The EPI-log

  Every Game Store runs and sells games, that is kind of a given with it literally being in the name and all, however, how many Local Game Stores (LGSs) do you know that run a nondescript night for people to come in store and play whatever game they feel like? Granted many Game Stores allow patrons to use their space and play whatever game they want, there is a core part that is missing from some I've visited. Many stores have die-hard, cutthroat gamers that play for sheep stations and whilst that is great for their business model and what they are trying to achieve, projecting my own thoughts and feelings onto this, I feel as though those stores have lost sight of what made them great and welcomed so many new faces into the community.  What is so wrong with scheduled tournaments and competitive games every weeknight? The short answer is nothing. There's no right or wrong way to run a game store. There is a sense of exclusivity when you go to stores that operate like this. Alm...

  Hello, denizens of the internet and more importantly, EPIC Ipswich's most fantastic patrons. Those that have been in the store over the past 3 weeks, would have seen the drastic changes in the renovations. Accompanying our new til systems, our new menu, some behind-the-scenes business stuff and the website is getting a revamp.  More on that last note - it does, unfortunately, mean that the blog side of the website had to relocate due to the number of increasing web pages, it meant that our website was running slower and slower with every post (gotta love bandwidth). I am actively working on the issue but didn't want to give up on my dream of one day making it into the big leagues of internet blogging. I'm joking, let's face facts, there is no way on this planet I could get a cooler job than what I have now. I am also not just saying that because the Benevolent Owners haven't signed my adoption papers yet and I am trying to buy my way into their good graces with co...

Modern Players, you spoke and we listened. EPIC Ipswich is starting up its own community-run league!   What’s wrong with your current league?  We don’t run a league, however, if you’re asking about the Aus Magic League, there’s nothing wrong with it. EPIC still fully intends to keep participating in the Aus Magic League and support it in every way. “Why then are you creating a new league?”, you may ask. The short answer is that many in our community just miss that competitive edge the last season of the Aus Magic League had, back when it was called the Modern Masters League. By EPIC having their own league, there isn’t the stress of ensuring the needs of other stores are being accounted for meaning that EPIC can run the league cost-neutral to help give back to our community as our way of saying thank you. It also means our community of local players can help us design the league to their wants.   How will the league function? The EPIC Battle League will have a 3-mont...

WOWEE! Yup. That’s all that needs to be said about that. International Free RPG Day was a spectacle, to say the least, it was a phenomenal turnout! Now whilst I, unfortunately, couldn’t be in attendance or even video call in due to personal reasons, I have heard nothing but praise from patrons and nothing but groans of caffeinated Game Masters being mentally drained from running RPGs all day. One thing is for certain Game Masters – YOU DID AN AMAZING JOB! Whilst I’m not a detective, I may have heard a  rumour that a quarterly RPG day is being considered for EPIC Ipswich to hold more often. Seriously, that’s how popular Saturday was. Jon (who ran many a game of  Call of Cthulhu on Saturday) is launching a permanent game day for  Call of Cthulhu on Saturdays moving forward.   What Games were run? Free RPG Day was split into 4 time slots with multiple games per slot: 10 AM  – Cyberpunk Red ,  Call of Cthulhu ,  Iron Kingdoms and Tavern Hop 1 PM  –...

THE BLOG IS BACK IN FULL SWING! I REPEAT, THE BLOG IS BACK IN FULL SWING. For those that read the EPI-log every day, you may have noticed that I had been very very inactive posting no blog posts last week and only posting three the week before instead of the daily blogs we are all used to.  I deeply apologise. This author had a lot on his plate… I am very traumatised by the whole ordeal. Last Saturday was the first time I got to see EPIC Ipswich, moreover the outside world for 2 whole weeks. No, it was not covid, I may have wished it was.  On Saturday the 9th of December, I was at the store very late on account of the Double Masters Mega-Launch Party ( read about that here ), it was after midnight and the doors to EPIC Ipswich were shut. I hadn’t eaten much that day and so I purchased myself a chip packet to quell the rumbles – my stomach’s way of vocalising its frustration. The sound of the packets crinkles was a cacophony of music to my ears, and the smell of grease and the ...

