Touch Grass (with your LGS)
I've been sharing in various Discords my journey of running RPGs at my LGS, stuff like Mothership, Mausritter, etc. Ultimately, it led to my LGS stocking things like OSE and Mothership at the store. I've gotten requests to share my journey/how I made that happen, so here's the story and my call to action for y'all to go to your LGS, see if they're cool, and run cool stuff there! Even if it's a one shot, and you never do it again, you're growing the community, being a model for how the community should be, AND supporting your LGS. It has to start somewhere.
Vibe Check
This Summer, my LGS expanded their store, adding 200 some seats to their play area, mainly for TCGs and Warhammer (sick). Thanks to this, their RPG section is taking over the old TCG play area. They're building 2 additional rooms for folks to play RPGs in (super sick). Over the years, I've primarily gone there for MTG pre-release events or Lorcana. They do really cool things like 3D print trophies, award packs generously, and create engaging props/decorate the store based on the set that's releasing. Most recently, the owner 3-D printed playmat cases in the shape of lightsabers for folks playing in the SW TCG this past weekend. They're clearly a place that cares about community and want to support its player base. I'm not saying they're perfect, but they're willing to listen and make changes and offer things the community is interested (e.g. me running a bunch of dope ass sytems just because).
Bonus Vibes: I've known the owner of my LGS for some years. Our parents worked together way back when, and I remember the year the LGS opened. So it was easy for me to sidle up to the owner and say hey what RPGs are you going to stock in the back now that you got all this extra room. He said he had no idea! He didn't know where to start with RPGs, so I came back a few days later with some names written down like Exalted Funeral, Plus One Exp, Tueday Knight Games, etc. I told the owner I had it covered and would help him curate a good selection of stuff. When I told POE I shared their info, they asked me for the LGS's email and said he'd get a head start on the conversation, haha. Visibility, connections! Indie RPG Ambassador me - hello I will do outreach and run stuff. Call me. You mean, I can get my LGS to buy RPG books and then buy them there, supporting my LGS and not pay for shipping? This is an incredible opportunity for everyone involved.
It's almost like someone should create an outreach/ambassador RPG program or something...hmmm....
Speak to someone IN PERSON
Anyway with so much fun on the TCG side, I wanted to have that same feeling with RPGs. I have that online already, running games pretty consistenly in a variety of servers and writing about those experiences on here. I don't have any big qualms about running IRL vs online, but I had all these books I wanted to use in person instead of scrolling on a PDF. I wanted to make props like using the ID cards for The Haunting of Ypsilon-14. So one day after playing magic the gathering, I rolled up and asked if I could run games and when. It turns out coordinating these things is much more likely to happen if you are physically there having a conversation rather than messaging someone online. Woahhhhh.
Rewind and remember to tell your brain to fuck off
This was not the first time I had asked about running RPGs at the LGS though. Back in the beginning of 2024 after having some more GM experience, I felt confident to try and run Orbital Blues there. I reached out to someone (through Discord) who never got back to me, and it all kind of fizzled out. In the beginning of 2025, I asked someone else and didn't get a response at all. Both times it was a bummer, and at the time, I wrote off not running anything there. I compartmentalized and decided folks aren't interested in the games I want to play. This is a mistake! What's worse, it's an irrational one that's so so so easy to fall into. Sometimes stuff happens! I think the bandwidth and consistency, at the time, wasn't there to make it work on both ends, and my LGS does already have a dedicated GM they pay. I didn't want to overstep which turned out to be a problem I made up in my own head.
Be the sample platter you wish to see in the world
Right so this recent time while in person, the GM and LGS folks were there when I asked about running stuff, and they were hyped about me running stuff which surprised me. Apparently, the demand for some games (Daggerheart) is a lot for the 1 GM. I said I'd consider running whatever folks were intersted in (Daggerheart), but when it came to scheduling a time and system, the guy at the LGS said I didn't have to do Daggerheart or 5.5e or Cyberpunk. I should do something I enjoy and for fun. I was delighted to have this kind of support and encouragement, so I opted for Mothership. I had run it enough and had a fuck ton of scenarios on deck to run. I told the LGS I wanted to be an indie rpg sample platter for them. Run a series of one shots, a thing I already do often online anyway, and rotate through systems that seemed cool or I enjoyed. I get to bring my books to a table, and people get the opportunity to play something in person they might not otherwise have experienced.
Hype up your sessions and YOU
Even with the LGS putting the event on the calendar and having just finished running games at GenCon this past summer, I was still anxious as hell about running the game. Was anyone going to show up? If they did, would they be cool? If I had a problem with a player, would the LGS back me up? All this shit and more was running through my head. It did not matter!!!
In my first session, I had 2 players show up, and neither of them had played Mothership. One had watched Quinn's video on it and thought it looked cool. We even talked about other games like Public Access and whatnot. The other player hadn't heard anything about it but liked the premise and wanted to try it out. She said it was different. 3 hours later with 8 NPCs dead in The Haunting of Ypsilon-14, they had an awesome time and so did I.
Is your LGS cool, and if so, what are you going to run?