Happy Needfest and Merry New Year!

While life has continued to wear me out (in particular my day job*), with the new year's turn, there's always a fresh bout of hope that seeps into my fingers and toes, so I'm dusting off the ol' blog once again.

This post will summarize some news and updates, and help to kickstart the rest of the month's writing! 

News and Updates

Jason Zavoda - Greyhawk Fan and Friend - 1965-2021

I have sad news to share that Jason Zavoda died on 22 December 2021.  Jason was a long-time Greyhawk fan and member of its online communities dating back to AOL's late-2e heyday.  

Jason published his Hall of the Mountain King blog, wrote Greyhawk fan fiction, contributed articles to the Oerth Journal (and edited some issues during its Turmoil Between Editors phase), and, perhaps most importantly to Greyhawk fans, spearheaded his wondrous index of Greyhawk references in all published products.  The index is an indispensable research tool, and began as a humble .TXT file that grew over the years, and was recently updated by Eric Johnson in the Greyhawk Resources Files on Facebook as a Microsoft Excel format to allow more filtering and sorting.

Carlos Lising of casl Entertainment wrote a very nice Greyhawk-themed tribute to Jason in the Facebook Sages of Greyhawk group (you'll need to be a member of the group to access his story).

Paul Stormberg (of The Collectors Trove and Legends of RolePlaying) and I have discussed putting together a compilation of Jason's many contributions to the Greyhawk fan community, to help ensure that they're preserved and available to the fans for years to come, and I've reached out to the GreyhawkOnline admin team on that front too.

Additional 2021 Losses

2021 was not a kind year to my gaming friends.  In addition to Jason Zavoda's recent death, I still have draft blog posts in queue for:

• Doug Rhea, co-founder of the North Texas RPG Con, who died on 19 September 2021
  
• Steve Perrin, game designer for RuneQuest and c0-founder of DunDraCon, and frequent guest at the North Texas RPG Con, who died the day after Blair, 13 August 2021
  
• Blair Reynolds, artist extraordinare from Pagan Publishing and Traveller, who died back on 12 August 2021 

I had started in on a long tribute post for Blair when Steve died, and then when we lost Doug in the next month, all of the wind left my blogging sails....

2022 Conventioneering

GaryCon XIV @ 24-27 March 2022

Jon and I currently plan to return to Lake Geneva for GaryCon XIV in March 2022 with our ever-inspiring Black Black Publishing booth, where we'll have a number of new releases available.  More news on that front over the next couple of months.

I haven't caught up with Jay Scott to see if we'll have another Greyhawk-themed track of events at GaryCon this year, but will report back once I have an update.   

I do not plan to run on-grid events again this year, and will focus on our BBP booth and playing in friends' games again. 

North Texas RGP Con @ June 2022

While the NTX web site is currently down for updates, the North Texas RGP Con is still on, and the NTX Facebook group remains the best place to follow for news and updates. 

grodog's Projects Projects Projects

I still have too many longer projects and articles to complete and share but given my present-day job-driven time constraints (both in my current role and in seeking a new one) those aren't likely to surface in the near future.  

But I can at least get back into the habit of writing shorter posts with news updates, smaller pieces of creative content, and such, which will make me happier (and presumably the four of you who still read the blog ;) ).

I do have several entries that fall into the latter category in my design journal, some of which has grown out of my solo campaign with Henry, in addition to ongoing Castle Greyhawk research and design work, so keep an eye out for those.

Allan.

---

* I am in the market for a new job—willingly so, and while I’m still in my current job. 

 

I’m looking for new roles in this zone: knowledge management, content strategy, master data management, taxonomy/ontology, support portal program management, enterprise content management, information architecture, and such. 

 

If you, or one of your friends, happen to be hiring such roles, please get in touch!: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allangrohe 

 

I am focused on remote work opportunities, but am always open to offers I can’t refuse 😉 

North Texas RPGCon 2021 - grodog's games recap

As usual, I had a wonderful time at the North Texas RPG Con this year (3-6 June 2021)---in particular since this was the first in-person convention that I attended since NTX in 2019!

