Relmin wrote:From going to PAX East last year one thing I would love to see is standalone DnD Encounters, where there are a few DM's who run premade one time only sessions on a Saturday or something like that. Wizards makes some cool one-off stories, such as the D&D Heroes of Shadow Preview: Kalarel’s Revenge which was done at PAX East 2011. That way people who want to play but don't have time for an ongoing group could have a way to play with premade characters in a good self-contained story.
The store has in the past hosted D&D Encounters every Wednesday (I ran it for quite a while), and a new Encounters group recently started up. Interest and participation waxed and waned - I stopped running it a few months ago when I only had one or two interested players. WotC does support other one-off sessions, like Lair Assault, which the store has received material for, but which AFAIK no one volunteered to run. I believe the store still has some Lair Assault and similar material, and continues to receive it from time to time) if you (or anyone else) wants to run it (is that right, Heath?)
Relmin wrote:Similarly it would be awesome to do with non-DnD RPG systems so people can try out new systems without having to start a whole new group. Also it could serve as a test run to see if people like a system before trying to get a group together for it.
I am sure if you wanted to do this and you don't have enough employees to run it (if it ends up pulling in a lot of people) then some customers (like myself) would be willing to step up and host these standalone games for other people as well!
I actually did exactly this with the store for a couple of months - if you look several posts down, you can find my "RPG of the Month" post about it. It did not go particularly well - only a few people, mainly folks I was gaming with anyway, actually showed up. The store even stocked several copies of the game books and offered discounts - the result is that the store still has a bunch of unsold copies of DC Adventures (I think Savage Worlds sold a bit better).
I don't want to discourage you (or anyone else), though. If you're really interested in doing something like this, please do. I tried and failed, but I'd love to see something like this work, and CFG was very supportive (no one even gave me a hard time about all those still unsold books they stocked on my recommendation). The demos at Fanboy Comics years ago (at their previous location with a game room), many of which I ran, actually usually attracted quite of bit of interest and a decent turn-out. I'm not sure if there's just been a shift in the local gaming community, or if CFG for some reason hasn't attracted the same crowd as Fanboy did, or if the store and I just didn't do a good enough job getting the word out to those who would be interested.
If anyone has the time and dedication to get a program like this running, I'd certainly be eager to participate. It would probably have to be a patron/volunteer, though, rather than the store itself. Heath and Andrew and everyone at the store have been very supportive in my experience - but they just aren't that knowledgable about or interested in RPGs. They are, I believe, mostly card and board gamers - which is where the focus of CFG has been from the start. RPGs have been a poor cousin since the store opened (although it has improved a great deal since then). I don't want to sound like I'm complaining - I love having a game store in town, I love having a play area, and everyone at the store has always been very supportive of expanding RPGs - it's just not where their expertise and interests lie.
Anyway, long post short, if you (or anyone else) is really interested in running some WotC Lair Assaults, or trying to put together some one-shot demos of other RPGs, please do. You'll have my interest and support, and CFG will probably give you a good bit of support as well.