I wondered why I was feeling so good this year after the con compared to year's past. Then I read Bracton's account of all the late night cigars, whiskey and (ugh) Denny's food, and I know why.  My latest night out was Saturday till 2 am with the Frog God Game crew and a few others at the hotel bar, and I had one beer. Sheesh, I'm getting old.

BTW, I am giving a hearty endorsement to hanging with the FGG folks (Bill, Matt, Rachel, Skeeter, Greg, Chuck, et al) at least one night at the con after gaming is over.  You may wake up with a splitting headache and one eye wedged shut, in your underwear laying in your hotel bathtub, but you'll know you had fun.

Mike B.

Just a short post right now since I have to be up at 4:30am tomorrow morning to drive to Columbus for ORIGINS 2013!!!!

Thanks to Doug and Mike for hosting an amazing weekend of gaming (I did not have to put my ass on the line for the con this weekend...). The hotel was great! Breakfast was great! Gaming was great!

- Special thanks to Stratochamp for allowing me to carry so much crap in the car to sell at the con, and to Mike for allowing me to "get rid of" some stuff Sunday morning.

More after I come back from Origins.

Badmike wrote in North Texas RPG Convention 2013: June 6-9:Probably need to write up a report so here it is before my short term memory fades and all or most is forgotten! It so full of events, but to possibly use hyperbole, this was THE BEST CON EVER!!!

This one started early for me as Tuesday the award for Dude Arriving First went to Zach aka Nogrod.  Zach's Lesser Gnome games has a kickstarter (that has already funded, but still needs money to be better than ever) which he was promoting, leading him to buy a sponsorship for the lovely serving wenches (you can thank Zach for that by kicking in a few bucks for his kickstarter) and for the Charity Game.  Zach is just an incredible guy, both year's he has attended the con he has arrived early to help us move, and stayed late to help us pack up. This year I moved most of my personal stuff to sell over to his hotel room so I could easily retrieve it the next day when we set up the rooms.

Wed we had an unexpected surprise as the entire ballroom was already set up and ready for action, and we could move everything inside!  Zach and I headed to the warehouse to meet Doug and the moving van, and got everything inside loaded, then to the hotel to unload and set up. With the brand new game mats, dice towers, tackboard and of course giant stand up with the Jennell Jaquays illustration for this year (the logo in front of a White Dragon)we were ready to go. Tons of people checked in Wed night, both special guests and friends, and there was a lot of ooohing and ahhhing when they saw the setup. The ballroom was about twice as big as the space last year, and when you included the board rooms and breakout rooms, it was positively gargantuan.

Well a stroke of luck as in walked Jeff Easley, to set up in a quiet corner in the back, then in walked Chris Fuller aka Benjoshua. As you know Chris has been on the Acaeum art team (along with myself, Allan and Paul) for several years and two successful projects, but we have never met in person (and I found out he has never met ANY Aceeum member in person!).  Chris is a great guy...he really took over for me and saved me a lot of time and effort was we decided to do the print signing a day early when it was quiet and less busy. Chris got all the prints and Certificates signed, as well as including a small mini-module based on the illustration that is for print buyers, and got the prints tubed for people attending the con who were picking up their copy. Thanks so much, Chris!

A few interesting surprises on Wed:

We had another pre-con Get It On, this was in the atrium of the hotel.  Jim Ward was running poker, Tim Kask the great boardgame Ticket to Ride, Steve Winter the classic TSR boardgame Knights of Camelot, and there were Glaiator test games.  Lot of off the grid, semi-scheduled fun that first night before the "official" beginnng to the con.  

One of the big suprises this year was when people walked in and saw minty copies of the rare 3rd party publisher items Tombs of Valla, Notnaidag Robber Headquarters and Cities of Valla for sale up front.....all $30 each, or all three for $75.  Goodbye, collectible market on these! Doug and I found a cache of these while searching for the rights to republish these in digest form for the con, and we sold them like hotcakes (one set per customer, when they were gone, they were gone).  More copies of these (plus the Jim Ward digests) will be available at RPG Marketplace at a later time period...