Some quick NTX info, for those who are unfamiliar with the convention:

• Website @ https://www.ntrpgcon.com/
• Facebook Group @ https://www.facebook.com/groups/310434204630
• TableTop Events @ https://tabletop.events/conventions/ntrpgcon-2021
  

 

Black Blade Booth

These pictures showcase our Black Blade Publishing booth this year:

While it was a transitional and rebuilding year, we did well at the con, and it was great to be able to showcase so many new and cool products to the attending gamers!

grodog's Events

Knights & Knaves Alehouse Social

I played in the K&KA Social on Thursday night, and had a wonderful time.  It's always fun to play with a very large group (15-25 players) each year and to see what mayhem erupts!  This year we were slated to play OD&D (we alternate between OD&D and AD&D each year), and Nathan "tetramorph" Jennings DM'd again. 

We picked up from where we left off two years ago.  Here are my player maps from the 2019  session:

 

and alas, my hapless PC---who used efreeti-granted wishes to become the Lord of the Manor last time---was laid low by those meddling kids!  Rest in pieces, Lord Merrak the Perspicacious, and know that you will be avenged!  (In the meanwhile, he and his efreet did kill the dragon and go down in a blaze of glory! =) 

Nathan posted his DM-POV event summary at K&KA at https://knights-n-knaves.com/phpbb3/viewtopic.php?p=281522#p281522, with some follow-up comments in the next page too.  General discussion of the social begins on the page at https://knights-n-knaves.com/phpbb3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=16739&start=135

 Here are a few pics of the K&KA crew in the boardroom where we played:

 

K&KA Social 2021 -
picture by Keith "Welleran" Sloan

 

 

K&KA Social 2021 -
picture by Keith "Welleran" Sloan

K&KA Social 2021 -
picture by Chris "benjoshua" Fuller

 

"Treachery in Erelehi-Cinlu!"

 

I ran "Treachery in Erelehi-Cinlu!" twice at the con, with a fine set of players in each.  These were smaller events than I normally run through my Castle Greyhawk levels, with just six players per event, which allowed for a bit more focus on role-playing with and among the players. 

Here's the long event description:

The drowic sage Erastoriûl Ka’arndrik has betrayed your masters, Lyme, Lord Mage of House Eilservs, and Lady Eclavdra, self-styled Queen of the Vault. Eclavdra and Lyme have sentenced the sage to vengeance and unholy death, and you are to be the instruments of their vendetta! Invade the sage's home, slay him, and return with baubles, secrets, and magics that will enrich the coffers and standing of your masters (and yourselves!). Bring your graph paper, dice, and a healthy dose of paranoid courage! 5th-7th level pregen drowic PCs will be provided. Please note: in grodog's version of the World of Greyhawk drow are chaotic evil, demon-worshipping villains, including the pregen PCs and their masters.

Session #1 ran on Friday night, and Session #2 on Saturday night.

Session #1 players:   Dex Briggs, Mark Greenberg, Jim Kitchen, Keith Sloan, Wade Stalcup, Troy Stearns

Session #2 players:    Corwin Getty, Stephen Getty, Marian Hershberger, Natalie Hershberger,  Shannon Hardt, Darren Moura-Smith, William Meinhardt

I didn't end up playing any other events at the con this year, and both sets of players ended up succeeding in the mission for the scenario, which was a bit of a surprise to me.  I may playtest the lower dungeon level for this at Virtual Greyhawk Con in October, we'll see how the rest of my summer design/editing/relaxing time goes....

grodog's NTX Loot

Adventurers and gamers are all about the loot, so here's what I scored at NTX this year. 

My purchases from the con include stuff bought actually at the con, as well as some items that arrived in the mail while I was away for the con, and some items recovered from our inventory that were buried in storage the past 18 months ;) :

 

Highlights include 

• finding a copy of Dungeon Crawl #3 thanks to the vasty stores of Mike "Badmike" Badolato (I had bought a copy of #2 from Wayne Rossi while home visiting South Jersey several years ago; these are still available in PDF via DriveThru)---the Ballantine Adult Fantasy books were from Mike, too!
  
