Free RPG Day 2015 @ Proud Lion!

by Rae

In addition to our normal gaming events scheduled throughout the month, this June sees the return of Free RPG Day! On Saturday 20th June, Proud Lion will be hosting sessions of D&D Expeditions, followed by an evening at Boston Tea Party where we will also be running Dread and Star Wars: Edge of the Empire.

D&D Expeditions is the perfect way to get a taste of 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons. Each Expedition is only a few hours long – perfect for a quick adventure! We will be running two different Expeditions on the day. The first will run from 10:30am until 3pm. The second will be a split session, running in store from 3:30pm until 5pm, then continuing at Boston Tea Party from 6pm until 9pm.

There will be a maximum of four players for each Expedition, and to ensure Expeditions are balanced, pre-generated characters will be made available - no custom characters will be allowed. Tickets are free, but must be reserved via Ticketsource in order to play. Please note this is not a drop-in, drop-out session – please only reserve a ticket if you will be staying for the complete session!

Our evening offerings at Boston Tea Party will also be free but will again require tickets via Ticketsource. Our first, Star Wars: Edge of the Empire, is based on the adventure contained within the Beginner Box, and serves as an excellent introduction into this science fiction RPG. Our second evening game will be Dread, a horror RPG that is centred around a classic game of Jenga. Both games will run from 6pm to 9pm at Boston Tea Party and can support up to four players. Again, both games will be using pre-generated characters for all players.

In order to reserve your space for one of these games, please follow the link below to our Ticketsource page, where you can select which game you wish to play and claim a spot.

In order to ensure as many people as possible get a chance, we are limiting each player to playing only one of the above games on the day.

Click here to reserve a ticket for Free RPG Day!

However, that doesn't mean you can't bring your own games! Feel free to grab your friends and run an RPG of your own along side us in the evening. We'd love to see more people getting involved and trying out different RPG systems! We'll see you all on Free RPG Day!

Rae has a lot of RPG stories in her head this week!

Big Game Hunting - D&D Encounters: A new adventure begins!

By Rae

For the last six months, Proud Lion has been leading two groups of would-be heroes through burning villages, enemy camps, and evil creature-infested caves in our first ever season of Dungeons & Dragons: Encounters. This casual-style gaming event allows players to grab a character and join in the adventure at almost any time, and is particularly suited to those new to D&D or role-playing games in general.

We're pleased to let you all know that the new season of Encounters is about to begin! This month we will start a brand new adventure, Elemental Evil. This will feature content from the upcoming Princes of the Apocalypse. Once again we will be inviting players to join in and have fun as we battle minions, acquire allies, and defeat evil every week!

We will kick off this season with a session devoted to developing characters. On March 18th, we will be supporting players in building a character that is uniquely their own, and creating a background that will get them off to a running start. If you want to make a character but have no idea how to get going, this is a good place to begin. Experienced DMs (Dungeon Masters, the leaders of the game) will be on hand to answer questions and help generate your character.

On March 25th, we will being the adventure itself! Bring your newly created character (or grab a pre-generated character if you'd prefer) and get stuck in! Spaces for D&D Encounters are on a first-come, first-served basis, and we currently have enough space for a maximum of 14 players (2 groups of 7 players each). These do tend to fill up fast, particularly in the first few weeks, so don't be disappointed if we can't fit you in straight away!

To keep up to date with D&D Encounters, please keep an eye on the event pages on Facebook: the character building session, and the first play session.

Rae is planning and plotting for an epic TableTop Day this year!

Big Game Hunting: Dungeons & Dragons Encounters

by Rae

From October, Wednesday nights at Proud Lion are about to get a bit more adventurous! Starting 1st October, the shop will be open until 8pm every Wednesday, allowing us to invite players to join in for Dungeons & Dragons Encounters!

D&D Encounters is an ongoing event designed for casual play, allowing you to drop in and play whenever you like. Using pre-generated characters, players are able to take part in individual episodes that make up a larger adventure. While traditional D&D focuses on levelling up individual characters, in these adventures you will be building up a faction. The benefit of this is that, even if you miss a few weeks, you won't find yourself falling behind other players.

Each episode will run from 6:30pm to 8pm. As said above, we will be using pre-made characters, so please leave your custom characters at home for these events. Participation will be first-come, first-served. There are no sign up sheets, just turn up before the start time. More details can be found here on the Wizards Of The Coast store locator.

The adventure we will be featuring for the encounters will be Tyranny of Dragons! You and your companions will struggle against the Cult of the Dragon in their attempt to free the multi-headed dragon Tiamat from the Nine Hells!

See you in October!

Rae's obsession with dragons seems to be growing over time.

Big Game Hunting Live - Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition

by Rae

It's time for Big Game Hunting Live! This is a monthly gaming event that takes place on the second Saturday of every month. Players will get a chance to learn and play featured games all day long.

This month we're featuring Dungeons & Dragons, 5th Edition!

Dungeons & Dragons is the classic role playing game that will be familiar to many. You choose a character, you explore dungeons, you fight monsters and pick up some pretty epic loot along the way. That's exactly what we're inviting players to do this Saturday, with a day-long session of the newest edition of D&D.

During the adventures, we will be ensuring that players get a taste of dungeon crawling and monster battling. We also will encourage players in general roleplay. Most of the fun of this game style is in deciding how your character would react in a given situation, and making the most of it to enjoy the story being told. Of course, the DM (Dungeon Master) will be there to guide you – and sometimes to throw in a random element just to keep things interesting!

