CON REPORT: GameHoleCon 11 Day 3

 

Rounding out my final con report. While not the final, final day, Saturday was the last night for me running and playing games. On Sunday I did some catching up and a little bit of shopping in the dealer hall. 

Speaking of deals, THE BEST DEAL of the convention was the $10 Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG softcover rulebook. Smart move on Goodman Game's part to go so low, especially given the number of games they ran and the drop-in, drop-out 0-level charity tournament they were running.

NIGHTWICK ABBEY #3

In the final outing Federic (rogue), Frederic (fighter), Freddy (rogue), Quentin (changing), YinYang (magician), and Bob (cleric) delved into the Abbey in search of the vicar of Frogguts.

• The PC quickly got the better of some curious berserkers by fanning out and taking advantage of backstabbing, and then it also put the half-human quarter-dog quarter-sheep "thing" out of its misery quickly. 
• They deliberated for a bit which allowed two floating corpses to drift into the room and provide loud, cackling commentary on their predicament (DM NOTES: Kept rolling "indifferent" on their reaction) and suggesting heading south- which the PCs did only to cause Quientin the Changling to become possessed and running into a room full of the blind dead: We slam the door, hold it shut, and spike the door!

  

  Not a Sunday service you want to attend

  
  
• The party then doubled back and proceeded into a ruined laboratory with suspicious mounds of garbage, after a bit of searching, the moved to a room to the north littered with pages covered in bloody scrawl-- as red scratches formed on their skin, they proceeded to fight the XXXX which decimated 2/3 of the party
• The remaining 3 PCs escaped and decided to continue to delve deeper into the maw of this hell-mouth, which most immediately earned their magician a death in a pit trap and subsequent resurrection as a floating corpse which in turn strangled the remaining fighter!
• The cleric grabbed what shiny items he could and ran out of the Abbey, leaving his poor companion to his fate.
• SCORE: Silver Ending 0.5 Safe Vicar Ending 0; technically the cleric carried enough silver item out, but I feel if the Abbey's forces killing another 5/6 is an Abbey "win"; rooms covered: 9

THE JERRY STEFEK MEMORIAL CRAWL FOR THE CURE

What a perfect context for a charity and also a great way to show case old-school-oriented gaming. Basically, you made a $10 donation to receive a token and the minute a seat opened up near one of 3 DM, you sat down, and received an index card-sized 0-level DCC character sheet from what look like a stack of hundreds.

Yup- 3 hp and a stick (1d4-1 dmg). If you died, you rang a gong (FUN!) and were given another character. We aimed to assemble the lion of Mitra in DCC's take on Jennell Jaquays' Dark Tower. But it doesn't just stop there, you can also make further donations to gain boons and pass out banes to other players, the DM, or other parties (see below).

I played for about 2-hours and had a lot of fun! The DM's were fantastic and it was one of the most positive experiences I had at GameHoleCon. I hope this event can be replicated across numerous other cons throughout the country.

CON REPORT: GameHoleCon 11 Day 2

It was a fun second day (here's Day 1). I still don't think I have quite a good handle on how to navigate this con, but I did learn that if you run games, your name goes into a random drawing and you can get an RPG or boardgame prize when they draw your name. Saw some Heroquest stuff and a box of Mothership, that went quick, as well as a lot of other neat stuff. The seminars are something I am missing a lot of, which if I go next year, I'll certainly have to add more of. Apparently, GaryCon is where its at.

The other highlights were shaking hands with Zeb Cook and meeting Chris Perkins who is an incredibly genuine person, I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to chat a little bit more with him.

NIGHTWICK ABBEY #2

The second group to brave the dread halls consisted of fighters Bonzo, Cadoc, Garath, and Arthur-- spiritually lead by Phylys the cleric and visually lead by Gunnar the dwarf (DM NOTE: 60% fighters so weird, but that's the fun of random character distribution).

