Saturday, July 20, 2013

Body Recovery in DCC

I was persuing the DCC Rules sub-forum over at the Goodman Games Forums and I saw a thread there on "Recovering the Body". For those not familiar with the ins and outs of DCC, there is a rule that goes someting like this: If a character goes down in battle, if after siad battle allies can get to the body and roll it over, the character gets to make a Luck check and, if successful, actually not be dead. There are, of course, some pretty serious consequences to surviving in this manner - you lose a point of Strength, Agility, or Stamina and you're at -4 to all rolls for the next hour (6 turns) due to being groggy. You're also only at 1 HP unless some healing can be applied.

As is pretty usual on the DCC forums, answers were wide ranging and usually helpful/positive. One even suggested you could open the next game session with the character(s) in Hell looking for a way to get out. This got me to thinking...what about a Recovering the Body table?

The first thougiht was how fun it would be if instead of being in hell, the character brought a little piece of hell back with them.

The second thing I thought was that I wouldn't want another roll. So the table is based on the difference between the target number of the roll, and the actual roll. This also has the benefit of being applicable whether you like the Roll-Under-Your-Luck check or the Roll-Over-Target check.

So this was my first pass at the table:


But then I realized that it was a bit haphazard, and it didn't incorporate any of the current rules for Recovering the Body - like loss of Stamina or Strength, or grogginess. So I did a little editing and came up with this:


So there's the first and second pass. I'd love to hear your input. Hit me with your best shot, I'm sure my ego can recover....

Tickets....Get your Tickets...

Yesterday, the goods arrived.


Four day badges for each of us, and all the tickets for the games we were lucky enough to reserve. If you can't tell, the kids and I like to play DCC.

Friday, July 19, 2013

GaryCon V - Day 5

The last day is tough. I have to say goodbye to a lot of folks I’d rather hang out with, at the very least, for just a little bit longer. I have to pack up everything and load the car…including all the crap my kids have brought. While all that is going on, the kids still want to play.

This year, Mark Clover was running a minis battle on Sunday morning. We chased the kids out of bed early, got everything packed in the car, then returned to the convention to kill some things.

It was a fairly simple game and the kids have played in similar events at Chicago Game Day at GamesPlus.
So now I’m just going to post a bunch of pictures of the kids and I playing…because, really, what is more rewarding that showing kids getting into gaming? SIGPUP!












It was a fun game, though I was exhausted. When time ran out, we counted ships and figures and we were within a point or two of each other…so we called it a draw.

After, we said a few more thanks and a few more goodbyes, and then it was the long 50 minutes drive home. Heh.

And just for the heck of it, some other miscellaneous pictures of kids at play…









By the way...in that last picture, the young man on the left in the black shirt (who is a bit blurry in the picture) is the one who joined in our Night of The Walking Wet game the night before!

Only 8 more months until we, I hope, all gather in Lake Geneva again. I'll have to fill the time by starting to plan for GenCon 2013!

Thursday, July 18, 2013

GaryCon V - Day 4, Part 2

Night of the Walking Wet…the very embodiment of GaryCon…

First, a little background…So way back in year two, we started a game off grid. That is, this game was not on any schedule or anything. To be honest, it was so long ago that I’m having trouble remembering how I got into this game.

What I do know is this: Tavis Allison, of Autarch/Adventurer, Conqueror, King/Several Other Things fame, invited a bunch of us to play in a game on Saturday night. He was going to run a bunch of us through an old Judges Guild adventure that appeared in The Dungeoneer magazine way back in the late 70’s. In fact, this adventure was old enough to actually predate Judges Guild, although that company later picked up the publishing of The Dungeoneer. Written by Paul Jaquays, Randy Cox, and Tamara Wieland, Night of the Walking Wet is a sprawling adventure covering a large area around an old Castle/Keep.

Of course, I agreed.

So a few of us met up around 8PM on that Saturday night, years ago, and made up characters. There were a ton of us. The guidelines were: 35,000 EXP…the class you chose gave you your level; 2 magic items of…I forget the exact value, but I remember this: you could make up your own as long as you and Tavis worked out the specifics; Gold of an amount consistent with our levels (that ranged between 5th and 7th as I recall)…it was enough to get yourself some magic armor and a magic weapon, just nothing to crazy…

This gave us some of the longest lasting memes and enjoyable in-jokes. A couple of great examples from those very early character creation moments came from Mark Clover and David Temperado.