• the pulps-inspired Creature Compendium volumes 1-3 (all Special Editions for NTX), and the Fifty Fiends books, all from New Big Dragon:  I'm a sucker for demons, as well as pulp monsters!
• the new expanded edition of Rob Kuntz's "Beyond the Living Room" set-piece encounter from Castle Greyhawk, recently released by Rob via Paul Stormberg's Legends of Roleplaying 

When I returned home, my copies of Through Ultan's Door #3 and (unpictured, but there in spirit) Gabor Lux's Helvéczia arrived, too! 

 

See!---I'm Not Dead Yet :D

I finally got this out the door, in the waning days of my first vacation this summer, and have some more news and events to share on the blog soon!

Allan.

grodog's virtual GaryCon XIII events - March 2021

 

I submitted two five-hour delves into my version of Castle Greyhawk to Virtual GaryCon XIII  this evening.

 

 

The events will hopefully be scheduled at these times I submitted: 

1. grodog's Castle Greyhawk - Thursday, 25 March from Noon to 5pm
2. grodog's Castle Greyhawk - Friday, 26 March from 9am to 2pm 
3. Legends of Roleplaying Tournament: Into the City of Brass - Sunday, 28 March from 1pm to 5pm
   

 

The two event descriptions are identical:

 

Explore grodog's Castle Greyhawk levels. Choose from: 1) seek to Escape from Level 14, or 2) battle the dreaded Holaki in the Four-Way Hub Level. Bring your graph paper, dice, and a healthy dose of paranoid courage! 6th-10th level pregen PCs will be provided. Virtual session will be run in Webex, details to be provided after registration.

---

The Lake Geneva Legio V began as a handful of gamers who have attended Gary Con since its inception. We have grown over the past few years to include like-minded individuals united by a respect of Gary Gygax and his legacy. We are the dedicated attendees who love Gary Con for the camaraderie it establishes, the Game Masters who run games from across the decades, and the committed gamers who spend these four days in a fervor of dice rolling and old school good times.

Although events run as LEGIO V Presents will use a variety of rule systems, our focus is on games authored by Gary and his contemporaries as well as those systems whose designers pay homage to these pioneers.

 

I'll be helping Paul Stormberg to DM his Legends of Roleplaying tourney again this year, and plan to register to play in various Greyhawk- and old-school themed events, too. 

 

I'll also help close out the Greyhawk track with Jay Scott's 7pm Greyhawk Experts Panel on Sunday night. 

 

Jay Scott has also organized a huge Greyhawk presence for the convention, spanning several editions---proving the validity of Canonfire!'s motto:   "Editions Change.  Greyhawk Endures."---so I've captured a bunch of highlights below (there are over 30 additional events included in the track not shown below!):

 

 

I'll update my schedule details above as the events are approved.  

 

See you there! =)

 

Allan.

Virtual Greyhawk Con: 2-4 October 2020

In case folks haven't heard about this virtual convention for Greyhawk fans yet, here's some info/details:

    I hope everyone is staying safe during these times! It is good to see things starting to open up once again!

    To continue with the online gaming momentum, I am organizing a brand new convention: Virtual Greyhawk Con 2020! This is a "Fan Content", not for profit convention, that will take place the first weekend of October, 2nd-4th.

    I have commitments from NINE of my Twitch Community Live Streamers, over two continents, to provide World of Greyhawk content for those wishing to experience some of the best ever made Campaign Setting for D&D. Also we will have fantastic seminars from the likes of the great Anna Meyer, and main Sponsorship from Troll Lord Games.

    For continuing information, please go to the following: https://tabletop.events/conventions/virtual-greyhawk-con-2020

    Our Virtual Greyhawk Con 2020 Discord Server is setup at: https://discord.gg/yHyG75

    More information during Twitch Live Streams: https://www.twitch.tv/lordgosumba

Events that are already registered can be searched at https://tabletop.events/conventions/virtual-greyhawk-con-2020/schedule#?query=

VGHC Key Dates

Registration and Event Submission............July 1st, 2020
Event Registration............August 1st, 2020
Last Day Event Submission............September 28th, 2020
Virtual Greyhawk Con............October 2nd to the 4th, 2020

I submitted events this evening, and will playtest a previously-unexplored section of my Iounic Caverns level in my version of Castle Greyhawk (on Friday and Sunday afternoons), and will submit another TBD iconic Greyhawk event for Saturday.  I'll also participate in the wrap up seminar on Sunday night.

