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Saturday, June 3, 2023

NTRPG Con Day 3 - Top Secret With Merle Rasmussen


This morning at 8 AM, Rach and I played in a Top Secret: New World Order session with Merle Rasmussen. Too early to normally be awake and fed, but worth it to play with Mr. Top Secret himself.

Our team was sent to recover a nuclear bomb lost in the Aussie Outback over 60 years ago, a Broken Arrow mission. Needless to say, we went off script in unexpected directions as a group, but Merle handled us well.

As is usual with Merle, Legos were involved ;)


Afterward, there was a Small Publishers seminar by Zach Glazar and Skeeter Green. Well done and informative.

Did I mention Steve Marsh and I caught up after the seminar? Note, the pic is from earlier in the con ;)

Next up - Awards & Auction


The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. 

DTRPGAmazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern.  You can catch the daily Tavern Chat cast on AnchorYouTube or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar

Friday, June 2, 2023

NTRPG Con - MCC Did a Job on Me, Now I am a Real Mutie!

Today is Day 2 of NTRPG Con, and it started early for us. There was a podcaster breakfast at 7 am (ungodly time if you ask me), but we made it by around 730. Great bunch of folks and always great to get some Facetime in with other casters in the community.

After breakfast, Rach and I napped until our noon MCC RPG session - Hail Ceaser Salad! run by Ian McGarty. It was an extremely entertaining and fun funnel. Funnels work well as convention sessions - character death becomes part of the fun. 

We had well over a dozen character deaths among the players - Rach and I only had one death each time for (pure luck), but others burned through their sheets and had to grab a second ;)

We have another livestream tonight!

https://youtube.com/live/ZtuSIRdZGQg?feature=share



Thursday, June 1, 2023

NTRPG Con - We Wuz Fuzzy Heroes!



Rach and I played in our NTRPG Con 2023 experience - Fuzzy Heroes from Inner City Games.  We had a blast!

Chris Clark ran a game full of puns (no pun is truly bad), stuffed toys, dolls, homemade terrain, Halloween decorations, and more. A great time was had by all, and the two-hour time slot blew by in no time at all.

Before the game, I got to meet James Raggi in person, as well as Courtney Campbell, and a few members of The Tavern's community for whom this was their first time at NTRPG Con. So many first-timers, so many hands to shake, and hugs to give.

Tonight at 9 PM Eastern, 8 PM Central there will be a live Whiskey Tasting. You can catch the live stream at The Tavern's Youtube Channel -https://www.youtube.com/tenkarstavern



The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. 

DTRPGAmazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern.  You can catch the daily Tavern Chat cast on AnchorYouTube or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar

NTRPG Con - Day Zero - The Socializing



I seriously find it amazing that today is technically Day Zero of NTRPG Con. It's the Pre-Con Get It On, but the number of attendees that are here the day/evening before is rivaling a typical Thursday Cn Morning. Holy shit, it's a beautiful thing to see. I shook hands and hugged more people this afternoon and tonight than I usually do in an entire con. How awesome is that?

Mike & I had an amazing live stream from the vendor hall. Special guests galore, but if you want to hear some amazing stories about Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, watch Jim Kitchen retell some amazing stories about both. Tonight's live stream is linked below to start with the stories from Jim.

https://www.youtube.com/live/kLlLXWGuEBo?feature=share&t=4970

Full livestream below:




Tuesday, May 30, 2023

I Love Gaming Conventions - I Hate Packing for Gaming Conventions



I ALWAYS get the pre-con jitters the night before conventions, whether I'm flying or driving, but flying has its own set of stressors ;)

There's that fear, in the back of your head, that you'll forget something important - like a charging hub, or medications. Well, all such is packed now.

Still, I have that feeling in my stomach, a mix of excitement and dread - which, upon being seated on the plane - or starting on the road trip - goes away. It makes everything real and puts the potential problems and pitfalls in the rearview mirror.

Rach and I arrive at NTRPG Con tomorrow - please say "hello" if you are attending - my joy of conventions comes from meeting members of the community :)



Monday, May 29, 2023

Bundle of Holding - DCC Lankhmar

I'm a huge Lankhmar fan. I own various RPG iterations of the Lankhmar setting, and I truly believe that Goodman Games via the DCC RPG has the most complete and quality support. I'd be happy to run DCC Lankhmar using the OSR ruleset of my choice - OSE or S&W most likely.

