‘A GM, a grognard, and a medievalist walk into a tavern’

Tabletop role-playing games, also known as TTRPGs, turn the roll of a handful of dice into the swing of a sword, the click of a lock, or the last flourish of a song. Since the 1970s, groups across the world have got together to engage in a varied and unique form of shared storytelling and role-play. While TTRPGs are not inherently set in a specific time or place, many focus on the fantasy genre and medieval settings. In 2020, Anachronalia published an RPG supplement called Incunabula, bringing together the fantasy world of Dungeons and Dragons with the history of book production, including new spells and feats, with over 130 copies sold as well as multiple stand-alone adventures inspired by history and book production.

This collaborative and creative workshop explores how the medieval period can inspire, inform, and enhance your own tabletop role-playing games, by drawing on the parts of history that may be less familiar to the wider community. Whether you are a dice-hoarding gremlin or simply curious, Anachronalia will take you through the process of developing historically inspired magical objects, spells, monsters, and plot-hooks, using your favourite historical fact or niche research interest, with examples from the Incunabula RPG series – now in its fifth year.

If time allows, there will be an opportunity to create some simple printed monster and item cards for you to collect at the IMC Craft Fair later in the week and use in your own games or classrooms. All participants will also receive an exclusive Anachronalia TTRPG item to commemorate the event.

Linette Withers is a medievalist and heritage bookbinder who combines her knowledge of medieval studies and early book history with 30 years of role-playing experience. She completed an MA in Medieval Studies at the University of Leeds before joining the IMC team as Senior Congress Officer. She has been binding books since 2005 and since 2012 has worked as a professional book binder, producing codices and stationery inspired by historical examples.

Dominic Carroll is a game designer with a passion for public engagement, book and printing history, and tabletop role-playing games. When he’s not writing games or folding paper with Anachronalia, he works as a speech and language therapist with a focus on disability, neurodiversity, and augmentative and alternative communication.

The workshop can only accommodate a limited number of participants. Early booking is recommended.

The ticket price includes a donation to Dragon’s Nest, a Leeds-based LGBTQIA* and disability-friendly charity which meets in person and online.

Core Principles

Assume good faith, be open to listening,yield the floor, ask open questions.
“It’s more complicated than that” – but we don’t have time.
We’re not here to talk about our characters – D&D is as much about the stories we tell about our games as the stories we share inside them, but we have limited time – so while we can share amazing examples from our games, call us out if we start to lose focus.
- The [DUCK!] Rule: If you call “Duck!” it’s up to the other people in the group to move the conversation on.
We’re not here for edition wars – We’re using D&D 5e today, as it’s one of the most popular systems out there. But we cut our teeth on Kult, Mutant, PbtA, Dungeoneer, Tunnels and Trolls, and a whole host of other great games. We know other editions of D&D exist. Pathfinder is awesome. These techniques are generalisable to other games.
Dirtbag medievalism calls on us to put fun first…
We are not at home to Gary Gygax’s sprawling guisarme-voulge polearm table.
…but sometimes the guisarme-voulge really is the interesting bit.
Be open to sharing the deep details that folk love about this nerdy interest and working how it can make our other nerdy interest even more interesting.
D&D is better for being inspired by medievalism that is multidisciplinary, nuanced, intersectional, and multicultural – and we try to write games that are as well.

Terms

Grognard

An old soldier.
(historical) A soldier of the original imperial guard that was created by Napoleon I in 1804 and that made the final French charge at Waterloo.
(games,slang) Someone who enjoys playing older war games or roleplaying games, or older versions of such games, when newer ones are available, and often complains frequently about newer games.

James is such a grognard: he only plays the original edition of Dungeons & Dragons.

(military) A soldier or enthusiast in attention to detail for rules and regulations. Respected as an expert in things most people don’t care about.

Dirtbag Medievalism

““a kind of meta-medievalism, distilled through the internet and pop culture,” less about culture or history or authenticity and more of a “vibe.” (Cook, 2025)