• This group saved a carved-up "manimal" from the torture/vivisection/butchery of a large group of human skin-wearing maniacs; alas while the PCs staunched the poor souls bleeding (Really you're stoping my bleeding with old skin torn from those things?)  refused to carry the hobbled creature (Really you're gonna save me but not carry me?) so it went howling down the hall (Each step is pain! OoooOOooo! It would be nice to be carried! OoooOooo!) which earned it an axe in the back via Cadoc

  

  The water has a minty taste with maggot notes

  
  
• The PCs were pretty upset they were not finding more silver in the Abbey except for Arthur who became possessed after drinking from a fountain-- he started to become more worried about voices that were not his own; turning south they had to make a quick retreat when they stumbled upon a congregation of eye-less corpses all standing with swords drawn-- cleric welded the light of LAW and turn back those damned souls!
• Wandering around a little more the PCs were ambushed by maybe more manimals and shut into a room littered with pages of blasphemous nonsense and started suffering claw marks and welts on their arms, legs, and backs; they kicked the door violently in (the one not bricked up) and made their way back to the ruined laboratory where their would-be ambushed had left
• PC finally hit gold or rather a gold skull when they investigate another ruined lab, but become very worried when the dwarf Gunnar starts talking to himself after picking up the skull (Look, at least we can sell it)
• After a little more wandering the PC finally made their way to the Great Hall where they find the tied up vicar waiting to be served to four identical quadrupled-horned men; the PCs will have none of that and plan their attack! A pretty epic battle ensues with PC almost getting the upper hand until the monstrous Butcher fell a lead fighter with two chops from a large cleaver and the group is pincered by 5 floating, laughing corpses that got freed from an earlier scuffle.

  

  Begining of the End:
  Shame I didn't get a picture 5 mins after this was taken

  
  
• With 5/6 PC dead, the Butcher offers to spare the cleric and let him walk free from the Abbey-- if he personally blesses this most auspicious and (un)holy meals! The cleric does so-- and with the holy light of law draining out of him walks free from the Abbey haunted by the howls and jears of the laughing cadavers
• SCORE: Silver Ending 0.5 Safe Vicar Ending 0; technically the cleric carried the gold skull out, but I feel if the Abbey's forces kill 5/6 and make a cleric bless such a slaughts-- its an Abbey "win".

This group covered the most ground in a single con session having visited 11 rooms and still having enough in the tank to battle the Butcher. Well done! And with an epic ending! It was also nice to meet another player who had read this blog and was acquainted with Miranda's Nightwick from the session reports over at Mycelium Mischef (which my group has reached 99 sessions!)

INDEX CARD RPG

As someone who does use a lot of index cards, I was curious about this system. So I rolled up Holly Winterleaf (reusing a PC who previously died in OG Nightwick to green slime and an incredibly classic way). 

• PC creation is quick, the game mechanics are very intuitive
• I'm not sure I enjoy the flat target number that escalates as you move through a sorta 3-act structure; This is pretty opposite how I run games so it was the most jarring for me, but I know its a popular style of DMing
• I don't think it a bad rules-lite system, but encourages the DM to improvise a bit more which benefits more experienced DMs-- kinda the opposite of the intended effect I think for new DMs; I'll have to think on this more
• Did like the encouragement to use index cards to lay out a quick map or battlefield (see the picture above)

In total, I am interested in looking into Runehammer's other offerings our of curiosity I do think he does a good job encouraging creativity and DIY ethos. And playing games you normally would not pick up or run is a great use of CON time, especially since they often are run by referees who do love the game!

CON REPORT: GameHoleCon 11 Day 1

   

I am going to try to make these updates shorter and punchier so I can actually summarize each day's blog. This is my first GameHoleCon since last year I sighed up but live event prevented attendance. 

Its a farsight bigger than ReaperCon that is for sure. And judging from the guest list, more packed with D&D notables like Zeb Cook, Mike Mearls, and Chris Perkins. I am really hoping to run into Steven Jackson to get my copy of OGRE signed and Jon Peterson to shake his hand for a great job on Playing at the World.

FIGHT IN THE SKIES

Speaking of the development of D&D, the first game I participated in was Fight in the Skies. This is a WWI flying aces game invented by Mike Carr. The game is notable not only because its the only game played at every GenCon, but also a game it introduced (1) leveling and (2), despite being a wargame, does encourage you to playing your pilot as a character less a chit.

The game is played using a handful of d6's and d% dice. You roll initiative, highest moves but can't shoot at any plane that's not moved, you have to control speed and altitude, manage the length of time you fire your guns (longer = more hits) against jamming, and there is a critical table to roll on when you get shot.

All made easier by a number-filled, but handy tracker sheet which helps follow your turn by turn. After playing a couple of rounds, you get the hang of it. And its 2d6 format really drove home for me the origin of a lot of Battletech mechanisms-- although Fight has less going on. And I'm also not sure Fight is not easier to learn than X-Wing which seems simpler.

