Volunteer Info Page
Welcome, adventurers.
If you’ve made your way here from the info page, there’s a good chance you’re interested in helping bring Dragon Call Festival to life, and we’re very excited to hear from you.
Dragon Call is a fantasy festival built around quests, tabletop roleplaying games, and immersive experiences on a weekend festival backdrop. More than anything, though, it’s about creating a welcoming, creative and memorable experience for the people stepping into the world.
Some people may want to run quests, guide players through immersive spaces or help bring NPCs to life. Others might help build props and costumes, assist in the tavern, work behind the scenes, facilitate tabletop adventures, help with logistics or simply jump in wherever needed. There’s room for highly creative contributors, practical organisers, experienced roleplayers and complete beginners alike.
Most importantly, we want Dragon Call to feel collaborative, welcoming and fun to be part of, both for the players attending the festival and for the people helping build it behind the scenes.
Non-Player Characters (NPCs)
We know many of you will be most interested in NPC roles, so we wanted to give a bit more context around how those work at Dragon Call Festival.
NPCs, non-player characters, help bring the world to life through quests, immersive spaces, tabletop games, and general festival interactions. Some may be tavern keepers, wandering travellers, encampment keepers, archivists, or strange characters hiding in the forest.
One of the most important things to understand about Dragon Call is that the players are the protagonists of the experience. The NPCs are there to support the players’ adventure, not the other way around.
The goal is not to create long theatrical performances that players sit and watch. Instead, NPCs help create atmosphere, guide interactions, support immersion, and help players feel like they are part of a living world. The best NPCs are often the ones who make players feel welcome, involved, and important in the story.
Some NPC roles may be simple, practical, and low-pressure - you don’t need acting experience or a detailed costume. Other roles, however, will be for outgoing performers, roleplayers, and creative improvisers.
It’s also important to note that performers and NPCs are not necessarily the same thing. Dragon Call may include music, campfire entertainment, and other performances, but these will generally be programmed separately from the quest and NPC systems. Within the quest system itself, NPCs are there to support player experiences and help the world feel alive.
Volunteer Role Descriptions
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Help physically bring the world of Dragon Call Festival to life in the days leading up to the festival. This role involves helping construct the site, setting up immersive spaces, decorating areas, moving equipment, and working on props and in-world details. Perfect for practical people who enjoy building things and being part of the behind-the-scenes creation process.
Volunteers who assist across the full three-day build period will receive a complimentary festival ticket and be able to enjoy the festival across the weekend once setup is complete.
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Be one of the first friendly faces players encounter when they arrive at Dragon Call. This role involves checking tickets, attaching wrist bands, directing people to camping and parking areas, answering questions, and helping everyone feel welcome as they enter the world.
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The Crossroads Tavern is the social heart of the festival. Hospitality volunteers help serve drinks and food, clear tables, keep the space running smoothly and help create a warm, lively tavern atmosphere throughout the weekend.
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This space combines costumes, crafting, props and creative problem-solving. Volunteers may help with costume adjustments, sewing, makeup, hair, painting, prop-making and helping players add immersive touches to their outfits and characters. Great for crafty and creative people who enjoy helping others bring ideas to life.
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Part information desk, part gameplay hub, the Game Masters Desk helps players understand the festival systems and get connected with games and activities. Volunteers here may help answer questions, direct players toward quests and games, assist with merchandise and generally help people navigate the world of Dragon Call.
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The Green Room is a backstage chill-out and preparation space for volunteers, NPCs and performers. Volunteers in this area help keep the space organised, stocked and welcoming, making sure people have somewhere to recharge between shifts and activities.
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The Operations Room is the behind-the-scenes coordination hub of the festival. This role may involve radios, schedules, problem-solving, computer work, helping coordinate teams and occasionally running around the site helping resolve issues as they arise. Good for practical organisers who enjoy helping things run smoothly.
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The Quest Board is where many players will first begin their adventures. Volunteers here help are members of the Village Circle, welcome people to Greenwood Ford, explain how the quest system works, guide players toward suitable activities and help people feel confident getting started.
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The tavern is also home to a number of immersive NPC and quest roles. From tavern keepers and bar staff to mysterious travellers hidden in dark corners, these characters help guide players into quests, rumours and unfolding storylines throughout the festival.
