Free RPG Day Seminars at 1:00 pm:

Select your seminar with your reservation for a roleplaying game, games to start at 3:00 pm!

If you are planning to attend one of the seminars without a game, please select "Seminar Only".

Creating Games for Fun and Profit: An RPG Panel Discussion about game design

Whether you’re a game designer, a writer, a TTRPG enthusiast, or just a curious person, join us for a lively conversion with sparkling talent. Genuinely, the amount of talent and experience on this panel is staggering!

Esteban Colon has become something of a local darling at The Sanctum by running some of the best indie games out there. He’s also a talented writer and game designer. He’s also lending his talent as a moderator to the panel. (Don’t miss his space adventure!)

Writer, developer, gamer, Community Manager for Dungeons & Dragons at Wizards of the Coast, and wearer of a truly staggering number of hats, you’re not going to want to miss LaTia Jacquise. You’ve seen her work on long running actual play Rivals of Waterdeep and in Critical Role: Call of the Netherdeep (and you can play it with her right here!). She’s here to share her experiences with our community and it’s going to be awesome. 

Travis Legge knows games. From his work as a pro-GM to his dozens of writing credits, he’s definitely keeping busy. Which is why we’re so happy to have him here. Ask him about his work on the gorgeous new game Curseborne? (or come and play it with him.)

Finally, we have Eric and Randy, comprising half of Wayward Studio’s Dark Council. If you haven’t heard of Wayward Studios, you’re probably joining us at The Sanctum for the first time. Welcome. The four person publishing company has been turning out some truly amazing DCC content, all in your backyard. (And Eric is running their very first supplement for your pun-filled adventuring needs.)

Playing with Monsters: A RPG Panel Discussion about horror in gaming 

Free RPG Day gets scary! The Sanctum has assembled a frighteningly talented panel of game designers and writers for a spine-tingling discussion sure to raise your spirits. 

Long time Sanctum alum, Rachael Randolph, moderates. She’s not only the eeriest Call of Cthulhu GM this side of R’lyeh, but also the mind behind Call of Cthulhu: Station S (and you can play it with her for free!) 

Joshua Alan Doetsch has been haunting players for years with his work on tabletop and video games like Vampire: the Masquerade, Secret World, Conan Exiles, and They Came From Beyond the Gave! (Play it with him here at The Sanctum!) 

Members of Wayward Studio’s Dark Council, Mark Manchester and Andrew Patch, are living the dream by turning their long time love of gaming into a robust career in game design. Though Wayward Studios has some wonderful, pun-laden DCC modules, their retro inspired Horror Cinema Classics is a love letter to the films many of us grew up on. (Don’t miss Mark’s HCC session or Andrew running DCC in the weird frontier!)

Jex Thomas is a long time student of narrative and they’ve brought that passion to the game table. Their story-forward RPG, Bump in the Dark, takes a refreshingly community centered view of monster hunting. (Play it with them at The Sanctum!)

Free RPG Day Games at 3:00 pm:

Start your afternoon with a seminar, and stay for a roleplaying game run by a panelist or GM from the Sanctum Community!  Game descriptions are below:

They Came From Beyond The Grave! with Joshua Alan Doetsch (3 hour runtime)

Join us for a special session of They Came From Beyond the Grave with illustrious game scribe, Joshua Alan Doetsch (most recently known for his work on the Dune: Awakening).

From Drive-Thru RPG: They Came from Beyond the Grave! is a dramatic, hammy, and horrifying tabletop roleplaying game encompassing the shock, terror, eroticism, and humor of 1970s horror.

Today's fake movie is Gun-Dead, that infamous 70s supernatural action b-movie. Can a plucky group of orphans save their orphanage by stitching together the cadaver of a legendary Prohibition-era hitman?

Bring your 10-sided dice for this game!

Bump in the Dark: How the Light Gets In with Jex Thomas (18+ only, 3 hour runtime)

Deep below the earth of Iron Country stand the gates to Hell. And yesterday, they were opened. At least, that's what Grant Sedley's been saying. Last week, Grant reported seeing a "large demonic beast" in and around the Soothill Mine. No one took him very seriously, but two days later people started disappearing. Yesterday, a body was found: headless, eviscerated, and propped up at the entrance to the mine. A warning? Or an invitation?

Thrilling, gritty, and utterly human, Bump in the Dark is a tabletop roleplaying game of supernatural mystery and action-packed showdowns with regular folk caught in the middle. It's a game about chosen family, protecting your community, and standing up to the forces (mundane and supernatural alike) that want to tear down all you've built.

Content warning: this hunt may contain occult imagery, death, decapitation, mutilation, confined spaces, gore, demons, psychosis, religious exploitation, police, blood.

Bring 2 to 4 six-sided dice for this game!

Call of Cthulhu: Station S with creator Rachael Randolph (18+ only, 4 hour runtime)

"The War Ministry has a tension so palpable that people have been talking. The investigators have been brought in to research an anomaly. Something so odd and unnerving that, while the Nazi Reich is rising, action must be taken and the investigators must travel to a dark loch in Scotland." The Fox Country scenarios deal with unavoidable fates, dark secrets, and seriously bad choices made by the antagonists. As so often is the case, there are no winners when fate has trapped you in a dice game for doom or destiny. As such, please be aware that some of the themes are quite mature and are suitable for gamers 18+.

