A Game Convention!
Central Coast Game Community
Welcome to Central Coast DnD’s newsletter, a newsletter that covers gaming news and events for the Central Coast of California and neighboring communities. We are very excited to finally announce that we will be presenting the first annual MimicCon on April 2nd of 2023! We’ve worked tirelessly to organize a premier 1-day gaming convention for the community, and we’re so happy to talk about it finally in this month’s newsletter. This was largely a community effort that has really pulled together event organizers and gamers far and wide from Monterey County, to Ventura County, and even Bakersfield, all together in Santa Maria, a centrally located city that we think will be a great home for MimicCon in coming years. We have partnered with the City of Santa Maria to secure a fantastic venue, and proceeds from this event will benefit a local nonprofit. Continue reading for more information or use promo code MimicCon23 for a limited offer early bird discount and buy your tickets here.
MimicCon 2023
We are so proud to be presenting the first annual MimicCon for the central coast. It’s been coming together over the past few months and will serve as a proof of concept for our partners, our sponsors, and the community as a whole that we can provide a premier gaming convention in the Santa Maria Valley, and we intend to use this convention as a springboard for running another convention in 2024. We’ve been blessed to have such a great partnership with the City of Santa Maria, as they’ve granted us use of the Abel Maldonado Community Youth Center. And, to give back, we’ve committed to donate our proceeds to People for Leisure And Youth, an organization that helps fund the community center and other honorable projects in the Santa Maria Valley.
MimicCon Events and Activities
Special guest appearance and talk from novelist Leonard Carpenter, author of dozens of sci-fi/fantasy novels including many in the Conan the Barbarian series.
Best Coast Pairings / ITC Warhammer 40k tournament (with pre registered participants from as far as Monterey, and Westlake Village so far)
Paint-N-Take with expert guidance from a local award winning miniature painter. Participants will be given 1 free premium miniature, and provided the tools and advice necessary to paint it, even if it's their first time.
Special guest appearance from Earl Ray Cisco of Studio Replicas: Movie Memorabilia
Wargaming - Kriegsspiel
Trivia Contests (hosted by a professional MC and event host)
BattleTech Demos
Live Streaming events
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons special event (up to 20 players)
Cosplay contest
Board Gaming Room
Vendor Space
Door Prizes
Magic the Gathering
Arcade Games
If you would like to volunteer as a game master or organize a tournament reach out to us at chaycomas@centralcoastdnd.com or call 1+(805) 286-6707 We are still onboarding volunteers and events, but the doors are closing soon, so act fast.
Additionally
The venue has arcade games, pool tables, virtual reality systems, and multiple stand-up Playstation game cabinets.
We are partnering with a professional event host who specializes in covering game conventions with videography and who will be providing movie props from his work in the industry, such as prop swords and prop armor, for attendants to take photos with during the convention.
Ticket prices
You can purchase tickets through eventbrite, and for a limited time only early birds get 25% off with promo code: MimicCon23
With general admission you receive access to all of our activities with one exception being the Warhammer 40k Tournament. You will also receive door prizes, 1 free premium unpainted miniature, and a free breakfast burrito if you arrive before lunch is served (vegetarian options will be available).
Addons
Those who wish to participate in the Warhammer 40k Tournament may purchase 1 of the 16 available Best Coast Pairings / ITCE Warhammer 40k Tournament ticket addons for $20. Proceeds from this addon will go towards the prize pool for this event.
Vendors & Sponsors
If you would like to inquire about options for participating as a vendor email nicholaschaycomas@gmail.com or call 1+(805) 286-6707
How MimicCon Started
It’s a wild story how our game convention has arrived at this point. It started out as a meet-n-greet for about twenty or so of us who met on discord who were just trying to schedule a get together, to meet in-person, and maybe play some games. But, we all know how difficult it is to schedule even five players for a D&D game, let alone twenty — and each time the schedule got pushed back the longer the list of attendees grew. We reached a point in October of 2022 when we realized we needed a venue that could hold 50+ people and started exploring small community centers that could be rented, and began brainstorming how we could pool the money together and just throw a big gaming party.
At some point we realized that we needed event insurance, and we’d need to rent tables and chairs, so we went to our local event expert for advice — Ken Guge, owner operator of Leisure Time Games in Santa Maria, which turned out to be the best thing we could have done; Ken was Grade-A rocket fuel for our party planning committee. Ken offered to organize the whole shindig, event insurance, tables, chairs, and even the venue. For the next 4 weeks our planning committee soared on the fuel provided by Ken, and our organizing efforts attracted the attention of a handful of very experienced convention planners and organizers along the central coast who quickly joined our planning committee and helped us solve problems we didn’t even know we had.
