Fundraising: Tabletop Appreciation Weekend Saw Extra Lifers Turn Out for Tabletop

[Jack Gardner 438]

 

Another Tabletop Appreciation Weekend has come and gone and the Extra Life community, as always, did not disappoint. It was truly awesome seeing you all break out your board games, pen & paper RPGs, and even digital tabletops to support the kids in hospitals across the United States and Canada. Some of you got in some incredible games with your friends and families while others in the community streamed their experiences online. The leading tabletop gamers of Extra Life came up with a ton of great ideas. We wanted to share just a few of them.

 

By far, one of the coolest moments of the weekend were the marathon sessions of Dungeons & Dragons that were streamed out of the basement where it all started. Extra Lifers from the Milwaukee-Madison area came together to host a day filled with D&D fun in the basement of Gary Gygax's home, the place where Dungeons & Dragons came into its own. The sessions were hosted on Extra Life's official Twitch channel and spanned 12 hours on Saturday. The stream starred Larry Hamilton, Bill Allan, Fenway Jones, Grant Ellis, GM Travis, Jason O’Brien, and John Gilbert who were also joined by Alex and Mike Gygax, Gary's sons, for four different D&D one shots over the course of the day.

 

In total, the crew managed to raise over $3,100 USD! They managed this impressive feat by giving viewers the chance to name player characters lacking for $25 USD each. For varying levels of donations, viewers could also grant a re-roll to the players, impose advantage or disadvantage on certain actions, or even turn a roll into a natural 1 or 20. If someone donated $100 USD, the DMs would grant players a magic item. The players had a blast and it was a great time for everyone involved. If you missed it live, you can find links to all of the relevant places to go on Larry Hamilton's website, Follow Me and Die. 

 

Olympian-turned-YouTuber Shawn Johnson East streamed tabletop games with her spouse Andrew to her nearly 900,000 subscribers. The duo managed to not only raise awareness of Extra Life to their colossal audience, but they also raised over $10,000 USD. That far outstrips their original streaming goal of $5,000 USD. That money goes to their local hospital in Nashville, Tennessee, the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt.

 

 

To top it off, we had so many of you coming out to play tabletop games for the kids. It was a really beautiful thing to see. Sean Rooney, one of the pillars of our community and #Dominicstrong, turned up to play Root. Tabletop Bellhop organized a play event in Windsor that featured a dazzling number of tabletop games to support Extra Life. Nikki Drake reached the $3,000 USD mark with her tabletop gaming over the weekend, approaching her $3,333 USD goal.  LessThanGreg, Greg Davis, streamed for Extra Life over the weekend and showed the community some really awesome digital board games. Did you know there's a digital tabletop version of Tetris that's multiplayer? I didn't!

 

If you can't get enough tabletop gaming in your life, check out the barrage of features, interviews, tabletop games, and more that we put out over the weekend! Need to get out of an awkward Monopoly night? We've got you covered. Looking to up your tabletop game and avoid some of the unintentional racial or gendered assumptions that can sometimes make players or DMs uncomfortable during role-playing? Our interview with Tanya DePass will help you. Love Stranger Things and want to bring that to your tabletop? There are several options out there. New to Dungeons & Dragons and looking to spice up a campaign? We wrote up some modules that might give you ideas. Want to play a fun social card game? Consider breaking open The Red Dragon Inn. Want a fun tabletop roleplaying podcast to listen to during your commute? We released the final episodes of the liveplay campaign that began during 2018's Tabletop Appreciation Weekend. There's a ton for you to check out, and we hope that you all enjoy what we've put together. 

 

Thank you to everyone who rolled dice, shuffled cards, or moved around board piece over Tabletop Appreciation Weekend. All of us here at Extra Life appreciate you and the work you do that's making a difference in your community. You constantly leave us amazed. Let's all use this to get our rears in gear for Game Day which is coming up faster than ever. 

 

Don't forget to sign up for Extra Life to help sick and injured kids in hospitals around the US and Canada by playing games!

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