A Few Notes About Free RPG Day

Free RPG Day seemed to be a success from what I have heard. The closest participating store seemed happy. I met the man who put this deal on. He's based a few towns away from me, and I think it's great that a local guy put this deal together. He seemed happy about the way it was going and said that the purpose was not to bring in new gamers, though a few newcomers would be nice, but to get established gamers to try other products. He's already talking about next year.

Hmmm.... Wonder if Heroes of the Dungeon Crawl could make the cut next year? Well, it's a thought anyway.

I visited and supported with purchases at three of the establishments within distance who supported Free RPG Day and got to check out much of what was offered. There was some nice stuff.

Goodman Games, the guys who bring us those excellent Dungeon Crawl Classics Adventures, offered up two adventures, a DCC and an XCrawl Adventure. Both were top notch print jobs like you'd get if you purchased a regular Adventure Module. Both were usable by new characters. The DCC was The Sinister Secret Of Whiterock #51.5 and ties in with another adventure available for sale at most stores. I've only skimmed through XCrawl, but it appears to be set in our times, but with Dungeon Adventuring to be some sort of sport. I was impressed by both products.

I've only skimmed some of this stuff, but Paizo's Game Mastery Module Hollow's Last Hope was the most professionally printed item. The guys who have done the Dungeon and Dragon Magazines these past few years really hit a home run with this one.

White Silver Publishing had a Quick Start set of rules for The Chronicles of Ramlar called Black Arrow Run. Another top notch product. Wicked Fantasy Factory did a 1st level adventure called Termple of Blood, another very impressive presentation. I expect gamers who got any of these items will enjoy a fun session with them, perhaps trying these companies products for the first time.

Troll Lord Games offered quick start Castles & Crusades rules for players. It had a softer cover to it, but was a nice presentation. I'd heard these rules felt very much like AD&D and they seem to from what I could see. Still, it felt kind of incomplete. I would have loved a 1st level adventure to run through to really test them out. I suppose that at least this presentation will expose some people to what is said to be a very nice "old school" style game.

I was disappointed Wizards of the Coast and KenzerCo. didn't partake. I've heard Kenzer didn't really care for the FreeRPG idea. If true, they seriously missed the boat. Old schoolers seeing Hackmaster for the first time might be encouraged to get the core books. A Knights of the Dinner Table offering would have been nice too, but oh well. It is a business, after all. Wizards supposedly didn't have enough time to prepare, but they may (?) get involved next year.

I told the man who put this together (Why didn't I get his name?) that this was a great idea, and it will only get bigger and better next year.

There were other items that I didn't get a chance to see, but I wanna give respect to Flying Buffalo's Tunnels & Trolls. It's a six sided dice system, and it's been around nearly as long as D&D has. It's simple, and fun. I still own a module and a rulebook that I bought years ago, and the solo adventures by these guys are a lot of fun. T&T offered up a soft cover book like C&C, but unlike C&C, this had a solo adventure and a small adventure a Game Master can run, in addition to some quick start rules that take you from 1st to 5th level. Nicely done. This is on my to play list for this week.

All in all, FreeRPG Day was a success from my point of view. I got to sample several different company's products that I likely wouldn't have otherwise, and I did a little business with the stores I visited as well. I think that was the whole point of this deal. Anything that helps the world of Tabletop RPG's is okay in my book.