On the day, all players are welcome, whether you've been playing D&D since it came into existence or you've never seen it before! Pre-generated characters will be provided and adventures will be compact, allowing for an easy drop-in, drop-out day for players. (Please do not bring your own characters for this particular event.)

The play session will start just after 11am and will run until closing time at 5pm, with a short break  midway through the day. 

See you Saturday 9th August!

All participants will receive a voucher that entitles them to 10% off any D&D product. Cannot be used with any other offer.

Rae is possibly enjoying being a DM more than she wants to admit.

Big Game Hunting - Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition NOW AVAILABLE TO PRE-ORDER

by Ben Fardon

After length speculation, Wizards Of The Coast have finally unveiled the details for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition.

We can now start taking pre-orders on the following items. Unlike the release of 4th Edition, this new edition is once again staggered across several months. All release dates are subject to change of course.

It all kicks off with the Starter Box in July. This is everything you need to get stuck in, and we'll be hoping to run a launch event at the store where you can join us on a short adventure. More details on that to follow.

In August, the Players Handbook arrives alongside the first pre-written adventure, the Tyranny Of Dragons: The Hoard Of The Dragon Queen. Interestingly, these new adventures were not designed in house by the Wizards of the Coast team. Instead they've been developed in conjunction with Kobold Press, designers Wolfgang Bauer (founder of Kobold Press and former designer/developer for WotC and TSR) and Steve Winter (former editor/designer at WotC and TSR, plus co-creator of the computer game Pool of Radiance), which ha certainly piqued the interest of the international gaming community.

The following months see the release of the Monster Manual, the Dungeon Masters Guide and the second Tyranny Of Dragons adventure which sees the dramatic return of Tiamat!

PRE-ORDER AND SAVE!

JULY 15TH

STARTER BOX

RRP £17.00

PRE-ORDER PRICE £15.00 (requires £5 deposit)

The Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set is your gateway to action-packed stories of the imagination. This box contains the essential rules of the game plus everything you need to play heroic characters on perilous ad- ventures in worlds of fantasy.

Ideal for 4 – 6 players, the Starter Set includes a 64-page adventure book, a 32-page rulebook for playing characters level 1 – 5, 5 pre-generated characters, each with a character sheet and supporting reference material, and 6 dice.

AUGUST 19TH

PLAYER’S HANDBOOK

RRP £30.00

PRE-ORDER PRICE £27.00 (requires £7 deposit)

The Player’s Handbook is the essential reference for every Dungeons & Dragons roleplayer. It contains rules for character creation and advancement, backgrounds and skills, exploration and combat, equipment, spells, and much more. Use this book to create exciting characters from among the most iconic D&D races and classes.

TYRANNY OF DRAGONS: HOARD OF THE DRAGON QUEEN - ADVENTURE

RRP £20.00

PRE-ORDER PRICE £18.00 (requires £5 deposit)

In an audacious bid for power the Cult of the Dragon, along with the Red Wizards of Thay, seek to bring Tiamat from her prison in the Nine Hells to Faerun. To this end, they are sweeping from town to town, lay- ing waste to all those who oppose them and gathering a hoard of riches for their dread queen. The threat of annihilation has become so dire that groups as disparate as the Harpers and Zhentarim are banding together in the fight against the cult. Never before has the need for heroes been so desperate.

SEPTEMBER

MONSTER MANUAL

RRP £30.00

PRE-ORDER PRICE £27.00 (requires £7 deposit)

The Monster Manual presents a horde of classic Dungeons & Dragons creatures, including dragons, giants, mind flayers, and beholders—a monstrous feast for Dungeon Masters ready to challenge their players and populate their adventures.The monsters contained herein are culled from the D&D game’s illustrious history, with easy-to-use game statistics and thrilling stories to feed your imagination.

OCTOBER

TYRANNY OF DRAGONS: THE RISE OF TIAMAT - ADVENTURE

RRP £20.00

PRE-ORDER PRICE £18.00 (requires £5 deposit)

The Cult of the Dragon leads the charge in an unholy crusade to bring Tiamat back to the Realms, and the situation grows more perilous for heroes with each passing moment. The battle becomes increasingly politi- cal as opportunities to gather allies and gain advantage present themselves. From Waterdeep to the Sea of Moving Ice to Thay, it is a race against Evil. Succeed or succumb to the oppression of draconic tyranny. Win or lose, things will never be the same again.

NOVEMBER

DUNGEON MASTER’S GUIDE

RRP £30.00

PRE-ORDER PRICE £27.00 (requires £7 deposit)

The Dungeon Master’s Guide provides the inspiration and the guidance you need to spark your imagination and create worlds of adventure for your players to explore and enjoy. Inside you’ll find world-building tools, tips and tricks for creating memorable dungeons and adventures, optional game rules, hundreds of classic D&D magic items, and much more!

To pre-order, you can either pop in store or email me at shop@proudlion.co.uk. Deposits to secure your pre-orders can be paid in store by cash or card, or if pre-ordering via email I can send you a PayPal invoice. as I say, stay tuned for more details about our D&D 5th Edition launch event in the coming weeks.

Ben Fardon is ready for a few days off. No, not ready - desperate. Desperate for a few days off.