Monday, March 30, 2015

Gary Con VII, day four

     Sunday morning started with breakfast and the tv weather folks telling us freezing rain was heading our way. This cut short any last minute con activities, though we did make time for this...



After a bit of investigation (we asked around) we discovered where this memorial plaque was. Bitter winds nipped at our faces as we made it to the site, capping an outstanding convention. I would like to thank the Gygax family plus all others involved with seeing that this Gary Con went as well as it did. While I was looking forward to getting home and being with my family, I was a bit maudlin over leaving my friends both old and new. Then I remember that there is always the next event, where we can gather and celebrate. Take care everyone, and I hope to post about everything I got in the next day or so!

Saturday, March 28, 2015

Gary Con, day three

     So today we started with sausage gravy and biscuits, it is a certainty I will return home fat. Norhing scheduled, so I took my time getting into the con. Managed to catch the end of the What's New From Goodman Games. So the have the license to put out Fritz Lieber Lankhmar stuff, as well as Jim Ward's Epsilon City for Metamorphosis Alpha. Definitely some cool stuff coming.
      Coming out of the seminar, I saw JV West and Reid San Filippo, and after talking about how we each had nothing scheduled, Reid volunteered to run a little Crawling Under a Broken Moon.



We ended  up with six people playing and Reid ran a Christmas themed adventure, totally fun. Once again I played the luchador. That is how awesome the class is! Afterwards I swung through the dealer's room again, picked up some more awesome stuff which you all will hear about later. My friends were done for the day, so we left and had a late lunch at Culvers once again.

     A couple of hours later, I returned to the con. Basically hung out with my friends in the bar, while my friend joined the group he played with to accept the AD&D first edition open championship. It was fun drawing with Brian Thomas, but all good things come to an end. Before I left, Luke Gygax did stop by to talk to one of the guys sitting at our table.

Tomorrow we will be trying to get on the road quickly, with only a few things to get done before leaving. The post will come at the end of the night. Later, and take care folks!



Gary Con VII, day two

      None of us had any pressing events today, so we stopped at Culver's on the way in. This Culver's had two trains that made their way around the restaurant's ceiling. While we ate our delicious meal, we noticed three guys at a corner table playing Zombies by Twilight Creations.
  
      We arrived around noon, plenty of time to get to my 1:00 game. It was another game by Reid, a sequel to yesterday's game but this time I had a ticket. Once more, fun was had by all, though two  characters died along the way.



I was able to play a new class Reid has come up with, the inimitable luchador. Once he gets it ready for public consumptiom, I believe everyone will be pleased by it.
     An hour after the end of Reid's game I got to play in Jim Wampler's Hyper-Cube of MYT tournament.

I think I managed to survive five encounters before I was viciously attacked and killed.I will leave it at that, so as to not give anything away. It was a lot of crazy/weird fun, and it looks like we will know the winner on Sunday at 11:00 am. After leaving that game, my friends and went to the local Gino's East for some Chicago deep dish pizza. And thus, another delicious end to an amazing day.        
 
 



Friday, March 27, 2015

Gary Con VII, day one

     Got into the con today, and wow what a start. While not a big convention, Gary Con has a lot of personality. Picked up our badges and began checking out the place.
 Made a pass through the dealer's room, and it was small but the quality was huge! Ran into J.V. West, who had some amazing little free zines he is giving away this weekend.


We hung out for awhile, went through dealer's room, where we talked to Zach Glazar about his awesome Lesser Gnome products. Then I broke down and spent some money, which I will go into at the end of the weekend. Saw Adam from Drink Spin Run, and he had a surprise for me! (A bottle of Dragon's Milk. Shh, don't tell anyone) Unfortunately we were not able to talk for long.

