I attended Gary Con this year. Last year, I was supposed to go, but something came up and I had to cancel.

This year, I ran a scenario I created called The Hoard of the Great Mage: Search For The Dice of Destiny. I first ran this at UCon back in November, 2024.

Here’s the blurb:

The Great Mage has died and the city council’s last group of adventurers finally secured the entrance to the mage’s tower. Your group is tasked to enter the tower of the Great Mage and retrieve the fabled Dice of Destiny. Any other loot found is your payment.

It was a lot of fun, and of course, every group that has played this scenario had different things they focused on.

Like most of my more recent convention games, I used Delving Deeper. I describe it as a clone of Original D&D, but organized. The older I get, the more I like simpler rules that get out of the way of make believe.

I ran my game each morning: Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Thursday had 3 players that played my scenario from two years ago, and it was great to game with them again.

Friday a man and his partner showed up. She looked like she didn’t have anything to do, so I invited her to play. Two men walked by and we looking at all the various games. I asked if they were looking for a game. They asked how long it took. I told them the end of the time slot, and they joined in. It turns out that they are from Germany and in the game industry and were at the convention on business. One said that in the 20 years they’ve been coming to conventions in the U.S. this was the first time they had gamed. They had no dice or writing implements, so I gave them each a set of the extra dice I bring, just in case. They were a lot of fun in the game and really enjoyed it.

Saturday’s game had an older gentleman who has been playing longer than I have, and another middle aged man, and a man and his girlfriend. She had only played one on one RPGs with him, most recently OSE. This was both her first convention game AND her first game with multiple players. Later she and her boyfriend played my card game. When I complained about how all that’s left before it can go out is layout and how much I suck at layout, she said, “Well, I am a graphic designer.” She said she’d email me to work out details. So I am hopeful that this card game I’ve been working on for seven years will finally be available to the masses.

Sunday’s game was sold out with a waiting list. However, not all players showed up. Again, it was a blast, and was so much fun. I didn’t remember to get a picture until after one player left, as his character ended up teleported far away, and there was nothing for him to do. In prior games, the time slot was about over when something like that occurred, but they skipped some things and made good decisions that got them to the end with over an hour left in the time slot. He said he did have fun and that’s the way the game goes sometimes. He just could go fit in something else for the day.

I had a great time. I didn’t see quite as many friends as in past years, but it was great to catch up with old friends and to make some new ones.

I didn’t end up in the hotel that hosts the convention, so I had to deal with parking. It was packed by the time I got there the first morning, so the other mornings I got there earlier and got parking much closer to the entrance.

I did spend some money in the vendor hall. I bought a large format d20 that is an actual d20 and not a countdown d20 for Magic the Gathering, like others I bought not knowing about countdown d20s. I got a new Gary Con hat, to match my old one, as the old one is showing signs of being a well worn hat. I picked up some new pins, but haven’t decided where to put them on my gaming jacket.

As always, I had a great time at Gary Con. Being at an off site hotel, I didn’t stay late in the lounge more than once, on Saturday night. The change for Daylight Savings Time has really kicked my butt this year, and I’m still not adjusted, so I was extra tired at the con, and not as lively. Work with the day job is also extra busy and wears me down.

I didn’t sign up for any games, as I could always get a pick up game, but sitting in the lounge and doing nothing was marvelous. Watching people and visiting with friends and making new friends was awesome. I just don’t have the drive to game like crazy every day.

I would like to make it to Gamehole Con this year, but I’m not sure that I can justify it. It’s close to UCon, in Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti, Michigan, that I go to every year, since I live in Michigan. In visiting with Merle “The Administrator” Rasmussen, creator of Top Secret, he said he was invited to Wizard Con in Kalamazoo. I had not heard of that convention in my backyard, so I’ll be looking into that. I also got so busy with work, I forgot to submit games for Marmalade Dog, the college convention at Western Michigan University.

This is my first blog post in over a year, the last being a year in review post in December, 2023. Work and other things have pulled me away from most gaming. I still play Wednesday nights on Roll20 as I have for over a decade now.

Gary Con has re-charged my gaming batteries. UCon did too, but it’s in the early portion of my busiest time at the day job. The day job uses so much of my creative energy to solve problems that I have little left for fun creativity.

While it is still fresh in my mind, I have started making notes about the scenario I used at UCon and Gary Con and will clean it up to share on DriveThruRPG. I’ve got a lot of scenarios I haven’t shared there.

I’ve got a rough concept for the campaign world that is the setting for my adventures using Delving Deeper, and I started consolidating some notes. The AD&D adventures I run are either based on actual play scenarios from my home campaign, or ideas I based in my home campaign world. My home campaign is something I could publish, but I feel it would be a lot more work, than the idea I have for my Delving Deeper adventures.

In coming months, I hope to publish at least one of my convention games, hopefully more.

And if all comes together, maybe my card game will finally reach an audience outside of those I can show it too at conventions.

A bit more than a Gary Con update, but it is needed with my lack of postings. I’ll do what I can to have more frequent postings here, but I can’t make any promises. If I didn’t take Monday off after conventions, I wouldn’t be writing this now.

So until next time…. Game on!