Portmeirion Steampunk
Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd May 2026
1. Why I Went
I go to conventions to Referee TTRPGs. We are blessed with many TTRPG conventions in the UK but not one every weekend. As I’ve set myself the target of attending a convention every weekend in 2026, when there is a weekend without an organised TTRPG event, I look around for other things to do.
I have attended Steampunk conventions before. Steampunk is hard to define. It’s an aesthetic rather than a hobby. Different people take different things from it and bring different things to it. But for many there’s a large element in dressing up in alternative history versions of fashions. Clothes that wouldn’t have been out of place if the fantasies of Jules Verne and H G Wells were fact.
I had an empty weekend at the beginning of May. My searches for events uncovered a steampunk weekend in Portmeirion in Wales.
So I wrote to the organisers asking if I could attend and offer my “Choose Your Adventure” TTRPG games. They responded positively. I could offer short drop-in games during the day and offer a longer game at night.
The details of my games were even listed on the websites amongst all the other events on offer - tea duelling, pirate cannon firing, The Grand Parade etc.
2. The Shape of the Convention
Portmeirion is simply stunning. Indescribable. I was taking photos even before I got in.
The Village stays open to the public during the event. The on-site hotel continues to take visitors and even hosted a business conference. There were a lot of bemused faces around.
The event starts at around 10am on Saturday and runs until 6pm on Sunday. The grounds of the Village are dotted with marquees and vendor stalls over the weekend, with events taking place in virtually every nook and cranny. The main public addresses took place from the Gloriette, overlooking the chessboard and piazza. That’s also where the Steampunk book authors were. Pirate cannon firings took place near the beach - probably by the famous stone boat.
It is susceptible to the weather, of course, being an outdoor event but, despite warnings of rain, the weather stayed generally fine and the whole venue looked simply magnificent throughout.
On the Saturday evening the outdoor stalls close down. There is an event inside the hotel with a Steampunk band and dancing etc. I had no interest in that.
For many of the participants this is a major event of their year. They stay on-site - which is a manageable but not inexpensive cost.
I chose to stay in nearby Porthmadog, a short bus ride away.
Porthmadog is four and a half hours away from Birmingham on the train. A direct and beautiful route snaking along the breathtaking Welsh coastline. So I had to travel to the event on Friday evening, necessitating an extra night’s accommodation and adding to the cost.
Trade stands were allowed into the village to set up on Friday, but I chose to arrive early Saturday morning.
In order to get to the event in time to set up my event, I had to set out early and missed breakfast in my lodgings. I was also disappointed to learn that - like Scotland - my free old man’s bus pass didn’t work in Wales.
The bus ride to the adjacent village was short and scenic but the walk down to the village was a stiff 20 minutes on tracks not built for a wheely suitcase. Portmeirion is best visited by car.
I arrived. My name was on the list at the Toll Booth. I found the organiser and asked where I was based only to find they hadn’t actually made a decision yet. I was offered a list of possibilities but I cut him off after the first.
Did I want “The Bandstand”?
Of COURSE I did!
This was a simply magnificent feature. Overlooking the coast. A perfect size. Enough chairs inside, though the two tables were a bit small. Easy access to all necessary amenities. And it was enclosed with a roof in case the rain came in.
I asked for an additional table and the standard 6x3 trestle table duly emerged.
I was told I’d have to share it with the “Steampunk Embroidery” event for an hour during the morning.
3. Games Played and Games Run
At 10am the tones of The Prisoner theme boomed out across The Village. The nostalgia was palpable.
As usual at the events, I had loads of people walking past in the morning, both Steampunks, confused tourists and business people hurrying to their conference. None stopped to play. There is simply too much to see for them to sit down and play a game.
Shortly before 11am the Steampunk Embroidery lady turned up. We’d been given an additional table with the idea we could share the space but I elected to put the two tables together, leave the bandstand and use the opportunity to tour the event. I returned periodically to hawk my games. I spotted the embroidery was popular and arranged to get her some extra chairs.
She finished at noon. I knew that as soon as I started eating my lunch - sandwiches I’d brought with me - things would kick off. And they did.
Starting to eat my lunch is a secret weapon I have. Fate will not allow me to do that.
Game 1 - Saturday
Two teenage boys showed an interest so I started my Steampunk Dinosaur game with them. I continued to yell out of the bandstand when passing people showed an interest and we were soon joined by a young couple for a table of four.
The original two boys had to leave to attend an event, so the couple’s characters had to complete the adventure on their own. Everything worked out well.