Here are details on my events, for those curious:

• grodog's Castle Greyhawk - The Iounic Vaults - Friday afternoon 2-7pm EDT
• Bottle City - Castle Greyhawk with grodog - Saturday morning 10am-2pm EDT
• grodog's Castle Greyhawk - The Iounic Vaults - Sunday afternoon 2-7pm EDT

• VGHC 2020 Ask the Experts & Wrap-up Show! - Sunday night 7-9pm EDT

   

I also will be playing in Carlos Lising's Reflections from a Smoking Mirror on Friday night.
 
More convention information is available at https://tabletop.events/conventions/virtual-greyhawk-con-2020

Allan.

A request for grodog's Castle Greyhawk playtesting stories

I'm starting to work in earnest on the writing required to complete the levels from my version of Castle Greyhawk that have received the most playtesting over the past several years:  The Iounic Caverns, The Heretical Temple of Wee Jas, The Black Reservoir, Diamonds in the Rough, Escape from Level 14, etc. (and not necessarily in that order). 

To that end, if you've played in any of my games at Gary Con, North Texas RPG Con, KantCon, SoCal Mini Con, Lake Geneva Gaming Convention, on my semi-regular trips back to South Jersey, etc., I'd appreciate reminders from our games about things that still stand out in your memories. 

I have most of my lists of players from each session for playtesting credit, my monster HP scratch sheets, and my maps and encounter keys of course, but some encounters and events were certainly improvised during play, and it's those that I'm most-looking to try to freshen in my memory as I begin more-formal writing for the levels. 

Most of my maps are posted to my site @ http://www.greyhawkonline.com/grodog/gh_castle_grodog.html and I'll go through and tag the usual suspects from over the years too. 

I'm not just looking for good player stories either.  If you've played and not had as good a time as you would have liked, input on how I could improve the session is welcome as well! 

Thanks!

Allan.

grodog's events for GaryCon X (March 2018)

No, I'm not dead.  

 

Just busy.

 

Which is why I've only now submitted my events for Gary Con X in March 2018:

Explore grodog's Castle Greyhawk levels. Choose from among: 

1. Escape from Level 14 (6th-9th PCs)
2. The strange and surreal Egg Chambers level (8th-12th PCs)
3. Assault The Hidden Aerie of Pazzuzeus (10-14th PCs)
4. Seek the Jacinth of Inestimable Beauty in Diamonds in the Rough (10th-14th PCs). 

Bring your graph paper, dice, and a healthy dose of paranoid courage! Pregen PCs provided.

I've submitted to run the events at these times:

• Thursday 6pm-midnight
• Friday 6pm-midnight
• Saturday Noon-6pm

I'm going to try to play something on Saturday night, in addition to playing in Van Chane's Wednesday night Foolsgrave (if Jon Hershberger and I are done setting up the Black Blade Publishing booth in time!). I plan to play or DM in our traditional Sunday night games free-for-all as well.

I haven't decided on off-grid DMing, but am currently leaning toward:

- Call of Cthulhu "Grace Under Pressure"

- AD&D "Treasures of the Dragon Queen"

- ASSH grodog's still-untitled Underborea adventure

I could end up running an off-grid game for Wednesday or Saturday nights if other options fall through, or as another option on Sunday night. We'll see....

 

Allan.

grodog's NTX 2017 Convention Report - Part 1

+Jon Hershberger  and I have been attending the North Texas RPG Convention since its inaugural convocation in 2009, and our first publication premiered there, too---our 1e conversion of the Goodman Games module DCC 7 Secret of Smuggler’s Cove.  So, NTX holds a special place in our hearts, both as gamers and as publishers.  

