Conventions & Announcements
Central Coast Game Community
Hi everyone, and welcome to the latest update for the gaming and hobby communities on the Central Coast of California. There are a lot of exciting announcements in this one, opportunities to participate in local conventions, info about how you can help replenish the local blood bank while gaming, events like game conventions, Pokemon League Cup, Miniature Painting Competition, and my own impressions of Adventurers League and how I’m using it as a tool for community building. If you’re interested in joining local clubs near you make sure to check out the Community Portals section and the Game Stores & Schedules section.
Table of Contents
Help Support This Newsletter
Upcoming Conventions
Paradise Collectibles Convention
Poll
Ohana Comic Con San Luis Obispo
PolyCon 41: Roaring Con
ConQuest Ventura 2
Central Coast Renaissance Faire
Central Coast Game Community Discord Server
Adventurer’s League & Community Building
Blood Drives for Gamers!
Pokemon League Cup
Podcast Announcement
Community Portals
Game Stores & Schedules
Professional DMs For Hire
Black Rose Designs LLC
PolyCon Painting Competition Rubric
Thank You For Your Support
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Upcoming Conventions
May 4th Paradise Collectibles Convention
The Paradise Collectibles Convention is a community event for the Santa Maria Valley and is presented in conjunction by Paradise Records & Trading Post in Orcutt CA and the creators of MimicCon. The goal of this community event is to create a space for the hobbyist and gaming communities on the Central Coast to share their passions, network, and trade goods and services. Paradise Collectibles Convention is excited to provide space to collectors, artists, hobby gamers, and to share space with local organizers to help create the best community event possible in the Santa Maria Valley.
Paradise Records and Trading Post debuted this show at the Fairpark on Dec 9th, after which I reached out to them asking if there was anything I could do to help grow their vision of creating a community event for collectors and gamers to come together and share and show off their passions. After meeting and talking to Michael Alexander, the organizer, over sushi about a half a dozen times — HaHa, I have come to understand we share a passion for community organizing. My team and I were invited to participate with this event, no strings attached, and given space free of charge to organize tabletop gaming and related activities.
Michael plans to run the Paradise Collectibles Convention multiple times a year, and has already invited my team and I to develop a Tabletop Gaming Section in conjunction with their show over the next few dates (another upcoming in December). I'm very grateful for their hospitality to other organizers, their willingness to share their space, and their desire to enable local organizers in a co-opted event like this.
If you would like to take part in this event, and utilize this opportunity to organize a game table see the applications below or email paradisecollectiblesconvention@gmail.com. This invitation goes out to all Tabletop Gamers, Dungeon Masters, Miniature Wargamers, Cosplay Judges, Board Gamers, and Artists.
Paradise Collectibles Convention will feature:
Dungeons & Dragons: Learn To Play events for families, Pokemon League Cup Tournament, Yu-Gi-Oh! Tournament, Lorcana Tournament, Magic: CEDH Tournament, Star Wars RPG, Dungeons & Dragons Adventurers League Open Play, BattleTech Open Play, Board Game Tournaments & Open Play, Paint N Take miniature figurines, Live Card Breaks, Cosplay, Pre Grading Tutorials, Collectibles & Memorabilia vendors, and Food.
Vendor Application Form
Artist Application Form
Submit a Game or Event
May 18-19 Ohana Comic Con
Ohana Comic Con is a California based organization that organizes small pop culture events featuring toys, anime, and cosplay, all over Central California. They have a handful of larger shows, but seem to be organizing a plethora of events for smaller communities just like San Luis Obispo.
They do not sell tickets online, and encourage buying tickets at the door.
June 21-23 PolyCon 41
Three days packed with board games, role playing games, card games, miniature strategy games, LARPs, community club demos, a paint-and-take room, cosplay contest, auction, BBQ, and more to come!
This year our theme is "Roaring '20s"! Age of Jazz, Harlem Renaissance, Art Deco, Prohibition — come in costume, play in themed games, and gain access to our speakeasy by solving our scavenger hunt.