Met some Acaeum members for the first time, Wed I met Ligmancer, funny guy, it was great to add another Acaeum member to the NTRPG con lists!

More later when I'm not so tired....

As I remember them I need to thank a few people specifically:

Frank Mentzer for once again doing justice to the auction (squeezing the last buck out of the suckers, err, bidders) and also for just being Frank at the con and his table, very accessible and the model special guest at these shindigs;

Mike Cary aka Villan for helping me run my booth at several times during the week, especially during my B1 In Search of the Unknown Game;

Tim Kask for being Tim Kask and taking the time to offer me some words of encouragement several times and for running the chariot finals;

Jim Wampler for donating some Marven the Mage comics and Gygax magazines for the convention, as well as doing podcast interviews with Doug and me to give publicity to the con;

Steve Winter for going above and beyond the duty in donations, he has given us something every year and this year raided the old WOTC/TSR legal department archives when they were opened to employees and came away with some sweet items for our raffles and auction;

Bill aka Stratochamp for his eye towards detail and collecting expertise in helping me evaluate and decide prices and grades for the rares in the auction;

Robert Badolato aka Badbob for running all the Gladiator combats (a great success, I might add) and the chariot prelims;

Erol Otus for happily donating his time to sign a HUGE stack of stuff (it had been piling up for two years) for raffle and auction prizes;

Bill Barsh aka Bbarsh for donating the profits for his special NTRPG con adventures to the con;

John Lile aka Kingofpain for donating a huge pile of stuff for the silent auction (and thanks for letting me buy the Loviatar mags I did NOT purposefully leave out of the silent auction!);

Jim Ward for helping us out at the last minute by giving us three special con digests to print and sell up front;

Bill Webb and Matt Finch of Frog God for making the con such a big part of their year and con schedule (the only con they attend besides Paizo Con and Gencon!);

There are plenty more that I will get to in time.

Mike B.

Some more Con madness:

Wed night I was able to meet Joe Browning and Suzi Yee, of Expeditious Press (again, people I have known for years online but never actually met).  They proved to be quite funny and nice, and totally got into the spirit of the con by leaving a "Honesty Jar" at their booth for money collection while they gamed!  Great folks. Also finally met Greg Gillespie (of Barrowmaze fame) and he proved to be a kindred soul, we talked at length about the con and what we liked and didn't like about cons, and seemed to be exactly on the same page.  One of the cool things was when I introduced my grandson to him as the guy who wrote the adventure we are now going through!  

One continuing theme was I actually got 4-5 hours of sleep a night which helped immensely...and I somehow avoided the insane amounts of booze, cigars and late night dining that usually accompanies the con.  I have to say I felt better than I had any other year, and my recovery this year was very quick (only felt tired one or two days, and as I'm posting this six am on Wed I obviously am not too wiped out).  

Some highlights from Thursday were the Charity Game,. which as usual I had to totally miss while taking care of everything in the main room and getting ready for my own game.  It sounded like a fun time was had by all, Doug had told me about his adventure already and I thought it had a nice little twist.  Doug is pretty rules lite in these things and puts most of it in his head, so sadly we don't have any copies to ever sell at a con in digest form, but suffice to say his stuff is pretty good.

Anyway, for the fourth year in a row I ran my one game at the con, my version of B1 In Search of the Unknown.  This is getting quite the rep as the place for old friends and Acaeum members to gather, and this year was no exception as LucyJoyce, Benjoshua and Centerstage joined the party.  Glen, Liz and Jim Wampler from the Save or Die podcast also joined, as well as Lucyjoyce's son and Steve (from Knights and Knaves) and Dennis Pipes (who had been in my 1st B1 game a couple of years ago. All in all, I knew everyone around the table except for Steve and Jim, so it was like old home week!

