The EPI-log

  Adventurers League is a standardised and regulated form of Dungeons & Dragons . It uses the rules as written in the official D&D books, so you don't need to worry about any homebrew rules. Character creation is limited to the Players Handbook and one other source, which means you don't have to worry about anyone making characters that are too game-breaking, as well as all the possible worlds you can end up in are all published D&D settings  To put it simply, Adventurers League takes all of the guesswork out of D&D. The stories are already written, the rules are plainly outlined, and everything is structured. So it is a great place to learn as a player and even as a Game Master  Each session is a short self-contained 2-4 hour story, though some will make callbacks to other stories you won't miss much if you can only come in once a fortnight instead of every week, unlike other games where it always feels like when you miss one session you end up missing ...

Calling all tabletop RPG enthusiasts! EPIC Ipswich is excited to host Free RPG Day with a variety of thrilling sessions throughout the day. Whether you're a seasoned adventurer or new to the world of RPGs, there's something for everyone. EPIC Ipswich is hosting our FREE RPG Day June 29th, see below for our Session Times and Game Sessions. Session Times: Session 1: 9:10 AM - 1:10 PM Session 2: 1:40 PM - 5:40 PM Session 3: 6:00 PM - 10:00 PM How to Reserve a Spot: Message EPIC via Facebook Call the store at 3143 3545 Visit us in-store and speak with one of our amazing staff members Game Sessions: Game: X-Men Sessions: 1 & 2 Description: Join the X-Men to stop Graydon Creed and his anti-mutant terrorists from draining mutants of their powers. It's up to you to protect young mutants and save the day! Game: Pathfinder - The Great Toy Heist Session: 1 Description: Take on the role of one of four unique poppets—living toys with wills of their own. Enact a risky plan to ...

 Welcome to what is left of what is the rapid approach to Halloween night. EPIC Ipswich is proud hosts to Strahd VonZarovich and Adventurers League. They once again bid you welcome and invite you all to prove yourselves this Halloween at EPIC Ipswich.  Strahds Castle is taken over by Strahd.... and Strahd.... and Strahd again.... There's how many Strahds? All in his castle? Wow. Yup. Ah ha. Readers - I have just been informed that there is seven Strahd's in his Castle, each one representing one of the seven deadly sins! Can you eliminate this evil before the clock strikes midnight? Or will your corpse and soul forever be tortured for new adventures to find and be terrified? This is a multitable oneshot run by Adventurers League for level 8 characters made per the Adventurers League Character Creation. You may dress up- each of your Dungeon Masters are. Speaking of, there are seven volunteer DMs we really wish to thank: Quentin  Gottie Tarl Jacob Duffy Craig Bron for agree...

  If you've read any of the previous blogs on here pertaining to Call of Cthulhu, you won't be surprised to learn I am a massive fan of the RPG. At points in time I, myself, had even been a Keeper of Arcane Lore when the game started running the first time at EPIC Ipswich.  Unfortunately, we have had to pause the Call of Cthulhu games for the past four weeks due to the Game Master (GM) availability, I am also unavailable to GM myself due to the time it takes to prepare for running the game. This is not goodbye forever, we have many enthusiastic players wanting to continue playing and should we find the next month I will take some time to make preparations to continue the games as a Keeper myself. May the insanity continue, Lachy

  EPIC Ipswich was at Springcon this weekend! What is Springcon you ask? To oversimplify it, a bunch of gamers from Springfield got together one year, called it a convention and decided they'd host it in a school. After a lot of set up on our end - taking brochures, vouchers, stock, games, and some of our best staff and patrons to represent us. Saturday was a day filled with tables of community and competition. Star Wars Legion, Warhammer and your general games were played en mass. A lengthy day (9 AM - 5 PM) with the Springfield Gamers QLD and Beyond Blue representing our local gaming community. A massive thanks to Quentin, Bron and Gottie for assisting and representing EPIC Ipswich last weekend! Your Friend and Ally, Lachy

  If you're an active participant in our EPIC League on a Wednesday and were present at yesterday's game would've heard from the League's GM Daniel that after the current story arch, there will be some major changes to the league and it's structure as all the DM's have noticed and felt the slow decline in the leagues structure.  The DMs spend alot of nights planning and preparing for the league but with the actions of one table derailing other tables, different DM styles, different ideas on the availability one magic items, the disconnect in interpretation, communication breakdowns and the handicapped freedom that DMs get to have in the league - the burnout is real. To offer a transparent view behind our screens most of the DMs are tired and don't find joy in running on a Wednesday night anymore, the thing that keeps us going is the players and the enjoyment that get with every session. In saying this this isn't the first changes we've had with the l...

