The Nocturnes is an independent club that aims to establish an inclusive, educational, and social environment for people to play tabletop and miniature games in the Southern Indiana area. To be an independent club is to serve the players themselves first and foremost. It is not directly tied to any game store, product, or business. Unlike most clubs that are part of a school, university, or church, there is no other membership or association required to join. If you want to participate and are willing to follow our Code of Conduct, then you are welcome. Our motto is: Unplug, Unite, and Play.

• Unplug: A modern lifestyle is inseparably tied to technology. Many of us use a computer at our jobs, or spend our short breaks glued to our phones. While I enjoy a good video game or PC game now and then, tabletop gaming offers us the opportunity to have a hobby that doesn’t require us to look at a screen. Apart from the convenience of using the internet to reference a rule, update a character sheet, or look at a tutorial, this is our time to unplug.
• Unite: The digital age is also a lonely age. Even though we are connected to people near and far who share our interests, we are spending our time increasingly away from other humans. Tabletop gaming is a way to bring us back together, since most of them need an opponent or group to play in a satisfying way. Even the parts that can be done alone such as assembly or painting is more fun with company. Until the club has a roof of its own, local venues, nonprofits, and game shops are providing us with space so that we can unite.
• Play: In this high-information environment, there is a tremendous amount of pressure to not only play hard, but to win. Competition certainly has its place and tournaments can be excellent test of skill and endurance. Often though, high pressure play style has trickled-down and caused what would be a friendly experience for newcomers to become a hostile one. The truth is that different players want different things out of their games, and a little bit of structure can go a long way to ensure that there are times to not just to compete, but also to relax and play.