Thursday the 16th
I arrive at the Con at the Cob hotel without a mishap like last year when my Google maps sent me to the wrong exit. My roomie for the con,
+Ken H pulled into the hotel at the exact same time. Which made coordinating things easier. I showed him the layout of the con since it was pretty much set up the same as last year. When we checked in I got to meet
+Tim Snider who greeted me with a
The Savage Afterworld d6. He was running the Pacesetter booth and was running the game later that day, a Cryptworld adventure. It was great to final meet Tim, I've known his blog for years and he assisted me with one of my projects.
1st Game Session: Dwimmermount
Like all the mega-dungeons I get, as soon as I get them I can't read them because I'm going to be playing in them.
+Jim Yoder ran us through as much Dwimmermount as we could get through in a 4-hour period. I played a fighter with a 5 intelligence, Ken played another 5 intelligence guy and the third member of out party was Dave (or better known as imredave (
Forgotten Runes is his blog), his guy had a 15 intelligence. I became the door open upper. From my memory fog banks I think we got through most of the rooms without too much of a problem except the one with the iron masks. Dave wanted to go back and grab the one off the floor and another one off the wall. The second one cost him his character's life. The great thing about playing con games is there is no tomorrow either way.
Interlude
Ken and I checked into our room and chilled out for a bit. He had come in from a 7 hour drive and right into the Dwimmermount game. We got something to eat, walked around the vendors and
bought stuff.
A pair of Ravenloft boxsets. A little worn, but the boxes were in good shape and everything was inside (I think). I've been grooving on Ravenloft lately so I had to grab these two. I found these and the following at the Goodman Games booth manned by
+Roy Snyder. He was to run our Saturday DCC game. I was hoping to meet
+Doug Kovacs, but I think he was 'sleeping it off'.
More Ravenloft, the 3rd Monstrous Companion. I was a little dismayed when discovered that stain to the right was no part of the cover design. That unidentified stain will hopefully wash off. Then I bought Dungeon Builders because it was buy 3 get 1 free. The verdict is still out on this one. What little I did see was a bit of a disappointment.
I already shared this picture, but I'm doing it again. I went over to Tim Snider's booth he was manning for Pacesetter and purchased Cryptworld and Rotworld. How could I not? In addition I received copies of the colored action card and a couple of Pacesetter d10s. Tim was running our next game so I headed back to the room before and read through some of the stuff I bought.
2nd Game Session: Cryptworld
+Tim Snider, a 30+ year veteran of running Pacesetter games, was the best person to have running a game to introduce you to Cryptworld (or any of them). His name is on the inside as one of the writers. He went through a quick intro into the system. Gave out pre-gens and I think within 15-minutes we began our investigation. Also, what was fun, was the party fell in together quickly. We started exploring the haunted mine park and having a ton of fun. The highlight of the session was this overly complicated way to deal with a pair of rattlesnakes. It involved a metal desk and an air conditioner. But who am I to judge? The plan worked!
After the session I met up with
+Rob Conley and
+Daniel McEntee. We sorta, kinda made some tentative plans.
Friday the 17th
We had a light schedule for today. One game, but before I left it had been cancelled. So that mean I had no game scheduled. Ken went on a scavenger hunt to find a not so little red wagon. I joke you not. I wandered a bit with Rob and Dan and we found a DCC game.
3rd Game Session: DCC
The adventure we went through was
Frozen in Time. This was a 0-level funnel and we were playing cave men. Surprisingly, most of our plans worked. Sure, we fell ass backwards into some solutions, but they worked. I think I only lost one of my four guys.
Ken came back successful with his not so little red wagon. And I planned to run my Esoterrorists game later.
+Chris C. showed up in the evening and after a horrible pizza and some Pop Tarts we found a table.
4th Game Session: Esoterrorists
I haven't GMed much lately so it was fantastic to be able to do it in person with the group. I had some handouts for the players that they all seemed to appreciate. I built the adventure around my local area using a lot of real information. Rob was Googling some of the stuff I was saying and got a little freaked out when he found out they were true. I think the players had fun, I know I did. But time caught up with us and we all agreed to call it a day. Chris wrote a telling post, on his blog
The Clash of Spear on Shield that is horribly true. We are getting old and just don't have the stamina or ability to bounce back after a late night like we used to.
Saturday the 18th
We met for breakfast and figured out the day's schedule. We had a early afternoon DCC game and then to finish out the con we would be playing in Rob's last adventure of the con. Ken and I discussed this even before the con, we had schedule to play in a game on Sunday, but both of us wanted to get an early start home. So we both passed on Sunday's game.
5th Game Session: DCC
This adventure was called
Tower Out of Time. Roy ran us through this one. We had the chance to play 2nd level characters. I felt like a god in DCC terms. I've only ever played 0-level dudes. If you are squeamish about trembling membranes fill with goo, slimy excretions or bulging zits, do not play this adventure. You'll vomit on your character sheet and your neighbor's. Again, the party did surprisingly well except for Chris, whose character died and somehow merged with a monkey spirit.
Here's what my badge looked like after the con. I dig those pins.
I also scored to envelopes of DCC swag.
And while I was wandering around the vendors I'd been eyeballing this one picture I really liked and wanted to get a copy. I was finally able to connect with artist, Eric Kempher and grab a copy. Ken and Dan also bought a piece or two from him. Dan got one of his originals.
I had to get the zombie emerging from the black mist. Got it in two sizes and then bought the skeleton warrior crawling out from beneath some rocks. Need to find more frames!
I also met with
+Jolly Blackburn and talked about the upcoming Hackmast DMG. What he said sounds promising. I wish I had thought of asking for a postcard sketch of the KotDT. Doh, maybe next time.
6th and Final Game Session: OD&D Majestic Wilderlands
Mr. Conley has written another very cool adventure. We rolled up our own characters in the beginning and I chose to be a paladin. I couldn't tell you how long ago it was since I played one. And if I do say so myself, I played him very well. Instead of a paladin who tore the party apart with idealistic rants, I was able to keep the party together. Again, the Monday night group got to sit around and play face-to-face which can never be duplicated on-line. It was a lot of fun. Rob was superb GM as always and I recommend anyone to play in one of his games.
Sunday the 19th
Ken left early, he had a 7-hour drive in front of him. I met Chris, Dan and Rob for a quick breakfast. It was great to have had the chance to play with all of them face-to-face. The con was a lot of fun, but I was tired and was looking forward to getting home to the wife and pups. If that was incentive enough, Ivy had been baking all the time I was gone.
I came home, petting wife and kissed the pups...reverse that. Ate a couple of bake goods and immediately took a nap with the pups drape over me. It was good to be home.
Con on the Cob 2014 was fantastic.
+Jim Magnusson who was featured on my latest Manor with creepy mirror maker, Miraboth the Mercurial. He also provided a handful of fantastic illustrations for the interior. The amazing thing about Jim, he is probably the fastest artist I've ever worked with. I remember giving him a vague and generic description of what I wanted and within a couple of hours he'd given me my cover. By the next day he had two or three of the interior pieces done. You can see his work on his blog, Aenglum.
PDF