was already summer, and the partyroom is unbearably hot in summer, so not a great option. He helped me a bit with the organisation, and we hosted it in a local game store. This time, we had 8 GMs volunteer, and 4 of them ran a game at the event.

But before the event, again I was struck with tragedy, as two weeks before, my father passed away at age 79 from a covid infection (with a lot of comorbidity). The only possible date for my family to have the funeral was on the date when the RPG event would take place, so once again, I was unable to attend my own event. Obviously I was occupied dealing with this for a while.

Sometime in late August or September, something I never thought likely happened – I saw a post on the r/duesseldorf subreddit that someone has a church, and wants to host RPG events there. I thought damn, that sounds pretty cool! I have an RPG event and I’m looking for a better location for it!

So I wrote to the guy and set up a date to visit, bringing another friend with me. I was a bit hesitant about the whole church thing, because I don’t really want people to think this is a religious event, and because in particular the catholic church is not really open-minded here. But this church is super chill, being the church of the protestant youth. It’s full of pride flags, including one wrapped around Jesus.

We agreed to try and host the event at the church in October and made a date on a Saturday. Meanwhile, another friend of mine from the community offered his wisdom and experience in organizing such events, and joined my organizer team. October came and we hosted this event in the church for the first time, and thank the gods, I was finally able to attend it myself! And it was great!

At the first event, we had 43 attendees and 9 GMs hosting tables, so quite a lot more than at the first two events. Ever since this first event in the church, we’ve had 4 more events there, and the event grew and evolved every time.

Now we have established it as an event that happens roughly every 2-3 months, and usually offers between 11-14 games hosted by our magnificent and dedicated GMs. The most recent event happened almost 2 weeks ago and it was our biggest ever, with 79 attendees and 14 tables hosted. This seems like a great number, and we’re aiming to keep it there for future events.

I’m really happy and proud to see how this community is thriving and evolving. From one simple idea that I had about 2 years ago, there’s now such a big, international community that is enthusiastic about roleplaying games. I love how diverse this community is, with all kinds of people from allover the world. While the majority are indeed German, the lingua franca at the events is always English.

People have found not only campaigns to play, but also long-lasting friendships through this community. While I was already in a dedicated, long-running campaign (and still am), I also found smaller campaigns, one-shots and few-shots to join, to expand my TTRPG horizons and make new friends. I can only hope that the event continues to be awesome throughout 2026!