Support Your Friendly Local Game Store

My old game store (such as it was) when I lived in the Metroplex was Lone Star Comics & Games.  The one nearest me was not big, but it was something: a store crammed with stock for its tiny size, with a friendly and fairly knowledgeable staff.  It was a welcoming, clean place and even had a free miniatures painting night that I always planned to join (but never did).  Today, Lone Star has no physical stores -- it's a web store.  I've also been in plenty of stores that were less than friendly, so I sympathize with those who have no store, or have a store that provides unpleasant experiences or poor selection.

With a quality store like Dragon's Lair in my area, providing me with Free RPG Day goodness, I'm aware of how important it is to keep a healthy physical store in my area.  Not only does it give out those lovely freebies, but it provides a community center for gamers and local services in a way that an online store cannot match.  Yes, we can almost always find a way to get our materials cheaper, but the place of the store for things like these must be supported.

So after I picked up what I blogged about yesterday, I went on to make some purchases.  Find them below.

Above are two copies of Pathfinder: City of Secrets #2, a pack of Reign of Winter minis, and some new purple dice to go with my new Crown Regal bag.

What have you, esteemed ramblers, picked up lately at your store?  Or do you have further thoughts on keeping the FLGS healthy?

Hurray for Free RPG Day 2014!

Slowly, slowy, I aim to return to regular blogging.  I feel like I've said this before, but my life has not been conducive to blogging on a schedule like I used to the last two years -- and the past year in particular. Early or late, reliable or in starts, in time to do so.

And though it's past four days ago, where better to start?  I'm still in the after glow of the loot showered upon me by the archons of gaming.  Thanks, to the organizers and thanks to everyone who supported it with goodies and all the stores who made it happen.  I've lived without a FLGS of the brick-and-mortar variety, where I've had to drive a more considerable distance to enjoy it, and I am fortunate to live not too far away from the branch of Dragon's Lair in San Antonio.  Both my store and the one in Austin are good, friendly stores full of good, helpful staff.  I've expected to find better stores in Houston, but so far, all those I've visited fall way short of Dragon's Lair in terms of RPG stock.  (And don't even get me started on how DFW has become a game store wasteland.)

Dragon's Lair is a generous store, unlike those "one item per customer" stores.  Go' bless 'em!  So I picked up four lovely items from the goods on offer: Paizo's Risen from the Sands, LotFP's The Doom-Cave of the Crystal Children, and Cosmic Patrol's yearly quick-start rules with mini-adventure.  Check them out in the photo below:

And not just adventures.  What's gaming without fancy dice?  A Q-workshop freebie:

So, here are my thoughts, though nothing like reviews.

• I've never played FATE, but even if I never try it, I can use the die for 1-3 rolls.  It's solid, pretty, and easy-to-read.  (Props for my favorite color, too.)
• I've got the main Cosmic Patrol rulebook and I've collected the yearly QS booklets with mini-adventures.  I'd like to try it some day and get out my Planet Stories/planetary romance needs.  It looks simple and promising.
• The Pathfinder adventure looks good and introduces new classes I've given no thought to.  More and more I wonder when I'd ever have time to GM a system as complicated and sprawling as PF is becoming, but I'd love to be a player in a group where the GM can sustain it.  One certainly can create a unique character suited to one's vision with all those options.
• The Doom-Cave: It's weird and Raggi wants to piss someone off or freak someone out.  He lies abed in the eternal Finnish nights and dreams of it and cackles to himself, until his wife elbows him.  I need to keep in touch with the weird so I can inject it into my game when called for.  It's not my natural forte, and The Doom-Cave is inspirational reading.  Thanks, Jim.  One of these days, I'm going to do a Weird Restoration London game with LotFP.  And a weird Georgian London game.  And a weird Victorian London game.  One of these days.

Next time on MPR: when you get free stuff, spend some money!