December is Already Busy.

December is upon us. With it comes ECCC and PAX Unplugged, one right after the other. Christmas is also coming up, and the Chief Librarian should be back in the USA by then. Busy Busy.

We are not hosting any more interviews in 2021, we will resume in 2022. We got some great information from our guests and look forward to resuming next year.

We will be continuing to post on social media and our Monday News and Crowdfunding Twitch stream will keep happening. I hope we can see you there.

We are hopeful that people will join in on December Demos. We need players.

That is a pretty good summary of what we have planned for December.

July 21 2021, Status Update

6 weeks! PAX West is in 6 weeks. This is our first official convention this year.

We are looking for volunteers to volunteer to GM games or just man “the booth.” Fill out this form if you are interested, we can really use the help.

The bonuses of being a volunteer are up in the air right now. So please be aware that the perks are not going to be the same as last year. Austerity is going to be a theme for conventions for a little bit.

- - * - - * - -

We have been working hard to keep things going, without conventions.

We have been scheduling social media posts. The goal is 3 game posts a week, plus any Twitch streams we have scheduled.  You can see what we have been up to by checking out our social media accounts.

We have done some amazing, fun, and awesome interviews. You should be able to watch the VOD's on Twitch.  They are backed up and will be uploaded to Youtube eventually. Time is at a premium right now.

Past Interview streams: 

June 20 - Peter with Roll for Kindness

June 27th - Xiodraven, a fellow creator on Patreon

July 18th - Byron, a long time RPG player

- - * - - * - -

Scheduled Interview Streams: 11am Pacific Time

July 25 - LibrariaNPC with GhastBashers

August 1st - Mike and Milly with Zelda: Reclaim the wild.

August 15th - tentative interview with a creator from Europe

Everything is starting to move again. It is just going to take a bit to get over the inertia. Thank you for your patience and continued support. We would not make it through this without you. All the likes, shares, views, help a ton. Your time has also been invaluable.

Thank you and we will actually get to see you in 6 weeks!!

Getting 2021 under Wraps

Carissa (Chief Librarian Wrangler) here,

It has been a long time since we last posted here and on our website.

First up, THANK YOU for your continued support.

2020 was rough on everyone.  The Library's usual outreach methods (aka conventions) were canceled and no one knew what to do or how to connect to their communities.  We were all confused, frustrated, and generally stressed out.

We have all been doing the best we can.

This year has not been a lot better than last year.  There has been a lot of uncertainty regarding the convention dates, COVID regulations/rules, and how people are going to reintegrate into society and their communities.  Because of the uncertainty, David chose to take a deployment (joint decision.)  We figured that any events that happen will be towards the end of the year, and have lower attendance, or would be virtual.  We were able to make the 2019 deployment work, we can make the 2021 deployment and year of weirdness work.

To gear up for this year I have been working on posting regularly on Social Media (a fairly new endeavor,) scheduling content, and ensuring our Twitch streams happen regularly.  We are posting on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter a minimum of 3 days a week.  We have been averaging two streams a week on Twitch, these include RPG gameplay and interviews.

So far for this month, we have done three interviews; Mickey w/ Polyhedral Knights (6/6/2021,) Peter w/ Roll for Kindness (6/20/2021,) and R Williams Thompson (6/27/2021.)  For games, we played Tephra on 6/12/2021. Our next game should happen on 6/26/2021 and are looking for players to make sure it happens. *hint hint*

What took so long to get to this point?

I, Carissa, have a job and a business.  The Library is David's thing.  I have been doing what I can to support his endeavor.  Sometimes it gets to be too much to balance my things, household things, and library things.

I have slowly been shifting my schedule to make more room to handle Library things. It has been a slow process.  On the plus, this is the first month of having a solid schedule.  Barring any crazy things happening in my world we should be able to build this up and keep it going until David gets back and beyond. 

It is important to have balance in one's life, which includes balancing your volunteer hours! 

Can I help?

Yes, you can always help.

Free and easy?  Follow us on social media, like and share the posts.  

