As promised, here’s my update on the upcoming Free RPG Day 2020, Saturday July 25th. The main page has clickable Sneak Peeks for every sponsor. There’s one-shots for several familiar games, such as Warhammer 40K Roleplay, Fantasy Flight Games’ Genesys Keyforge, and both Pathfinder and Starfinder (which once more features the skittermanders). There are also dice from 2 different companies, terrain, and a painting guide. Roll20 is offering a whole 3 months of Roll20 Pro for free! (See this webpage for all the Roll20 Pro details.) That’s not all, but I will let you discover the rest of the goodies for yourself.
It’s up to individual game stores (and of course any governmental restrictions in their respective locales), whether there will be any onsite gaming. The hallmark of Free RPG Day has always been GMs running both the free modules and whatever other one-shots they please, but for many stores and their patrons, it won’t be happening, to help prevent COVID-19 spreading.
My FLGS, Game Goblins, is keeping as close as possible to their usual Free RPG Day experience. Everyone will receive 1 item from the Free RPG Day retailer kits they ordered, “While supplies last.” This might be done differently at your FLGS, since this year only Gaming Days LLC (Free RPG Day organizers) is permitting stores to use the promo items to drive sales, such as by offering them free with purchase. The change was due to so many stores not being open except for shipping and/or curbside delivery. Hopefully, this exception won’t be needed in 2021.
Game Goblins has been open for several weeks for both buying and gaming with changes in layout and new procedures and rules, to allow Social Distancing. So they will host one-shot games as part of the events. It’s limited to 10 tables of 1 GM/5 players each. The only thing they won’t be doing, it appears, that we have enjoyed in the past is raffles, a part of many store events. I suspect having raffles would mean more people likely to just hang out, so it is a good idea to not have them.
While I love this event and will miss it, I don’t feel safe doing tabletop gaming right now, especially with people I may not know well or at all. No, not even with everyone masked. (City and state orders here require masks for most adults, preteens and teens.) I wish things were different–don’t we all? I hope my husband and I can do the whole Free RPG experience next year.
Nevertheless, I wish that the rest of you are able to have a fun Free RPG Day 2020, whether virtual or in-person. Tell me all about the goodies either in the comments here or on Facebook. I will be happy to compile your reviews and comments on the promo modules, dice, etc. in this space, in lieu of my traditional Free RPG Day after action report.
Linda Whitson
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