Anyone is welcome to attend the gaming events, which will be held on the first and third Thursdays of each month starting in September.

What do games like Dungeons & Dragons, Call of Cthulhu and Pathfinder have in common with theater?

The answer is fairly simple for Kelly Green, who organizes monthly Nerdsdaynitelive! events at the Liberty Theatre in Astoria. There is a performative nature to role-playing games — not to mention ample space for creativity and imagination — that makes them a natural fit for a performing arts venue.

“It’s basically interactive theater, improvisational theater with a framework, which is the rule set,” said Green, a technical assistant at the theater. “You create your own stories in the milieu, instead of being spoon-fed the content. … That’s the way I realized the Liberty could be a nexus for this.”

Green started coordinating the gaming events last fall. As a staff member, he was thinking of a way the theater could engage with a section of the community with which they haven’t historically engaged, a community of gamers that Green identifies with as someone who started playing Dungeons & Dragons in the 1970s.

Nerdsdaynitelive! takes place monthly in the Liberty Theatre McTavish Room. Starting in September, the one-year anniversary of the program, the theater will be hosting free events twice per month.

Learning, playing and collaboratingWhile Nerdsdaynitelive! is not a free-for-all, it’s not burdened with structure either. Anyone is welcome to come watch, play, collaborate or learn about the different games taking place, from Alien and Magic: The Gathering to Dungeons & Dragons and Yu-Gi-Oh!

Some groups have ongoing campaigns, where the story and action carry over from one session to the next. Terry Pack is about seven sessions into his Dungeons & Dragons campaign, overseeing the game.

Pack has about four core players whose characters are involved in each session, but he also can integrate new individuals as they come and want to get involved. He assigns them new characters that fit into his ongoing story.

Green runs a drop-in game for Dungeons & Dragons. He already has characters created, so he can hand each player a sheet with customized information on it, and they aren’t challenged with having to develop a character on their own. That’s a low-barrier entry point for individuals who are unfamiliar with the game.

For those not yet ready to play, observation of the several games that take place simultaneously during the evening is encouraged. Event staff and displays help explain instructions for role-playing games in general, as well as the specific games being played.

Green admits that many role-playing games have extensive rules and source materials which can be overwhelming to newcomers, but people are eager to share what they know with new players.

“Folks are really welcoming,” Green said. “We want people to come in and see how this all works and what it is.”

A welcoming communityThe first Nerdsdaynitelive! brought in roughly 30 people. Monthly attendance steadily grew, peaking at nearly 70 attendees in April. Green believes nice weather and vacations have contributed to fewer players in the summer, but is interested to see what attendance will look like in the fall and winter.

Nerdsdaynitelive!

6 p.m. Sept. 7 and Sept. 21, free event showcasing table top role-playing games

Held on the first and third Thursdays of each month

www.libertyastoria.org

The diverse group of attendees range in age from teenagers to those in their 70s and 80s. Green would also like to open the experience to kids as young as 8 years old in the future.

The group represents “just a huge swath of the community,” Green said, adding that they’ve implemented a code of conduct to keep events safe and fun. “We wanted to make it really welcoming to folks that felt marginalized.”

Several participants described the events as a way to meet new and like-minded people, bonding over shared interests and building a sense of community. Beyond that, the activities are engaging, interactive and imaginative.

“I get to express my creativity,” said Pack, who’s been playing since the 1970s. Nerdsdaynitelive! has also served as an introduction to the Liberty Theatre, one that’s led individuals to attend other events or get involved in other programs.

“In terms of that, it’s been useful for the Liberty,” Green said. “Our focus is on supporting and encouraging various performing art forms.”