My pilot was Nim Blackcloud, but later would earn the name "The Blackcat" because despite being damaged and smoking (see the picture), I was able to avoid 3 turns of hot pursue and engine criticals roll a "0 00" and "98" to avoid them and in one turn my opponent roll a "6" when they needed a 1-5 to hit it me.

Alas "The Blackcat" died hitting the silks when trying to escape the field.

"Conga Line of Death": An opening common
formation given how close we were

My wingman attempts to draw off enemy forces

Looks complicated, but just contains a lot of useful info
once you know where and how to look

NIGHTWICK ABBEY

I do like running games as cons because I believe it is what helps strengthen them and evangelize the hobby. And also like demonstrating (hopefully) the strength and free-form nature of old-school gaming. 

As such two froglings, Rrrogerr and Hilthorp, along with Pread the fighter (and pig Queen Mab), Brambella the dwarf, Quarl the magician, and Cedrick the gravedigger descended into Miranda Elkins' Nightwick Abbey. Similar to ReaperCon, the goal for the PCs to either find the missing Frogguts vicar OR collect 600sp to pay to the Bishop as, um, a sorta restitution for losing said vicar. 

A murder of rats

So how did they do?

• Pread found a secret door resulting in their first 100sp, but Hilthrop getting his eye plucked out by some of the strange vermin that inhabit the Abbey
• The bang of frogling gonnes attracted the attention of several monstrous people smelling of sweaty groin and rancid meat; the party adopted the stance of being tax-collectors-- it looked bad but Pread was able to get some nice Follow-through actions in downing two of the individuals and the magician took out the last one with a crossbow
• The party turned north and stumbled into a ritual of performed by deer-headed creatures around some golden antlers (!); the party was excited by this potential score

Oh deer...men

• A valent fight, with the party almost being flanked by deermen from the left, but once again the party's fighter was able to pull off some amazing hits felling deermen left and right
• Suffering heavy losses, the deermen's MU put down the the fighter, Pread with a magic missle however the party's magician Quarl used ventriloquism and his diabolic language to force another morale check (DM NOTE: Felt like this was a good, clever combo to warrant the check) to scare off the remaining deermen
• Picking golden antlers, silver candlesticks the party was about to make their exit and almost got everyone strangled by a procession of floating rictus undead with unnerving smiles--- but the just got away (save for poor Hilthrop) via the Death & Dismemberment Table (DM NOTE: Despite the name, those tables generally extend PC lives)
• We don't talk about the pig...eyes too human, lips too soft, legs to, to long, and fingers so many...
• SCORE: Silver Ending 1 Safe Vicar Ending 0 (I'd say that's a win for the Abbey)

The players were a great group and I was happy to see everyone interested in Nightwick Abbey and wanting to know where they could look more into it! The player of Cedrick the gravedigger was even already a Nightwick Patreon member, but had yet to play it- so happy to given them a good experience!

PHILANTHROPY AS CAROUSING: Making Your Mistakes Other Peoples' Problems

artist: Jan Steen

I enjoy carousing options in general because they can add a bit of chaos to the predictable back-and-forth of megadungeon procedure. They are also a convenient mechanism to get factions into play with the PCs. And in terms of XP, carousing is a risk-infused double-dip* route with low DM overhead. Perfect.

Initially, the carousing tables I had were not uniquely differentiated beyond the save throw used and the "fail-state" tables. Eventually, in addition to the traditional carousing table for drinking and revelry, I added one that was MU research-oriented adapted from a Chris McDowell d30 table from KNOCK! This was perfect for fighter-types and magic-user types, but shortly after I was asked by Miranda of InPlacesDeep if I happened to have a Philanthropy table.

And that got me thinking about what would differentiate carousing based on philanthropy versus one based on revelry or magic research. I came up with two differences: one on my own and another after consulting with some folks on the Prismatic Wasteland Discord.

First Difference: the results on the failure table should affect social standing, create problems involving societal class, and generally affect the whole party. In return, I made this table a 1d8 x100sp for 1:1 XP reasoning that trouble treated for everyone should be worth the headache.

