Big Move update...-old store extended through the weekend.
Hi folks.... Events this weekend. (2-9-24) Murders at Karlov Manor Release events (Friday, Sat, Sun) Friday Sealed and Sat sealed and THG at the original store. Sunday at the new store. D&D will be in the D&D rooms at the new store on both Sat and Sunday. For those who don't know yet...we are in the middle of a big (really, really) big move down the street to 1502 Park Street. (Check out D20gamesalameda on instagram for updates to the work as I look up enough to realize I should be taking pics. ) We keep threatening to get the next events at the new store, even under construction, but so far that has been limited to the D&D rooms. The rest have been at the existing store (though it is getting more and more spacious as things get moved out. To give us a chance to do the build and move thing...we will have Release events for the new Magic set at the old store on Friday and Sat, and in the new store on Sunday. We may press people into service for final moves, etc. (We will have one of the Magic events for the weekend be the ones to help bring over the tables and chairs. Many hands make light work and all.)We will be open during construction and still will be doing a kick starter for tricking out the place in the next phase. (These will include first dibs on a lot of special events like afterschool and summer programs as well as one of a kind drafts and access to some truly rare pokemon items.) Things we can really use help on. People with good screw removal and patching skills on Sunday to help take down the gridwall in the old store. Help on end of sat to move tables over to new palace after 7pm Anyone with skills for finding/installing heat pump Big Big one...anyone with big old truck/van who is willing to take a drive this weekend up just past sacramento to pick up a big batch of bamboo flooring we got a deal on from someone's house. (this one comes with a major thank you prize, either Magic, Pokemon or D&D. Anyone with great web skills who can help us set up D20Gamestore.com as a full (email) entity so we can send emails out without accidently getting on a black list this time around. (I made some boo boos in sending out our emails over the years and apparently we've been put on Santa emails nasty list for the d20alameda.com site. I really need an ace to help with this. Help find new homes for a few special things: The special rotating glass cases we got from Paulines that we never ended up using the way we intended needs a new home. I'll sell them for $100 each, or if they can go to a "good" place, will give them away. If they don't go to a new home by Monday, we need to get them delivered to the Restore in Oakland. The Mom Couch needs a new home! (This beloved and extremely comfy couch should go to a good home. ) It has extremely high. (ok..I have no illusion that this couch belongs anywhere but a rec room, but I'd rather see it go to a good cause if possible. If not, need help getting it hauled out of here on Sunday or monday.)[caption id="attachment_12994" align="aligncenter" width="800"] The beloved Mom's couch in action...[/caption] We will also have grindwall that will need a new home, but that is very good stuff and should get sold off. We will also have several shelving units to find new homes. If any of these things sound like things you would like/are able to help with. Let us know. info@d20alameda.com or call when we're open.
Black Friday/Small Biz Satureday. Thanksgiving Sales: Relax...go play...we'll be here- ;-) (Again)
Holiday Sales at D20 Alameda on Park Street.
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Find Your Fortune in The Lost Caverns of Ixalan at D20 Games!
Set sail for adventure with D20 Games' 'The Lost Caverns of Ixalan' prerelease and release events! Unleash powerful new mechanics, duel with daring pirates, and discover ancient dinosaurs in MTG's latest set. Book your journey for 11/10-11/19 in Alameda and claim your treasure. Early registration is $30—adventure awaits!
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Wilds of Eldraine @ D20 Games
Wilds of Eldraine at D20 Games in Alameda. Events the weekends of 9/1/23 and 9/8/23. Tix $30 in advance and $35 day of event. Very friendly joint, welcoming for newcomers and fun for regulars.