David, who some of you may know as diaglo on various forums, decided he wanted to be a “kind of whirling dervish” fighter. No, that’s not quite right…he was really a dancer. I’m not kidding…to the point that one of his magic items was a fold-up stage/theater (think folding boat, but with a dressing room) so that he always had a place to perform. He also had a hireling, a dwarf named Bentley. Bentley was equipped with a shield that had a kind of Light spell cast on it so he could provide a spotlight or strobe light during performances. All of Dan the Whirling Dervish Man’s fighting moves were described, and often acted out, as dance moves.

Mark, I think, took the award for most creative. He created a Halfling named Tiptoe Taggins..OK…not that creative. But the magic items/effects were fantastic. First, he has something called the Noncha Lance. This is a weapon’s power really isn’t damage. When he hits, he automatically distracts the target from attacking anyone else. He also has a pouch of never-ending coppers. Each time he reaches into the pouch, he can pull out..I forget the number, say two…copper pieces. He can do this forever as long as he puts one back in (if not, it goes through a reset process where he can’t use it for a day). So he takes two out, and puts one back…then does it again…and again…

But the real kicker is Tiptoe’s Curse…The Curse of Fourteen. Whenever Tiptoe is part of a group (of, in reality, two or more people), he is always counted last and the counter will always count Tiptoe as the fourteenth member. So if Tiptoe is in an army of 10,000 attacking a castle, and someone on the wall is counting the enemy, it would go something like, “Nine thousand nine hundred ninety-eight…Nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine…Fourteen. Not a threat, Sir!” Likewise, if Tiptoe and a friend need a room for the night, they will be paying the incredulous innkeeper the fee to sleep fourteen.

Believe it or not, besides being the source of tons of jokes, this has come up in play several times. There were other comical things from that first year, but these are the ones that have lasted the longest and had the greatest impact. And, most importantly, the ones I remember right now.

The rules were D&D…the original. In fact, Tavis has this really cool bound edition of the little brown books – very neat and very handy. But it also included house rules (I’ll get to in a moment), smatterings of AD&D and other editions…for example, we could choose our magic items from the DMG…and the aforementioned free-form-consult-the-DM approach.

The most interesting and perhaps most difficult for us to grasp, was the fact that none of us knew our hit points. I don’t recall where Tavis got this (chime in if you’re reading, Tavis!) but it is pretty cool. Basically, you have three boxes that represent Mental, Spiritual, and Physical. When you get hit, the DM rolls the damage. Then you start rolling to see how many hit points you have. You start with the first box, which is…just a sec, let me get out my character…Mental. You roll your character’s hit die and write it in the box. Then you compare that to the damage roll and if the hit points for Mental are higher, you subtract them and what you have left is your remaining Mental hit points. If not, then you subtract your Mental hit points from the damage total, and roll to see how many Spiritual hit points you have.

So let’s say my character, Bishop Innish, is battling a hobgoblin and the little bugger gets in a great shot. Tavis would roll for, say, five (5) hit points of damage. I would then roll for the good Bishop’s Mental hit points. Let’s say I roll a three (3). I put a “3” in the Mental hit point box and then cross it off. It’s less than the five (5) I have to absorb, so now I roll again to see how many Spiritual hit points I have. Innish is lucky today, and I roll a five (5). So I write a “5” in the Spiritual hit point box, then I cross it out and put a “3” just below it. My Spiritual hit points were able to absorb the remaining two (2) damage (the original five minus the three my Mental hit points covered) and I have a little left over.

Interestingly, I still don’t know how many hit points I have. I do know that I’m down to my last three of Spiritual…and if those get taken, I have to roll for Physical hit points…and I could get a one…and then... Well, it could have happened in that example. If my first roll had been a two (2) and the second had also been a two (2), I would have only one (1) hit point left of the original five (5) damage that was rolled. If I rolled a one (1) for Physical hit points, I’d be unconscious.

When you get healed back up to “full” hit points, the process begins anew. That is, if you get hit again you have to start rolling. It’s a really cool system that I’m not doing near the justice it deserves.

That first session we set another precedent….we played until 3 or 4 in the morning. This has become so ingrained that this year, the fourth session, Tavis announced that due to real life scheduling issues, we were going to have to cut it short at somewhere between 2 and 3 in the morning.

