How It Works

GenCon's preferred way of handling events is through smaller organizations such as game companies, demo organizations, and fan clubs. Fight in the Skies Society (the official fan club of the WWI air combat game Dawn Patrol) is the oldest, and one of the largest, fan clubs at GenCon.

Expectations

Almost all of GenCon's events are run by volunteers like you and me. While anyone (who has a badge) can register an event to run, the only way to get the volunteer Game Master package is through an organization. Exploring GenCon social media including the Fans of GenCon Facebook Group and the GenCon forums can connect you with other organizations, but the basic expectations are the same for all of them.

200-Hour Package

What you contribute: 200 hours of content.

What you get: 4-day Game Master badge, 1/4 hotel room.

75-Hour Package

What you contribute: 75 hours of content.

What you get: 4-day Game Master badge.

"1 Hour" of Content

When we speak of "so many hours of content," what does that mean? "One hour of content" is one person participating in your event for one hour. For example: Risk: Game of Thrones is a 7-player game. Because it's Risk, it takes forever. Because it's complicated, it takes a bit to teach. When Hippie runs this game, he schedules it for 6 hours. 7 x 6 = 42, and thus, one seating counts as 42 hours and he's almost 1/4 of the way to his 200-hour commitment! He also does a 144-hour Red Dragon Inn tournament; 36 players x 4 hours.

Part of our job as Game Masters is to keep people occupied -- and out of the hallways -- for as long as possible. All FITSS events are scheduled in blocks of 2 hours. That is, the shortest time frame for a game is 2 hours, and I don't recommend you scheduling longer than 8 hours for a single event.

— Haly, the Moonlight Bard

Getting Started

• Contact Haly the Moonlight Bard

• Have a Chat

• We'll talk a bit about what games you enjoy playing and are comfortable teaching.

• Create a Schedule

• Work with Haly to create a schedule that accomodates
• attending the convention,
• running games,
• eating,
• sleeping,
• and relaxing.

• Nothing is Final (until 12/31)

• Talking is free, and you're not locked into any commitments until the end of the year.
• At that time, you will need to make a final dedicated commitment to attend all events you've scheduled for GenCon in Indianapolis, July 31-Aug 3 2025.