NTX wouldn't exist as a convention without the organization, sponsorship, and commitment of its founders, Doug "ScketreWhisp" Rhea and Mike "Badmike" Badolato, and the best news from the convention was seeing Doug Rhea and how great he is doing!  For those who hadn't heard, Doug announced just before Christmas last year that he had stage 4 colon cancer and would begin radiation and chemotherapy in January.  His treatment is continuing, but he looked great at the convention, and was in his usual excellent spirits---hustling, bustling, and making everything come together just-right throughout the event! :D

Wednesday, 31 May 2017

Jon and I drove separately to Dallas this year, and I left a bit earlier in the morning than he and Nathalie did, so I arrived mid-afternoon.  There was a lot to sort through on the initial arrival, especially that we could begin setting up our joint Black Blade-Goodman Games booth tonight (we weren't originally going to have access to the exhibitor hall room until Thursday morning, but the event that was scheduled to be in that space cancelled on the hotel, so we were able to begin setup on Wednesday evening).  

As a result of that unexpected news, I cancelled my Pagan Publishing "Grace Under Pressure" game for Call of Cthulhu (which I had scheduled for Wednesday night knowing we wouldn't be setting up the booth...), which I felt bad about, since it was a full event (8 players), and I've never cancelled a convention game like that before.  Despite my misgivings about cancelling, and even with getting started early, Jon and I still worked on the booth until 11:30pm, so it was the right call.

The other good news from Wednesday was that the half-palette of cases of Tales of Peril all arrived safe-and-sound the day before, on Tuesday.  We also had copies of The Twisting Stair #2 (Summer 2017)---which arrived at my home in Kansas two days before on Monday---and a number of other new titles at the convention, including:

• Dwellers in Dark Places by Matt Hargenrader - a new monster manual for OSRIC
  
• Mothshade Concepts' Avremier, Dhavon, and House of Illthrix by David A. Hill 
• The new Goodman Games reprint of the Judges Guild Book of Treasure Maps by Jennell Jaquays
•  Rob Kuntz's new non-fiction book, Dave Arneson's True Genius
•  The new conventions-only module, Blood of the Serpent, and two new sets of DCC Dice---Ming’s Infernal Bones and The Dice of Lost Lemuria---for the DCC RPG from Goodman Games

Thomas Denmark's new games, Terence Gunn's Fantastic Worlds of Grenadier, the Epsilon City boxed set for Metamorphosis Alpha, and a pile books from third-party OSR and DCC publishers rounded out our newest offerings at the convention:

Black Blade Publishing and Goodman Games at NTX 2017

Thursday, 1 June 2017

Thursdays at NTX are usually the busiest at the convention, and this year proved to be no exception.  Sale throughout the day were good, and we also donated Tales of Peril #1 to the Saturday night auction to support Doug's cancer treatment:  

+Chris Holmes arrived early afternoon and was able to check out the book for the first time.  He was very pleased with it, and promptly started showing it off to folks wandering by the booth :D

Thursday night normally closes with Jon and I gaming at the Knights & Knaves Social, but we ended up arriving a bit later than usual (just before 7pm or so), and the game was already well-underway.  

Standing at the head of the table are co-DMs Steve Robertson (of Vanquishing Leviathan and the OSRIC Players Guide fame) and Jimm Johnson (of the equally-famous Scribes of Sparn), while the motley crew of K&K veterans, regulars, newbies, and random victims of the tabletop.events registration system:

Jimm, with Random Wizard, brews the beer for the Social each year---this year featured both Black Wizard Stout and OD&D Bug Bear Pumpkin Ale:

Steve wrote an excellent event summary over on K&K (and in following posts; login probably required to read it), and you can download the KK2 The Mystic Cup of Gygax adventure for free from Jimm's blog, too! 

After enjoying the mayhem with Chris and Jon for a little while, shooting a few pictures, and cackling madly with the DMs behind their screens, we left to eat dinner at Terra Mediterranean, and it was excellent (and not too far from the hotel).  The only advantage of not playing in the K&K Social was that I did at least get to bed at a decent hour :D


Part 2 to follow!