Last week we spoke about EPIC League via a recap of everything that happened in our store-wide campaign. Another good example of organised play is Adventurers League, sometimes referred to as D&D Adventurers League, similar to EPIC League in that there are multiple tables all running D&D at the same time. Adventurers League has been designed by D&D parent company Wizards of the Coast to have a series of side adventurers that run in tandem with their most recent module releases. Each adventure has situations that rely on the four pillars of playstyle - combat, role play, exploration and puzzles. Moreover, each adventure is designed to be played in one sitting allowing players to jump between tables with the same character and loot from previous adventures - this isn't just store wide, this applies to all Adventurers League Games everywhere! This comes with some ups and downs as you can't go off and buy magic items like in a homebrew campaign and can find some limitat...

EPIC League has been going strong at EPIC Ipswich since it's conception since I last wrote a blog recapping the events of our store-wide campaign in July ( You can read that article here ) there have been some ground-breaking changes! The Five Cults Story Line When venturing around their local area, each township started encountering problems with cults as their towns grew, so too did the attention on them. Baelfalls encountered the alien/reptilian cult of the Jade Fang - a cult that believes that the world should return to the natural rules of predation. Saltrock encountered the bizarre divided cult of the Cobalt Claw - a cult consisting of two ideologies, that order and chaos keep each other in check to achieve progress. This Cult loves mutating and experimenting on lesser beings to bring about balance. Darrohold has encountered the Pale Eye - a cult that always operates in groups of 3, answering to the whims of their mysterious Seer leader without question, they believe that not...

  EPIC Ipswich has reliably been running Dungeons and Dragons since our store opened, even branching out to make a kid-friendly event to train up the next generation of D&D Players. Dungeons and Wyrmlings (or as it is often referred to Kids D&D) made waves with kids creating unique characters of their own and taking them week in and week out to venture into different territories, levelling them up as they had done so. With the increased demand for the Dungeon Masters to run the games, bookings became inevitable, and even then the booking system has failed as parents no longer call the store to let us know when their child is next attending. Rant Incoming - feel free to skip to the next heading Speaking as a DM myself, the sheer frustration of not knowing which kids will be able to attend the game and then making up a one-shot on the fly as everyone is at a different level and experience became stressful. What's worse is the days I showed up expecting to run and found out my...

  Dungeons and Dragons is undergoing alot of changes in the upcoming year, however, despite my scepticism and fears about the game morphing the already established 5th Edition into other another Edition of D&D and still calling it 5E, there is still hope for longtime players like myself. 3RD PARTY CONTENT! What is 3rd Party resources and content? Simply put, D&D 3rd party resources and content is Dungeons and Dragons material published under the Creative Commons law of D&D parent company Wizards of the Coast (WotC). This material (as implied by the name) is published and created by a third party for the game of D&D but isn't official content made by WotC. Third-Party Resources should not be confused with general 'Homebrew' content, which has one author that has crafted some additional rules or content at home. There is a place for Homebrew in D&D but that however is not what this article is about. Third-party resources are curated and published by a team...

  If you have not been following the last week of Dungeons and Dragons  (D&D) or Magic the Gathering  (MTG), the parent company of both major games - Wizards of the Coast, just announced their next lineup of 2023 projects including the titles of D&D's upcoming books. Here's all the details we know about the upcoming releases. Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen Dragonlance has been a long demanded set that D&D 5th edition returns too. Set in the world of Krynn, this setting has proven to be quite popular in previous editions of the game. What makes the module unique is that it takes place during the war of the lance and has a board game releasing alongside it that may be played independently or incorporated into your campaign. The board game " Warriors of Krynn " plays out alot of mass combats (something D&D as an RPG has failed to do accurately) and will enable players to move between the D&D RPG and Warriors of Krynn game with equiptment and...