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Special Parent/Kid D&D
Update...now starting on June 29th!We are starting Parent/Kid D&D at D20 Games. Starting Thursdays at 5-7 (come in starting 4 for extra help with characters/questions), the idea is for up to 4 parent & kid combos to get a chance to play D&D together. This can be an old-school player sharing their misspent youth with their kids, or kids getting to share something that they love with their kids. (We are also looking to do a weekend table.) What: D&D ongoing adventure (6 weeks) When: Thursdays at 5-7 (Time will actually be 4-7, but first hour is for help with characters and other questions) Or Sunday 3-5 (we will be there from 2pm on to help with questions and game help.) The first session will be mostly about getting your characters in good shape and answering questions to make it much more fun/easier to play. (For those who pay for the whole 6 weeks, this will get added in as an extra bonus week for a total of 7 weeks of D&D) Cost: $40 per pair/ session ($220 for all 6 weeks). Limited to 5 teams per table. If we get more than 5, we will start a list for a second table which will start when we have at least 3 extra pairs and a .) Requirements: At least one of the two players should be familiar enough with D&D to play. More mature of pair is responsible for ensuring that players are not being disruptive enough to ruin game play for everyone. (Tools we have to help with that include the fact that any 'loud" talk at the table has a good chance of being heard by wandering monsters.) We strongly suggest that each combo have their own copy of the Players Handbook. (And be very liberal with the post-it notes/paper clips to get easy access to the things about your character that you need to get to during play. (spells, special abilities, etc.) Players will start with a 3rd level character generated using either Standard Array or Point buy for the stats, and classes/races from any of the official D&D 5e printed content (excluding Critical Role). (If you want to do Point Buy, here is a good tool to help.)Players should bring an extra character sheet to give the DM, and should have reference cards for their most commonly used spells and abilities. (We want to minimize people frantically flipping through books when it is their turn to act so we can spend more time playing.) Here are some useful resources to help get you started. This is a great reference page from Dicebreaker.com to finde choices for downloadable or online character sheets to fill out. Including online, printable, dyslexic/visually impaired, and kid focused. If you use the free version of D&D Beyond, you can go here, to the D&D Beyond Spell Printer and copy the id number for your character to get a list of spells and their descriptions. This is not very printer friendly, but if you copy it into Word and set it up with multiple columns, you can shrink down the font size and get a pretty good reference. One page Cheat sheet for what you can do during combat. One page summary of all the different races and their bonuses. My personal recommendation is to figure out what class you would like to play, and then pick the race that has ability bonuses that help with that class and then set up your stats to help. One thing to remember that the bonuses you get from the basic ability scores only make a difference on the even, not the odd numbers. So, for example, a strength score of 14 and 15 would be +2, and 16 or 17 would get you +3. You wanna work to get as many of your ability scores into even numbers. (Don't worry about not getting it perfect. For the first couple of sessions, we will let people go back and fix things if they realize they had a different option that works better for them. )
Lord of the Rings Tales of Middle Earth -MTG comes home
(The set releases on 6/23, but preorders are open now and can be picked up at local game stores starting 6/16 when the prereleases begin.) The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth is a new expansion set for Magic: The Gathering it brings the iconic world of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth to life, letting you follow the paths of favorite (or favorite villainous) characters from the Third Age. Whether you choose to reenact your favorite moments from the series or turn the tales of Middle-earth on their head is entirely up to you2. Events (Release and Prerelease) 6/16 Friday 6:30 PM Sealed 6/17 Saturday Sat 10AM Sealed Sat 3PM Two Headed Giant 6/18 Sunday Sun 10AM Sealed Sun 3PM Sealed 6/23 Friday 7PM Sealed 6/24 Saturday Sat 10AM Sealed Sat 3PM Two Headed Giant 6/25 Sunday Sun 10AM Sealed Sun 3PM Sealed For the Love of Hobbits and Rings: The set was clearly designed by people who knew and loved Tolkien's world. The flavor and mechanics of the cards are joyfully amazing. For example, more often then not, hobbits in the set create food tokens (yes, there is a Second Breakfast card), and there is a saga that not only creates Smaug as a 6/6 flying dragon token, but when it dies, it creates 12 treasure tokens! There are various versions of main characters that match their different transformations in the journey, such as 4 versions of Frodo, from peaceful hobbit to Sauron's Bane, or Gandalf as the fireworks laden Friend of the Shire, to the White Rider, swooping down in the light of the dawn sun, with the riders of Rohan at his back. I've been playing the Draftsim practice drafts/sealed simulators just to get a chance to get familiar with the cards, and the kid who fell in love with LOTR is beyond excited to get a chance to play. Masters Set that you don't need to be a Master to enjoyThis is supposed to be a Universes Away/Masters set, but it feels much more like coming home than going into a new world. Kind of makes sense since MTG was inspired by D&D, which came from (drumroll....) Tolkien. (if you don't believe me...check out the early changes to D&D based on hobbit lawyers.) Even though the set is in the higher cost Masters slot ($50/55 instead of $30/35 for sealed), don't take that to mean that the set isn't friendly for all levels of players. In fact, the thing that will make the set most fun is how much you like Lord of the Rings. This set is shaping up to be a fantastic journey through the realms of Middle-earth, filled with nostalgia, surprises, and a sprinkle of that unique MTG magic. Whether you're a fan of the fantasy epic, a dedicated MTG player, or both, this set promises to offer a thrilling new way to experience Tolkien's world. Can't wait for the set's release? Neither can we! Alternate Art Fun... There are some amazing alternate versions of the cards, including some that piece together to create full scenes on their own. There are a bunch of cool art treatments to collect. More info here. New Mechanics The Ring The biggest new mechanic has to do with The Ring, and what happens when it tempts you. I know that tempt sounds like a bad thing, but in this case it is some of the very good stuff. When the ring tempts you, you attach the ring card to one (and only one at a time) of your creatures. Every time the ring tempts again it adds another ability to that card. If your ring bearer dies, the ring falls off and you start from the beginning. Amass Orcs We've seen this mechanic before in building up hordes of zombies. Basically, you create an "army" that is a token with whatever number of counters that the Amass tells you to add. Every subsequent Amass just makes the one army token bigger. (It doesn't create lots of them.)
