GaryCon VI Odyssey, Part 2

Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, March 25^th through April 1^st… Part 2!

Rising on Thursday morning was a beautiful event, with some quick printouts and character prep done for the GaryCon Tournament Open event, The Tower of Akbaba, with Luke. More attendees were filing in, to a surprising degree. It seemed as if Thursday’s numbers were going to be quite large, which is nice to see. I ran by the giant white board and “marshaling area” in the lobby, quickly making sure that “Steal Dale’s Coffee” was still properly notated on the board, as it somehow kept getting removed. I had enough time to grab some breakfast grub from the Resort restaurant, as well as much needed water and coffee before stumbling to the 10am First Round Tournament event that I was running. It was a good time, with great players, but the competition and scoring was fierce this year and they sadly didn’t make it to Round 2.

I have to say that, since becoming involved with the Tournament Open last year, the players I get are wonderfully inventive, work great together and always – always – make it a great experience for me as DM. So, thanks all, for gaming with me.

I believe I took a desperately needed nap after the game, as I was still bleeding peat out of my pores from the previous evening’s fun. Once that was finished off, I returned to the late afternoon festivities and listen to Dale kvetch about his missing coffee mug. I had a meal, chatted it up for a while, and then turned in early as I wanted to be all fresh and neat for my Friday 8am game.

“It’s Not My Fault” was the title of the adventure I ran on Friday morning, an idea I had that I’m hoping to flesh out fully in the near future. I ran it using AD&D 1e rules, with a small city setting, and all thieves as characters. The idea is to allow it to have a tournament-style adventure for low-level thieves, and then have more detail for a longer campaign, if wanted. The four guinea pigs, er… players, that showed, definitely put me to the test, as well as put their all into the plot. While it was mostly a character-driven adventure with little combat, I think it was a successful first test. I plan on finishing the entirety of the adventure over the next few weeks, with publication a goal. It won’t go under the title here, but keep an eye out.

I grabbed a Spotted Cow and a pizza before heading to my next game, all while dodging Luke, who was trying to get me to run another first round of the tournament later in the day. I was secretly hoping not to, as I had an old friend from the Chicago suburbs coming up to visit, and I hadn’t seen him in a few years. Before that though, I had to hit the noon ‘Don’t Give up the Ship’ gathering, which I got into at the last second and was looking forward to as I’d never played it and had always wanted to. I was amazed at how many players were already at the area, as well as amused at the concentration of yellow VIP badges waiting to play. I was speedily handed a rules sheet to read through and a stat sheet for the ship I’d be captain of. The GM was Mike (last name redacted to protect the guilty), who welcomed this newbie to the game with aplomb, introduced the setting to all the players and assisted everyone with as much speed as he could, considering the size of the group. We split down the middle, with my side playing the British and the opposing side as the French, representing an historic battle of 1808. Each of us was allowed to captain a single vessel, with the exception of one player who piloted two French ships. I and a VIP named Michael were the British frigates shadowing “the most foul French” while the Fleet Commanders prepared their capital ships that were sailing in formation. Four hours later, the French had the upper hand on the British, though if there had been another hour or so, the wind may have changed to favor the Brits. I had a fantastic time playing, fully enjoying the setting, my fellow captains and the complete lack of ego at the game. Two ships of the same side collide? Whoops! Better luck next round. The complete and utter chaos of it, coupled with the fun everyone was having just topped my Friday. While there were many minutes of standing about waiting for your orders to be followed through, it was never boring. Mike didn’t allow for much communication between ships due to distance and noise, which could have been detrimental for hardcore gamers. It was extremely pleasant to see everyone willingly accept this and just enjoy the game. My most specific observation from the event would be the median age of the players. I’m guessing here that the average age would have been near 55, a first for me. It certainly leant to some colorful and amusing anecdotes, quotes and language. The game itself is simple in style, yet complex in feel, and I urge all that have interest in an Age of Sail setting or even miniatures battles, to give it a try sometime. Great experience.

After, I discovered the need for me to run another tourney slot dissipated, so I was able to meet up with my friend Bob and his wife Lynn, who came up to the resort for dinner and see what I came out to every year for. Bob is a gamer too, so we shall see if I’ve enticed him enough to attend next year! Once we parted company, it was time to take a walk to one of the villas for further socialization. That evening will remain as [REDACTED]!

Saturday morning had me up and grabbing a quick bite from the table down by the registration desk, after once again making sure Steal Dale’s Coffee was up and on the marshaling area white board. I wonder who kept erasing that? Cheeky. The lack of real sleep was catching up on me though, so I reenergized with java and water as much as one could, before the next event I needed to run: Round 2 of the Tournament Open. The boys and one girl were not in my round one event and most were returning champs from GaryCon V, which was a cool factoid. These players were an oiled machine and came up with some fun ways to get around the second portion of the tournament, losing only one party member in the final outcome. This group went on to be the champions of the tournament, by a close margin. It may come that either Luke or I will run an adventure for this group next year, provided time allows. Congrats again, folks. It may be time for you to name your group!

