October 11th, 2025 was the second Berlin International Roleplaying Convention—or BIRCON for short—in the heart of Berlin. I'm one of the organizers, and I was there in the dual capacity of convention staff and Mottokrosh Machinations vendor.

Some Numbers

Map of the venue in the style of an old dungeon map.
Dungeon map by Sofiya Maroz

The first BIRCON, in 2024, was held at Tales Untold, and packed the place out with about 100 participants. Since then we were on the hunt for a bigger venue—at the right price. We found Seminarhaus Besselpark, and with 3 floors, we managed to fit in around 300 participants.

We had about 70 sessions, most of which were games, some of them panels, improv comedy, LARP, and more. We premiered at least 2 new games (that I know of), had 13 vendor stalls, including double-sized TTRPG sellers, dice artisans, and artists. We ran from 10:00 until close to midnight. (And that's not counting the vendors, staff, and volunteers turning up as early as 08:00.)

All in all, impressive growth, and we're pretty sure we haven't exhausted the local market for an international con yet, let alone the wider European one.

A Delicate Balance

The hardest part of putting on an event like is balancing the requirements of venue costs (incl. staff and ancillary hire fees), number of games (and rewards for GMs running said games), and number of participants (and thus ticket prices). The first is a known quantity, the second less so, and the third a wild guess. Usually you would look at historical data and make informed estimates. In our case, with only one year to look at, with wildly differently sized venues, that didn't help that much.

So we made several projections, and had a minimum number of participants required to be able to pay the costs. As it happened, we hit our targets (and even slightly exceeded them), but we didn't know we would until the last few weeks before the event. This could have easily backfired, but luckily the TTRPG community is strong in Berlin.

Since we're a group of fans doing this out of love for our hobby, we will continue to try and keep ticket and stall prices affordable, while being able to pay the venue, and reward the GMs.

The Mottokrosh Machinations stall, with many books on display, and Karen smiling at the back.
Karen watching over the Mottokrosh Machination stall

General Impressions

While there were some concerns voiced before the event about some of the processes we had in place, such as for enrolling in games and such, I got the impression that most people had a great time at the con itself. Some of our website systems were finished mere days before the events and didn't have long to be tested, so we expected some rough edges, but we will smooth those over by next year, and continue to simplify and make things fairer for everyone.

I ran two games myself and had enormous fun. My first game (in the afternoon) was full, but for my second game (in the evening) only three of the five signed up players turned up. By that point some people had crashed out, others were watching Tales Held Dear live on the mainstage, so you can't fault them (beyond updating their enrolment). A nearby GM only had one player turn up, which was a real shame, and something we do not want repeated, though in the end both of them joined in with my game, and no one was without gaming fun.

Frank GMing at a table with five players, two men, three women, lost in the books and story.
Me running a late night Hypertellurians game

For me there were several learnings here. And please note they are personal notes only, and not necessarily what we as BIRCON the organization will put into effect next time—there are too many other factors to consider. Nevertheless:

  • Splitting the con over two days would allow for more meaningful breaks inbetween games, and perhaps fewer clashes. Naturally the venue hire would go up massively.
  • Limited the gaming slots to morning and afternoon would keep the evening free for special events, such as actual plays, improv shows, other main events, and free gaming.
  • Speaking of which, we still need more free gaming areas, so that more impromptu games can be had.
  • Guaranteeing everyone at least one slot in a game meant allocating those who never enrolled, to a random free slot, as well as those who didn't get their top choices. Removing that guarantee would make things easier, and as long as we still have enough sessions, everyone should get to game anyway.
  • Creating a Discord channel for each game submission might be a great way to put GMs and players in touch, and to ask questions.
  • The afterparty "Meat Grinder" event at Tales Untold was enormous fun. Three GMs, a rotating cast of players, and audience participation made for an exciting game where time just flew by. Another great contender for a Saturday evening event perhaps.
A shot of the RPG room at Tales Untold with Kara as GM gesticulating, and many players and audience members watching and smiling.
Mirth at the Meat Grinder afterparty event
A golden ticket for the Meat Grinder afterparty event - illustration of two combatants at the top, one muscled, fierce, and bold, and one meager, hunched, and out of his depth, and invitation text at the bottom

Sales

For BIRCON, the ticket sales, together with vendor stalls, and the Epic RaffleTM made enough money to cover the costs, and leave a tiny surplus for marketing for next year. That's really great. Of course we're not counting any of our personal time and effort invested into this, such as programming a whole app, designing a brand identity, or illustrating any number of items, but then who would. 😅

As for vendor sales, I only have anecdotal data. From a couple of the bigger book stalls I heard nothing but great things. For that I say thanks to you all, thanks for checking out all the great games and adventures and whatnots these folks have on offer, especially the lesser known ones, which are almost always made with great love and skill (and far more playtesting than popular, conveyor belt ones, believe you me). My own books sold okay, somewhat eclipsed by the raffle sales that I had on offer too. 😄

A selection of art prints and stickers.
Small selection of artist wares I purchased (plus flyers)

What's Next?

We're taking a well deserved break before fully launching back into planning, but we've already met and discussed some initial ideas. Additionally:

  • For the full set of pictures from the event, see the gallery page on the BIRCON site.
  • I've really enjoyed our live streams, and we've got plans for more, so expect to hear more about that pretty soon!
  • The Meat Grinder event was a load of fun. Should we do those more often, by themselves? Would you be interested, maybe pay €5 to attend?
  • A formal feedback form will come in due time too.
  • Subscribe to the BIRCON newsletter to stay up to date.
  • Absolutely join the BIRCON Discord server. Advertize your games and LFGs there too.
  • Speaking of LFGs, I run a bi-weekly game on Thursday evenings in Berlin. It's diverse, we play a lot of games that focus on story over mechanics (think less complexity, more depth), and we're very newbie friendly. Hop on to #mobegari - MOttokrosh BErlin GAmers RIng - if you want to join, whether for a one-shot, or more regularly. I'd especially love to hear from the some of the players we had at the Meat Grinder, you folks rocked. 😄
A flyer for Mottokrosh Berlin Gamers Ring (MOBEGARI) showing some of the games we play (OSR/indie titles) and some photos from our sessions.

It's really heartening to see such support for a new TTRPG endeavour in Berlin.

And finally, huge thanks to Sofiya Maroz, our official BIRCON illustrator. Go commission some stuff from her!