Still free but a little more involved?  Put us in contact with people who want to DM/GM their game and/or people who would like to talk TTRPG's with David on Twitch.

Things that require time investments, but free of monetary costs?  Participate in a game stream, Interview stream, write a game review for us, recommend games for social media posts and help with the write-up, or create a Twitch emote.

Money is always welcome for those that can afford it.  You can support us as you are on Patreon, Subscribe on Twitch, or donate via our website/paypal.


Thank you again!

Together we can help everyone reconnect with their communities and In-Person interactions.


Streaming On Twitch!

It has been a while since we posted. 2020 basically did not happen, but brought its own special set of stresses.

We have been streaming weekly on Twitch.

We stream TTRPG game play, industry interviews, TTRPG game news, New donations, and all kinds of other things.

Please consider joining us for some fun times.

https://www.twitch.tv/alexandriarpg

Virtual Games in Honor of ECCC

We have some virtual games going on this weekend in Honor of ECCC postponing their event.

One of our amazing DM’s has set up some games on Roll20 for us. If you are interested in playing a game from the safety of your home here is the schedule.

Here is a link so you can sign-up :)

https://warhorn.net/events/alexandria-rpg-library-eccc-self-quarantine-mode-activated

** All times are PDT**

  • Thur, March 12 at 3:30pm, begin the game session by 4, to around 7pm - [Starfinder RPG] non-standard Starfinder Society adventure (Quests: Into the Unknown, and/or #1-01: The Commencement)

  • Fri, March 13 at 2:30pm to around 5:30pm - Fate: Alexandria's Library, or Fate: Gods and Monsters

  • Sat, March 14 at 12:30pm, begin the game session by 1, to around 5pm - Starfinder, as above (finish above, or #1-02: Fugitive on the Red Planet, or #1-14: Star Sugar Heartlove!)

  • Sun, March 15 at 2pm, to around 5pm - Fate: Alexandria's Library or Fate: Gods and Monsters

Stay heathy and play on!

ECCC 2020 Update: Old News by Now

You all probably know already; Emerald City Comicon has postponed the 2020 show until summer, with no date set yet.

I think a lot of people have mixed feelings about this. Especially if their transportation and hotel reservations are non-refundable.

The Library team is actually mostly happy. Why?

The Chief Librarian will be back from his Deployment!! That means he can do all the work. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHahahahahah *cough* *cough*

Really we are happy because we do not want anyone to miss the event due to concerns about harming their families or communities. Good call ReedPop, we salute you on making a smart choice.

Stay Covid-19 free everyone and we will see you at our next event.

ECCC 2020, Here We Come!

I am aware that things have been pretty quiet on the social media front. The wonderful people that volunteer to make the Library happen in the Chief Librarian’s absence needed a nice break.

That break is now over!

Emerald City Comicon is our first event in 2020 and we have been gearing up to do some awesome things.

The biggest thing we have been working on is Inventory (yes, with a capital “i”.)

Can you imagine knowing what books are actually in the Library with a few keystrokes? We can! We have been working to inventory as much of the library as we can. Right before ECCC kicks off we will be doing a massive update to the Library Catalog. Even if the book you are looking for is not on the shelf at the event we can tell you if we have it, and make a note that it is wanted.

As for ECCC we will be in the Conference Center (aka The Annex) with the rest of the Gaming Dept. Make sure you check out all the awesome stuff happening.

See you there!

10 Things We are Thankful For

Thanks-Giving is quickly approaching. In North America, it is a time we start thinking about all the things we are thankful for, as individuals, families, companies, and non-profits.

As a non-profit Alexandria RPG Library is thankful every day to exist. However, there are some individuals, companies, and other non-profits that we are so thankful for we want to give them a shout out. Let us take a moment to thank them (in no particular order.)

  1. Our 16 Patreons. Especially the few that have been with us since the beginning. Your support means we can have a website with our own domain name, a blog, and even the e-store. Your support means we can have a legitimate web presence.

  2. The Chief Librarian. Without David, there would be no Library. It has been challenging to keep the library going while he has been gone, which has shown how much he did and how integral he is to the library.