Allan.

grodog’s GaryCon IX Convention Report

GaryCon IX has come and gone, and if I had to choose just a few words to summarize the show, they would be “bigger, better, funner!” (even if that’s not quite grammatically correct).  Jon Hershberger and I had an excellent time at the convention, and were well-treated by Luke Gygax’s GaryCon crew, led by the inestimable exhibitor-ninja-in-chief, Mike Noe of IronWind Metals (who also graciously filled some gaps in my range of Tom Meier troglodytes, and replaced some lost pieces to my Dennis Beauvais Bridge of Sorrows boxed set). 

Many thanks to our Goodman Games colleagues who helped to manage the booth at GaryCon this year, especially Michael Curtis, who also helped to set up the booth on Wednesday evening, and Joseph Goodman.  Our nearby neighbors included Jeffrey P. Talanian, of Astontishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea fame (who introduced us to Del Tiegler—it’s always great to meet someone in person you’ve worked with in the past!), and the Frog God Games crew—Zach Glazer, Skeeter Green, and Bill Webb—who supplemented by the two-fisted North Texas RPGCon’s own Michael Badolato, and Erik Tenkar (of Tavern infamy).  We were also able to catch up with Harley Stroh, Bill and Ben Barsh of Pacesetter Games, Shawn and Devon Hibbs of DieCast Games (thanks again for that copy of Rob Kuntz’s Garden of the Plantmaster), Paolo Greco, Tony Rosten, Jon Peterson, Jim Kitchen, and numerous other friends, artists, designers, and fans while at and away from the booth.
pre-Con Packing

Jon and I loaded up my minivan to the level of the ceiling with all of the books, boxed sets, rack shelves, t-shirts, tote bags, banners, and associated OSR bric-a-brak for the Black Blade Publishing/Goodman Games booth in the exhibitor hall.  New and noteworthy products at the booth this year included:

• Black Blade’s DCC Adventure Index and Metamorphosis Alpha Adventure and Resource Supplement Index—both compiled and indexed by Jon Hershberger, and the new 4.25”x5.5” mini-hex pads (and the return of our mini-graph pads too!)
• Issue #1 of The Twisting Stair, a newly-launched OSR newsletter focused on dungeon design from Allan Grohe and Tony Rosten
• Goodman Games’ massive Judges Guild Deluxe Collector’s Edition tome, the Metamorphosis Alpha: Epsilon City boxed set, How to Write Adventure Modules That Don’t Suck!, as well as new DCC RPG adventures, such as Harley Stroh’s DCC #91.2: Lairs of Lost Agharta, a collection of new encounters for Journey to the Center of Aereth
• David Hill’s new Mothshade Concepts setting books, Avremier and Dhavon
• Paolo Greco’s new Lost Pages books— Burgs & Bailiffs: Trinity - The Poor Pilgrim's Almanack, Macchiato Monsters ZERO, and Mageblade ZERO
• Thomas Denmark’s new titles—Raiders of the Lost Artifacts, Freebooters, and Beasties, as well as the new Guardians adventure, Power of Fear
• New old-school gaming titles, including Alex Karaczun’s A1 A Forgotten Evil, Luigi Castellani’s Secrets of the Wyrwoode, Lawson Bennett and Jimm Johnson’s SS1 The Odboxx of Zoforon, and Terence Gunn’s Fantastic Worlds of Grenadier
• And much, much more!

Tuesday, 21 March

Jon and I got an early jump on the drive up to Lake Geneva, leaving Wichita by 6:45pm or so, and driving up to just past Kansas City.  We overnighted in Liberty, MO, and shaved three or four hours off of our Wednesday drive time.

Wednesday, 22 March

We pulled into the Grand Geneva around 4pm, which was a bit later than we’d have preferred, but still two hours earlier than last year’s arrival.  The drive was unevenfully boring, which is just right! Unloading the minivan was quicker this year, thanks to the able-bodied assistance of Michael Curtis, Tony Rosten, Rich Franks, Guy Fullerton, and Joshua Ford!  Booth set up, however, still took about 6 hours of effort, which, alas, put the kibosh on our plans for a relaxed Wednesday dinner with gaming for dessert.