PolyCon is a 3-day Game Convention in sunny San Luis Obispo organized by a Cal Poly student organization with mentorship from alumni and community organizers. This event highlights a forty-one year long tradition of gaming and convention organizing at Cal Poly, a tradition that has encouraged game designing and event organizing, and which has seeded the Central Coast with talented and passionate gamers. I first attended PolyCon-40 last year in June 2023 and had an absolutely fantastic time. In fact, I’m very honored to be returning to the the PolyCon planning committee this year, and I’m excited to help organize a couple of events that are near and dear to my heart. This year, PolyCon is happily inviting Vitalant to operate a blood drive on Friday, organizing an Adventurers League event, as well as a painting competition for miniature figure painters, novice or adept (See below for more).
Of course all of the traditional PolyCon events are returning this year including board games, protospiels, role playing games, miniature wargames, historical wargames, trading card games, bad movie night, ice cream social, LARPs, demos, and the not-to-be-missed Saturday BBQ.
Submit a Game or Event
Painting Contest Rubric (see below)
July 12-14 ConQuest Ventura
Join us for ConQuest Ventura 2 the weekend of July 12-14, 2024 for three days of exciting tabletop gaming adventures! We will have the D&D Adventurers League here in full force, as well as the legendary War Game Boot Camp where you can learn how to play historical board games!
All of this happens at the Channel Islands Masonic Lodge which is a lovely venue in picturesque downtown Ventura, CA. You are literally surrounded by dozens of food options appealing to all manner of pallet!
July 20 - 21 Central Coast Renaissance Faire
“This year marks the 38th edition of the Central Coast Renaissance Festival, and we are thrilled to welcome enthusiasts back to Laguna Lake Park,” stated festival organizer Rick Smith. “Our festival is a celebration of the art, music, culture, and history of the Renaissance, and we can’t wait to share this extraordinary experience with everyone who attends.”
Of course, I’ll be making the annual pilgrimage to the Central Coast Renaissance Faire in San Luis Obispo this year, and I hope to see all of you there. Time to break out my overused generic wizard costume that may or may not just be a simple gray robe. The various guild organizers and volunteers for this event are all so incredibly welcoming and inviting; some of the kindest people I know in fact. And, interestingly enough, my trip this year is going to include a lot of note taking, possibly for an upcoming event in Santa Maria next Fall, hint? Learn more about Central Coast Fantasy Faire here.
Central Coast Game Community Discord Server
Connect with the game and hobby community over Discord, make local connections and get involved.
Adventurers League & Community Building
For a very long time, I assumed that Adventurers League was an inferior way to play Dungeons & Dragons. I assumed that because there were “extra” rules which the DMs and players had to follow, that they would only serve as guardrails to get in the way of the awesome and amazing games that emerge from homebrew campaigns or campaign modules. I saw Adventurers League, the same way that many enjoyers of Indie RPGs see D&D 5e, vanilla and plain, and not worth the effort. My eyes have been opened.
I began organizing an Adventurer’s League back in September after speaking with Ed Nuki, the organizer for the Conejo Valley Adventurers League. He helped me understand that the value of Adventurers League is that it is approachable to those who don’t want to or can’t commit for an entire campaign; and that made sense to me. Often my biggest struggles organizing a D&D campaign have been around scheduling, it’s a well known fact of D&D actually that scheduling makes or breaks a campaign.
So, I moved forward with the Adventures League, learning the “extra rules” and scratching my head wondering how to transition from 17 years of only running homebrew (and Curse of Strahd of course), to running prewritten adventures that seemed to be railroading the players as well as the DMs.
It’s been six months and I have to say, I’m fully converted. I believe that running a statically scheduled game that’s open to the public for drop-in and drop-out encourages so many more people to engage with the campaign, weather they’re frequent players, learning for the first time, veteran players looking to network, or players returning after a 3 month hiatus. That static nature of the schedule, and the trust players have that the game will be there even if they take a break or can’t make it, is the magic sauce I think. After 6 months we have seen more than 40 players come through our doors, and now have 4 DMs running Adventurer League tables.