I handed out the pregens which are taken from the back of the module (love seeing Laggamundo and Sho-Baffum hit the table, ahh those classic names!) and let them choose their adventure theme (the Necromancer's lair had been chosen two years in a row so it was retired).  Quasqueton the abandoned Ruin was the theme, so the party was entering the caverns with a key one character's father had used to shut down the place decades before.  Of course, nothing was what it seemed once they arrived...They did do what had not been done before and actually had a balanced party (three fighters, two clerics, two thieves, an elf and a mage) which helped them quite a bit (past groups had only one cleric).

The adventure as usual was great, fun and funny.  Highlights were the dog "Bonzo" having 3 hp, so I made him deaf, nearly blind, and old as dirt (he died in the first encounter during a zombie attack); combat with a rival party in the infamous Room of Pools; tricking the party into investigating the pools (Liz's character had curiousity get the best of her and had to do battle with a crystal ooze in one pool); having three near party deaths (one from a magical flying sword, one from a giant rattlesnake bite, one from a troglodyte) all being foiled by good quick thinking, and some other great battles (a horde of skeletons in the throne room, and the botched combat with trogs in the lower level pool of water).  All in all the group did well, but sadly time ran out as the party was investigating the lower level and matters were somewhat unresolved...but once again a success in terms of a great time spent.

Benjoshua surprised me by hand drawing a set of maps (I let players in my B1 game have a copy of the map, saves time and really, who hasn't seen the map before?) that were to scale, so we could use it as a game map.  Thanks Chris, that was incredible!  Everyone commented on how useful the maps were, and afterwards Chris donated them to the con!  Great stuff, can't wait to use them again.

Stan Shinn debuted The RPG Society at the con, a group that will facilitate using characters across different games and settings (sort of like the old RPGA society).  Some of the players at the con in my B1 game chose to enter their characters into the society, so they may use them for any RPG society games in Texas or at NTRPG Con next year.

Oh man we haven't even talked about Zach's Whisper and Venom kickstarter, and the lovely serving wenches.....

Mike B.

Bracton wrote in North Texas RPG Convention 2013: June 6-9:And for those who haven't noticed, registration for NTRPGCon 2014 is now open.  I'm number 15 (or 16, if you count both of Zach's registrations).

Mirror Image has taken a lifetime to master The real question is which one of those two registered Zach's should you be most wary of....



Z.

I posted this at the KnK forum, but I figure some of y'all might be interested in this, too:

BadMike's B1 game - I got to meet BadMike and play in his game, and he is really a cool guy. This game was the highlight of my Con experience - I got to meet in person some other people from the old DF crew - Indigo Rose (played a cleric with 18 wis), and Sieg dropped in a bit, too. The only other person I recognized from D&D forums was BenJoshua (DF & Acaeum), who made those awesome playmats of the entire B1 dungeon. We had 9 players I think, and everybody was great.

There were a bunch of level 2 pregens we could choose from, and I ended up choosing Laggamundo, the Ninja Master. I chose a thief because I never play thieves, especially in BX where they are the lamest of the lame. I couldn't find a miniature that looked like a thief, so I opted for the ninja mini and thus a Ninja Master was born. He was mostly average, but had 9 hps! (great hp rolling + Con bonus)

The scenario was "the Abandoned Ruins of Quasqueton." After buying supplies and taking note of rumors, we headed out for Quasqueton. One of the player's had purchased a wardog named Bonzo, who was actually old, deaf, and on his last leg of life. Bonzo died in the first encounter - we were jumped by a group of zombies. Bonzo's death would not be forgotten, however. Soon, cries of "Remember the Bonzo!" and "This is for Bonzo!" and "Bonzo's revenge!" would ring throughout the halls of Quasqueton as monster after monster was slain by a party with extreme prejudice. And then there was Bonzo the II, but more on that in a bit...

