Gary Con XVII

Gary Con XVII took place in Lake Geneva this past weekend.  A memorial service was held on Sunday, March 23 in honor of Ernie Gygax, who passed away on February 28.

Artwork by Chet Minton

My friends and I were looking forward to the return trip, although one of us got delayed by shifting work deadlines and couldn't make it.

Rendezvous with 'Oumuamua:

Artist’s impression of 'Oumuamua

Our first game was the first of a three-part Savage Worlds scenario involving a scientific expedition to the mysterious interstellar object 'Oumuamua.

We had a lot of fun, despite finishing with a TPK.

It was my first experience playing Savage Worlds, and I immediately saw the possibilities for adapting ERB's lost world settings.

Earthshaker!

A short video, with music by Iron Maiden.

Next, I ran CM4 "Earthshaker!" (1985) by David "Zeb" Cook, using the "not entirely serious" pre-rolled characters.

As I suspected, it was possible to run this module in one sitting.  The players were able to foil the dastardly villains' plot, saving the dominion.

Things might have turned out differently, if not for a well-aimed arrow of biting - the villain failed his save vs. poison with a roll of "1".

You Too Can Cthulhu: Black Sun Rising

I always try to play in at least one "Call of Cthulhu" game at Gary Con.

This year's "Black Sun Rising" was marked by constantly rising tension, culminating in our second TPK of the day.

It was one of the best "Call of Cthulhu" games I've ever played (I believe it will be published in the near future).

The Spindle of Heaven:

Illustration by Clyde Caldwell

The next game I ran was the mini-adventure "The Spindle of Heaven" on Friday morning.

Meant for characters of levels 26 to 29, this was undoubtedly the highest level D&D scenario at the con (the 29th level magic-user got to throw a meteor swarm).

I used the pre-rolled characters from M2 "Vengeance of Alphaks" by Skip Williams.

The Black Eagle Banner:

This year, I re-ran two Battlesystem scenarios from years past, along with Douglas Behringer.

The first of these was "The Black Eagle Banner", featuring a revolt in the Grand Duchy of Karameikos, which I first ran in 2023 for Gary Con XV.

The session was a success, thanks to help from my friend Vince.

Dungeons of the Ghost Tower:

Keep Inverness.  Illustration by Erol Otus.

As in previous years, we joined forces with prior teammates to compete in the "Legends of Roleplaying Tourney".

The scenario was a return to Allen Hammack's module C2 "The Ghost Tower of Inverness", featuring plenty of puzzles and strange encounters.

Our DM was Harold Johnson, which made up for placing a dismal 13th (out of 16 teams).

The Cursed Farm:

I was eager to try Chaosium's new "Age of Vikings" RPG, just released last month.

The scenario was originally titled "Horror From the Mound" but switched at the last minute to a related adventure "The Cursed Farm".

Another fun system, well worth checking out.

Against the Legion of Doom!

Goblin cavalry prepares to charge.

The second Battlesystem scenario I ran was "Against the Legion of Doom!", which I previously ran at Gary Con XVI.

The battle represents the final confrontation against the forces of the Master of the Desert Nomads as presented in module X10 "Red Arrow, Black Shield".

We didn't quite finish, but it's always interesting to see how differently things play out.

The Future King:

"The Future King" (1985) by Tom Moldvay.

The last game I ran was a small-press one-shot RPG written by the late, great Tom Moldvay.

Doc Holliday, Nostradamus, Bruce Lee, Harald Hardraada, Owen Glendower, and Cyrano de Bergerac are gathered from across time and space to find and wake King Arthur.

The dice rolls were truly amazing in this one, resulting in some unforgettable outcomes.

A Tale of Two Temples

My friend Vince got into a game with Douglas Niles on Sunday morning, so I signed up for a Blueholme adventure.

It was my first time playing this Holmes retroclone, which I'd been tangentially involved in contributing to, back in the day.

The game turned out to be a lot of fun, and a fitting conclusion to another great con.