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The realm encampments are some of the most immersive spaces within Dragon Call Festival. These areas act as living faction hubs connected to quests, alliances, rumours, secret storylines and the wider world of Dragon Call.
Several realm spaces are created across the festival, including the Commons for human & other frontier travellers, Elven Sanctuary, Mountain Hold and Forest Folk Enclave. Each space will have its own atmosphere, personality and style of interaction, and we’re looking for volunteers to help bring those realms to life as in-world characters and elders.
Realm Keepers help welcome players into their realm, guide quests and interactions connected to the encampment, share rumours and lore, and help create the feeling that each realm is part of a living world. Some roles may involve diplomacy, secret quests, faction rivalries, ceremonies or helping induct players into the realm itself.
These are immersive costume-based NPC roles, and you’ll be able to indicate if there’s a specific realm that particularly interests you.
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The Baenwynn Archive is an immersive library and information-gathering space containing letters, records, clues, and hidden knowledge. Volunteers here take on quieter clerk-style roles involving interacting with players completing quests, handling & storing discoveries and helping players uncover secrets hidden within the archive itself.
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The Training Ground focuses on more active and skill-based quests and challenges. Volunteers here may help run physical activities, demonstrations, dice-based encounters, and teamwork-focused tasks while helping ensure that activities are fun, clear, and safe.
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The Gaming Hall is home to tabletop roleplaying games throughout the festival.
Volunteers in this space help onboard players into games, explain how the systems work and support both players and Game Masters throughout the weekend. You definitely do not need to be an expert Game Master, but some experience playing tabletop roleplaying games and understanding how these kinds of games generally flow will be very helpful, especially when helping new players feel comfortable and confident jumping into their first game.
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The Fire Ring is a central social and immersive gathering space within the festival. This area may involve NPC interactions, announcements, storytelling, crowd engagement and more performance-style roles, making it a great fit for confident and energetic volunteers who enjoy interacting with groups.
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The Hero’s Trial focuses on cooperative physical and problem-solving group activities. These challenges may involve things like navigating a giant sticky spider web without getting caught, crossing a lava-filled pit to retrieve an ancient object, and disarming traps to rescue a party member. These challenges are often under time pressure.
Volunteers in this area help explain the activities, guide groups, give hints where appropriate, and make sure everything runs safely and smoothly. These experiences combine physical activity, mental problem-solving, and group planning, making them a great fit for energetic volunteers who enjoy helping teams work together and have fun.
Volunteer Admin & Next Steps
If you’d like to volunteer at Dragon Call Festival, the first step is to complete the Volunteer Application form below. On the form, you can indicate the areas you’re most interested in, your experience level, how comfortable you are with roleplay and immersive interactions, and whether you already have a costume or might like some help putting one together.
In general, we’re looking for volunteers who genuinely want to help run and shape the festival experience. While there will absolutely be opportunities to relax, socialise, and explore parts of the festival, most volunteers should expect to spend roughly two-thirds of their festival time in their roles, with around one-third of the time free for breaks and to enjoy the event atmosphere.
Volunteers receive full access to the festival and can set up in the campground free of charge in exchange for helping bring the event to life. There are options to book glamping tents as well if you choose.
While we’d love to provide meals for volunteers, it’s unfortunately beyond the festival's first-year budget. Volunteers are welcome to bring their own food or purchase meals and drinks from the Crossroads Tavern throughout the weekend.
Preference will generally be given to volunteers who are available for the full festival weekend, particularly for immersive and ongoing NPC roles. If you can only help for part of the event, we’d still encourage you to apply.
Volunteers involved in NPC, quest, gameplay, or other participant-facing roles will be required to hold a Queensland Blue Card for Working with Children at the festival.
Volunteers under 18 years must have a parent or guardian on-site.
Most importantly, we’re looking for kind, collaborative, and flexible people who are excited to help create something memorable and welcoming for everyone attending the festival.
Before applying, please click and read the Volunteer Agreement & Waiver carefully.
All volunteers, NPCs, game masters, facilitators, and crew members are required to acknowledge and agree to these conditions as part of the application process.