I drove home (reluctantly) from North Texas RPG Con yesterday. It was a weekend of fun, industry insights and good fellowship. If you like roleplaying games and you weren’t there you really missed something.
Bill Webb, CEO of Frog God Games, ran a game Friday night called Tower of Mythrus for Swords & Wizardry. It was fast, frenetic and more fun than anyone should have without a license. More than 20 of us crowded along three walls of a room while Bill worked his magic with two oversized dice and a ready supply of moxy. The stakes were high, the DM was unforgiving and not one player dared look away. I had a beginning character and sat next to the level 6 cleric. It was a different style of play than I’m accustomed to but I loved every minute of it. I want to try it myself. I had to leave the con early so I didn’t get to experience Matt Finch’s game (next year!).
I got my Swords & Wizardry Complete book signed by Skeeter Green, Matt Finch, Bill Webb, Charles A. Wright and Erol Otus. That upgrades it to Swords & Wizardry Absolute. I had a great time chatting at the booth with the Frog God Games crew.
I had breakfast with Richard J. LeBlanc, Jr. of New Big Dragon Games (and his lovely wife). He’s going to be publishing some supplements soon for B/X D&D that will be my cup of tea.
I chatted a few times with Erik Tenkar of Tenkar’s Tavern. I met The Old Grognard, Glen Hallstrom. I chatted with him several times and learned he knows a lot about several of my interests and worked at R. Talsorian Games for a while. He gave me some great advice on podcasting.
I met Tim Kask, editor for TSR during their formative years. I gamed with Steve Marsh of Expert D&D fame. I learned Steve enjoys Monty Python jokes as much as I do. I met Mike and Liz, founding hosts of Save or Die Podcast. I gamed with Carl Heyl, current host of Save or Die.
I met Jim Wampler who works with both Frog God Games and Goodman Games. He recently brought Mutant Crawl Classics into the world and I was able to discuss his reasons behind the odd map and why he chose it. Jim said he’s working on a super hero rpg now.
The Mixed GM was there running ACKS and his adventure The Tomb of the Mad Jarl. I played at the Mixed GM’s table and really enjoyed it. Once he publishes it I’ll recommend it. After the game we grabbed lunch and discovered we follow a lot of the same authors and blogs.
I gamed with James Spahn of Barrel Rider Games. He wrote the popular White Star science-fiction game. James was a lot of fun and knows how to run an old-school dungeon crawl as well as any of the OSR greats. Jason Hobbs of Hobbs & Friends of the OSR podcast was there (ask him about his “sassy cats”).
There were many more experiences. It was an awesome weekend. I can’t miss next year’s event.
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