A Fairly Odd Tale (12n-4p Eastern Time): A band of hapless adventurers is sucked into a book of fairy tales and must use their wits and cunning to make it out alive! I’ll be kickstarting a print run of this module later this year. Come get a sneak peak!
Museum at the End of Time (7p-11p Eastern Time): The Rite of Passage is a generational custom, and the PCs’ future position and rank within their society is largely determined by the quality of artifacts brought back to the tribe! This 0-level funnel is one of my favorite adventures to run at cons!
I arrived in Indianapolis in the early afternoon and got my vaccination status verified. I wandered down to the stadium and must have passed my luck check, because I later found out I shouldn’t have made it down there without a badge. In the stadium I beheld the wonder of the Wizard Van in all its glory! Then I met some of the Goodman Games’ judges for a group photo before picking up my GM badge. On my way out the door I ran into Alexi and Leah Sargeant of Cloven Pine Games! Alexi was kind enough to sign my copy of The Great Soul Train Robbery.
Thursday
I started Gen Con with a session of Savage Worlds, a game I’ve heard a lot about but hadn’t played before. It was a 1950s Stargate-esque scenario; I played a military medic escorting a scientific expedition to another dimension where we saved a some villagers from being sacrificed to a hideous beast. I found Savage Worlds very quick to pick up, but a little swingy for my taste — the exploding dice mechanic makes every roll a lot more tense than I expected.
After a quick trip through the exhibitors (where I picked up some Goodman Games exclusives) I met up with my friend Luau Lou for lunch before setting up for my session of The Museum at the End of Time. I only had three of five players show up, but they had a great time traversing the Taboo Lands and descending into the titular museum.
Friday
In the morning I ran a second session of Museum which included a woman who came with her husband — it was her first RPG, ever! In the afternoon I ran Luau Lou’s module Seekers of the Un-K’nown, a Mutant Crawl Classics romp that may or may not be based on a classic D&D module. I was a little nervous since I hadn’t run it before, but it wound up being a great session with some memorable moments including mounting spears on a hover bike and befriending the robotic security guards by tending for a damaged unit.
Saturday
Saturday morning I ran a session of my Dungeon Crawl Classics module A Fairly Odd Tale. I’ve been honing this adventure for a year or so and I think I’ve got it to a solid place — enough so that I plan to publish it sometime next year. I had a mother/daughter pair at the table and they may have been my favorite players of the convention!
My Saturday afternoon game was canceled, so I took the opportunity to grab some classic fantasy novels from the Goodman Games booth and headed back to my room to get some rest.
Sunday
Sunday morning was supposed to feature a session of Star Trek Adventures, a game I’ve owned for over a year but never had the opportunity to bring to the table. Unfortunately only two of us showed up, so I wandered the exhibitors hall, picked up a few more items, and then went to the Goodman Games raffle. Unfortunately I didn’t win anything, but I had fun seeing all the prizes and watching people delight at their wins.
Final Thoughts
I had a great time! I haven’t been to Gen Con in 10 years, and this is the first time I ever ran games there. Being with other DCC/MCC fans made it super easy, and Goodman Games was very supportive (they brought afternoon snacks around to all their judges!). I was also grateful that all the games I ran were in Lucas Oil Stadium — it wasn’t nearly as loud there as in other spaces, so even though we all wore masks I never had to strain to hear people.
I intentionally didn’t hang around for a lot of evening events; I tend to be susceptible to con crud, especially when I overextend myself. This seemed to work out really well, as by the end of the con I still had plenty of energy. I may ad an evening event or two in the future.
If you’re like me, and a bit of an introvert, you may find small talk a little awkward — especially when meeting strangers around a convention table. Here are 20 questions that can help break the ice and build comradery while waiting for your session to start at Gen Con this week!
d20
Question
1
What are you most looking forward to at the convention?
2
What’s been your favorite thing at the convention so far?
3
What’s the weirdest thing you’ve seen at the convention so far?
4
What’s the coolest character you’ve played at the convention?
5
What’s the coolest thing a GM has done at the convention?
6
What is your “holy grail” RPG or RPG item?
7
What swag did you miss out on that you wished you had gotten?
8
Who has the coolest booth in the exhibitors hall?
9
What’s your favorite die (d20, d12, d30, etc.)?
10
What’s the most expensive RPG item you’ve ever purchased?
11
If money were no object, what RPG item would you purchase?
12
What media property do you think deserves a table top RPG?