But this still didn't quite feel correctly dialed in because it was just a worse set of returns (potentially) than a regular carousing table. So I asked around and the general consensus was that it should be less about the PC gaining XP and more about building something in/around the community the PCs are in. As total XP accumulates, rewards are bestowed. This is a path that Downtime in Zyan, Ben L.'s very excellent book, takes. I've also explored this too in a related fashion with cleric shrines, reliquaries, and ossuaries.

Second Difference: now the philanthropy table is a way to pump money into institutions in a manner that places all the prestige on the PC, but the XP on named institutions. This fictionally occurs through various channels that avoid a lot a scrutiny by the Crown and Church at least initially. However, this re-routing comes with risk and misidentification and so allows me to still employ the table below:

PHILANTHROPY

DM NOTE: Problems created when contributing to philanthropy are those that affect money, social standing, and the whole community. RULES: The PC nominates which institution they are trying to direct money towards. Once declared, the PC spends 1d8 x 100sp, and then rolls a save vs paralysis: A pass means the institution gained that money and a fail, means that money was lost somehow- roll a 1d20 to figure out how:

1. TITHE TO THE CHURCH: Unfortunately the heretical branch, make all saves at a -1 unless your party contains a cleric from that church
2. INVESTMENT IN NEW INDUSTRY: Your contributions have added a new industry with an eye toward growth but not safety (all hirelings are now missing a hand for the next month; including any this session)
3. CHILDREN’S CRUSADE: Your work at the orphanage has earned you renown…among the children; many loud, joyous, and plump children join your party (encounter checks are 1-2 in 6)
4. UPSTART! The local lord is displeased at your attempts to gain influence above your station- you are jailed on spurious charges
5. I CAN DO THAT! An NPC the party interacts with has formed their own party to delve the dungeon (50% chance they die causing that NPC’s establishment to close)
6. SO MANY IN NEED SURELY YOU CAN SPARE MORE? Spend 1d6 x 100 sp more if you cannot pay, lose all your money, and gain a -1 to reaction rolls in town
7. FRATERNAL ORDER OF GUARDSMEN NEEDS YOUR HELP: Lose all your money
8. DUNGEON WILDLIFE FUND: Your money has helped preserve the unspoiled gygaxian naturalism of the dungeon (DM performs another restock procedure to the dungeon)
9. RIVAL TO THE KING: Your likeness is used quite extensively to promote regime change in the area, but don’t worry you don’t have to do any work nor have any input in this whole thing
10. MYSTERIOUS BUILDING APPEARS! With your generous funding, a windowless cabin has appeared just in the treeline outside of town (DM treat as a dungeon room of a level that is an average between the highest and lowest PC Fighter; 50% chance the single painting in the room leads to that level)
11. WIZ BIZ: An interest in the arcane arts has fueled risky experimentation– the sun is now a pale grey and the moon blood red (known MUs will be hunted by authorities)
12. BAD BLOOD: Donations to the scholarly pursuits reveal your family was involved in many of the past atrocities visited on the local area (-1 reaction, but gain one piece of lore)
13. SAINT OF LIES: Lose all your money in a relic scheme, and gain 100 false relics with teeth in them (all hirelings have missing teeth for a month)
14. LITERACY FOR ALL: No hirelings for 3 sessions- they know better
15. LINKLIGHTERS OF THE WORD UNITE: All hirelings demand wages equal to the highest one
16. DUNGEON CHIC: Your stories at dinner parties have made dungeon equipment a part of high fashion; equipment prices skyrocket to 10 times the value
17. NEW VICE: Your trade good investments have yielded a new fad in drinking “caffeey”: replace the drinking carousing table with: You are jittery, make a separate initiative roll for this session)
18. FOR THE CROWN: Spreading your wealth about town has raised questions about unpaid taxes (pay 10% of last session's total treasure haul)
19.  TAKE YOUR LORD ON A DELVE DAY: The source of your investments about town has reached the ears of the lord’s most worthless children; they want to honor you with their presence on this delve and participate in combat; they bring a squire– either’s death would bring much disfavor
20. PROBLEM SOLVER: If you agree to only ½ XP gained, then one pre-existing problem will come to a very bloody, public end immediately

I see a lot of bumps that need to be evened out but in the style of DIY and old-school scene spirit, I'll just press "publish" instead of worrying about it.

* Need because few adults over the age of 25 have the time to play weekly 8+ hour sessions as Gygax's original group did. And I'd rather not resort to alternative-level progression or Monte-haul treasure hoards.