OwlCon Feb 22-24, 2019

Almost every year I drive over to  Rice University in Houston for one of my favorite local area game conventions, Owl Con.  Reasonably priced, easy going, not crowded, but big enough to have interesting stuff.  Very well run by the University's RPG club, after doing it for more than three decades, they got their shit figured out. The campus is nice, plenty of inexpensive parking. Depending on your events, it can be a bit of walking back and forth. 

RPGs old, new and everything in between. Boardgames. A few miniatures. Several companies demoing new games.  Lots of open gaming. I don't remember any huge CCG events/tournaments but I'm sure there is some people doing that.

http://owlcon.com/files/current_flyer.pdf


Games I'm playing in ...

Dragon of Whistmire Swamp

Dungeons & Dragons White Box

Deep in the land of Greyhawk, evil stirs in Whistmire Swamp. Rumors of cults whisper through nearby taverns while villagers go missing. Merchants who challenge roads through the swamp speak of strange magics. And many swear by sightings of dragons in the night sky. Who will delve into the swamp's ire, who will brave the dragons' breath?

Reflections in the Dark Mirror

Dungeons & Dragons Cyclopedia

Something is VERY wrong in Grenton - and only your group can see the change! The townsfolk are acting completely wrong, guards are everywhere, slavery has taken root, war with nearby Hillendale is imminent, and even the gods are not what they were yesterday. You must navigate the almost-familiar city, discover the dark power that has twisted Grenton, and find a way to counter it, before it's too late! A low-level D&D adventure - all you need are dice and your imagination.

The House of Secrets

RuneQuest Fantasy Earth: 1001 Nights

Fleeing for their lives, the characters climb into the mountains to evade their pursuers. There they find a villa, a surprising bit of civilization in the wild mountains. It offers safety, but it is also cloaked in mystery. They might rest there, but can they ever leave?

the dog can't wait to go!

3rd Party Plugs Wednesdays

Couple of things that came to my attention recently that are RPG related.

The Fantasy Network free-to-watch streaming video service "deliver creator-owned genre television and film content... It is accessible online at http://thefantasy.network and via IPTV apps on iOS, Apple TV, Roku, Android, Android TV, Amazon Fire, and Chrome TV.  Things like "The Gamers" series which is really excellent btw. 

"... also features a special channel dedicated to original digital programming from Gen Con, the largest hobby gaming convention in the United States."

The full details from their Press Release.

I learned about this OSR Survey put together by "Brendan S and Ben Milton are two hobbyists with a long history of participating in discussion related to the OSR and classic DnD." from Bat in the Attic.  I was my typical cynical self. After taking it, it's not gonna change the world or anything. But, it seemed like useful to know, good for discussion questions around "OSR" the term, the legend!

Take the survey your self ->  OSR Survey.

Echoes From Fomalhaut #2

I've been a big fan of Gabor Lux since I first read his stuff (maybe in Knock Spell, maybe from some OSR blog). At this year's NTRPGCon I picked up the first issue of Echoes From Fomalhaut and promptly ordered the 2nd issue. Which arrived today!

Produced by E. M. D. T. "First Hungarian D20 Society". Don't be scared away by d20ness. The style and feel is very much Appendix N inspired. It's not just another imitation of old-school sensibilities. It's its own product. And has a sprinkling of unique "spices" that derive in part from it's Hungarian roots, I assume.  Besides, Gabor Lux's and other contributor's work is great due to their ideas, structure, and writing.  Not statblocks.

What do you get? I haven't read it yet and this is not a review.  But I'm the happy owner of a digest sized 44 page, nice layout (a fair mix of modern / readable and callbacks / homages to zines of yore), varied and evocative / inspiring art (which for me as an RPG user is the most useful and valuable trait art can have). Plus a really nice looking on thicker paper, two sided, 4x digest size map. For $8 + $4 shipping to USA.

You can order the first two issues of Echos From Fomalhault and The Barbarian King from EMDT's online store.

Beyond Echos From Fomalhaut, there has been a significant amount blogged about and published (self-published, in OSR magazines, and other products). Much of it in Hungarian (to the loss of non-speakers, like me, I am sure) There are online English Fomalhaut Resources.  And I definitely suggest acquiring back Knockspell issues for the "Isles on an Emerald Sea" series.