I attempted a nap that refused to come to me, then headed out with friends Bryan and Jason to Popeye’s again for a bite before my next event, my annual Cyberpunk 2020 game. Since GaryCon II I’ve been running a somewhat connected ‘Punk game, with interested parties allowed to keep their characters and return the following year. I’ve had a handful of people that come back every session and always allow for new players, including first timers to Cyberpunk. This year I not only got new and first time players, but a young lad who came with his brother. Usually I add an age disclaimer to this particular game, due to some of the rather vile things that occur during play. Cyberpunk is not for the squeamish and can bring out a person’s inner psychotic. As I didn’t want to turn him away, (having not made the disclaimer in the game description), I made sure the boy’s brother was okay with the blood and guts of play, and the rest of us toned down the language and… other situations that occur during game. Considering that a number of the characters provided have cybernetic implants to enhance their sex, physique and appearance, all while being detrimental to their psychosis, it’s not always easy to do! Regardless, the game went off, with all too little combat. Those pesky gamers always go in directions you never intend – good thing us gamemasters can roll with their oddities. One other thing I’ve noticed about Cyberpunk, and this happens every year for me as well, I always – always – get women to play. This year we had a total newbie to the game, a woman from Canada, who joined us, picked one of the most violent characters to play, and had the entire table in stitches when it came to her decisions in game. If I’d had a table vote for best player, she’d have won, hands down. We stretched the game to more than the time I’d thought the game would last, just to slide in some last-minute brutality and weapon recovery (as I’d limited the arms that each character had – much to the returning players’ surprise). One of my players, we’ll call him Dr. Lovemore, graciously handed out miniatures to all those at the table, ending my Saturday for me. I headed on to bed shortly after, done in for the night.

I didn’t attend the auction this year, spending the time getting my new players prepped for Cyberpunk. In all previous years, the game usually ended by the time the auction started, or has been interrupted by it. I chose this year to run the game after the auction and I think I’ll do so from here on in. It went smoother and allows everyone to get their auction goodies with plenty of time. I’m not even sure how much was raised for Ernie and Jim this year. Anything helps, though. I hope the improved GaryCon website can host a donation window for continued aid.

Sunday had me up early, what with my first full night of sleep in days. I was a little rough around the edges still (scotchy-scotch-scotch recovery is lingering ever longer these days) but happy and ready to be playing in my only day of not running any games. I was looking forward to the Top Secret scenario with game creator Merle at 10am, so I wandered around, socialized, purchased items at the registration desk I’d been neglecting to and waited for the vendor room to open. I made sure that the SDC ending time was on the white board (what a shock – it was erased again), knowing full well that Dale wanted coffee badly. (Insert evil laughter here)

I purchased a few items from the vendor room, quite pleased to see it so busy on a Sunday morning. It seemed like everyone I spoke to had a lucrative con, which is great to hear. There was plenty I wanted, but being on a budget and having promised (as well as begging to make sure there was one for me) to purchase a box set of WHISPER AND VENOM (www.lessergnome.com), it limited me somewhat. I’m good with that; baggage space was at a premium. After, I went to check on table assignment for Top Secret, only to discover that the game was at 8am, not 10! Needless to say, I was rather annoyed at myself. I’d have felt better if I’d overslept! It was the one game I had intended not to miss, and here, I did. Hopefully Merle will return to GaryCon so I can try again.

The rest of the day was spent saying goodbye to those leaving early, passing contact information around, packing up the stuff lying about the room and enjoying a few Spotted Cows, as I wouldn’t be returning to the Constitution State with any this year. That, and anticipating the final game of GaryCon, the original Civilization, run by Mark of Creative Mountain Games (www.creativemountaingames.com). I’m a huge fan of the old Civ game and have been wanting to play with people whose gaming style I don’t know. I was very happy to see that the game didn’t get bumped due to lack of players and that we were able to get it moving to a good clip, finally calling it at around 2am Monday. Mark packed up the game, I packed in the remainder of the cider that Tom gave to me and I wandered around a bit, realizing I was the last attendee in the lobby at 2:30am. Weird feeling.

Monday had Cliff, Nick and I eating a late breakfast at Daddy Maxwell’s, a fine eatery just a hop and skip away from the resort, in Williams Bay. A few years back, when the resort wasn’t offering a breakfast of any kind to attendees, an infamous gamer known as The Keeper and his wife were cheerily handing out menus, and we of the Fond of Justice (League) have made it a “must do” ever since. For those of you that have yet to try it, do so when you’re in the area. Its cash only, but they know how to feed you. And entertain you, if you’re in the mood for it. We high tailed it back to the resort to see off Bryan and Jason, as well as a few others that we got to know this year, and a few known since GaryCon I. The rest of the day was spent shipping things out for easy travel, eating at Carver’s and being begged to run another Cyberpunk session… which barely happened at all. Afterwards, Luke and [REDACTED]!

A late rise on Tuesday had us checking out, saying goodbye to those still around like us (Nick) and trying to get everything not shipped fit into baggage. I had brought a rather large gift from my collection for Jolly of Knights of the Dinner Table fame (www.kenzerco.com), leaving me with what I thought would be plenty of room on the return. It was a tight fit and I ended up popping the seams on two pockets of my duffel. Time for a new one! Our return flight was redirected, having us stuck at a layover in O’Hare for a couple of hours. Considering our plane at Mitchell was delayed 30 minutes, it was probably a good thing. Heavy winds over the lakes caused a bit of turbulence but overall, it wasn’t a terrible trip. The individual TVs on everyone’s seat annoyed the hell out of me, though.

We arrived back at Bradley International Airport about 15 minutes earlier than expected, finding the temperature here to be quite comfortable. After a nightcap at a favorite pub, I was back in HovelHouse around 11pm. Another GaryCon was completed, rife with great times, some forgotten, some [REDACTED], and grand ideas for next year.

Once again, I thank everyone who assisted in my return to Wisconsin. It’s an event I will not miss and have come to appreciate far beyond my means to express. Gary gave us gamers much and GaryCon is just the smallest of ways to remember that, which I will. Besides that, I want a GaryCon exclusive d20 in 14 years to complete my set.