I’m aware of rumored problems that Adventurers League has suffered in various other communities, and I’m happy that ours doesn’t seem to be suffering from them yet, and the Ed’s club in Conejo Valley seems to be free of as well. I don’t know if the various rule changes that Adventurers League has gone through over the years has abated these issues, or if we are just lucky to not have them, but so far, I’m completely sold on the idea of organized play as powerful tool for community development.
Santa Maria Valley Adventurers League Discord
Conejo Valley Adventurers League Discord
Blood Drives for Gamers!
I partnered with Vitalant and am now an official Vitalant Blood Drive Coordinator, woot! Which means, any large event that I am participating in as an organizer of some kind will likely involve a blood drive of some sort. Along with being an avid gamer, I’m an avid platelet donor. I understand that most of us however are not so lucky to have the sort of schedule that allows for frequent donations, so I’m happy to be bringing the donor center to you! And, the first Blood Drives for Gamers is going to be at PolyCon this coming June, on Friday the 21st!
I’m very happy to be partnering with PolyCon, Black Rose Designs, and Insomnia Cookies for this Blood Drive event, and excited to announce that all participating donors will receive a donor package including a 10% Off coupon from Black Rose Designs LLC, cookies from Insomnia Cookies (SLO), Poly Dollars from PolyCon, for redeeming prizes at the prize booth, and, I’m personally going to be providing every donor with a 6-piece set of polyhedral dice that you can use to play in one of the games I will be DMing at the event!
Blood donations are easy to make, and only take a few minutes. A majority of people who believe they’re ineligible to donate are actually eligible due to changes in processes and technological innovations. If you’re an eligible donor, or you’re not sure, or even if you don’t believe you are, please swing by the blood drive on June 21st and check for yourself. Blood drives like this help replenish the local blood bank, a life saving service that likely has touched all of our lives in one way or another.
Pokemon League Cup
Prism CCG, is hosting a Pokemon League Cup (along with 3 other TCG tournaments) at the Santa Maria Fairpark on May 4th at the Paradise Collectibles Convention. There will be a $20 entry fee to this tournament and prizes will include Pokemon League Prize Packs along with booster packs.
Pokemon League Season 4: April through June 2024
All players who have Pokémon Trainer Club accounts and are in good standing with the Play! Pokémon rules are welcome to participate. Players must have a Pokémon Trainer Club account with a Player ID attached, and must have opted in to the Play! Pokémon program in order to earn points and prizes. All participants will receive 1 Play! Point just for playing.
I Started a Podcast
The Chay Comas Show may not be a great podcast, but it’s us, the gamers and hobbyists on the coast. The goal of this podcast is to share and learn more about the interests and passions of our community. So far I’ve spoken with long term tabletop gamers and hobbyists like Earl Sisco, Richard Fusillo, Bob Johnston, and Melinda Keller, focusing currently on collecting the oral history of PolyCon, and how it’s shaped our local hobby community over the past 4 decades. If you are someone who would like to talk about the hobby community as it was in the 1980s, 1990s, or early 2000s please reach out. I would love to share your stories.
Community Portals
Central Coast Game Community Discord Server
Monterey County Communities
Monterey D&D Discord
Monterey Area Gamers Discord (Board Games)
Heart of Arcana Discord (D&D)
Kern County Communities
Paladin's Game Castle Discord (Game Store)
D&D Adventurers League Bakersfield Facebook
Bakersfield CA Dungeons & Dragons Facebook
RPG Bakersfield Facebook
San Luis Obispo County Communities
SLO-Gaming Discord (Everything Game Related)
SLO Gaming Facebook (Everything Game Related)
PolyCon Discord (Everything Game Related)
PolyCon Facebook (Everything Game Related)
Cal Poly Magic Players Discord
SLO Smash Discord
Seven Sleeping Dragon’s Facebook (Live Action Roleplay)
Prism CCG Discord (Game Store)
Central Coast Tabletop Gaming Discord (TTRPGs)
Cal Poly SLO Chess Club Discord
Santa Barbara County Communities
Santa Maria Valley Adventurer's League Discord (D&D)
Santa Barbara Warhammer Discord (Wargaming)
Leisure Time Games Discord (Game Store)
Central Coast Collectibles Discord (Game Store)
Central Coast Cosplay Event Group Discord
UCSB Magic The Gathering Discord
Duelists of Santa Maria Facebook (Yu-Gi-Oh!)
