Hi, I’m Daniel Long and with my friends Jesus Barrero Iglesias and Mark Barrett we are creating the first community focused tabletop gaming tavern in Edinburgh.

To make this happen we have secured a location on Broughton Street but the current aesthetic does not fit with our vision of a tabletop gaming safe space.

We are asking for your help to update the interior to be a community meeting hall for all that enjoy any form of tabletop gaming, from Dungeons and Dragons to Magic the Gathering and every board game in between.

The Tale

When I moved to Edinburgh I didn’t know anyone in the city and for the first year I had no friends and was completely isolated. I was working from home with no one to enjoy my hobbies. This experience is not unique to me and most of my friends were in a similar situation. But then one day I stumbled into a tabletop cafe and very quickly I built a network of friends that have really made Edinburgh my home. That tabletop cafe is still going strong today but they are often completely full and cannot offer food or a nice cocktail to elevate that experience. So, with my friends we decided to create a place where you can come to play games, have delicious food and a cocktail too.

The commercial rental market in Edinburgh is extremely competitive and while we wanted to capture the essence of a fantasy tavern, like what you would see in Dungeons and Dragons, the reality is you have to take what you can get. We’ve been really lucky with the location that we have managed to secure but its current interior design is much more boho bar than fantasy tavern and so we are asking for your help to get us over the finish line and to redecorate it the way that we want it to be!

The Treasure

So you are probably a little curious about what your funding will be used for. Primarily it would be for helping us get the redecoration done. We want to change the lighting, add in shelving, paint, change some chairs and tables.

But we are also planning on hosting a charity evening fortnightly to allow members of our community to come and talk and be heard. As I mentioned when I arrived in Edinburgh I was completely isolated and felt lonely. Working from home meant I had no opportunities to build a social network. This is becoming incredibly common, some labelling it the loneliness epidemic. Not only that, we go through our lives without the opportunity to talk about problems we might have, for fear of being judged or belittled. So we want to create a safe space where people can convene together and talk about whatever is on their mind. So we will be creating our Talk Together Tuesday. The tavern will be shut for the evening for normal trade, people will be allowed to come and talk about whatever is on their minds. There will be refreshments available for free in the form of tea and coffee. We want to make this an evening for people that just need community, need to be heard and valued.

With your support we will be able to:

Quest Complete

Our goal is to raise just £500 to at least make a start on these things and below is a list of what we want to accomplish in order of priority and with the associated cost. Any donations made will go towards these goals.

£100 will enable us to print flyers and get the word out about our Talk Together Tuesday initiative

£150 will buy the paint needed to redecorate the inside

£250 will put in the shelves needed for our games library

£500 will buy the new lights

£250 will get our pub sign

£250 will pay to redecorate the outside

£500 will pay for some new tables and chairs

No matter what, we are opening Potions and Rations. This funding will just help make it the experience that we want and to get our community evening started. Every small contribution will help make our dream a reality.

Please help Potions and Rations become the experiential hub for all things Tabletop gaming that we want it to be. A place where everyone is welcome at our table. If you cannot donate today please share our story with others that have been in a similar situation and would love to come and join the community.

Thank you for taking the time to read our tale and for any donation made. We will keep you all updated on our progress and hope to play with you soon!