WatSFiC is marking its half a century through events that reflect the club’s history. “That was a lot of fun doing a lot of the games and watching movies across the past 50 years,” Jaycob Liinamaa, club’s promotional director, shared. Liinamaa has been a member since May 2023 and has held multiple executive roles, including webmaster, president, and promotional director. He is currently serving as pagemaster following his graduation to help complete the Star Songs, a club fanzine revival project.
WatSFiC was founded on Jan. 13, 1976. It initially focused on activities such as movie night hostings and occasional war gaming sessions. However, a key shift came in the late 1970s as tabletop role-playing games became part of the club’s core activities. According to Liinamaa, the club began hosting Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) sessions on May 19, 1978, followed by its first tournament on November 3 of that year, which had 22 entrants and over the years, it grew to as many as 15 teams of 6 in attendance.
As the club expanded, it incorporated a wider range of activities. “We ended up adopting Magic: The Gathering, a live action role-playing (LARP) game, also known as Waterloo by Night. Humans vs. Zombies was originally a part of our club,” Liinamaa shared. The club also maintained a large shared resource collection. “Our library ended up growing to over 1,600 books before the university got rid of the club’s library and we were forced to sell most of them off,” he said, adding that “a good chunk of that collection was rare and collectible books.” The collection was previously housed in the Student Life Centre (SLC), where WatSFiC was a major contributor, and the club had earlier shared space with the Math Society. Today, however, WatSFiC no longer has a permanent headquarters, as that has been repurposed as office space and instead the club books rooms each term for meetings, most often in the Mathematics and Computer building.
While these elements reflect earlier stages of the club’s development, WatSFiC has since shifted toward a broader and more flexible structure. “It’s really just been more multifaceted than singularly focused,” Liinamaa said. Today, the club runs a mix of recurring and one-time events throughout each academic term, beginning with initiatives designed to build community. At the start of the term, WatSFiC typically hosts a bonfire social to encourage informal interaction among members. This is followed by an introductory one-shot event aimed at new participants, where students can learn the basics of D&D. From there, the club’s programming expands into a range of activities that cater to different interests and experience levels. These include war gaming sessions such as Trench Crusade and Kill Team, as well as efforts to introduce members to the Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game. Skill-based and workshop-style events are also part of the schedule, including mini painting nights where members are provided with materials and guided through basic techniques.
In addition to regular programming, the club organizes larger and more specialized events. These include themed gatherings and extended gameplay formats, such as a 24-hour marathon consisting of six back-to-back four-hour D&D sessions. Creative engagement is incorporated through competitions, including a short story contest in which participants write based on a set of prompts, with word limits varying depending on the organizers. A miniature painting contest is also held, where entries are judged by popular vote.
Beyond its internal programming, WatSFiC is also involved in collaborative initiatives across campus. One such example is the Tabletop Tavern, which brings together communities centred around games such as Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokémon, and board games. While Magic: The Gathering operates within WatSFiC, it functions largely independently and has newer collaborations.
The club’s current structure has also been shaped by disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some activities, particularly LARP, have not fully returned to their previous format. “Before COVID, the LARP was really a bi-weekly thing… but because that interest died over COVID, we had to try and get it back with just one-off events,” Liinamaa said. He noted that rebuilding participation has been challenging, especially given the complexity of the format.
Membership levels vary by term, but the club maintains a consistent base. According to Liinamaa, the club sees around 60 active members over the course of a year. Weekly attendance typically averages around 20 participants, with an increase to approximately 30 for larger events. Introductory sessions tend to draw the highest turnout. “For one-shot events… we get upwards of 60 people,” he added, though many attend only temporarily. The club operates under an executive structure with the four roles required by WUSA – president, vice-president, treasurer, and secretary; alongside additional positions such as Master of Tournaments (TTRPG events), Master of Events (non-TTRPG events), Warmaster (wargaming), Pagemaster (book club and arts), promotional director, and webmaster. The executive team typically meets weekly before Saturday events, and these meetings are open to members.