If any poor soul has been on the receiving end of my non-league games, you’ll know I love handouts in my D&D campaigns – so much so I wrote a recent blog post about it. After writing that blog I couldn’t resist pouring more of my unfinished thoughts from that article out somewhere. DON’T CLICK AWAY YET! Please bare with me, whilst this post continues off some of those ideas this is its own unique post and not a follow-up! My many passions coalesce into the hobby of D&D – Miniatures, Caligraphy, Creating, World Building, Storytelling & Acting. This is true for many other RPGs I love and adore, such as  Call of Cthulhu and my beloved  Fate Core System . Until EPIC came into my life, I didn’t nearly have the resources on hand to make these handouts and creative ways to immerse players at the table. Putting the “C” in EPIC EPIC as the name goes is an acronym for  E at  P lay  I nteract &  C create. The Crafty studio has most of the supplies. If...

For those who have been with EPIC a long while you’ll recall ‘ Trish’s Crafty Studio ‘ was our sister business when EPIC originally stood for Events and Parties Indoor Center (Damn the owners really wanted that acronym). When EPIC rebranded so too did Trish’s transform into ‘ The Crafty Studio ‘ which is now our workspace that has a lot of the supplies in-store to purchase but is mostly a working space.  It is not uncommon to my ears that I have to explain that EPIC doesn’t have an Owner but rather Owners. Most our Patrons know Trevmeister owns it, yet I receive questions on who the other is – that other owner being Trevor’s own significant other and the wonderful creative bookkeeper behind both EPIC and The Crafty Studio – Trish! Today Trish turned the wonderful age of 29 for the somethingeth year in a row! How? Beats me, all I know is that she stopped counting and everyone else did too.  Trish, or as all the sacred paperwork in EPIC has her referred to, ‘The Almighty Trish’...

It was a long road to get here but here we stand – the aftermath of the Mega-Launch Party held at EPIC Ipswich! Honestly, It’s been nearly 3 days and I’m still living off the high from that night. With predicted numbers in the low 30s, we smashed that number with over 43 people in attendance  at the event that cost $99 per head. Oh boy was it worth it! For those that have unlikely forgotten it already or were unfortunate and couldn’t attend, here is a recap: The Event Set-up for the event was a bit of a shamble (admittedly my under-preparedness for the numbers in attendance). Tickets were given out to those who pre-booked each with a unique serial number that correlated to a raffle ticket entered into our pre-booked draw for an entire booster box! Attendants signed in using eventlink and after having to familiarise myself with the draft setting on it on the fly, finally, draft pods were generated. Boosters were hurriedly distributed, no seriously, I was in such a rush I cut my fing...

If you have had what I hope you’d perceive as the joy of meeting me, you would know that my favourite game is Dungeons and Dragons (D&D), I LOVE THIS GAME! As a former theatre nerd – the combination of acting and props are nearly a no-brainer for me. Props in a traditional sense are used as symbolism and a manifestation of the world you act in. In D&D, however, it’s the latter that helps with my D&D Games.   The Job of a Dungeon Master As a Dungeon Master (DM), it is your job to describe the world in immense detail, I think of it as reading adjectives and verbs in a fictional novel to paint the scene. Describing how cold a sword hilt is or how wrinkly the leathery remains of a corpse are adds drastically to the immersion of your players. It beats the nondrescript “you pick up the sword hilt” or “The corpse is long dead”.   Props vs Handouts Whilst props are excellent to use for immersion in the theatre world, a player having a giant foam sword at the table and...

Hello there! (To my fellow nerds who didn’t respond with “General Kenobi” I am disappointed in you) For weeks, EPIC Ipswich has been the battle ground for many a Star Wars Legion game. This Table Top War Game seemingly came at us from nowhere and held us in a force choke until we surrendered the plans to the – apologies, til we surrendered and stocked Star Wars Legion. It begs the question, what is Star Wars Legion, why the fuss and why do I trigger people by mentioning ‘medichlorians’? I will endeavour to answer all but that last question in this blog.   What is Star Wars Legion and how do you play? Star Wars Legion is an army building skirmish game where players choose a faction: Rebel Alliance, Galactic Empire, Galactic Republic or the Separatist Alliance. Each faction has certain characters and armies (eg. General Grevious or Luke Skywalker) which characters command and move movement markers . Certain troops can make ranged attacks and distance is measured using r ange rulers ....