Thursday, 23 March

The Black Blade booth was very busy for the first few of hours that the dealer’s hall was open to all attendees, but was pretty manageable once our iPad finally re-connected to the hotel wifi.  

In my first Castle Greyhawk game at 6pm, I had a crew of 10 players, and they opted to explore my new “Diamonds in the Rough” level.  **** SPOILERS for grodog’s 2017 North Texas RPGCon events **** The party fell into a trap inspired by David LaForce’s DMG illustration on page 68 (a skeleton attacking PC in a flooding room), then wandered through the outskirts of the level proper where they battled giant wasp wandering monsters, and encountered a prism ward (a lights-driven crystalline monster from Expedtious Retreat Press’ Malevolent & Benign), an ice-magics-wielding cryosphinx and her pet dragonne (twice!), as well as a trio of hungry mimics.  The giant wasps and cryosphinx both offered some memorable and rather unexpected role-playing opportunities. While several PCs were paralayzed by wasps or blinded by the prism ward, all of the PCs in this crew survived their descent into the depths of Castle Greyhawk. 

My thanks to Skip Williams and Dave Conant and the rest of the GaryCon events staff for locating my events in a boardroom this year (although I was quite surprised to discover that the boardrooms weren’t equipped with whiteboards!), and to James Lopez, Scott Mayne, Emily Chandler, Shiv Chopra, Guy Fullerton, Eric Netteberg, Sofie Netteberg, Michael Simon, Todd Douglas, and Todd Bunn for kicking off my gaming at GaryCon right!

Friday, 24 March

The Black Blade booth was again quite busy today, and unfortunately I wasn’t able to eat lunch until 3pm or so. 

In my evening Castle Greyhawk game, a full table of 12 players chose to explore “Diamonds in the Rough.”  **** SPOILERS for grodog’s 2017 North Texas RPGCon events ****  This group entered the level from the opposite side of the NE corner, and covered some different ground than the first group, including meeting a mottled worm (who swallowed whole the halfling fighter/thief, but who was restored to life through a wish after rescue by the monk).  Soon after they were ambushed by two lurkers above while triangulating with a Treasure Finding potion, which nearly resulted in a TPK (only two PCs were not under a lurker, and in the end, four of the twelve PCs were suffocated before they could be rescued, including the recently-raised hobbit).  The PCs then wandered down into the main giant wasp nest area, blasted it with a back-to-back fireball and cone of cold, recovered some loot and then fled when more wasps arrived.  During their flight, one of the PCs drank two concurrent potions, so I was able to roll on the Potion Miscibility Table, which is always a treat; the results were miscible, however, so nothing exciting happened.  Some notable quotes:  “Quietly is for sissies”—Keith; “Caution, who needs that” (or something approximating that concept)—Tim, just prior to his halfing being eaten by an aquatic purple worm; “Is that Jim Ward?—I don’t think so” (heard in the hallway, apparently referring to me).

Thanks to Noah and Alex Guilbault, Kevin and Patrick Kelly, Keith and Brian Sloan, Dex Briggs, Tim Deschene, Jeffrey Lulac, Jeremy and Zander Ligman, and Glenn Cox for playtesting this new scenario!

Saturday, 25 March

I missed the noon Goodman Games/Black Blade raffle and such, since my game was scheduled for noon.  The morning was busy, and

For my third Castle Greyhawk game, I had a full crew of 12 players, who also selected my new “Diamonds in the Rough” level to play.  **** SPOILERS for grodog’s 2017 North Texas RPGCon events ****  The Saturday crew explored some of the same ground as the previous two teams, but avoided the mottled worm encounter.  On their return to the large octagonal chamber, they were somewhat startled to discover a door that hadn’t been there previously (it was, of course, a mimic).  Then they travelled to the SE and into the depths of the giant wasps’ nests, where they battled not only the wasps, but their demonic wasp-demon masters!  Having awoken the hives, and down at least two PCs due to poison, they decided to wish their way to safety and the largest treasure on the level.  This landed them in one of the big encounters in the main portion of the level, standing atop a small mountain of gemstones, and facing down a diamond dragon.  Behind the dragon rested the Jacinth of Inestimable Beauty.  Some excellent reaction rolls and well-timed negotiations and role-playing allowed the PCs to escape the dragon’s lair intact, save for Carlos’ magic-user who dimension doored himself into solid matter and the Astral Plane, where he was picked up by an evil elder titan and hauled off to Tartarus.  Notable quotes:  “I don’t even trust myself”—Axiom; “I still don’t trust the ceiling”—Carlos; “I cast neutralize poison on the dwarf” (repeated twice for emphasis!)—Don (I think, may have been JC).

