Lehigh Valley

Considering a gaming club in the Lehigh Valley

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Shortly after graduating from college, I tried starting a gaming club in the Lehigh Valley, Pa. I was fresh off having helped create the Role-Playing Underground when I was a student at Lock Haven University, and I was desperate to get a new campaign up and running.

It failed. We had a few meetings, and I was able to find enough people to get my own campaign off the ground, but in the end I didn’t understand the fundamental difference between a college game club, and a real-world one. In college, the club was about recruiting people for your game. In the real-world, it was about playing games

Quick note: for those who might have been drawn to this post by the casino going up Bethlehem, Pa., I’m talking about role-playing, card, board and war games, not gambling.

Ultimately, I was able to patch together enough players from the club and some local cons. Once I had a group of my own, the need for the club faded. So did the club.

Synthetic Culture

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The Elucidator is a quarterly print magazine published in Easton, Pa. It’s the sort of thing that people outside of the town might never expect to be here: a magazine reviewing local culture, life, and arts. It’s “Chew” and “Imbibe” columns check out the Lehigh Valley’s bars and restaurants, while “Listen” reviews a variety of music, and regular photo essays explore life in and around Easton.

Like I said, it’s nothing you’d expect to find here. Unless, of course, you actually lived here.

Easton’s changed a lot over the years, in some ways for the bad (gangs) and many ways for the good (the arts). There’s an established arts community, multiple art galleries, some cool downtown events — including beer, garlic and shad (yes, shad) festivals.