  3. Our board members. They take hours out of their weeks to help manage the library. Nothing would happen without them. They make sure we get to events, shmooze, sort the library, write reviews, post on social media, shmooze more, wrangle volunteers, and generally share their love for the library with anyone and everyone who might look like they will listen… so more shmoozing.

  4. Lackey. Lackey is one of our board members that has gone above and beyond. He is the reason we were at SHUX 2019, NorwesCon 2019, PAX West and PAX Unplugged 2019. He will be the reason we are going to be at several events in 2020. He has given many hours of his time, efforts, and funds to ensure the library makes it. Lackey is amazing.

  5. The Mysterious Abby. This year Abby has donated a few hundred books. If we can ever figure out what E-bay store is her’s we will make sure to pass it on.

  6. Penny Arcade Expo (PAX). PAX has been an amazing help this year. They have seen value in what the Library offers and have basically adopted us.

  7. R. Talstorian Games. These guys have helped us grow so much over the past few years. I know David would be able to tell you exactly how much. Without them, we would be much smaller.

  8. RPG Book Publishers. This year we got a ton of books from all kinds of publishers, some bigger and some smaller. Every single book we have gotten directly from a publisher is amazing. New games help keep the Library relevant and on top of people’s minds. We allow people to feel nostalgia and get them excited about something new.

  9. Our Volunteers. Everyone who helps us at events. Setup, teardown, transportation, acting as a library rep (info) and everyone that is a game master/dungeon master. Without you it would be us, board members, sitting behind a table or running around like headless chickens.

  10. Gamers. Without an audience to read these books and play these games there would be no purpose to the library. So everyone out there that has stopped by at an event, liked and left a comment on social media, or just had a thought about the Library. We are thankful for you. You give us purpose.

This is not a comprehensive list, there are a lot more people that deserve thanks. C4Labs, Chessex, and Endless Realms, and a handful of game designers should be on the list. We are just as thankful to them as we are to the numbered ones. The numbered one came to mind first.

Another “thankful” post may need to happen.

Honestly, we will probably still be leaving people out. Not because we are not thankful, but because the year has been so busy and we are human. We forget things.

Can you think of 10 things you are thankful for? Are you willing to share them with us?

31 Days of Horror!

Happy October!

Our resident artist is busy working on Inktober, Mab's Drawlloween, and whatever else she does in October.  We know many people that watch and review horror movies in October.

This prompted a though... Why not showcase all the horror RPG's we have?

We will be covering some old favorites like Werewolf and Vampire the Masquerade.  Sneaking in some new games like Puppletland, and generally enjoying the season of Pumpkin Spice and spookiness.

Chill_cover_square.jpg

We posted a short blurb about Chill on our social media.

What game should we review live?

What games do you think we should cover in-depth?

Nap time is OVER!

It took a bit longer than anticipated to get this together. “Reality” wanted some attention.

I know I am missing some data, but here is what I have proof happened.

31 games hosted.

131 players played RPG’s.

5 games didn’t happen. 3 of those were “early” games.

Paranoia and Be Gay Do Crimes were our top performers. Not hard when the games are shorter and silly.

Cleric Games ran Adventurer’s League D & D for us. I do not have numbers for them yet. I think it is pretty close to ours.

I have received 12 books post PAX, look for a video in the next week or so. We also have a chance to go through someones collection and pull out stuff we don’t already have. Exciting!

Next up is SHUX in Vancouver BC. We are only bringing a small sample of games, plus any that we need to bring to support scheduled game runs. Stay tuned for signups!

PAX West 2019 Approaches

Hello again!

I wanted to share some new information.

  1. I have uploaded a video to our Patreon account. We received a very cool donation during Dragon Flight which I unboxed. I also showed off three other games we received that week. You can support us by becoming a Patreon supporter. The video is only for Patreon supporters at this time, it will be watchable for everyone after PAX West, still only accessible via Patreon.

  2. PAX West is quickly approaching. I hope to have a schedule of games up for everyone soon. That way you can see what we are offering and decide what you want to play or what game you might want to block off some time for.