The DCC Lankhmar Bundle once again presents the Lankhmar campaign setting for the Dungeon Crawl Classics tabletop fantasy roleplaying game from Goodman Games. Authorized by the estate of master fantasist Fritz Leiber and funded in a March 2017 Kickstarter campaign, Goodman's Lankhmar line expands the DCC RPG rules to match the tone of Leiber's classic sword-and-sorcery stories. Explore the City of Seven-Score Thousand Smokes, Lankhmar, and follow in the footsteps of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser across the fantastic realm of Nehwon.

For just US$14.95 you get both titles in this revived April 2021 offer's Starter Collection (retail value $47) as DRM-free ebooks, including the massive DCC Lankhmar Boxed Set and the introductory adventure Gang Lords of Lankhmar. We also include the DCC Quick Start Rules.

And if you pay more than this revived offer's threshold price of $25.54, you'll level up and also get this revival's entire Bonus Collection with eight more titles worth an additional $56, including The Land of Eight Cities, A Dozen Lankhmar Locations, The Fence's Fortuitous Folly, Acting Up in Lankhmar, Grave Matters, Rats of Ilthmar, Violence for Votishal, and the aptly titled Blasphemy and Larceny in Lankhmar.

And here's the new bundle:

For just US$17.95 you get all eight titles in our Lankhmar Collection (retail value $71) as DRM-free ebooks, including the 164-page Gen Con tournament module The Greatest Thieves in Lankhmar (retail price $30) and seven adventures for low-level characters (levels 1-3): #6 Cheating Death, #10 Unholy Nights in Lankhmar, #12 Mercy on the Day of the Eel, #13 Treachery in the Beggar City, the short preview module Masks of Lankhmar, and two Goodman releases that include Lankhmar scenarios – DCC RPG Free RPG Day 2016 and the DCC Day 2020 Adventure Pack.

 

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. 

DTRPGAmazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern.  You can catch the daily Tavern Chat cast on AnchorYouTube or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar  

Sunday, May 28, 2023

It's All About the (Con) Prep

It's All About the (Con) Prep
So it's the weekend before the 15th Annual North Texas RPG Con, and this would be my 6th year attending. This convention is literally the only vacation I schedule for myself each year.....don't get me wrong I do go on other trips/vacations, but I only keep one weekend blocked out on my calendar in advance.

Anyway,  like any good trip, NTRPG requires a little prep so I can max out my enjoyment. Usually the most important thing is to make sure I have enough money since I tend to over-indulge on my collecting (frugality only goes so far), and there is a lot of goodies to be had. Dealers, convention exclusives, the silent auction, ......the midnight auction, ......and the actual auction.... lots of goodies.

SUATMM

This year I was smart enough, well one of my dealers (and I am implying the drug usage analogy) was smart enough to ask me if there were any items I was looking for in particular. Of course he just so happens to have a little something something that is on my want list...and I'm likely to have to dig deep in one of the auctions if I want it.

Clearly I can't just go in throwing cash around, as much as my pushers dealers would like me to. I have to do my homework and go through my current stuff and see where my holes are. More than once I've bought something I didn't need because I already owned one (looking at you Hacklopedia of Beasts Vol II!) or because I ...I....face it, sometimes I have poor impulse control, especially when it comes to gaming stuff. No, I have to spend a hot minute going through my collection list and making sure I have an offline copy that has been updated.

My initial focus is clearly of the opportunity to pick up more stuff, but I think that's mostly because I finally picked up some specific acquisitions today...stuff I bought months ago that was awaiting pickup, and a HUGE item that needed a lot of manpower to load up. That'll probably be part of a future post, but not today.

My next focus has to be on the games/events I'm in. Have to make sure the dice, drinks, and game books are packed away. I'm looking at a couple of AD&D PHBs right now I only have because I forgot to bring one and had to visit the dealer hall to get another.....(see above). Rulebooks, pencils, dice.....especially the dice (I'm a bit of a dice snob, so I do better with my "good" dice), listed, packed, and checked....ideally.

This time around I have to pack for not only the convention, but a work trip as well. This means like three checklists, one for each trip and then a third showing what goes on both trips.....

I'm also hosting an event and while the packing list for that isn't a lot, there is a lot of other prep work for that event. I think that'll be Thursday night and more than likely it'll be streamed to The Tavern's YouTube channel. No spoilers here......

Hopefully I'll be seeing some other Tavern Patrons at the con....

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