For the most part, this year started like the others. I happened to walk by Tavis’ room on the way to the game, and found the door open and Tavis gathering his stuff….with a bum leg. So I helped him gather his things and off we went. This year, we had an assigned table! So we got Tavis settled and waited for folks to gather.



Unfortunately, the assigned table was in one of the main areas and it was LOUD. We also knew from experience that this room for all intents and purposes shuts down around 1 AM. Cleaning folks go through, tables are moved around as necessary, and at some point the doors to the banquet room are locked. So soon after we gathered, Tavis sent us one a search for a better situation.

As luck would have it, there were tables in the lobby that were open. While there were folks playing at other nearby tables, the vibe in the lobby in the evening tends to be a little less noisy (until we get going). We also know from experience that it pretty much clears out by 12:30 or 1:00 AM. And there is no time limit since it’s the lobby of the hotel.

Successful on our mission, we went back and gathered Tavis and his stuff and got him situated upstairs, complete with extra chairs to keep his foot up. Before we got started, we had to pay homage to one of our crew who could not attend…and so Dan the Whirling Dervish Man got a Jazz Hands salute from those of us who could attend.



Then it was off to the races. Well, kind of. One of the big problems about playing a single session a year apart from the last is keeping track of things. One of the casualties is my mapping. For the life of me, I could not make heads or tails of the various maps I had in my pack of papers.

We did finally get it all figured out, and delved into the dungeons below the castle. Therein we barely escaped with our lives in defeating one of the major evil characters. The loot was good and for the first time I can recall we actually had issues dividing the treasure up – some of the items were that good.

I’m rushing to complete this because I’ve been letting it sit for far too long…and I don’t want to give away any spoilers regarding the adventure. I know it is an obscure one, but this day and age anything is available.

One of the funny little highlights was when we got some new young blood in the group. Earlier in our game, there had been a huge game of Werewolf (I think that was what it was) being played behind us; there had to be at least 20 kids involved. At some point it broke up and a few of the kids were wandering around the lobby checking out what people were playing…and we were about all that was left. One of the young men asked us what we were playing. When we told him we offered him a seat at the table. He asked how long we would go…it was about 11 PM…and we told him we would be going until about 2 AM. He leapt at the chance…so we gave him a character and let him join in. By the time we ended he was all about planning for next year.

So there we were, after two in the morning putting away dice and snacks and pencils and maps, trying to collect emails and names so maybe this year we can keep in touch (progress…this year I actually sent out an email to everyone!). It truly is one of my favorite parts of GaryCon…and while I understand there will be years to come when Tavis won’t be able to be the superman he can be and we will have to miss a year, I look forward to each opportunity.


Come to think of it, as of now, I have two regular games at GaryCon, both of which started as off-grid, ad hoc games; both of which I look forward to next year as much as any other aspect of GaryCon.

It's July....what of it?

As before, things just seem to get in the way. I can deal with it...so can you...

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Yes, I know it's May...


That is, I'm quite aware of the fact that it's been a long time since the GaryCon V and almost as long since I last posted about it. Life is what it is...

But I do want to get the remainder documented, so I will push on...

GaryCon V - Day 4, Part 1

Saturday is always a bit of a mixed bag for me. I want to squeeze in as much as I possibly can. But there are several conflicts battling with my old age need for sleep. For example, I know Saturday night is going to be the annual Night of the Walking Wet game which runs until the wee hours of the morning, so I’ll need to get some sleep in during the day.

Saturday was also to be the day the kids were to participate in the For Kids, By Kids game run by the oldest son of a friend of mine Rich Franks. His son ran a game last year for kids and my two had a blast. This was one of the games which they were really looking forward to with anticipation. Alas, due to some scheduling issues, Rich’s family was not able to attend this year.

But in the true nature of GaryCon and SIGPUP, one of the parents of the participants picked up the ball and ran a game for the kids - so total props go to Patrick for taking over and running The Haunted Keep for this group. Colin and Storm had just played The Haunted Keep with Paul Stromberg running it the previous day. So this GaryCon, my kids got to hone their skills in separating player knowledge from character knowledge!




So while they were off exploring the Haunted Keep, I got to play in another DCC game – it’s like an addiction! This time it was The Croaking Fane, run by the stellar [url=]Michael Curtis…again! The Croaking Fane is a third level adventure written by the very same Michael Curtis. It focuses around the disappearance of the followers of The Lord of Evil Amphibians.

