Brantford now has it's own Hellfire Club!

At the time that I type these words, there are 50 members in our Facebook Group: Hellfire Club - Brantford Chapter - after ejecting one potential spambot.  By itself, this is impressive for a Facebook Social Group with such a narrow geographic appeal and only four weeks in existence.

What impresses me even more is the level of cautious seriousness on the part of nearly every member that joins.  Most members have been a part of RPG groups that have fallen apart, frustration with efforts to find a new group or even locating a place to play.  At a minimum, I believe that this group is just the very beginning of a community-driven effort to address these concerns and more.

Me? I'm James Greg Levett  (I answer to most of the names and a few others).  I'm the founder of the page and one of two of the Admins running the Facebook Group.  I'm also the proprietor of Sidequest Loot, an online-only selling business that has found me interested in developing my product line-up to feature roleplaying items: books, accessories and various other things that seem to hold appeal.  When I'm not doing either of the above, I work full-time in an office job and then part-time as a manager at The Works in Brantford, Ontario.

While running my business, I wanted to learn more about the needs of the RPG audience and frequently found often desperate posts on Facebook where players and groups were seeking to connect to others.  Most went without a response or at best featured tepid interaction.  There are several explanations, none of which are the undesirability of those who are seeking a game.  YOU.  ARE.  FINE.

The Facebook groups are hindered by geographic scale - the players/games are too spread out in the social group and this is not learned until an actual connection is made.  And this is presuming even trying to connect!  It takes a dose of courage to respond to anything on Facebook, hindered by urban legends that whoever is typing back at you is likely to be some kind of weirdo or at best, a Mimic.  Not many deals are getting closed.

This issue is not new.  It has fueled an industry of online gaming where there are options to play with others around the world.  Thrilling, really.  But it entirely misses the tabletop experience.  I feel that this is at least half the interpersonal value of the game.  Players still want it.  Games/Dungeon Masters still want it.  But it is becoming more and more difficult to find.

Our group will be narrowly focused to the Brantford area, which I have defined to include Brantford, Brant County and The Six Nations.  This covers a radius of approximately a 20-30 minute drive from Downtown Brantford.  Others willing to come this way from elsewhere certainly welcome as players, participants, fans, vendors and like minded individuals who may which to see something like this closer to their own home.

Most of our early events will be live and pay-to-play.  From my side, this is not a Get Rich Quick Scheme.  It's not even Get Rich and lacks the organization of a proper Scheme.  The funds collected will support the ones who run the games, the public locations that host the games and a portion separated to find us new ways of expressing the games while also building our community.  No single event will be a silver bullet and I will not allow all of our eggs to be placed in one basket.

Early seed money has been earmarked from my business to help make some of our early ideas come to fruition sooner.  Using my business model that is showing some early tenacity, I feel that these same principles will make us bigger and better, sooner.

The addition of the blog space here that I have provided from my business can also be made accessible to anyone who is interested in sharing their thoughts, their product/event reviews, their complaints/solutions about any game or system.  Every tool that we are providing are lent in the hope that every member will have a chance to shine their own talents.

And that's how we grow the Hellfire Club.

Keep Lootin'!

We would love to share your Sidequest Story! If you have started a business or side hustle, if you're thinking of doing it or if you have no idea whatsoever of what you want to do, we would love to share your story.  We find that when the buyer knows you better, they are more likely to buy.  We don't mind if you mix in some advertisement, sales pitch (ugh!) or simply supportive thoughts for other Sidequesters going through the same thing.

Email: mysidequest@sidequester.ca and let us know what you want to do!  There is no charge for posting but we will give a final editorial review and might provide some suggestions.  You will be provided with a final draft before we publish.  All submissions will become the property of Sidequest Loot but will not be used without your consent.  We like to provide an author name but can limit this to first name or name of your business, if you wish.