13
In case of an emergency, what one RPG item would you grab on your way out the door?
14
If you could have lunch with someone in the RPG industry, who would it be?
15
If you could play an RPG with any historical figure, who would it be?
16
What fictional character do you think would be the best GM?
17
Which RPG setting would you most like to live in?
18
What would you most like to change about the gaming hobby?
19
If you could only equip a RPG character with three pieces of equipment, what would they be?
20
If a horde of zombies were to attack right now, what’s your escape plan?
Event tickets for Gen Con Indy go on sale this weekend! I’ll be running four games:
Museum at the End of Time – Thursday, 2p: During your Rite of Passage, you stumble on a monument to the greatness of the Ancient Ones. Will you find glory and treasures for your tribe or the bitter sting of failure? A 0-level funnel for Mutant Crawl Classics.
Museum at the End of Time – Friday, 9a: During your Rite of Passage, you stumble on a monument to the greatness of the Ancient Ones. Will you find glory and treasures for your tribe or the bitter sting of failure? A 0-level funnel for Mutant Crawl Classics.
Seekers of the Un-K’nown – Friday, 2p: Brave the dreaded Lands of Boom to rescue members of your post-apocalyptic tribe! Can you discover the secrets of Quartum-Q and its inhabitants? A level 1 Mutant Crawl Classics adventure.
A Fairly Odd Tale – Saturday, 9a: A band of hapless adventurers is sucked into a book of fairy tales and must use their wits and cunning to make it out alive! A new 2nd-level DCC adventure; younger gamers welcome!
This past Saturday I drove to Decatur, Illinois, to attend Heroicon, a small convention supporting Games For Troops, an Illinois non-profit delivering board, card, and other games to the men and women of the US Armed Forces.
I was supposed to drive over with my friend Luau Lou, but he had to back out a few days before, so it was a solo mission. On the plus side it meant I didn’t have to leave so early in the morning, as the game I was scheduled to run was in the afternoon. I arrived about 2 hours before my game so I checked out the vendors and got my wife some dice earrings for Mother’s Day.
While in the vendors area I was invited by designer Keun Ahn to play his game Shadows: Heroes & Monsters, a PvPvE (Player vs Player vs Environment) CCG that recently completed it’s crowdfunding campaign. At first I thought it would be a little fiddly due to the number of counters and stats to keep track of, but after a few rounds I got the basics. I even managed a pretty great feint, causing Keun to prepare for an attack that never came, for the win.
I was a little apprehensive about my Mutant Crawl Classics game as I only had one person signed up. Fortunately the player’s father had an open slot so he joined us for a round of Museum at the End of Time. Since it was just the two of them I gave them each 6 zero-level characters; in the end, only 5 left the museum. They really enjoyed the game (both were new to DCC/MCC).
Afterwards they invited me to try Dungeon Draft, a clever card drafting game with a fantasy theme. It went a little slow because several of us were playing for the first time, but I can see it being a nice filler game.
All things considered I had a good time and, while attendance seemed very low, I wouldn’t say no to attending Heroicon for a day again!
Ethereal Gary Con will be running online March 24-27, 2022! Game tickets go on sale tomorrow; I’ll be running three games at the con:
Museum at the End of Time (Friday, 7p ET): The Rite of Passage is a generational custom, and the PCs’ future position and rank within their society is largely determined by the quality of artifacts brought back to the tribe! A zero level funnel adventure for Mutant Crawl Classics; pregens provided.
A Fairly Odd Tale (Saturday, 10a ET): A band of hapless adventurers is sucked into a book of fairy tales and must use their wits and cunning to make it out alive! A 2nd level Dungeon Crawl Classics adventure; pregens provided.
The Sunken Temple of Set (Saturday, 6p ET): To the east of the village of Mitra’s Fist is a secluded temple, partially flooded and shunned due to a deific curse. But now a host of evil resides in the once sacred edifice which plots to thwart the efforts of good in the region. Is your band of seasoned heroes up to the challenge of exploring the sunken temple? D&D 5e; pregens provided.
The Rite of Passage is a generational custom, and the PCs’ future position and rank within their society is largely determined by the quality of artifacts brought back to the tribe! A zero level funnel adventure for Mutant Crawl Classics; pregens provided.
Badges are now available. Proceeds from Heroicon go to Games For Troops, an Illinois non-profit whose mission is to deliver board, card, and other games to the men and women of the US Armed Forces. I hope to see you there!