Black Rose Designs LLC Discord (D&D, Maker)
UCSB Smash Bros Discord
UCSB Anime Club Discord
Ventura County Communities
Conejo Valley Adventurers League Discord (D&D)
Conejo Valley Adventurers League Facebook (D&D)
Zander's Game House Discord (Game Store)
Game Ogre Discord (Game Store)
Ventura County Star Wars Group Discord (Wargaming)
Dream Catcher Gaming Discord (Smash)
D&D and RPG Gamers of Ventura County Facebook
Game Stores & Schedules
Please check with the shop if you have questions about the schedule.
Prism CCG
Paso Robles, 631 Creston Rd, (805) 284-2086
Tuesday - Open Gaming
Wednesday - Open Gaming
Thursday - Open Gaming
Friday - Open Gaming
Saturday - Yu-Gi-Oh! 1pm
Sunday - Pokémon League 1pm
Gordon’s Good Games
Atascadero, 5830 Traffic Way, (805) 538-5007
Monday - Battletech
Tuesday - Open Gaming
Wednesday - Open Gaming
Thursday - D&D 6pm
Friday - Friday Night Magic
Saturday - Warhammer
Sunday - Infinity
Captain Nemo’s
San Luis Obispo, 563 Higuera St, (805) 544-6366
Monday - Magic Commander
Tuesday - Open Board Gaming
Wednesday - Open RPG Gaming
Thursday - Open Miniature Gaming
Friday - Friday Night Magic
Saturday - Open Gaming
Sunday - Open Gaming
Leisure Time Games
Santa Maria, 159 Town Center, (805) 614-4263
Monday - Pokémon League 5pm - 8pm
Tuesday - Magic Commander 5pm - 8pm
Wednesday - One Piece 5pm - 8pm
Thursday - Games Workshop 1pm - 8pm
Friday - Friday Night Magic 5:30 - 10pm
Saturday - Special Events
Sunday - Yu-Gi-Oh 1:30 - 6pm
On The Play Gaming
Santa Maria, 208 W Main Suite B, (805) 478-9574
Monday - Yu-Gi-Oh! 6:30 - end, One Piece 6:30 - end
Tuesday - Magic Commander 5:30 - close
Wednesday - Magic Draft 6:30 - end, Yu-Gi-Oh! 7pm - end
Thursday - Open Gaming, Battletech 6pm start
Friday - Friday Night Magic 7pm - end, Pokémon League 6:30 - end
Saturday - Open Gaming
Central Coast Collectibles
Lompoc, 1321 N H Suite A, (805) 743-4211
Wednesday - Open Play
Monday - Yu-Gi-Oh! 6:30pm
Tuesday - Open Play
Thursday - One Piece / Shadowverse 5pm
Friday - FREE Magic Draft 6pm - end
Saturday - Pokémon 4pm - 9pm
Sunday - Magic Commander 5pm Lorcana League 4pm
Metro Entertainment
Santa Barbara, 6 W Anapamu St, (805) 963-2168
Monday - Magic Commander 6pm - 9pm
Friday - Friday Night Magic (Commander) 6pm - end
Saturday - Magic Lessons 12pm - 12:30, Pokémon Lessons 12:30 - 1pm
Saturday - Pokémon League 1pm - end, Dungeons & Dragons 5pm - end
Sunday - Yu-Gi-Oh! Tournament 11:30 - end
Sunday - Magic Draft (3 pack) 3pm - end
Zander’s Game House
Camarillo, 2270 Ventura Blvd, (805) 383-9983
Open Gaming Every Tuesday - Sunday
Monday -
Tuesday - MTG 6pm
Wednesday - X-Wing 6pm / Lorcana 6pm / Go! 6:30pm
Thursday - Super Smash Bros 7pm - 10pm
Friday - Friday Night Magic 6pm - 9pm
Saturday - Yu-Gi-Oh! 11am / Open Board Gaming 2pm - 6pm / Pokémon (Adults) 3pm
Sunday - Mini Painting 11am / Infinity / Battletech / Lorcana 12pm & MTG 3pm
Game Ogre
Westlake Village, 1145 Lindero Canyon Rd Unit D4, (818) 852-7270
Monday - Board Game Night 4pm - 7pm
Tuesday - Magic Commander 12pm - 7pm, Pokémon League 4pm - 7pm
Wednesday - Lorcana 3pm
Thursday - Magic Commander 12pm - 7pm, Marvel Crisis Protocol 5pm - 8pm
Friday - Pathfinder/Starfinder 2pm - 7pm, Friday Night Magic 7:30 - 11:30
Saturday - Warhammer 40k All Day
Sunday - Warhammer Age of Sigmar All Day
Professional DMs
