No matter how many times you restart Mass Effect, you will always end up romancing this set of guns. Just look at them: they’re so emotive, compassionate, and satisfying to go BLAM BLAM with while swinging them around your living room.

This auction begins NOW so come by the livestream to join in!

UPDATE (7:13pm PT): Going, going, gone to dostrow_ for a new record-setting $20k! With these guns you can save the universe just like you’ve already saved the day for countless sick children. Thanks also to our generous donor Sam Skunkworks who crafted these replicas!

This set of 1:1 scale replicas accurately recreate the look of the M8 Avenger and M77 Paladin weapons from the Mass Effect trilogy. They could be perfect as part of a cosplay, or as a display piece. The largest measures 79cm x 31cm x 8cm and the smaller one is 30cm x 18cm x 4cm. Both are 3D printed in a mix of PLA plastic and photopolymer resin (over 300 hours total printing time). Both items include functioning LEDs to imitate the look of these weapons in the game. They are shipped in a hardened rifle case decorated with N7 livery, so it should reach you safely and without being intercepted by the Reapers!

Six great titans of Magic’s past have come to Kaldheim with stunning new art treatments – and we snagged ’em for Desert Bus so we could give them to you!

Kaldheim Part 1 features Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath, Frost Titan, and Primeval Titan, while Part 2 features Kroxa, Titan of Death’s Hunger, Grave Titan, and Inferno Titan. All six feature new art in the Kaldheim showcase style. (Non-foil) And what about Sun Titan, you ask? We don’t invite him anymore. He knows what he did.

Donate $6.51 or multiples thereof before 7:30pm PT for a chance to win!

Posted in chat by btetta.

Alpha Flight is pulling in to the Tus Con Station for our last shift of Desert Bus for Hope 2021. We hope you’ve enjoyed hanging out with us over the past week as we stretched, snacked, played D&D, and had a good time. Alpha Flight will see you again tomorrow… in OMEGA.

Here’s some of what you missed during today’s Alpha Flight…

We check in on the Kindness War:

Kathleen talks with Teen Girls on the Street:

Joe sings us a song:

We snack on some cheezies:

Jacob makes some decaf coffee:

Time to solve a crossword puzzle:

And, finally, the last session of D+B, DM’d by call-in guest Dale:

Remember, for the latest updates, stay tuned to desertbus.org. You can also catch up on the latest #DB2021 happenings around the web…

• Visit youtube.com/user/DesertBusForHope for the latest video highlights from the Video Strike Team (VST).
• Be our friend on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
• And, of course, the live stream is always available at desertbus.org and twitch.tv/desertbus!

Posted by randomtrivia.

WOOOW! Your eternal generosity has taken us all the way to Eight Hundred Thousand Dollars raised so far for Child’s Play Charity this year! THANK YOU! Let’s us celebrate in the traditional way with DANCE!

Posted by btetta.

Posted by btetta.

Posted by azninsect.

Posted by btetta.

Posted by btetta.

Posted by azninsect.

Aaaaand we’ve still got at least 18 hours to go, if not more! The more you keep donating, the longer we’ll keep bussing, so stay tuned!

For a D&D adventuring party, a smirk from the DM is an eternal signal that things might be going very wrong for the party very soon. To ensure you don’t forget this small tidbit, we’re giving away these hand-crafted Hardwood Dice Trays, carved with the warning “When the DM smiles, it’s already too late!” In the crafter’s own words…

A dire warning that what lurks behind the DM screen may not be a benevolent storyteller and that a simple smile may signal doom as well as joy!

This pair of hardwood dice trays are perfect for all kinds of tabletop gaming. They measure 12″ by 12″. The base is made of Bloodwood (a South American hardwood known for its strength, hardness, and vivid crimson colour), while the edges are made from Black Walnut (a North American hardwood favored by woodworkers for its beautiful colour, dimensional stability and shock resistance).

The inlays were carved using a CNC router, then filled with epoxy tinted with mica powder ( Diamond Battleship Grey, is you are interested in the exact pigment). This process creates a very detailed and precise illustration, as well as a strong chemical bond to keep the inlay inside the tray.

While all materials were chosen to stand up to furious dice-rolling action, the use of very heavy or pointed dice will eventually make small dents in the wood, so should be avoided if possible. If the trays start to accumulate scratches, a simple polish with a bees wax/mineral oil finish should buff them back to their previous glory.

Happy rolling!

Log in to or sign up for a donor account, then donate $8.19 (or multiples thereof) for a chance to win this prize! We’ll run this giveaway until 5:30pm PST.

