Both A Success And A Failure On Free RPG Day

Well Free RPG Day was both a success and a bit of a bust for me today. The "success" was the event itself, and the "bust" was an unfortunate bit of illness that hit me.

I made the trip down to Ravenstone Games in Columbus, Ohio, both to mark Free RPG Day and to also check out the store as it was one I've been meaning to visit for some time. I got there at 10:30 a.m. when the store first opened, as I know that the Free Swag is in short supply and, having never visited the store before, I wanted to get something before everything was snapped up by the regulars. When I got there, I saw a few folks milling about, so I toured the store. Liked what I saw. Clean, well organized, interesting selection of popular and obscure games. (Store needs to be restocked soon as I saw many game supplements for sale, but none of the core games those supplements...supplement.)

I grabbed this year's DCC RPG offering, leaving the rest of the materials for others to come later. I watched a few folks pick up some swag, then leave without purchasing anything. C'mon folks! Don't be "That Guy." Support the damn store for participating by dropping some coin in his coffers! To make up for what I saw (and because I had my eye on it anyway), I spent a bit more than I had planned by grabbing a copy of Munchkin Deluxe, a Monty Python Fluxx support pack, and a new set of percentiles for future Pacesetter games. (I wished I had picked up the "Welcome to Mortistown, USA" I saw, as it was a licensed Rotworld supplement!)

I chatted with the store's owner for a bit, then headed out to check out my old stomping grounds (went to OSU). My plan was to kill a few hours then return for Jim Yoder's DCC RPG game at 2 p.m. Sadly, around noon, some bug or virus or bodily malfunction kicked in and it became important for me to get home if you get my drift, and I think you do. So I was unable to stick around and play anything. (And a last minute Cryptworld game I tried to assemble that morning didn't materialize either.

VERDICT: I like Ravenstone quite a bit. It's on the north side of the city, so it's very easy for me to get to. Plus, it's located very near to some old haunts of mine (used to work at the old defunct Northland Mall in college) so I'm familiar with the area. I like the store itself, small but with plenty of room, if that makes sense. I totally would like to begin setting up and running games there in the future. And considering I have a FLGS within walking distance of my own house an hour north, that's saying something. So I hope everyone else had a good Free RPG Day. I got some swag, found a new store I like, and have decided to make it my gaming playtest location for adventures and games currently in the works. Thanks Ravenstone! Now that I know where you are and what you're like, I'll be stopping by again more often.