  3. I added a few companies to the Donor Page! C4Labs.com has given us a large number of dice trays and towers over the past few years. They are creating a plaque for our main event! I also added R. Talsorian Games. They have kindly donated money to help us get to events in the past. There are so many others that we should add. I just wish I knew who they were.

  4. What kind of stuff would you like us to cover in the future? Book reviews (what should we focus on?) Basic tutorials? Book unboxings? Conversations with our DM/GM’s? Let us know so we can make it happen.

See you at PAX West! We will be in the Hyatt Regency Hotel, on 8th and Olive. The table top area has really grown and they have their own expo area with vendors.

Testing, Testing... Is this thing still on?

HI!

This is Carissa, aka the Librarian’s wife.

This is a status update.

As many of you know the Chief Librarian is out of the country serving in the US Military. This means that ALL the things he was doing have become the responsibility of those of us who are still state side. Of course we have NO CLUE how much stuff the Chief had going on and we have been slow to pick up the slack.

Well, we have finally gotten things some what sorted out and are going to do our best to keep you wonderful people informed as to what is going on.

You will see we added a few new items to our Navigation bar. This blog AND a schedule! As we get confirmation for events we will be adding them for you to see.

For those of you who are wonderful Patreon supporters, I am still trying to get that going. We are working on getting you some super special surprises. I am so excited.

_______

Right now (literally) we are at DragonFlight, in Bellevue, WA. The Hilton Bellevue is the venue. We are on the first floor, right off the elevators. We have a small portion of the library with us this weekend, and have had a WONDERFUL time talking to all the attendees that have stopped by.

Our display table, with some attractive offerings.

Our display table, with some attractive offerings.

Some of our sexy RPG accessories. The dice are amazing <3

Some of our sexy RPG accessories. The dice are amazing <3

One of the bookshelves with books. Feng Shui anyone? Maybe Call of Cthulu?

One of the bookshelves with books. Feng Shui anyone? Maybe Call of Cthulu?

ECCC 2018

This last year has been crazy!  We have grown from a collection that showed up to fill in some space at ECCC 2017 to a library that went to 7 events last year to  ECCC being the third event of 2018.  We have gotten tons of donations and they keep coming.  we have gone from about 450 books and about 10 systems to 1100 books and nearly 100 systems.

More than double the books! Ten fold increase in systems!  This is amazing.  I can't do it without you folk out there.  WIth that...  I am going to put a call out for donations.  We need cash for shelves, books, and transportation.  We also need GMs.  If you know someone that can run a game for an event let me know.  Lastly we always need more books!  I just put up a want list for the library.  It is no way all encompassing but it is a good start of core systems.

 

Please look for us at events and we will be at ECCC in room 208.

Go Fund Me

So I was fired from my job after taking time off for the library.  All pre-approved time off.  I worked a 12 hour shift the day after PAX West.  I then got sick, more from exhaustion then from anything else.  I was let go over my lack of dedication.  Well we need help from other.  I look forward to meeting more people  at more events, but to do so we need to cover costs for gear, travel, and some bills we inured starting the library.  Our hope was to cover most of this while working but we have been put in a situation where we need the assistance of other.

 

https://www.gofundme.com/alexandria-rpg-library 

PAX West 2017 Wrap up.

PAX West was insane! We met many new friends and had a bunch of old faces stop by as well.  We crunched the numbers and tallied the games played. We were stunned! The library hosted 100 RPGs over PAX West this weekend. 100 games! Can you fathom that!?  With an average game having 5 players that means 500 people got to play games. We had a few games that only had 3 players but we had games with 8+ at times.  Then you think that we have not put the GMs in these numbers and now we are at 600... Okay 597 since I ran three games myself. We had as many people come through our library and play games as many local game conventions get in a weekend.   

 We also got more donations, some in cash, some via Patreon, and some in book or Box form.  I have a ton of work to do to get the library catalog updated and need to start the video portion of projects soon.  

 I am at my day job now and need to get back to work, but I hope I can quit that and take this Library to more places and provide more content for everyone.  Let's keep Gaming and keep spreading the word.