Adventurers Wanted 2! A TTRPG Community Expo
We could never have predicted the success of last year’s Adventurers Wanted, and you blew us away for the second year in a row! 143 TTRPG players, gamer runners, and creators joined us at Color Club to meet more of their community and introduce players to new games.
The event ran from 12pm - 4pm on March 8th, 2026, and the floor remained packed for most of the afternoon. 30 local GMs, pro GMs, vendors, and TTRPG creators filled the gymnasium on the club’s second floor.
“Everyone at this event were both welcoming and passionate about TTRPGs. Finding GMs and other players was as easy as making ramen in the microwave.”
Complete Game Master and Vendor List
2 Yuky Han
3 Yes And Dragons & Derrick Stevens
5 Kat Anderson & Courtney Gunderman
8 Dex Greenbright & Morgan Parsons
10 Minthas LLC
14 Jackson Tanner Diers & Thirst for Adventure
16 Ben Guest & Episodic Adventures
24 Christopher Sommers
Photography by: Zack Keltner
*If you were a GM or Vendor at AW2 and you’d like access to our photography, please email rayne@chicagotga.org. We’re happy to share our library for the event (There’s more than we could share here.); we only ask that you attribute CTGA and the extremely talented Zack Keltner.
AW2 Spotlighted GMs, Creators, and Vendors.
While perusing booths, event attendees got to talk to home GMs running campaigns in dozens of different campaign settings. Some were even still playing in campaigns that started last year at AW1 and were now running themselves or looking to get more involved in the community.
There were also several DMs for hire showcasing the kinds of games they run. Whether you’re looking for a sci-fi one-shot, a few episodes of cosmic horror, or an ongoing campaign — you could find a GM offering a cultivated and professional TTRPG experience.
“I wanted to meet people in the community, which I did. I also was invited to a playtest group that I’ve already attended. Heck yes, new friends.”
By popular demand, we also opened the event up to local professional GMs and vendors. Gaming accessories, from costumes to cool dice (and dice shaming devices), were flying off the tables. You could also meet some of the best TTRPG creators in Chicago, selling their latest gaming systems and modules of well-known systems.
“I debuted my game in print, which was a huge motivation, and more importantly, I wanted to come away with some good connections in Chicago gaming (coming from Aurora), since my partner and I are trying to build up a Chicago-Aurora community-building project. Both of these were very successful!” –Eric S
The comparisons to a convention couldn’t be avoided, and we definitely hear you. We’re excited to see how we can make next year’s AW3 bigger and better, while making space for the smaller home games at the heart of the TTRPG community.
The AW2 raffle sold out of tickets.
The raffle for this event was stacked with games, mods, dice, and other sweet loot — contributed by our generous sponsors. It was so popular, in fact, that we ran out of raffle tickets and had to create more. Thank you all so much for your patience and support. The proceeds from these raffles go to fund more events like this one all across Chicago.
Check out all of our happy winners!
Photography by: Zack Keltner
Thanks for coming to Adventurers Wanted 2!
Whether you were an attendee, GM, or vendor — we couldn’t have done this without you. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you. We can’t wait to start planning AW3, but before that, we have so many events planned for 2026! Check out our events page to plan your next weekend.
And to get more involved in Chicago’s TTRPG community, come join the conversation on Discord!
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