Dragonmeet 2024

I honestly don’t recall the first year that I went to Dragonmeet. Starting out as an RPG focused convention, my first few visits were behind a stall with The Collective Endeavour. We were a group of small publishers, banding together to attend the larger shows like Dragonmeet and UK Games Expo. Of course, you can see this model reflected in the modern day with the UK Tabletop Industry Network and the UK Indie RPG League. 

Although, my interests may have drifted away from designing games to writing about them, but Dragonmeet remains an important part of the UK convention scene, and my convention calendar. It is also a great excuse to see lots of my friends from the south of the country who I don’t get to spend nearly enough time with. 

At its heart, Dragonmeet still retains its RPG roots. It has multiple actual play shows and seminars you can attend. Loads of tables of RPGs. A games on demand section where you can just rock up and play. All this alongside RPG publishers of all shapes and sizes.

Dragonmeet is a one-day event taking place at Novotel Hammersmith, making it a fairly intense day for a critic like myself. I started, like I do every convention, by getting the lay of the land. The convention still very much has RPGs at its heart. This is reinforced by the presence of companies like Modiphius Entertainment, SoulMuppet Publishing, and Chaosium within line of sight of the main entrance to exhibitor hall 1. 

Despite Rebellion Unplugged, Alley Cat Games, and Asmodee having a presence at the convention this year there was a definite shift in tone of the exhibitors back towards the RPG roots of the convention. The smaller board game publishers I had come to expect at the convention hadn’t really turned up this year. It is worth noting, that the convention did sell out day tickets this year so maybe demand for exhibitors was equally sought after. 

I was accompanied throught by my good friend, and regular Dragonmeet companion, Rich. Our first stop was Tim Clare’s talk on the history of dice. I met Tim at Airecon this year and we bonded over playing a bunch of weird and wonderful games. He is a passionate advocate for the power of games and it is always a pleasure to hear him talk. Tim has a book out at the moment called ‘The Game Changers’. It is a fascinating tour of the anthropological impact of games across human history. I even got him to sign my copy! 

After the three of us grabbed some lunch together I put on my journalism hat and set about getting some interviews. I interviewed a few folk for a cast that will come out shortly after this piece. These included Chris Lowry from Beyond Cataclysm, Mike Hudson from Planet Smasher Games, and Jason Price from Always Checkers Publishing. There were loads of small RPG publishers pushing their games at Dragonmeet. The sheer breadth and depth of the indie RPG scene at the moment is breathtaking. I frequently find it more innovative and surprising than the world of card and board games. Talking to passionate creators in the RPG space is one of the great joys of my hobby.

I especially enjoyed talking to Finbar and Gary from Game Therapy UK. This is an organisation helping all sorts of folk by giving them places to come together through games. From homeless people to prisoners their current and future goals are a fascinating look at the healing power of games.

I also spoke to Shaan Jivan from RPG taverns. This is a new play space in London where folk can find RPG groups without having to bring a full party along. A persistent world exists at the taverns that players can influence and play in. It sounds like they have big plans for the future. 

Naturally, one of the activities at a more exhibitor focused convention like Dragonmeet is picking up new games. Or old games as it came to be. I’m going to be investigating solo and journaling games more so I picked up Delve from Blackwell Games from the folk at Beyond Cataclysm. I also grabbed the remastered edition of Into the Odd and I am looking forward to running it. In addition, the Beyond Cataclysm folks gave me a copy of their game Lucky for None for review.

Slugblaster has been on everyone’s lips after the review on Quinn’s Quest. I was delighted to find a collector’s edition of the game and it is firmly in the play pile at the moment as I decide what to run next year. 

The only real disadvantage of Dragonmeet is it is such a packed day I don’t really get to play any games. I do get to talk to passionate people about the games they love and subjects they are knowledgeable about. I always have a blast doing this, and it is the main reason I go to conventions. Every time I do meet the wider community, I remember that the majority of gamers are passionate, kind, and keen to share their stories of victory, defeat, laughter, and tragedy. Games bring us all together, no matter what we play, or how we play it. Let us never forget that.

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