About Æthelwulf Games

Honestly? This site is a little hard to describe in a single sentence.

Æthelwulf Games is where I write about tabletop roleplaying games, run events in the DMV area, and do my best to get more people rolling dice with like-minded people. It's part community hub, part design journal, part event calendar — and it started because I kept having the same conversation over and over: you should really try this.

So now I'm just... saying that more publicly.

We Run Games Together

Every month I host two recurring events:

Espresso and Epics meets on Sunday afternoons at Meanwhile Coffee in Herndon. Each month we pick a different TTRPG system and run a oneshot to see how it plays at the table. We've worked through Draw Steel, Shadowdark, Fabula Ultima, three straight months of Daggerheart, and this month we're sailing the Astral Sea with Aetherdark. You don't need to know the rules going in. You don't need to bring anything. Showing up curious is genuinely enough.

Reston Plays Games runs Wednesday evenings at the Reston Community Center - a lower-key night where we play games, meet people, and keep the hobby moving locally.

Both events are free and welcome new players. If you've been wanting to try TTRPGs and didn't know where to start, this is where you can begin.

We Talk About Why the Games Work

Each month's event comes with a deeper look at the system we're featuring - what it's actually doing mechanically, what experience it creates at the table, and why it exists at all. I've talked directly with designers, dug into the theory, and spent a lot of time trying to figure out what makes certain TTRPGs come alive and why others don't quite hit.

I also write about the broader hobby: conventions, tools for running better games, the culture around TTRPGs, and whatever I happen to be thinking about this week.

Come Find Us

The Discord is the best place to sign up for events, ask questions, and meet the regulars. If you want a heads-up when something new is posted or a new event goes live, subscribe below - it's free, and you'll just get an alert when there's something worth knowing about.

I started this because TTRPGs changed how I see and engage with the world, and I think they can do that for a lot more people. Whether you've been playing for years or you've never touched a d20 in your life - there's a seat at the table for you.