Dungeons & Dragons assembles party for a win: Game businesses join forces, sell out SomerCon
Originally published by Cambridge News Inc. in Cambridge Day and The Week on April 29th, 2025, these photos were part of a feature story on SomerCon, Somerville’s first Tabletop Roleplaying Game convention. The published story included six photos and a 1,500 word article. I also created an interactive map of the convention featuring another 10 or so photos, but it could not run properly on the Cambridge Day site, so it went unpublished. I’ve included photos from that map here.
When attendees first enter SomerCon, they're greeted by Aeronaut Brewery's main room. The bar, open to regular customers as well, affords convention-goers one free drink in exchange for a voucher included with their ticket.
Near the building entrance is a sign welcoming attendees to the convention. Just past this sign is a small hallway leading to the area mapped out here, a private event space where SomerCon is being held.
Drew Norum is a self-taught leathersmith. His leather business, T.R. Galahad, is one of the six vendors tabling at SomerCon. His inventory includes belts, bags, and arm bracers, all made from scratch. With each purchase, he lets shoppers role a dice for a chance at a free leather ring.
Allan Knowles and Caroline Sheridan, co-organizers of Somercon, meet up about halfway through the convention to discuss how things are going. They agree - It's going as well as they'd hoped!
Allan Knowles, founder of Dungeons and Dragons service company Danger Wizard and co-organizer of SomerCon shows off a favorite minature he's painted from his collection of hundreds in his home in Somerville, MA, on April 8, 2025.
Caroline Sheridan, founder of SideQuest Books and Games, works with a new customer, asking questions to best understand their taste and make a book recommendation in her store in Somerville, MA, on Friday, April 4, 2025.
Before opening her current brick-and-mortar location, Side Quest was a pop-up shop, so Caroline Sheridan is very familiar with vending in conventions and markets just like this one.
Aeronaut is home to three independently owned food shops, too. There's Mimi's, a Chinese-Japanese-American fusion diner, Carolicious, a Venezuelan eatery, and Somerville Chocolate, owned and operated by Eric Parkes, pictured here, who founded his chocolate company in 2012.
Danica Kawn tables for her two sister businesses, Little Wolf Dice and Little Wolf Sewing. She said this event is a bit different from previous ones she's brought the shop to. Outside of the Camberville area, "It's all people who say 'My kids play D&D!' or 'my nephew'," but at SomerCon, she says, everyone is game.
The aptly named "barrel room" is where all of the scheduled events of the day happen. Inside, there are scheduled games throughout the day, a roundtable that plays host to conversations about the logistics of Tapletop RPGs, and a miniature painting station.
Located along the far wall of the barrel room is the miniature painting station, where attendees paint small figurines meant to represent various creatures found within tabletop games.
Miniatures can be used alongside maps to give players crucial spatial information, but for many the meditative and artistic act of painting is where the fun is at.
In the back corner of the barrel room is a circle of stools set up to provide a forum for attendees. As a free add-on to their ticket, gamers can opt-in to one of four scheduled discussions. Topics to choose from are "RPG Design", "DMing for kids", "Running Inclusive Tables", and "Professional DMing".
The main event of a tabletop gaming convention is, of course, the games. SomerCon featured 10 game sessions total over the course of two programming blocs. Here, Ben W (Center Right) leads a game as a member of the Danger Wizard team.
Heather Silva (Center) is the founder of Worlds 4 All, an RPG service company, and lead one of the convention's many games.
Attendees play Community Radio, a game designed and lead by Quinn Murphy, local Somerville game designer since 2009.