Gary Con XV

Gary Con is being held again in Lake Geneva from March 23-26, 2023, the first post-pandemic Gary Con without mask requirements.

 “Paladin of Gygantor” by Chris Arneson

As in previous years, I drove up to Lake Geneva with my son, (although this year, he spent most of his time studying for mid-terms, instead of gaming).

The Ghost Tower of Inverness:

Cover to AD&D module C2: "The Ghost Tower of Inverness" (1980) by Alan Hammack

My first big event was on Thursday afternoon, playing in "The Ghost Tower of Inverness" with none other than Alan Hammack, DMing.

Alan nudged us along from time to time, but didn't pull any punches during the grand finale, (my cleric ended up getting sucked into the Soul Gem!)

The Black Eagle Banner:

This year, I really pushed my comfort zone and ran a miniatures wargame (with a lot of help from Doug Behringer and Zach Howard, of Zenopus Archives).

The desert nomads attack!  Miniatures painted by Doug Behringer.

I chose a key Battlesystem scenario from module X10 "Red Arrow, Black Shield" featuring a clash between the Black Eagle Baron and Duke Stefan Karameikos.

The miniatures were kindly loaned to me by Paul Stormberg and Doug Behringer, and the event was made possible with Kevin Maurice's help, as well.

The Forgotten Smugglers' Cave:

Those of you following the development of The Forgotten Smugglers' Cave on Zenopus Archives will be interested to learn this Holmesian adventure has entered the playtest phase.

An unholy symbol depicting a were-shark; illustration by Lore Suto

It's always a pleasure to play in a Holmes adventure run by Zach - each encounter area contained interesting items, and we battled several original creatures.

Ruins of Elder Evil:

The 5th Annual Gary Con, Legends of Roleplaying Tournament, based on a return to the Temple of Elemental Evil, was held on Friday night.

Unfortunately, our group ended up making a few tactical choices near the beginning that resulted in a slog - only 4/9 characters survived, although the experience was great fun.

Quest for the Heartstone:

A short video I spliced together, from clips appearing in the D&D Saturday morning cartoon.

My final event is taking place this morning, in which I'm running "Quest for the Heartstone" using pregens based on the LJN toy line.

Update (Mar 29, 2021): "Quest for the Heartstone" was such a blast, that I plan to run it again, next year!  Will probably start at the entrance to the dungeon, in a 4 hour time slot.