What is GWOOTS?
Gaming With Out On The Shelves is a community initiative run by Out On The Shelves Library, with the goal of providing TTRPG and tabletop gaming events for the Greater Vancouver queer community.
We host regular games, training for game masters, board game nights, and games by commission. Check out the Linktree to join our Discord or follow our Instagram to find out about upcoming events!
Scheduling a Game
If you are interested in scheduling a TTRPG session or board game event, reach out to gamingwithoots@gmail.com to schedule! Please include “Planning with GWOOTS,” and your name or that of your organization in the subject line.
Games and events are run by donation, and by what you can afford — if you can afford $0, no worries, we will run it for $0!
Who are the Game Masters?
Sam
Sam Elkind (he/they) is a board member with Out On The Shelves Library. They started playing Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition in 2001, were introduced to other RPGs in high school in the late ’00s, and have been running games in various systems since 2013. He started Gaming With Out On The Shelves (GWOOTS) in February 2023, and has run one-shots every week since!
Sam specializes in comedic stories that play with expectations (like running Addams Family and What We Do In The Shadows games in Vampire: the Requiem), and loves to try new systems. His special skill at the table is the ability to learn any RPG in 24 hours — yes, even Shadowrun!
Play with Sam if you want a fun drop-in game that welcomes beginners and seasoned players alike, if you want to learn a new game, or if you want to see a grown adult try and fail to do a German accent.
To schedule a game, email gamingwithoots@gmail.com!
Neil
Neil Aitken (he/him) started playing Dungeons & Dragons in the 1980s and has played every D&D edition from the Red Box Basic Set to the current 5E. He has been running D&D games since 2003, from one-shot adventures to a multi-year campaign that ran 72 sessions. Most of his campaigns run from 10-16 sessions in length, with characters topping out at level 12.
Neil specializes in a blend of grand adventure, colorful settings, quirky humor, and character-centred stories (think The Princess Bride or the latest Dungeons & Dragons movie), using his skills as a poet and storyteller to craft rich, vibrant, and engaging worlds and characters for players to engage with. His special skill is the ability to adapt and improvise memorable scenes, encounters, and NPCs at a moment’s notice.
Play with Neil if you want a game filled with adventure, intrigue, camaraderie, and a certain measure of silliness, where new and experienced players are welcome to roll dice and spend a few hours heroically (or comically) trying to change the world.
Online games every Sunday, from 6pm to 9:30pm, via Zoom, or by scheduled event!
Rachel
Rachel (she/they) got started playing TTRPGs with D&D, shortly after the release of its 3rd edition in 2000. The game they’ve GMed the most is Blades in the Dark, and for the past five years they’ve spent many hours on co-operative (GMless) games like Ironsworn. They’ve also played a lot of the Alien RPG, Mothership, and Troika!, and they really want to run Heart: The City Beneath one of these days.
Rachel specializes in heists, hijinks, and general chaos – all built on an improvisational, co-operative approach to storytelling and world-building. They’re excited to showcase some of the breadth of the TTRPG medium beyond massive tomes that are a pain to schlep around on public transit. Their special skill is bringing an eclectic range of hobbies and trivia to enhance the session; you may encounter handmade watercolour illustrations, origami, thematic baked goods, surreal pastiches of local attractions, or diversions on the habits of Metro Vancouver’s crow population.
Play with Rachel if you want to try a new game whose complete rules fit on a single sheet of paper; to be gay and do crime; or to trash visit the TELUS™ Underwater Science Orb in the climate-ravaged beautiful dystopia city of NeoVancouver.
Games every-other Friday, from 6pm to 9pm, at Rain City Games, in Vancouver!
Follow GWOOTS on Instagram!