 As mentioned in yesterday's post, parent company of Dungeons and Dragons and Magic the Gathering, Wizards of the Coast , broke the internet by revealing all their upcoming projects through 2023. The biggest news outside of the reprinting of 'The Legend of Drizzt' novels was the titles of their upcoming book releases and the Beta testing of their new D&D vision 'One D&D'. Heres everything we know about the in development One D&D. One D&D One D&D is a three stage release the first stage is a revising of the core 5th edition (5E) rules including the Player Handbook, Monster Manual & Dungeon Masters guide. These rules are all backwards compatible with current 5E rulesWhat does this look like? Monthly/Bimonthly releases of playtest material in Unearthed Arcana. The current version derives the Pathfinder second edition  of the character creation. Players can make up their own background (no generic ones anymore) and races no longer have bonuses to...

It was 2AM on the 19th of August and whilst the rest of my household was sleeping, I was watching YouTube. Am I a chronic insomniac? Yes. Am I currently typing this in my cardboard box that I now live in at EPIC? Also yes. Am I excited to tell you about the new and upcoming stuff from Magic the Gathering and Dungeon and Dragons parent company Wizards of the Coast?.... If you haven't been able to infer what I'm saying, Wizards of the Coast recently did a live stream to promote their upcoming material they're releasing for their major games MTG and D&D, this was at 2AM Australian Time on YouTube. Some super exciting things on the horizon for both games and some that left me scratching my head. There were the reveals of upcoming sets and books, guest appearances from Jimmy Wong and Ginny Di and some surprising reveals.  D&D Announcements Teases for the next edition of D&D codenamed One D&D  and brings together an updated version of core rules, backwards compa...

  You may recall that I recently wrote about the return of Call of Cthulhu to EPIC Ipswich, one of the most popular articles one the blog since it changed from our website to Blogger. This is a follow up to that article and if you haven't done so I would recommend reading it first before continuing this article to help with some context. You may read that here , and for those not wishing to have the Call of Cthulhu module Blackwater Creek  spoiled, this will recount key plot points from that module. Character Creation Call of Cthulhu Character Sheet Unlike when players had previously played Call of Cthulhu  on Free RPG Day , players got to experience the joy of creating their own unique characters from scratch. Credit Rating, Stat Score interactions, Skills and Occupations were all learned and combined for each player to have a unique character to begin the game. This was not only insightful but a necessary skill to learn as character death is very very high in Call of ...

  For any Dungeons and Dragons enthusiasts the wait is over! For those who are confused as to why I have attached a picture of a soldier riding a dragon, with a hamster on his shoulder, avoiding the destruction of a planet, whilst a incorporeal humanoid is riding an alien fish to fish the alien fish - this article is also for you. What is Spelljammer? Spelljammer - for an oversimplified explanation is Dungeons and Dragons in space. The setting or style of game, Spelljammer, is the name of the spaceships that adventurers travel on to get to other solar systems. Yes these are like nautical ships and not actual rockets. They are called Spelljammers as they're powered by magic/spells.  Think of Spelljammer as a seafaring D&D adventure that takes place in the void of space with lots of aliens trying to eat you, highjack your ship, or take you prisoner. Whats new in this setting? A bunch! This setting is released in a 3 part book set that comes with its own DM Screen to help DM'...

 If you read our previous article about the riveting success that was 2022 Free RPG Day, you may recall that we mentioned the overwhelming demand for Call of Cthulhu . You can read that previous blog post here . In that article, I had hinted that Jon was running games of Call of Cthulhu on Saturdays at 4 PM, I can now confirm this is true! But what is Call of Cthulhu and did EPIC run games before? Let's dive into the insanity! What is Call of Cthulhu? If you're familiar with the popular game of Dungeons and Dragons , the premise is very similar. There is a game master (much like a Dungeon Master) referred to as The Keeper of Arcane Lore, it is their responsibility to ask players to make dice roles and narrate the story. Players will rely more on role play in Call of Cthulhu  as it primarily takes place using 'theatre of the mind' or your imagination. Unlike D&D, Call of Cthulhu  doesn't use a lot of combat, and if you have entered combat, it is very very likel...

  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...