Dungeons Masters can sometimes be difficult to find, especially for special events like birthdays, reunions, or team building exercises. Maybe your friends or family just want to learn how to play and desire a professional to walk you through it, or your forever DM needs a break. Whatever the case may be, these DMs are professionals, hireable, and I can personally recommend them.
Timothy Morgan a.k.a. The Whiskered Warlock
Timothy runs a D&D Supper Club called Fiends, Feasts, & Fables at the Clean Slate Wine Bar in Santa Ynez CA. An elegant event that mixes food drink and fantasy.
Are you ready to step into a world of imagination and excitement? Look no further!
I am thrilled to offer my expert Game Master (GM) services for a wide range of special events and gatherings. Whether you're planning a memorable birthday celebration, a unique family bonding experience, or a thrilling game night with friends, I'm here to bring your tabletop role-playing games to life!
Ready to embark on an adventure of a lifetime? Contact me via Facebook, Instagram, or email to inquire about rates and availability. Let's turn your next gathering into an unforgettable journey filled with excitement, laughter, and endless possibilities!
You can connect with The Whiskered Warlock through email, Facebook, or Instagram
Goof
Goof is one of the DMs at our local Adventurer’s League, and is always a highly requested DM at our events.
I am Goof, a GM and artist! I've been playing and running D&D 5e games for 7 years now, and art wise, I've been drawing for many many years.
I specialize in voices and role-playing. I create maps and artwork for my games, both homebrew and modules. I usually focus on doing one-shots, but I am willing to do campaigns if the time works out. For art, I am a pixel artist and 2D artist with a more anime art style. If you're looking for a pixel art animation of your favorite character or a portrait of your TTRPG character, feel free to commission me! If you're interested in either of my services, please check out the links.
You can connect with Goof through Start Playing or contact them for art commissions through ko-fi
Gabe
Gabe is another of the DMs at our local Adventurers League, always well prepared and adaptable to changing plans.
You can connect with Gabe through email
Chay Comas
This is me, hi! I organize several Dungeons & Dragons clubs, events both small and large, and have extensive experience teaching D&D to all ages. My strengths aren’t character voices like Goof, or Homebrew Storytelling like The Whiskered Warlock, but lie with event planning, club organizing, and event promoting. If you’d like to organize a D&D event for your team or community, or learn how to start a club in your community, I’d be happy to help, along with running a D&D at the event.
You can connect with me through email, Facebook, or Phone (805) 286-6707
A Word From Our Sponsor
Hello everyone. Black Rose Designs is a local dice and tabletop gaming accessory company born and operated in Santa Maria, CA (headquartered at Dargarrd Keep, Nightlund). The
cultcompany was born from a small community of players and are happy to support the growth of the community as a whole. Check out our Instagram and follow so you can keep up to date with everything Black Rose is unleashing! Also, mycaptivesemployers said that for every new follower, I would get an extra minute of outside time. Thanks and hope to see you soon. I am told interns find "new opportunities" fairly often around here!
