11 Days Till GaryCon! Time to Start Packing.

First of all, The Dead Games Society will be throwing a 70s theme party in their suite on Friday Night at 9pm. I have a game running at that time, but I might be able to stop by late.

I'm in the process of packing for the con, and am having the issue of what size bags to bring. My big concern having to do with carrying books with me through the airport. While I can run HackMaster from HMB and D&D from the Cyclopedia, I still need to bring my Aces & Eights book for the shootout and my Hacklopedia of Beasts just to get it signed by the rest of the D-Team. Plus there's the unwritten rule of not checking any bag that has anything you can't live without on your trip. And since I don't want to pay and extra $25 on each trip, that means packing light so I can bring everything as a carry-on.

So it looks like it's going to be a backpack and small suitcase for this journey. Likely doable, but definitely stuffed to capacity. Thankfully most of the time my bags will in my room and not carried around. But it's one of those little things you have to deal with when you travel, even if it's just to game.

27 Days Till GaryCon! Memories of GaryCon IV: Day Two

I've decided to use the vlog from last year for Day Two as that is the day that gets covered the most in video.

 

46 Days Till GaryCon! Event Registration is Live!

Outside of some technical difficulties, the event registration for GaryCon V has now begun and will be running until February 23rd. You also have until January 31st to register for the convention with a Copper Badge that gives you 15 SP to register for events.

In good news, I got all the events that I wanted to sign up for. So I will definitely be doing stuff at the convention whether it's playing or running a game. My itinerary looks like this:

Thursday:
8am-2pm (GM) HackMaster- Monsters in the Barn
This is the event I wrote for GaryCon II that was published in HackJournal #39 last year. It's an introductory session for those that have never played Hackmaster before.

3pm-5pm (Player) TSR with Gary Gygax
One of the seminars I wanted to attend. I played in an OD&D game with Mr. Mentzer last year and the stories he told were the best part of the game.

6pm-10pm (GM) Basic D&D- Steaks
This is an AD&D adventure from A1 that I have converted for the BECMI rules. Not heavy on combat, but should still be fun.

Friday:
10am-2pm (GM) Aces & Eights-Last Varmint Standing
This was another fun game I ran last year. Just a big shootout amongst all the players in a last man standing situation. Walk-ups are greatly welcomed here as things will go up and down at a moments notice. No experience necessary.

7pm-10:30pm (Player) Advanced D&D- Quondam Fount
I  had fun at Frank Mentzer's table last year, why not do it again?

Saturday:
8am-Noon (Player) Mutant Future- Thundarr the Barbarian: Warlord of the Sacred Library
Ariel! Ookla! RIDE! (This is going to be so awesome)

2pm-4pm (Player) Dungeon!
Never played this game before. My brother highly recommended it. Gonna give it a shot.

6pm-10pm (Player) HackMaster- The Temple of Unrelenting Despair
My friend Paul is running this game. I always make it a point to support my friends at GaryCon.

Sunday:
10am-2pm- Mongoose Traveller- A Rock And A Hard Place
An old-school game that I never heard of until a few years ago. One must always be open to new things.

So, has anyone else registered yet? What did you sign up for? The clock is ticking, so be sure to get signed up as soon as possible. And I will see you at GaryCon V.

48 Days Till GaryCon! GaryCon III: The Conclusion

Sunday morning Michael and I got up with no plans for the day. Remembering the awesome breakfast buffet we had the year before, we were very disappointed that the new management wasn't offering it this time around. With no events signed up for, we went downstairs to see what was going on and maybe drop in on whatever was being held at the time.

We wandered the downstairs area for a bit. Said hello to +Jolly Blackburn at the Kenzer table. And before long we were bored and ready to leave. We had already checked out of our room and were no longer obligated to stick around longer than need be. But being in the vicinity of old school games got us talking about a few of the ones we grew up on, particularly Marvel Super Heroes. This got the attention of Chad from the Dead Games Society who joined in on our conversation, along with a few others whose names I'm afraid I did not get.. The topic quickly spread from the nuances of the Marvel game to Marvel and DC Comics in general, particularly the big events that occurred at the time. The conversation went for about an hour, and it's rather amazing to see my normally introverted brother involved in spirited conversation with someone who up until a few moments ago was a complete stranger. But eventually we knew we had to get back to my mother's house as she was planning on taking me out to dinner for a belated birthday celebration.

The ride back was uneventful. We talked, as the Lawson brothers do on car trips. Realizing that we had skipped breakfast and were soon to be missing lunch, we stopped by T.G.I.Fridays for a round of appetizers and bad service. When we got back to my mother's house, we hung out a bit and did laundry for a few hours before going out for sushi for dinner.

Since I was now unemployed, I decided not to head back home right away. I spent a few extra days with my mother and stepfather while resuming my search for new employment. That would have to wait another three months though. But I was fortunate to have been able to enjoy myself despite my predicament. In July, I drove out to upstate New York and began a new chapter of my life. It was a shame to leave the Midwest behind, but real life sometimes countermands what you want. What I did know what that I wasn't about to let distance get in the way of GaryCon IV. I just needed to make new arrangements on how to get there.

52 Days Till GaryCon! Planning Ahead.

With less than a week until registration begins, it's important to get an idea of what you need to play before you sit down in front of your computer on the 27th. Having only a limited amount of gold and silver points to spend, and an even more limited amount of time, I like to write up a timetable and plan my games accordingly.

So far, I have myself scheduled for 2-3 events a day. That's including the games I'm running. And I am allowing myself plenty of down time in between. I'll be playing AD&D, Mutant Future, Dungeon, HackMaster and Mongoose Traveller. Three out of those five games are games I never played before, which is part of the reason to go to a con to begin with. I just wish I knew what time registration starts so I don't miss out on any events.

53 Days Till GaryCon! Priorities.

This was from a Skype conversation with my brother this afternoon.

[12:12:17 PM] Michael Lawson: Remind me, if Monsters doesn't get many signups for it, I'm gonna sign in. I know the thing yes but at least it helps to have someone more there jic.

[12:17:00 PM] Michael Lawson: but, and this is terrible, I hope I don't have to because the Dead Game society is running a DC universe game in that morning. xO

[12:18:00 PM] David Lawson: Play your game. My game is the first RPG of the entire con. At the very worst I might need a co-GM for chargen. Just show up for Last Varmint Standing.

[12:18:18 PM] Michael Lawson: kk. And... ****. Can't sign in till the 27th anyway.

[12:18:21 PM] Michael Lawson: XO

[12:18:26 PM] Michael Lawson: I wanna buy seats now!

[12:18:47 PM] David Lawson: Me too. I'm playing Thundarr on Saturday.

[12:19:04 PM] Michael Lawson: I'm going to the noon seminar on Gary Gygax and TSR.

[12:19:11 PM] Michael Lawson: Because DAMN that's something I wanna hear.

[12:19:21 PM] Michael Lawson: I'm a huge nerd.

Heh. We all are Michael, we all are.

[12:47:38 PM] Michael Lawson: Blaaaah. That first day has too many good events.

[12:47:41 PM] Michael Lawson: I must look away.

Have strength baby bro.