Thanks to David “Axiom” Konkol, Steven Danielson, Joshua Ford, Patrick Baumgard, Don Porter, Tim Downs Mullen, JC Luxton, Merideth Nepstad, Carlos Lising, Mike Bridges, Jayson King, and Guy Fullerton for playtesting the “Diamonds in the Rough” level!

Between the three groups, about 30% of the level was explored, so I’ll likely adjust the starting locations for my sessions at the North Texas RPGCon in June so that they can explore the level from different points.

Saturday evening I played in Chainsaw’s Foolsgrave living mega-dungeon, using Jeff Talanian’s ASSH rules, and had a great time.  **** SPOILERS for Chainsaw’s 2017 North Texas RPGCon events ****  I ran a Necromancer, animated two previously-slain PCs as skeletons, and was able to advance to second level (although I only gained 1 hp, alas!).  The mapping was a blast, too—our crew spanned four sheets of 8.5”x11” graph paper, and passed through two secret doors into what seemed like previously-unexplored territory.  Chainsaw’s encounters were quirkily fun and deadly too---a mini-Death Star robot, some giant blue lightning bugs, living chests of wandering treasure, and the opening encounter really set the tone for the session wonderfully, as well!  The table of players was Noah and Alex Guilbault, Kevin and Patrick Kelly, Scott McKinley, Michael Simon, and Tom Trombly, and we had a great time wandering through the deathmaze that is Foolsgrave! 

Sunday, 26 March

Booth teardown went quickly, thanks to the help from our friends Guy Fullerton, Rich Franks, Joshua Ford, Kevin Kelly, Jen Brinkman, and Jeff Goad. 

I finally got to play in Joe “gizmomathboy” Klein’s Circus Maximus variant “Moebius Maximus,” which was quite fun (although we only played for an hour or so).  I’ve been looking forward to this since last year’s GaryCon!

A large group of friends usually get together to eat dinner and game on Sunday night, shutting GaryCon down in the process.  I wasn’t planning to run a game this year, but given the number of folks we were expecting I came prepared to DM, and in the end I ran six players (mostly from Handy’s NYC crew) through my version of The Black Reservoir level from the Expanded Castle Greyhawk.  You can view the original map by Rob Kuntz in the El Raja Key Archive at http://www.tlbgames.com/collections/archive, and can read Gary’s short story that I based the level on at http://www.greyhawkonline.com/grodog/gh_castle_black_reservoir1.html. 

**** SPOILERS for grodog’s 2017 North Texas RPGCon events ****  This crew explored quite a bit of the southern “shore” of the Black Reservoir before venturing out onto the raft, variously battling some pteranadons, giant crabs, and giant pikes.  They followed the line of columns out to the center of the level, then to the east.  Upon their return they discovered the lever that lowered all of the stone columns in sight, which released the dreaded dragon turtle from its cage.  The beast attacked, steam-frying much of the party, despite valiant efforts to flee it, distract it, and/or obstruct its deadly charge.  In the end, two PCs survived the battle (after the dragon turtle had been damaged to near 50% of its hit points), one swimming north into the level, the other travelling south to their starting location.  Neither survived to escape Greyhawk Castle in the end, however, so the Black Reservoir remains one of the few levels I’ve run that has multiple TPKs behind it (see Luke Gygax, you’re not the only one to contribute materially to the dragon turtle’s hoard! :D ). 

We wrapped up the game at 4am, and I crashed until we awoke for the long drive back to Kansas on Monday, which was as equally hum-drum as the drive up, thankfully!

Thanks again to everyone who made this year’s GaryCon such a resounding success, and we’ll see you again in 2018! :D

Allan.