D20: A Bar With Characters is the top tabletop-board-game bar in the Dayton area. The bar is located on 2144 East Whipp Rd. in Kettering.
Owners Andrew and Chrissy Sparks, born and raised in Dayton, started D20 initially as a place they could go to enjoy what they both loved: board games, beer and friends. Now, the bar has developed into a tight-knit community, welcoming anyone and everyone interested in learning how to play or enjoying some tasty craft beer.
“The concept for the bar kind of started out as a joke. My friends and I were sat around playing D&D (Dungeons and Dragons), and one of them said, ‘We should open a bar to play Magic and D&D and drink beer, so all of our hobbies could be tax deductible,'” Andrew said. They then got to thinking about the idea a bit more and eventually decided to take the risk.
Because the bar was designed by two people passionately interested in what they’re selling, if you happen to also be interested in tabletop games and craft beer, you’ll find yourself right at home. The interior walls of the bar are lined with posters and banners from games and nerd-culture.
There’s a mural of a Magic card on one wall. Another wall is lit-up by a projector displaying a rotating menu of craft beer. The opposite wall is lined with bookshelves stuffed with board games and rulebooks. They have your typical board games like Monopoly, Connect 4 and Chess, but they also have the stuff you need to play more complicated games like D&D and Pathfinder.
Andrew and Chrissy didn’t want TVs in the bar. “It’s impossible to carry a conversation when you’re both staring at a screen,” Andrew said. The Sparks wanted the bar to be a sort of gathering place for friends to come, hangout, play board games and catch-up.
“The word pub comes from public house. Back in the day, a public house was the social entertainment for the area. People would go to the public house to meet with their neighbors and have conversations with people in their community. We really wanted to make something like that happen here,” Andrew said.
In that spirit, the bar hosts events frequently. D20’s events are posted on their Facebook page. Andrew and Chrissy are also planning a Thanksgiving Potluck and Christmas Dinner open to anyone who wants to stop by for a good meal with good friends.
Andrew and Chrissy have come a long way since opening nearly two years ago. In the beginning, they were nervous. “I was literally on the phone with the credit card company, trying to get the credit card scanner to work an hour before we opened,” Chrissy said. On opening day, when five o’clock rolled around and the bar opened, no one showed up, Chrissy said. A few
people trickled in around 5:30. Then, suddenly at 6 – on their opening night – they had a line of people stretching out into the parking lot. Business has been good since.
In fact, business has been so good that the bar is planning to expand into the building next door, adding tables and a space where people can buy D20 shirts and merch as well as Magic cards, D&D books and even games made by local developers.
D20: A Bar With Characters is yet another example of a successful local business built on innovation and challenging the mold. More general information is available on their Facebook page.