While reaching out to sponsors for the event we received multiple offers for venues, discounted hotel rooms, and offers to create partnerships with other cities nearby and bring our little (at the time) convention to their town instead of Santa Maria. But, it wasn’t until an offer from the City of Santa Maria came in, that we realized our vision for creating an annual convention in the Santa Maria Valley was closer than we thought. We met with the city and shook on the upgraded venue and new partnership.
With the added space of the 8,000 sq ft main hall inside the Abel Maldonado Center we reached out to the greater central coast gaming community to find tournament organizers, painters, coordinators, and vendors and amazingly the community provided.
A Podcast: Tales from the Wildlands
Conan the Barbarian meets the Wild West in Legends of Calador: Tales from the Wildlands! Here, a group of adventurers set out into a dangerous frontier known only as the Scorcian Wilds. Some seek glory, others seek knowledge, and all will find adventure. But how many will live to tell their tale? In our premier season, we follow five strangers who have banded together, unaware of the ties that bind them. On their journey they will learn of the desolation of this land, what part the Ancients played in it, and whether the mistakes of the past can be avoided. All the while, a dormant evil watches. Falling somewhere between an actual-play D&D game and an audiobook, this biweekly West Marches campaign uses the 5th Edition of Dungeons & Dragons, set in the homebrewed world of Calador. Follow the adventure on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts.
Check it out here or find it on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Also, coming soon to Google Podcasts.
From the editor
This podcast is produced locally and popped into my discord unexpectedly; I listened to it on a whim and was pleasantly surprised by a very well produced live play podcast. I listen to a lot of podcasts while I work, 30+ hours of podcasts a week on average. And, I can’t understate how well Legends of Calador: Tales from the Wildlands was edited, so much so I immediately reached out to the Producer & Dungeon Master Daren Stottrup, San Luis Obispo, and asked him if he’d be willing to partner with Central Coast DnD. Episode 1 - Into the Borderlands, pt. I is definitely worth your time, it was well worth mine, and I’m really happy to be partnering with Daren.
A Letter To Paso Robles
— Austin Simmons, Central Coast DnD Guest Writer
Hark, travelers!
It is I, your Patron Game Master of Paso Robles. I hope my message finds you warm and well during this chilly fall. To start today, I’ve got a brief introduction to who I am and why I’m writing this article.
I’m Austin Simmons, a lifelong nerd, lover of Dungeons and Dragons (and all tabletop gaming), and moderator for Central Coast DnD! I’ve played tabletop role-playing games for around 7 years now and have within the last couple of years stepped up to the role of Game Master. My aspirations haven’t stopped there, though. One day I’d even like to own a game store here in Paso. But first I’m going to do my part expanding our community of 200 members (and growing) into North County!
To those who might be asking, why are you so passionate about silly elf games? Well, DnD is more than an elf game; it’s an expression of oneself! Much like acting or other forms of artistry, DnD is about pulling out what creativity you have within and sharing it with those around you. There is storytelling, passion, drama, and even… rolling shiny dice! This is to say that before DnD I never considered myself a creative person, but through DnD I have found that creative part of myself.
In the new year, I hope to start a campaign for a group of players in North County, with the goal of expanding more and more so that we have a network of Game Masters and players alike. We have a thriving LGBT+ community here in Paso as well, and I hope to work with them to expand our community of nerds even further. I know there are others like me here pining to play; it’s just a matter of finding them.
If you stuck around, thanks for reading! I’m shooting for the stars with my goals in North County and hope to have more exciting news soon. If you know anyone interested in Dungeons and Dragons, join our Discord! We don’t bite, but the dragons sure do.
—Austin Simmons, Central Coast DnD
Other Projects by Central Coast DnD
Association of Gaming Communities of Central California (AGCCC)
This association is currently still emerging, and is still in its infancy as we convince more and more of the gaming clubs in Central California to join our ranks, but our goal is clear.
First and foremost, we want to increase the visibility of our collective communities and create a beacon for nerds and geeks to flock to, no gamer left behind! But second, and almost as equally as important, we want every new member of any one of our communities, to be able to discover every other community in our association, and that’s just what we’ve done on our website — to highlight how and where to find a gaming group wherever you may be along the Central Coast.
In this way, everyone who finds their way into any of our participating clubs will have the chance to not only settle into the club that best fits their geographical location, but also be able to network outside of their club to organize game events and pool resources.