I also ran into Reid San Filippo and his steel top hat! He invited me to play in his zero level funnel "Mall Maul" from his zine, Crawling Under a Broken Moon. I happily accepted, and as we talked just prior to the game, he shared some amazing things he is getting ready to spring on the DCC zine scene! When the game began there were eight of us playing, each of us had three characters each to start and there were three extras in case someone lost all of their guys. We managed to have eleven out of those twenty-seven survive. Everyone had a blast and it was a treat to experience Reid's wonderful GM'ing style. After that I met up with Jason Braun and Brian Thomas for awhile, then it was time to go. Barbecue pork chops, baked beans and steamed vegetables awaited me. Have I mentioned how fantastic this trip has been!










Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Gary Con VII, day 0

     Wednesday started out a bit crazy, had to take the van back intto get the steering checked out, then I had the brake light come on (due to me accidentally hitting the parking brake with my foot) We hit the road a little later than we wanted, thankfully missing the big thunderstorm that rolled through in the early morn. The day continued to be grey but uneventful, thankfully. A late lunch at a Steak n' Shake between Indianapolis and Chicago helped us power through the second half of our trip, which included Chi-town toll roads at rush hour.    
  
   We arrived around 6:00 pm, at my friend's brother's house. It is an amazing place and the brothers were happy to see each other, a big dinner was all ready to go. Thought about leaving for the party at Frank Mentzer's, but it was dark after and that made me alittle nervous. I chickened out but this was my dinner...

 I am excited about Thursday, see you all later at the Con!

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

So much excitement, so much to do

     Tomorrow morning I leave for Gary Con, but today I almost ready to go. I feel like my heart is going to explode, since this is the first road trip I have ever taken without my family. There is a sense that any moment everything will unravel, thankfully I can c8mbat these feelings but it is rough sometimes. The weather in central Ohio decided to take a step back into snow, though I feel it will disappear soon enough.I have been charged by Tim Snider (Savage Afterworld) to carry the torch and report daily on the happenings at the Con. That of course means I need to remember to take pictures, which I hope my comrades help remind me. My pack of games will include DCC rpg, Labyrinth Lord, Cryptworld, and the Castles and Crusades player's guide. Doctor Who may be included in there, since Nick Seidler from Diary of Doctor Who rpg's will be there. Trying to only bring things I will play and/or run. Wish me luck and hopefully I will get to see some of you folks soon!

Saturday, March 21, 2015

Every Planet We Reach Is Dead (and other stories)

     So I have decided the working umbrella title for my little group of DCC adventures is Every Planet we Reach it's Dead. Based on a barren planet, the pc's arrive (zero level funnel)and end up in the only settlement there (D'artay's Aerie )
 From there, I am working on several directions they can go, one of them being a small ruined temple and the other being a mountain/tower structure topped by a monkey's head. There are rumours of an un named goddess/ demon queen of the frenzy.

She was tricked into wearing a vest that kept her from side stepping realities. Her worshippers were indiginous groups of beast men who would readily give their lives in her service.

I have even more in store, but that is all I have for now, take careffolks. Later.

Sunday, March 15, 2015

Getting ready for Gary Con and points beyond

     Ten days until Gary Con VII, and am so excited! Ready to play some games and maybe run a couple of pick up games. As a sort of fill in for Savage Tim Snider, I will endeavor to post on each days events. A sort You Are There set of posts. I will strive for the same high quality that he puts into his reports.
  
   In the "Things I am working on" department, I am working on a DCC science fantasy mini setting. Here is a quick sketch of the pc's base of operations,  D'artay's Aerie.



Also, I am planning to run Escape from the Purple Planet at Ravenstone on Sunday, April 12th. So come on in and give it a shot, haha!

Friday, March 6, 2015

A bit more Alucar

     Here we go, another weekend and hopefully some more gaming. My introductory scenario for Alucar involves Professor Atlas demonstrating a new device, to mark the one year anniversary of the city falling into the earth. Anything involving the Professor should be amazing!     
A couple quick sketches, a couple of things you may find in Alucar, take care my friends