Citizens of Ipswich, Patrons, my friends. I cannot find the strength to tell you all. There’s been a travesty. EPIC Ipswich was once again forced to make quick renovations after someone found Fblthp. Someone found Fblthp and instead of reporting his location to us – they did the unthinkable. THEY FED FBLTHP AFTER MIDNIGHT! There is a reason that the store closes well before midnight every night, to prevent this from happening. It is with a heavy heart I inform you that someone fed him my car keys on the night of Saturday the 2nd of July. Security captured this on camera moments after he had consumed my car keys! We tried to detain him and catch him but he ran into the confectionary, where he consumed more! In trying to thwart him from entering a state of sugar rush the sweets stand was toppled and he fled into the retail space!       We removed every game and book we could, we cleared the entire section and still couldn’t catch him! Just when it seemed like we had hi...

If you have frequented EPIC or enquired about Dungeons and Dragons, you’ve likely heard of  EPIC League and if you haven’t then be informed on what you’re missing out on!   What is EPIC League? EPIC League (EL) is a yet another form of organised play for Dungeons & Dragons… with a twist: Each table is a different town and adventuring party in the same world! This means actions and choices you make affect other tables around you! The story and adventures take place in the Demi Plane of Thoroz – outside the Forgotten Realms, Eberron, Tal’Dorei or any other established D&D universe, though adventurers may originate from any of these universes. Adventurers and other brave souls are dragged through the veil by some unknown power and now must struggle to survive the harsh unforgiving landscape that is Thoroz.  The world is inspired by prehistoric Australia, dark fantasy, and the Dread Domains of Dungeons and Dragons (featured in ‘Curse of Strahd’ and ‘Van Richten’s Gui...

If you’ve not been heavily captivated with the spoilers and the preview events from WPN Premium stores, then you must be living under a rock because Double Masters 2022 has taken the Magic the Gathering world by storm! We here at EPIC Ipswich are eagerly awaiting (and in my case losing sleep from excitement) our launch party  this Saturday night!  In my excitement and caffeinated fuelled state, I am writing this blog to our local  Magic community to ensure everyone is on the same page regarding the MEGA Launch Party.   What do you get for your $99 Entry? Let me assure you that the value you get on the night exceeds the cost of entry. Entry into our launch party provides you with 3 packs to draft (which each cost $27, totalling $87). We are giving away FREE packs at the end of the night, dividing the leftover products in the CASE  of  Double Masters 2022 with those in attendance. Special offers for whole box purchases on the night plus, rumours of discount...

Friday Night Magic has been a long-established part of the Magic the Gathering community. Many a format is celebrated on this night, here at EPIC Ipswich we do things slightly differently. Because you know – why be normal?  EPIC Ipswich’s Friday Night Magic is a casual commander night. No prizes as all players are welcome, CEDH Players, New Players and Casual Players.  Instead we have a Friday Night Magic draw at 8pm, where the prizes are based on the number of sales of selected magic products made throughout the night. In short – the more stuff you buy, the more tickets you get entered into the draw. Prizes are drawn at 8 PM. Here is the infographic below: So why run Friday Night Magic this way? Buy having Friday Night Magic as Player List only and removing the “This night is for competitive players only” stigma that follows a lot of stores-organised magic play. In addition, it lets players play to a level they’re comfortable with and lets players purchase their magic suppl...

It just keeps growing! Sanctioned tournaments for Yu-Gi-Oh! more cards for Pokemon. We just got a massive shipment of all the recent Yu-Gi-Oh! sets and Pokemon sets, playmats, inner sleeves, Japanese size dragonshield sleeves, and a whole lot of binders! Still no word on when sanctioned Pokemon events will be run in any region outside of Japan, however, we are hopeful and will welcome unsanctioned events should enough interest be garnered. Until such a time, card collectors and Pokemon trainers alike are able to pick up the following sets: Sword and Shield Evolving Skies, Sword and Shield Fusion Strike, Reshiram and Charizard – GX. We have new Card Cases and Binder Portfolios with the Haunted Hallow and Seaside Gallery series Deckboxes and portfolios. Fans of Mew should also keep an eye out for the Mew themed playmats and Binder Portfolios too! For Yu-Gi-Oh! enthusiasts we have new sets for you to enjoy: Legendary Duelists, Ghosts from the Past The 2nd Haunting, Maximum Gold El Dorado,...