Our party soon found it's way to outside the infamous pool of rooms. While Laggamundo, Ninja Master listened for noises at the door, a lesser ninja leaped from the ceiling and swiftly received a lesson in ninjaing from the master, paying for it with his life. We then burst into the pool room, where a rival group was waiting in ambush. They had archers, thieves in hiding waiting to backstab, and elves trying to cast sleep spells, but they all fell before the fiercesome might of Laggamundo, Ninja Master (and friends). One of the rival thieves had a ring of invisibility, which Laggamundo took for himself, and after that, well, what is more unstoppable than an invisible ninja?

One of the rival party members was taken alive, and foolishly tried to lie, but no one can fool a ninja master (in possession of an ESP potion). Laggamundo, trained in the ancient ninjitsu art of information gathering (involving daggers and fingers and...), was able to get him to finally tell the truth. After that, we tied him up, gagged him, and had him march in front of the invisible Laggamundo while we explored the rest of the dungeon. The bound captive was dubbed "Bonzo the II." And for good reason, as it turned out, but more on that a little later.

After grilling the captive and looting the corpses, Indigo Rose's character (with a WIS of 18 no less) insisted on trying out some of the pools. Well, Laggamundo's ninja school didn't raise no fool, and Laggamundo, along with most of the rest of the party, objected to messing with any of the pools. But, well... upon exploring the pools, one of the pools turned out to be some sort of monster that attacked Indigo's cleric. The party engaged the pool monster, even as Laggamundo pointed out there was no need, as a pool cannot, you know, chase you.

After we slew the pool thing, "Bonzo the II" was prodded forth by an invisible ninja, and we came upon a secret bedroom chamber (room 25). Hearing slithering noises through the secret door, the party decides we should send Bonzo the II in first to make sure it was safe. Bonzo the II, through his gag, muffled something about Mm-mmh! Mm-mmh! in reaction to our plan, but a sudden "burst of courage" (in the form of an invisible ninja forcing him forward by the point of his sword) found him walking into the room, and promptly being grasped by tentacles from the ceiling and being eaten alive.

Bonzo the II, just like the original Bonzo, died immediately upon his first encounter.

There was a carrion crawler on the ceiling, feasting on Bonzo the II. The party comes in hoping to take the carrion crawler out in one fell swoop. Or make that many failed swoops. Everybody whiffed except for one lady who was playing a particularly buff Dwarf (18 Str, 20! hp) who put on a pretty good hit. So the carrion crawler would get his turn at bat (either it missed or saves were made, I'm not sure if anyone was paralyzed, maybe 1). Along with the previous elf casting sleep, we managed to avoid another potential tpk here. Laggamundo rolled a 20, nearly slaying the carrion crawler and sent it fleeing into its hole.

We then turned our attention to the locked cabinet in the room. One of the elves decided to thrust his sword into the cabinet, unleashing a flying sword that sheathed its blade deep in the foolish elven bosom! I'm not sure what kind of death/negative hp rules BadMike was using, but the elf nearly bought it. After dealing with the flying sword trap, the party makes camp in that room for the night.

The next day, we explore the adjacent throne room, which has bones littered all over the floor. When the invisible ninja approached the thrones, the bones came alive and formed a large number of skeletons. Our 2 clerics burst into the room, and managed to turn many of the skeletons, but there were still several skeletons on the attack. Laggamundo rolled a 1, slipped and fell, and if not for his ninja training (and the previously mentioned buff dwarven maiden) would have bought the farm. After the remaining skeletons were crushed, Laggamundo discovered a Wand of Detect Magic hidden in the throne!

The party then proceeded to the evil shrine room, and decided to move on without messing with it. We then moved on to the room with the stairs to the lower level, where we were attacked by a giant poisonous snake. The snake was slain, but not before poisoning the buff dwarven maiden. It didn't look like the dwarf would live long enough to make it to the village cleric, so someone came up with the idea to drag her to the room of pools, in the off chance that one of the pools would be able to cure her.

