Tabletop gaming group returning to roots for biannual convention this fall
BUTLER TWP — Most Dungeons & Dragons campaigns take a long time to finish. However, most don’t go on for 50 years.
And while the campaigns the members of Circle of Swords didn’t start in 1976 — it is the year the sparks started for the club — when founding member Dave Schnur started playing the game at Butler County Community College.
The organization’s annual gaming convention is returning to its roots this year as well, going back to Founder’s Hall at BC3, which offers plenty of space for the growing number of tabletop gamers who make it a point to attend the event each year.
Schnur, the guild master of Circle of Swords, said at a group meeting June 14, the event has remained popular because the attendees keep finding reasons to return to it every year — and bring friends and family.
“We've been doing it for long enough that a lot of people who got out of it when they were in their 20s, and now they have their kids, they're getting back into it,” Schnur said. “Then they get a little older and they bring their kids, too. When you've been around for 50 years … multigenerations get to play.”
The Circle of Swords Gaming Guild’s 30th annual SIBCON fall convention will take place Sept. 25 through 27 at BC3. Registration for games has been open for weeks. The convention is largely led by the players, who organize games at tables throughout, bringing old classics and new favorites for attendees to try out as well.
While the con is centered around D & D, the leaders of Circle of Swords said the event and culture around role-playing gaming has expanded to include more genres.
“It's a mix of role playing or miniature games or board games, some card games,” said Brian Abels, assistant treasurer for Circle of Swords. “You can do whatever you want, you can try different games. It's an opportunity for people to get together, we all have a common interest.”
Circle of Swords got its official start around 1986, when Schnur and the other two people he played with regularly, Chuck and Bill, organized a more formal structure for the group. They joined up with other D & D players in the area, including Kurt Rauschenberger, now the treasurer for Circle of Swords, and started organizing more formally.
The players became board members, and made the group a certified nonprofit, so it would have an official outlet for the money raised at the annual convention.
That year, two book stores at the Clearview Mall asked Schnur and his fellow role-players to organize an event at the mall to publicize their products, and the first ever Circle of Swords con, COSCON, took place. Circle of Swords has continued to host cons, normally twice annually until 2020.
In 1991, the club even started its own live-action role-playing game, COS Quest, which was active monthly until 2022.
Schnur said the con events involve more than just officials of Circle of Swords. Dungeon masters from around the region come to run games, and other clubs, informal and formal, attend with their members to play games with larger pools of people.
“A lot of our pull is from a lot of volunteer DMs who run their own games out of Pittsburgh or out of Butler,” said Luke Kelly, assistant guild master of Circle of Swords.
“We wouldn't be anywhere without the volunteer DMs.”
Circle of Swords has donated more than $106,000 to area causes since its start in the 1980s, with Schnur saying that many of the benefactors are based around children. Some of these organizations include No Kids Hungry, the Kids’ Weekend Backpack Program, the Butler Area Public Library and the Butler County Historical Society.
While Dungeons and Dragons has been around since 1974 and is not on its fifth edition, the members of Circle of Swords agree that a gaming convention is as good for newcomers as it is for seasoned players of the game.
D&D has books and materials that steer players in their campaigns. However, players have a lot of freedom in the way they go about following a story laid out in a book.
Kelly also pointed out that numerous role-playing games have emerged since the 1970s, many based on existing source material, like Star Wars and comic books. “They may say, 'I don't care about D & D, but I love Star Wars, I would play Star Wars,’” Kelly said.
The SIBCON website, where people can buy tickets and sign up for games ahead of time, lists the games planned for action at the September event.
Schnur said one of the main reasons to attend a gaming convention is “to play something that you've never played before that you're interested in.” He said the growing complexity of tabletop games can be eased by playing alongside people who understand the rules and how to play. Cons also offer a chance to try before you buy, which Schnur said is also increasingly helpful when it comes to the expanding scale of tabletop games.
“If there's a new game out there that you're reading the rules going, 'I have no clue what it is,’ so you go and play it, and then it's like, 'OK, this makes a little more sense,’” Schnur said. “Board games are getting into the $100 to $200 range, so it's like, let’s play this game before I buy it.”
Schnur explained that there will be gaming “slots” throughout the con, which are basically periods that games will take place in. People can schedule their entire weekend ahead of time. There are two slots on Friday, three on Saturday and two on Sunday. Information on which games will be played when will be available on Circle of Swords’ website.
Peter Bess, scribe of the Circle of Swords, said he sees at every con “people who pre-plan their whole weekend, and you have some people who leave themselves open slots to just randomly choose things to be a part of.” But not everyone schedules their whole weekend ahead of time.
“We still have people showing up on the day of the event and paying and they can slide into whatever table still has open spots,” Bess said.
After so many years of organizing the gaming convention, it’s not even a topic of discussion for the officials of Circle of Swords. They meet monthly to go over the organization’s business, in addition to meeting for gaming sessions. The members are just so used to having the con that they just get it together every year without too much discussion.
Schnur said the event remains enjoyable, because SIBCON is one of the largest Role Playing Game Association-sanctioned events in the region that is mainly focused on playing the games. Some cons are places where people purchase merchandise from vendors. However, Schnur said the social aspect of the Circle of Swords convention is what makes it special.
“Just to see people's faces, you're making friends that you've never really had before,” Schnur said. “It's a lot more social.”
For more information on SIBCON, or to buy tickets and sign up for gaming slots, visit Circle of Swords’ website at circleofswords.com.
