Free RPG Day is back! It’s been almost 2 1/2 years since the last Free RPG Day in the physical world back in 2019. We’ve endured a long pandemic and only recently begun to return to the Friendly Local Game Stores. What better way to do it than with Free RPG Day? As they have every year since Free RPG Day began way back in 2007, Paizo is once again participating. Not only that, but the League of Aroden is participating as well at Valhalla’s Gate in Columbia, Missouri on October 16th.
Free RPG Day is an event that is open to any participating game store that signs up and purchases the kit. The contents are not available to anyone who did not purchase the kit for 30 days. That means the only way that the Organized Play Venture-Officers see it is by running it at the participating store on Free RPG Day. Back in 2018 we held a PFS Smackdown on Free RPG Day by accident because Bill and I weren’t even VOs yet and didn’t have anyone to guide us. Fortunately, we were there for the event and we ran games for several new players. It was a very, very significant day for the lodge as we gained new players and GMs. From that day on, PFS Smackdown began to grow again.
This year, Valhalla’s Gate is the only FLGS that is participating in Free RPG Day. We are not hosting a PFS Smackdown during the event. Instead, we are just going to volunteer to run the special Pathfinder 2e scenario which should be sanctioned by Paizo as well for anyone who wants to play it, both veteran and new players alike. If anyone would like to run the SFS scenario, let me know and I will inform VG.
For Pathfinder Second Edition, Paizo is releasing Threshold of Knowledge, a first level adventure that ties in well with the most recent Lost Omens book, Mwangi Expanse. In The Threshold of Knowledge, players take on the role of one of five students from the prestigious Magaambya, the oldest school of magic in the Inner Sea region. When a teacher goes missing, it’s up to these new heroes to step up and solve a wicked mystery that threatens the existence of the Magaambya itself!
Threshold of Knowledge is a short adventure for 1st-level characters that takes the heroes into the Magaambya and the nearby city of Nantambu. In addition, the five pre-generated characters provide a quick way to jump into the adventure right away in this exciting offering for Free RPG Day! Grab some dice and some friends and play the role of new heroes in training!
Everyone across the galaxy enjoys the occasional diversion in a holographic amusement chamber, whether it’s relaxing on a sandy beach or taking part in an action-packed adventure on a war-torn battlefield from the safety of home. But what happens when the digital settings and inhabitants of these simulations come to life and threaten a group of innocent fun seekers?
Thanks to some inadvertently malicious code created by a proud game designer, such a calamitous event has occurred on a small moon hosting an entertainment expo! The building is slowly but surely being digitized while the game designer’s mind has been taken over by a comic-book villain. Only a group of newly recruited Starfinders can save the day!
There are other RPGs that will be available through Valhalla’s Gate too. This is a good opportunity to explore those as well. I know Dungeon Crawl Classics, ROOT: The Roleplaying Game, Warhammer: Age of Sigmar, Dune, Star Trek, Achtung! Cthulthu, Twilight Imperium, Fabula Ultima, Talisman Adventures, Iron Kingdoms, Zombicide and Epic Encounters are some of the RPGs that will have something available at Free RPG Day.
So, if you want to hang out a bit at Valhalla’s Gate on October 16th and play a new scenario while introducing some new players to Pathfinder, this is that opportunity. I have no idea how many interested players will show up, but want to give them the opportunity to play the game and join the Society if they are interested. These scenarios are usually a bit shorter than our regular PFS2 scenarios as well, but longer than the quests and bounties. In the past, the old We Be Goblins! line of scenarios was always part of the Free RPG Day. Those were some hilarious games that had players laughing as they encountered Pathfinder for the first time.
I plan to be there as the store opens and to be available to answer questions from potential players as well as to run a session or two of the Threshold of Knowledge. If anyone else would like to GM, you’re more than welcome. If you just want to play, that’s wonderful too! Hope to see you there!
The League of Aroden 