Game 2 - Saturday
Pretty much as soon as I’d tidied up after that game another couple arrived. The enthusiastic young lady in the lead asked for a Science Fiction game.
Dr Who was a sub-theme of the event. There was a Tardis and Daleks on-site. Many of the Steampunk costumes had Dr Who elements in them. And a classic Dr Who Davros was signing his Steampunk novels.
So I asked if she wanted general SciFi or Dr Who. Her eyes lit up.
I asked if she wanted my standard game - set in the Dr Who universe but without The Doctor - or if she wanted to play The Doctor. (I’d run a game featuring a Dr Who crossover at Edinburgh a few weeks before, remember, and had brought all of the sheets with me.)
She asked to play the 9th Doctor (Christopher Eccleston). By this time we’d been joined by two more players for a table of four. They elected to play the 3rd Doctor (Jon Pertwee) and the 4th (Tom Baker). The remaining player chose to play “Yas”, a companion from the 13th Doctor’s era.
I ran my usual Dr Who demo game. This doesn’t usually feature ANY Doctors. This time I had three.
Needless to say, it was great.
Game 3 - Saturday
I just had time to finish the last two bites of my sandwich when a young family arrived. These were not part of the Steampunk event. Just general tourists. Their seven-year-old son had seen my banner and expressed an interest.
He chose Superheroes and we played my standard Superheroes versus Dinosaurs adventure.
It’s funny how, of the many many adventures I’ve offered over the years, the ones with Dinosaurs are so popular that I keep them in my mix.
As a legacy item, I have laminated images for this scenario, showing the various opponents. The son had fun guessing where I’d downloaded each picture from.
Another fun game.
Evening - Saturday
At this point the outdoor event began to wind down. I hadn’t garnered any interest in a longer evening game. In any event, the bandstand wasn’t suited for that. Even if there was a light there - I wasn’t sure - it was too cold.
The day had been lovely and sunny but not warm and I wasn’t wearing my thermal underwear.
I’d had a couple of women walk past during the day saying they had some teenagers with them and that they would bring them back for a game. They did this again in the evening but, by this time, they were both holding flutes full of sparkling wine. I waited for a short while but then decided to clear up and go back to my hotel for the evening.
I was looking at a 20 minute walk uphill over rough terrain and then a long wait for the local bus. So I opted to get a taxi back to my hotel. This was a great choice. Not only was I able to enjoy some terrific local fish and chips but I gained great local knowledge from my driver. I booked her to go back to the event in the morning. That way I could enjoy my breakfast in my hotel and, having checked out, I would have more luggage with me. I also had time to catch up on the snooker on TV.
Morning - Sunday
I enjoyed a leisurely breakfast. Packed my bags and the taxi got me to Portmeirion in good time. I tried to book her to take me to the station near The Village after the event but she suggested I ask the Portmeirion staff to use one of the hotel shuttles to take me halfway up the hill - to “The Castle” - which was where the rough terrain ended. This would leave me with only 10 minutes to walk using a proper pathway.
There was the usual slow start in the morning.
I’d been warned that following the embroidery, I may have to share the space with the “Making Steam Catchers” activity for an hour if it rained.
(Making Dream Catchers but Steampunk.)
As it happened, the weather stayed lovely. (Especially as I was now wearing my thermal underwear.)
Again, lots of interest at first but no-one sitting down to play. Once the embroidery was finished, however, and I tried to eat my lunch again, things really kicked off.
Game 4 - Sunday
A young family. Again not Steampunks, I think, just general tourists. The youngest son wanted to play Dungeons and Dragons.
I don’t use the “official” Dungeons and Dragons as part of my set-up. There has been and will continue to be much debate - mainly online - about whether I should or whether I even could. But I do have my own easy-to-use, fast-play, Dungeons and Dragons type game.
So we played that.
The family of four were joined by a passing Steampunk lady. She seemed a bit bemused by the rules but took part happily.
It turns out that the father had played TTRPGs in his youth and he was able to steer the party to climactic victory in the final scene when things were looking bleak.
The older son - early teens - expressed an interest in finding out more. I gave them a copy of my business card and said I’d give them a more considered response if they emailed me and gave them a proof copy of the rules I had sitting in my bag that I was trying to get rid of.
Game 5 - Sunday
A family of 5. Again not Steampunks. General tourists. I got the strong impression that a grandmother was out with 4 teenagers. The two boys clearly had diversity challenges and the two girls were looking after them.
One of the two boys was showing an interest in my banner. The other was storming off somewhere. The boy showing an interest chose Steampunk Dinosaurs.