All you need is your set of dice!

D&D 5E: A Fateful Competition with co-author LaTia Jacquise (3 hour runtime)

Come explore the world of Exandria and play the opening of Call of the Netherdeep with one of the adventure’s co-authors, LaTia Jacquise! Adventurers and townsfolk from all over gather in the city of Jigow for its annual Festival of Merit: great games and fantastic prizes are in store for anyone who wins challenges set up across the city.

Bring your RPG dice set and a 3rd-level character (pregens will be available)!

Horror Cinema Classics: Bloodball with Mark Manchester (4 hour runtime)

Come play a special Free RPG Day session of Horror Cinema Classics with local game designer and member of Wayward Studio's Dark Council, Mark Manchester. It's 1987 in small-town Wisconsin. The high school's football team has been on an amazing winning streak. This is just what the town needed after last year's tragic events at Everson's Farm. But the Darkness will not be stopped. It just found a new disciple. This is a playtest for the upcoming Horror Cinema Classics RPG by Wayward Studios.

Step into the chilling world of Horror Cinema Classics, a role-playing game that plunges players into the eerie, neon-lit nightmares of 1980s horror movies. Horror Cinema Classics uses the Dungeon Crawl Classics engine with several additional mechanics to help capture that 80s VHS horror vibe.

Will you be the one to rewrite the script—or fall victim to the horrors waiting in the shadows?

Bring your DCC dice, if you have them, extra sets will be available!

DCC: The Dying Light of Castle Whiterock with Tim Wolf

This is one of the exciting titles available at The Sanctum for Free RPG Day. Stop in and pick up a copy while supplies last, then play it in the shop!

Goodman Games invites you into the halls of Castle Whiterock. A place of death and danger. A home to evil. And a symbol of good’s triumph over the wretched. It now lies in ruins. A place that only those with no fear—or no hope—dare to tread. A mysterious beacon eminates from an ancient, ruined watchtower of Castle Whiterock. After all these centuries, who or what keeps the beacon lit, and what dark secrets are held in those hallowed chambers? And do you have the courage to discover why?

Bring your DCC dice, if you have them!

Curseborne with designer Travis Legge (3 hour runtime)

Join us for a special Free RPG Day game of the Curseborne RPG, run by game designer and pro-GM Travis Legge.

Curesborne is a stunning urban horror themed RPG which uses the Storypath Ultra system. It delves into the hidden corners of the world, offering players countless ways to bring ancient horrors to modern city streets. If you've enjoyed Onyx Path's other offerings, including Vampire: The Masquerade, Curseborne is bound to touch a nerve.

Bring 10-sided dice, if you would like to use your own!

Weird Frontiers: Dark Dwelling on the Prairie with Andrew Patch (4.5 hour runtime)

The adventure starts with the posse chasing after the notorious Sagebrush gang. This gang of murderers and thieves have been the scourge of the Southwest and are not above engaging in foul dark arts. The posse find themselves low on food and ammunition with a vicious lightning storm brewing, and seek shelter in an old farmhouse in the middle of a large cornfield. Here they begin to unravel the truth about the fate of the family that once lived here and now haunt its grounds. Can they survive the terrors and bring peace to the Verrill homestead? Or will they become another denizen in the Dark Dwelling on the Prairie?

Bring your DCC dice if you have them (sets will be available), a deck of cards, and a pencil!

DCC: From Out Of Gnollwhere with Eric Anderson (4 hour runtime)

From Out of Gnollwhere is a DCC adventure tailored for a group of 2nd level characters. Their mission: to delve into the root causes behind a recent wave of organized gnoll assaults and uncover the driving force behind these sinister attacks. The journey leads them on a path from the tranquil and unassuming rural village of Rurayne’s Crossing to the cryptic, long-forgotten tomb of a formidable Chaos Lord.

Bring your DCC dice, if you have them, but loaner dice will be available!

Memories of Tomorrow: Digging Deeper with Esteban Colon (3.5 hour runtime)

Join master storyteller and frequent Sanctum GM, Esteban Colon, for a wild space epic.

You are a small team of strangers on a strange alien world that faces extinction. Can you use your powers to bring your memories to life and to absorb the abilities of the natives to stop the end of the world or will you be a couple more victims of the impending doom?

Click here for more information on the system for Memories of Tomorrow!

All materials are provided, but you can bring 6-sided dice! 

Select the game you would like from the dropdown list when adding your reservation to the cart.  Please do not register for multiple sessions of the same module so others get a chance to sign up.

Price: All Free RPG Day events are no charge! If you attend with a reservation you will also receive one set of complimentary RPG dice!  For a no-charge online purchase, select "Pay at Pickup" at checkout to complete your reservation.  Do not select "Credit Card" at checkout.

Age: 14+ (select games are 18+ only)

Disclaimer: While this event is being hosted at and promoted by The Sanctum, the views, opinions, and actions of the panelists and game runners are solely theirs and not necessarily those of The Sanctum.  Any activity that is counter to The Sanctum’s Code of Conduct should be reported to store management.

Any questions about a particular seminar or game?  Send an email to [email protected] and we'll pass on your question!

Please note that events at The Sanctum may be subject to change or cancellation without notice.