Reading the first issue made me want to get on my DM cape and play! In fact I've since started organizing a Wilderlands sandbox starting with the Beekeeper adventure in that issue. Flipping through, it appears Echos From Fomalhaut #02 will be just as inspiring. I can't really say anything better than that [it makes me want to play] about an RPG product.

NTRPG CON 2018

After couple years hiatus I went back to North Texas RPG Con in Dallas/FtWorth last weekend.  As usual I forgot to take many photos. But here are a couple.

Having two attacks per round does not always help (look closely at the rolls)

Random table using legos quite awesomely.

NTRPG Con is kind of place you can join RuneQuest game run by the
original game author, Steve Perrin

The sounds of dungeon exploration

Wear headphones to appreciate the Left / Right ear locational awareness.  Close your eyes and imagine you're holding a torch and shield or clutching a holy symbol. Exploring a long forgotten tomb for plunder.

Computer RPG Book Project is Released

https://crpgbook.wordpress.com/

Holy RPG History Batman!  528 pages, over 400 RPGs! Many early TSR employees and other PnP RPG pioneers transitioned to computer RPGs. Love'em or Hate'em, they are intertwined with the tabletop side of the industry.

CRPG Book Direct Link 

You awaken on the tween deck of a prison ship, reddit/DnD repost

D&D can be introduced to anyone. It will not be everyone's cup of tea. But, don't make the mistake of prejudging who will or will not. Give everyone the opportunity to be enchanted.

This is Cool.

My D&D Philosophy

[But first a little aside as to what's going on since it's been a little over a year since last post. Gotta admit I got more interested in playing games than in writing about them. When I blog, I kind of feel oblogated to post regular like. And while I didn't run out of things to say. I did run out of enough things I felt were **worth** saying.  Esp. things that every other blogger wasn't already saying. But I haven't read any other blogs in a while so, ...]



Potential player recently asked me "What my philosophy of D&D was?"

My grumpy old grognard immediate thought as to a response was "To play! Not twaddle on about philosophy." But, I de-curmudgeoned, remembering there are many play styles (more than one of which I enjoy) and this poor soul was trying to get a sense if our presumptions were congruent before spending a Saturday evening playing make believe with our gang.

Wanting to still be vague and open to later DM interpretation while providing some sort of guidance I well reasoned (i.e. first thing that came to mind that didn't suck) was

"Roll the dice, the rest will sort it self out."

Barrowmaze For 5th Edition

Barrowmaze Complete for D&D 5th Edition Kickstarter

I've bought the original Barrowmaze, Barrowmaze II, Barrowmaze Complete and loved every single one.  The concept is original and executed brilliantly. Maps are huge, beautiful and interestingly complex in the non-linear, fun to explore way. The art is great and complements the story, descriptions, encounters and details of the dungeon which is dripping with evocative detail.

I've only be able to run a dozen or so sessions of players through the Barrowmaze.  Mostly because the pool of face-to-face old school gamers is fairly limited. I'm stoked about a version for the hoards of 5ed players that crowd several FLGS couple nights a week in my area. And while I could convert it myself, or on the fly, I'd rather spend that energy in running the thing, consternating and delighting my players. Plus Stan Shin was one of if not the first to post 5ed conversion notes/system (which I've used and approve of). I have confidence Barrowmaze 5th ed conversion will be done well.

The Megadungeon 

The core of Barrow is a vast megadungeon. The content is broken up into sections so you can dive into the adventure without having to read the entire book first. The megadungeon content includes:

Over 600+ dungeon rooms

• 36 lavishly illustrated player handouts (each referenced in the text of the megadungeon itself) 
• A dedicated monster section each with individual illustrations 
• New magic items and spells 
• Random Encounters 
• Patron Generator 
• Random tables for Dungeon Dressing, Graffiti, Runic Tablet Results, Dungeon Restocking, Sarcophagus Contents and more! 
• Random Crypt Generator to create your own Barrows 
• Enough old-school content for literally years of gaming!

ThunderRexDome of I Want This