Sincerely,
The Intern
note, the Intern is a paid employee of Black Rose Designs and a sworn vassal of Lord Soth, CEO. Don't concern yourself with his well being.
PolyCon Painting Competition Rubric
A PolyCon Miniature Painting Contest for Novice and Adept Hobby Painters
Entries must be submitted in person before the start of the event and fully painted before the time of their submission.
Novice Painter or Adept Painter?
Contestants must declare whether they are entering as a Novice or an Adept Painter.
Submissions to the Novice Painter's contest are reserved for inexperienced or casual hobby painters. These contestants are likely competing for the first time, and will not be judged on Secondary criteria including: Story, Basing/Plinth, or Advanced Techniques (See below).
Entries that contain one or more of these elements may be submitted instead to the Adept Painter's contest at the discretion of the contest organizers.
70mm+ Category or 69mm- Category
Submissions which are 70 millimeters or larger will be entered into the "70mm+ Category" submissions which are 69 millimeters or smaller will be entered into the "69mm-" category.
Composition
Primary
1. Focal point & Hierarchy: What is the most important part of your piece, and does the way you painted draw the eye to it first?
2. Hierarchy: After your main focal point, is there a clear level of importance branching out from the focal point, or is everything treated equally?
Secondary
3. Story: Does your piece show the world your character inhabits or look like a moment in time?
4. Basing/plinth: If your piece is based or on a plinth, does it match your character? Your base/plinth should look purposefully designed or chosen to complement your character.
Execution
Primary
5. Paint: Do your paints look properly thinned and applied, or are there misplaced brush strokes or splotchy application?
6. Build: Does your piece have any physical imperfections such as visible mold lines, flash, or gaps in the sculpt? If your mini is 3D printed, are there very visible print lines or support scars?
7. Finish: Is everything painted to an equal standard, or did you leave some areas unfinished?
Secondary
8. Advanced Techniques: If you attempted any advanced techniques (ie. non-metalic metal, object sourced lighting, etc) how well did you execute them?
9. Basing/plinth: If you have a base or a plinth, how well made is it? Is your character cleanly attached, or do they look lopsided? Is your base unfinished?
Palette
10. Colour: Your choice of colours should complement each other without clashing in a negative way to detract from the piece.
11. Contrast: Within your chosen palette, is there a good amount of contrast, or does everything look samey? Good amounts of contrast can also result in a better hierarchy and composition
12. Light & Shadow: Apart from general contrast, what amount of light and shadow is visible in your piece? At the most basic end, the raised edges will be lighter while the undersides of things are darker. (note: this does not necessarily mean object sourced lighting)
Theme
13. How well does your piece fit the theme for this contest? Note: Theme does not affect overall score and is only used to weed out off-theme entries from the finalists, as well as the prize for most on-theme. Theme will only be scored during the community vote, and judges will not score Theme.
Composition and Execution have Primary and Secondary criteria. Primary criteria will be judged on all entries whereas Secondary criteria are optional elements, and you will only be judged if they are present in your entry.
Palette and Theme only have Primary criteria and do not have Secondary criteria.
Even though Secondary criteria are not required, having them in your piece and doing them well may result in a higher score than if you did not have them. ie. if two pieces are painted equally well, having a clear story/world for your mini, or a complementary base/plinth may elevate one entry over the other
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For those who are already subscribing, thank you so much! I’ve been writing these newsletters for a long time now, and it’s genuinely encouraging when someone subscribes; you keep the fires stoked.
Thanks for the update, Chay! I hope to make it to Polycon this year. I heard a lot of good things about it from a friend who used to go every year, but alas, no longer lives in the area. I will look into getting some dealer space for Ramen Sandwich Press.