Gaming Days’ Free RPG Day 2020‘s show WILL go on, Saturday July 25! It’s a month or so later than usual, due to pandemic-related orders and restrictions. My colleague, Egg Embry, alerted me to this bit of gaming good news, since he knows, from reading Astral Projections, that me and my family have been fans of the event for years.
The 2020 Sponsors are ICv2, the Dice Tower, and Be Bold Games. So far there are 15 Publishing Partners, including Roll20, Fantasy Flight Games, and Cubicle 7, but everyone’s giveaways are “To be announced.” That should be the final roster, since there are links on site to be a Sponsor or Publisher for the 2021 Free RPG Day. The Gamers page promises that will happen “daily through the month of July”. So check back with them next month.
Of course, the most important question for us gamers is “Where’s the nearest participating FLGS?” and the Gamers page has the answers. There’s embedded one of those nifty Google maps where you put in your city and it gives you all the info to get to the participating retailer/s. Naturally, the first thing I did on the page was enter Little Rock to make sure Game Goblins was in. Yes! Not that I had any doubts, even though they haven’t announced anything yet. If your FLGS isn’t there, try again in a few days, since today (June 29) is the revised deadline for retailer registration.
Naturally, I am looking forward to making at least a short visit (sporting my fave mask) to Game Goblins on July 25. They usually go all out for free RPG day–not just the official giveaways, but raffle off lots of other items. In the past, like most shops, there has been plenty of tabletop RPGs, including GMs running some of the new Free RPG Day modules, as well as other RPGs.
Alas, as Gaming Days points out on their Retailers page, “For most, if not all stores, a Free RPG Day event featuring in-store play just isn’t in the cards this year.” Because of this, and the related effects of temporary closures and online/curbside only on sales, the Gaming Days organization has changed their Retailer Guidelines to permit using Free RPG Day kit contents to “drive sales” by, for example, offering them as Free With Purchase promos. Retailers are also allowed to use the items in other ways to promote sales, although they still may not sell them outright. This seems a reasonable balance under the circumstances.
I wish I had more to tell you about Free RPG Day 2020, but that’s all there is* out there right now. I plan to update you all in mid-July, either same Bat-time and Bat-channel, or as an extra.
*SPOILER ALERT! The “For Retailers” page does have a list of kit items from the Sponsors and Publishing Partners.
Linda Whitson
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