We here at Desert Bus for Hope would like to thank one of our Technical Sponsors for this year’s event: Vancouver Island University!

Vancouver Island University is a place of acknowledgement and fair access, achievement and personal attention – a special blend of a caring, nurturing environment sets VIU apart from other universities. It’s an essential ingredient for a values-based education that creates an environment balancing academic accomplishments with the goal of developing students’ social and relationship skills to last a lifetime, make a difference, and model others to do the same. In doing this, VIU is making an invaluable contribution to much stronger and healthier communities and a better world.

Thank you Vancouver Island University for your continued support of Desert Bus for Hope!

It’s time for a uniquely spoooooky giveaway! Ready to step into a world of otherworldly creatures? The masterminds at Gehenna Gaming are ready to craft a horror themed RPG just for the winner of this Gehenna Gaming Custom RPG Session giveaway.

Gehenna Gaming provides unique horror gaming experiences to fans of TTRPGs with a focus on safety, consent, and inclusivity. They produce a variety of actual plays on Twitch, an ongoing Horror podcast and live gaming events at game stores and conventions around North America. You’ll get a free, private one-shot adventure for yourself and up to five friends in the horror TTRPG system of your choice, run privately over 4 hours with character creation (or pre-gens) included. Game systems include Vampire: The Masquerade, Kult, Call of Cthulhu, Ten Candles, Alien the RPG, Mork Borg, Delta Green, and more. Alternatively, you can book a private consultation session to work on your own campaigns, ask GM advice, or assist with world-building and narrative support.

Log in to or sign up for a donor account, then donate $5.43 (or multiples thereof) for a chance to win this prize! We’ll run this giveaway until 3:50pm PST.

We’re starting a giveaway for a wonderful collection of three hand-crafted Letterpress & Ink Hades Prints, featuring Zagreus, Megaera, and Thanatos from the award winning rogue-like game, Hades! In the crafter’s own words…

A set of 3 letterpress and ink-drawn prints of Zagreus, Megaera, and Thanatos from Hades. Each color element was printed from handset lead type and decorative pieces in a 1921 clamshell-action printing press. I love printing from handset type for the physicality of the process, the necessary problem-solving, and the engineering that went into its design and production. I’ve developed this method of pattern-printing in combination with pen illustration to integrate the typesetting with other inspirations outside of letterpress: Mucha and Beardsley, weaving and fashion and character design, big swathes of flowing fabric, etc.

Each print is 13.6 x 25.4 cm (5.375 x 10 in.), printed and drawn with archival inks.

Log in to or sign up for a donor account, then donate $6.90 (or multiples thereof) for a chance to win this prize! We’ll run this giveaway until 3:00pm PST.

Have you looked behind the bus? Can you look behind the bus? Should you look behind the bus? Maybe these are questions better left unanswered…

Video Game Publisher Ysbryd Games and developer Glitch Factory Games are proud to offer this piece of stunning, original pixel art from the creative director of No Place for Bravery, Tulio Mendes. Tulio happily took some time away from developing his brutal action adventure masterpiece to learn the ways of the BUS and put to use the art style that makes No Place for Bravery so vivid, and gory, and gorgeous FOR THE CHILDREN!

But just a piece of digital art isn’t good enough for Desert Bus for Hope. Nay, we say. We say nay today. Hey, today we say nay.

As it is written, Who So Ever Wins This Lot Shall Be Given the Wheel of the Bus, Ever Does it Go Round. That’s right, if you win, Ysbryd Games Director of Operations, Jacob Burgess will reach out to coordinate how to get you, yes YOU, captured in the same gorgeous, digital style and put you in that driver’s seat. You stunner you. Or maybe your OC, or cat, or your favorite dishwasher, who knows? YOU DO!

The point is that it’s all about you.

But wait! That’s not all! Not only will you get the digital version, of course, but Jacob will print the final piece as a high quality 18×24 poster and ship it out to you!
(Maybe some random nerd stuff from around his house too. Or maybe a muffin, or chocolate, or a rock, or ham, who knows? YOU DON’T!)

A piece of art for you, of you, and you alone. Only one ever printed.

How cool is that?

Now drive!

Log in to or sign up for a donor account, then donate $5.01 (or multiples thereof) for a chance to win this prize! We’ll run this giveaway until 2:00pm PST.

We here at Desert Bus for Hope would like to thank one of our sponsors for this year’s Desert Bus for Hope, Codename Entertainment!