Gary Con IX was the first large convention that I have been to in many long years - over a decade at least. What a fantastic time! Inevitably, I am going to fail to mention some people or some events, partially because I am still recovering and partially because there is a limit to my abilities as a writer. Here we go, though...a more extended version of Gary Con events.
(On second thought, I lie....
Nexus Game Fair in Milwaukee last year was pretty damn big, and I got to meet and hang with
Brendan LaSalle there! It just goes to show, though, that I am going to make mistakes in this report.)
Thursday: Arrived at the hotel with my son,
Mike. Because we were late to book, I had to use the overflow and get a suite at the Timber Lodge. I had imagined pick-up gaming in the room (it included a table seating 6), but that never came to pass. Too bad, in a way. I had packed more than enough material to run another 3-4 games.
Dropping by the
Goodman Games/Black Blade Publishing booth, I met with
Jon Hershberger and signed a raffle copy of the
DCC core rulebook.
At 2 pm I ran a playtest of
Escape from Terror Island, which seemed to go pretty well. Included at the table was none other than
Thick Skull's Stephen Newton, who had pictures taken.A good thing, too, as I had failed to take any.
That night, after the game, Mike and I met with
Joseph Goodman,
Harley Stroh, and
Jen Brinkman, and went to dinner at the
Pub Next Door....which was excellent and crowded with Con-goers and locals alike.
That evening
Mike and I hung out at the bar for a bit, and were witness to
Doug Kovacs running a game of
Dog Storm. The game was in process when we arrived, so we didn't play, but instead drank Spotted Cow and talked to other gamers.
Friday: I ran two games: a
Gnome Jambalaya playtest at 10 am and
Stars in the Darkness at 2 pm. Among the people at my tables were
David Baity and
Clint Bohaty, who are certainly known to the DCC community.
David Baity kindly brought be a
Dark Trails thermos cup, dice, decal, and cup holder.
Please realize that, although I am only mentioning a few of the people at my tables (and largely because I am name-dropping), I got to game with a hell of a lot of great people not specifically mentioned. The tables were few, the gamers were fun and engaging, and I hope most of us enjoyed ourselves!
Between games, I tried to locate
Paul Wolfe, both because we have had a cordial online relationship for a number of years, and because I wanted to get him to sign a copy of
Angels, Daemons, & Beings Between which will be a raffle prize at
Odyssey Con at the end of April.
We were able to get in on
Dog Storm for that night, and
Mike ended up winning. When we were on the edges the previous night, it had sounded as though people were having a lot of fun. The reality was even more fun. Almost all of my characters (I think all, but I say "almost" in case I forgot something) were taken out by dog storms or cosmic debris.
Saturday: I woke up late, and so only got into the tag end of
What's New With Goodman Games....but not too late to see
Doug Kovacs stump the
Dark Master with
Lankhmar lore. The
kickstarter went live.
My only game for Saturday was
The Revelation of Mulmo, scheduled for 10 pm to 3 am (we ran over), so I had plenty of time to hang around the convention area before that. I was able to have a longer conversation with
Doug Kovacs, as well as see and discuss his original art. I met
Erik Tenkar of
Tenkar's Taven. I was finally able to catch up with
Paul Wolfe, as well as his family. I spoke with
Reid San Filippo,
Forrest Aguirre,
Scott Swift,
Adam Muszkiewicz,
Bob Brinkman, and others. It was all a bit of a whirl, and I apologize to those I haven't called out specifically. I had a short interaction with
Michael Curtis. Somewhere in there I met
Jobe Bittman and
Jim Wampler.
My game that night included the illustrious
James V. West.
I almost forgot to mention that
Mike won a backpack full of beer while I was running this game, easily beating the American competition in
Beers of the World....heavy drinking being the Canadian national sport even more than hockey is! It should go without saying that being a giant of a man with biceps like my thighs also improved
Mike's chances! Canadian honour was upheld!
Sunday: Up by 10 am to breakfast, check out of the hotel, and then run
The Tomb of the Squonk for a full table, which included
Jeff Goad. No one was turned away. A lot of "20"s were rolled by the players. Side trips to
The Weird Worm-Ways of Saturn and
The Giggling Deep were made.
After the convention,
Mike and I had lunch at the
Pub Next Door, where we again met with
Doug Kovacs. It was a full convention.
Shout-Outs to the Players Who Signed Up for My Games
If you're not listed, let me know in the comments. If I met with you at the Con, but my overworked brain left you out of the above report, say "Hi" in the comments. Especially for the 0-level funnels, because I would like to make sure that you get the playtest credit you deserve!
Escape From Terror Island: Richard Mundy, Don Porter, Chris Ellis, Ken Austin, Jeff Bernstein, and Joshua O'Conner-Rose.
Gnome Jambalaya: Jon Steelman, Becky Banner, David Baity, Clint Bohaty, Karen Johnson, Charlie Brashear, Todd Brashear, and David Caulkins. (Chris Ellis was on the waiting list, but I can't for the life of me remember if we made room or not....?)
Stars in the Darkness: Richard Mundy, Mike Bolam, Chris Ellis, Joshua O'Connor-Rose, Christopher Turner, Matthew Turner, Justin Bowers, and Dave Crimm.
The Revelation of Mulmo: Dave Bresson, Nathan, Steph, James V. West, Andrew Moss, Jeff Bernstein, Trevor Hartman, and Joshua O'Connor-Rose.
The Tomb of the Squonk: Jon Steelman, Jeff Goad, Becky Banner, Richard Mundy, Tim Deschene, Jeffrey Laluc. The Waiting List included Eric Lopez, Mike Bishop, Chris Ellis, and James Smith. I tried to accommodate all comers.
Recommendation to the Con
On the "Players Wanted/Table Full" stands, include something to indicate what game is being played. Especially if you need players!
I spent a lot of time at Gary Con talking to people who either enjoyed my writing, or were polite enough to say that they did. Of course, no adventure is just the writing. There is always the art. 
I hope that it is clear that the art in this post is representational, but the inclusion (or lack thereof) of any given piece isn't meant to call out specific artists.