No surprise there!
He sat down with his two sisters to play. I tried to inveigle the grandmother to play but she was extremely reticent and disappeared to find the other grandson.
Things were going very well when the grandmother returned to announce my players had to leave soon. I negotiated a slight extension but still had to wrap up the game in about 15 minutes.
I’m good, and can deliver a great experience in under an hour, but 15 minutes is a challenge even for me. I think I delivered a memorable adventure - especially for the young man with diversity challenges. His heroic sisters were a real help.
Game 6 - Sunday
A large family - again non-Steampunk tourists - arrived and asked if two twin boys could play. About mid-primary age - one of them extremely hyperactive. So I sat the boys down and encouraged the mother and her sisters(?) to sit down as well. A table of five.
Then the father turned up with a pushchair, to watch.
I don’t tend to like watchers. Playing is the fun, I think. So I found out a sixth character sheet and encouraged him to sit and play.
(We had spare seats because of the embroidery, remember.)
This was a mistake. Not only did I have six players - one of them quite hyperactive - but over the course of the next hour or so I noticed the father stepping back to slip another son - from somewhere - in to play his character. This young man was clearly in the top maths set at school and kept butting in to do the calculations for his younger brothers. Showing off rather than helping.
One of the other women present produced a very young daughter from somewhere to play her character. So I ended up with six players, four of them children - one of them hyperactive and another demonstrating his superior brain - and two watchers.
On top of this I had a group waiting outside the bandstand to join in a game.
I am very good but this really challenged my abilities.
Game 7 - Sunday
I could not believe that I had a group waiting for a game and that they waited so patiently for my previous game to finish.
What had happened was that a Steampunk - all waxed moustache and devices - had joined in with my Dr Who game on Saturday and enjoyed it. He’d told his friend and young son about it and brought them along to experience it. Of course they chose the Steampunk dinosaur adventure.
Partway through, we were joined by one of the teenagers who’d had to leave early from the Saturday game - so he finally found out how the story ended.
The game ended in good time for me to pack up and travel to the station. I asked at the Toll Booth about the hotel shuttle. Even though I was not a resident at the hotel, they called the hotel minibus. Not to take me halfway up the road but all the way to the train station!
Chepstow last week. Portmeirion this week. Welsh people are just so nice!
Fortunately my taxi driver had warned me about this particular train station. Minffordd is a stop on both National Rail and the Ffestiniog narrow gauge steam train system. The platform on the main road is the narrow gauge one. You have to search around to find a tunnel to the tiny hidden away single-track National Rail one.
It was a LONG journey home.
4. Play Reflections
Seven games in two days. I’d count this a success. It would have been nice to run a longer game, or some more short games, on the Saturday evening. However, it is more due to luck than good planning that I’d been able to do that at The Asylum steampunk convention all those years ago.
It was interesting that so many general tourists joined in to play games. Possibly more general public than steampunks. I think the banner offering a FREE activity attracted a certain type of family looking for something to occupy their kids.
As well as running the games, I made some very good connections. Apparently there are several events going on in Wales that I was previously unaware of.
My Choose Your Adventure set-up is robust and it is working well. There is a possibility that the simple systems I use still aren’t simple enough for absolute beginners. However, I shouldn’t make assumptions. I don’t want to end up patronising people.
I really enjoyed the whole event. My bandstand venue was brilliant and Portmeirion Village is simply magnificent.
5. Cost, Time, and Value
I have decided to stop including calculations for cost, time and value in my reports. If you read this and think I should include them, please feel free to comment below or email me on:
And I’ll include them.
6. What I Took Away
This event was a long way to travel for seven hours of casual gaming. Travel costs were reasonable but having to pay for an extra night’s accommodation (Friday) was unfortunate.
However, the setting and the people were absolutely and indescribably magnificent. I have far, far too many photos to include in this blog. It would have been worth going even if I didn’t play a single game. This was a holiday getaway.
The fact that I introduced more members of the general public and families to TTRPGs here than at almost any other event I’ve been to is a bonus. I see no reason not to come back next year.
What I think I’ll do is get in touch with the organisers earlier. Rather than just a casual drop-in I’ll try to get some games onto the timetable of events to drum up some interest in advance, possibly for morning games, and get them announced on the public address system. Of course I’ll continue to offer casual games in between.
I also need to think carefully about what to offer Saturday night.
I thoroughly recommend this event but I also recommend visiting Portmeirion even when there isn’t a Steampunk convention on. It’s truly a magical place.
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