Members of this association benefit by having their communities backlinked in other affiliated communities, and from event promotions here in this newsletter (see the bottom of the newsletter). For information on how your club can join our association contact me at chaycomas@centralcoastdnd.com or by calling 1+(805) 286-6707.
AGCCC Member List
Central Coast DnD Discord - A community hub serving the entire Central Coast
Zanders Game House Discord - A friendly local game store serving Camarillo
SLO Gaming Discord - A community hub serving San Luis Obispo county.
PolyCon Discord - A community hub serving San Luis Obispo County
Leisure Time Games Discord - A friendly local game store serving the Santa Maria Valley
Conejo Valley Adventurer’s League Discord - A well organized AL in Ventura County
Game Ogre Discord - A friendly local game store serving Southern Ventura County
Central Coast DnD Bulletin Board
An up to date curated list of special events and game nights along the Central Coast of California. If you’d like to add your events or game nights to this list please contact me via chaycomas@centralcoastdnd.com or call at 1+(805) 286-6707
Atascadero
Dungeons & Dragons Adventurer’s League at Gordon’s Good Games
Thursdays 6:00pm - 8:00pm
(we start at 6:00 so come early if you need to prep). This is an Adventurer's League game, and we are still early on in the Dungeon of the Mad Mage. We've got a large group (10+) of mixed ages, with no table cap, so it's chaotic but a good place to make connections. Contact humanadverb#7958 on discord for more info, or if you're interested in joining other games at GGG as openings become available.
San Luis Obispo
Game Theory Night by PolyCon
Friday 5:00pm - 10:00pm
This is a game night put on by the student club at Cal Poly, and meets in BRAE (building 8) every Friday. You don’t have to be a student or alumni, just show up. Parking is accessible from N. Perimeter Rd.
Arroyo Grande
Dungeons & Dragons Campaign at Games Exchange
Every Tuesday evening
This is an event organized by Central Coast D&D. It’s a homebrewed campaign. For more information Join the Discord and contact MatTheOctopus#5598
Santa Maria
Dungeons & Dragons Campaign at Leisure Time Games
Every Tuesday Morning 10:00am - 2:00pm
This is an event organized by Central Coast D&D. Forgotten Realms, heavy RP through the politics and intrigue of Waterdeep. For more information Discord and contact Chay#5949
Weekly events at Leisure Time Games
Yu-Gi-Oh! Sunday
Pokémon League Monday (coming soon)
MtG Commander Tuesday nights
Friday Night Magic on Friday night
Camarillo
Weekly events at Zander’s Game House
Star Wars X-Wing Meet Up: Every Wednesday 5:00 pm - 10:00 pm and Sunday 2:00 pm - 7:00 pm (Training and ships to barrow)
Friday Night Magic: Every Friday at 6:00 pm (Commander played most frequently)
Board Gamer Meet Up: Every Saturday at 2:00 pm
Saturday D&D West Marches Campaign with Cas Campbell at 7pm.
Board Gaming Meeting Up for Adults with Autism (in coordination with the Ventura County Autism Society). Sunday, Jan. 22, 2023 at 11:00am. Tickets available at here.
Bolt Action Tourney: Sunday, Feb. 26th. 9:30am (Details on Zander’s Discord)
Westlake Village
Dungeons & Dragons Adventurer’s League at Game Ogre
Every Saturday Night
We run AL every Saturday night at the game ogre in westlake village. Currently we are running Ravenloft: mist Hunter. Our next adventure will be rmh-03 the abet dirge.
This is an event organized by Conejo Valley Adventurer’s League, for more information join their Discord and contact Mr Nukster#1078
Upcoming events at Game Ogre
Fri, Jan 6th 7:30pm - Magic - Dominaria Remastered Preview Booster Draft
Fri, Jan 13th 7:30pm - Magic - Dominaria Remastered Launch Booster Draft
Sat, Jan 14th 1:00pm - Magic - Dominaria Remastered Launch Booster Draft
Fri-Sun, Feb 3rd-5th - Magic - Phyrexia: All Will Be One Prerelease
Fri 3:00pm & 7:30pm
Sat 12:00pm & 4:30pm
Sun 12:00pm & 4:30pm
Sat, Feb 11th 1:00pm - Digimon - Dimensional Phase (BT-11) Prerelease
Weekly events at Game Ogre
Board Games on Monday night
Magic Commander on Tuesday evenings
Pathfinder/Starfinder meetup Tuesday afternoons
Song of Ice & Fire TMG: Meetup Tuesday evenings
Friday Night Magic on Friday nights
Magic Regional Championship Qualifier - Standard all day Saturday
Warhammer all day Sunday
Chay Comas,
Dungeon Master At-Large