I forget how we determined which pool was a pool of healing, but we then tossed the dwarf unceremoniously into the healing pool, saving the dwarf and destroying the healing pool. We then backtracked and went downstairs into a room with 5 shadows flickering around the ceiling, and 5 body husks lying on the ground. A cleric casts light on his holy symbol, driving the shadows back, and he escorts the party one by one until we are across the room.

While exploring a tunnel, a huge troglodyte sneaks up from behind and fells one of our clerics with one blow! (This cleric was run by Matt?, the guy who does OtherWorld Miniatures.) After killing the giant trog, the cleric is healed and we move on to a secret cave with stirges. I think it was the elf again who took one to the chest, but after some drama and the help of a sleep spell, the stirges are dealt with. A pit trap is discovered to have treasure inside.

After bypassing some piercers, we came to our final encounter of the night: 2 trogs and a giant frog. We had a plan to use burning oil to trap and slay the trogs, but they didn't cooperate. All we ended up with was a bonfire as the frog and trogs decided to go back to their cave and the game was called due to the late hour (around midnight).

All in all, it was a lot of fun - everyone in the group was pleasant and good natured, and into it. It was pretty cool for me as this was the first time I've ever gotten to play in B1, and got to meet some great folks. BadMike only got to roll on his table of bad things once, when someone's roll ended up on the floor. (I had rolled once onto the floor, too, but I myself am no slouch in the ninja department and managed to recover the die before BadMike noticed!) Those maps created by BenJoshua really contributed to our game experience, making a great game even better. The body count ended up with no dead party members, at least 3 near death experiences, a couple of narrowly avoided tpks, and two dead Bonzos. Remember the Bonzo!

Doug just posted the NTRPG Con digests and con releases on the rpgmarketplace site.

These include three new releases by Jim Ward, and one that is a re-release of an old Necromancer Game Product (The Wizard's Amulet) statted for Swords and Wizardry.

Also included at the Tomb of Valla, Notnaidag Robber Headquarters, and City of Valla Maps (unused), separately or as a set.

Some miniatures (Thing that Should Not Be) and Chariots for Circus Maximus, as well as digests left over from last year (Island Town, Sweetmeade Abbey, Castle of Class, and more).

Get them while we still have copies.....!

http://rpgmarketplace.com/recent,option,auctions_show

Mike B.

JasonZavoda wrote in North Texas RPG Convention 2013: June 6-9:

Badmike wrote in North Texas RPG Convention 2013: June 6-9:Doug just posted the NTRPG Con digests and con releases on the rpgmarketplace site.

These include three new releases by Jim Ward, and one that is a re-release of an old Necromancer Game Product (The Wizard's Amulet) statted for Swords and Wizardry.

Also included at the Tomb of Valla, Notnaidag Robber Headquarters, and City of Valla Maps (unused), separately or as a set.

Some miniatures (Thing that Should Not Be) and Chariots for Circus Maximus, as well as digests left over from last year (Island Town, Sweetmeade Abbey, Castle of Class, and more).

Get them while we still have copies.....!

http://rpgmarketplace.com/recent,option,auctions_show

Mike B.

I just placed an order. didn't see them till after I ordered the World of Dyson set. Something seems to be wrong with the combined shipping automatic setting because the shipping cost comes out pretty high.

I'm pretty sure Doug will adjust the shipping on these if you ask him to combine all shipping...

Mike B.

Hey Mike,

I was wondering about the results of the raffle. Can that be found somewhere ? Or if non-attending raffle ticket holders haven't heard anything by now, they haven't won anything ?  

Badmike wrote in North Texas RPG Convention 2013: June 6-9:

xRalphx wrote in North Texas RPG Convention 2013: June 6-9:Hey Mike,

I was wondering about the results of the raffle. Can that be found somewhere ? Or if non-attending raffle ticket holders haven't heard anything by now, they haven't won anything ?  

They are on the NTRPG con site, and Doug will probably put the results up here soon.

MIke B.

I was curious about this also. I just poked around on the NTRPGCON site for 5 mins or so and still can't find the info. If someone is going to post them here at some point it's fine, no biggie, thanks