There were some additional folks around the table, some who had never played DCC before. Because Michael had added folks beyond the original number (something that happens often at GaryCon), we were short of third level characters. Michael offered to have multiples of the same character, or, almost sheepishly, a sheet with three zero-level characters.

I jumped on the zero-level characters. I figured I’ve played a bunch of DCC at various levels, and some of the folks that were trying out the system might get a better feel using third-level characters. Zero-level characters are pretty weak and don’t actually have a class…and so can’t really do the class specific things – like Mighty Deeds for Warriors or spell-casting for Wizards. Better to let those who want to take the system for a spin get a better feel for it while I delighted in seeing if I could get my barbarians Og, Gog, and Dog through the adventure.

It was a great adventure; in the vein of DCC modules, very atmospheric and fun…so much so that I don’t have a single picture. Alas, two of the three zero-levels did not make it – ironically both dying due to losing their hands and bleeding out. I don’t want to say much more specific about the adventure for spoiler reasons. I did get to play alongside the talented gentleman Jim Wampler again and we had fun pushing the action with our inquisitive characters. I’ve yet to play in a bad session of DCC.

Both the kids’ game, and my DCC action, ended around 2 PM. So we grabbed some food and chilled in the room for a bit. Then I wanted to take some time for one of my favorite things – the Auction. Every year there is an auction held for benefit. Last year, if I recall correctly (and If you’re out there Luke Gygax or Chris Hoffner feel free to correct me!) it was to help Jim Ward. This year, it was to assist Ernie Gygax after a fire in his residence claimed almost all he owned. In the first couple of years, GaryCon II and III, it was to help build the Gygax Memorial. One thing is consistent; it’s always a good cause.

It starts with a raffle:


Then there is an introduction and then Frank Metnzer and Tim Kask start the bidding. It is amazing what goes up for auction and for how much some of the items are purchased. The biggest sellers are usually original art work. And watching some of these collectors go after things is…impressive. I've bid a few times over the years, only to be completely blown out of the water by folks with much deeper pockets than I.

But truly one of the coolest things is the collection of stories of people who pay top dollar for an item, and then turn around and donate it for the auction the following year. The gaming community, especially the portion that goes to GaryCon, can really be quite generous. As in years past, I hung around and wished and dreamed about being able to pay the going rates for some of these things. And as in years past, I left early with nothing. Ah well, such is life….

I took the opportunity after the auction spend a bit of time with the kids, then grab a little sleep, knowing, as I said, that it was going to be a long night...

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

GaryCon V - Day 3


Here’s the thing about GaryCon…it just keeps getting better….

Friday, Day 3, and we were up and at ‘em again. The kids and I were registered to play Tower of Gygax – a real death machine where you are lucky to last 15 minutes. It’s meant specifically to chew characters up and spit them out in a never-ending march of death.

But I knew about this Aliens game from previous years. AllanGrohe (grodog) has this amazing setup in which he runs several different scenarios from the Alien movies. Remember that friend I mentioned who was supposed to run a game on Thursday but who had to back out? Well, I knew he and his kids were signed up to play…and that he wouldn’t be there. Three of them…three of us…

So I lit a fire under my kids, got them up, fed them, showered, and out the door in the miniatures room by 9:30 for a 10 AM game. I would not be denied!

I should also mention that Allan, who is also (in)famous for his Grodog’s Castle Greyhawk games that run every year, is one of the nicest gentlemen I’ve met at GaryCon and I’d already mentioned my desire to take these spots on one of the message boards. So I was pretty confident I and/or my children would get to play, but I wanted to be sure.

Sure enough, getting there early was a good thing. Allan needs to clone himself (and his setup!) and run a while slew of slots of this game. Everybody seems to want to get into it, and they are right to want to do so; it is a blast. And this is why…




If Allan wants to jump in at any point and comment, it would be an honor. What I understand is that each of these three setups is a different scenario…and that you can essentially walk through the entire Aliens movie using these setups.

Colin inspects the setup while Storm anxiously waits to see if we get to play.

We lucked out and got to play. It was a full table, I think eleven in all including three kids under the age 13 – two of them mine. One of the gentlemen playing was very familiar with the game, so we let him kind of set up who took what roles and what our overall strategy would be. He really set us up nicely and made one of the most important decisions off the bat – we’d all stay on the same side and move up (as opposed to splitting around the “stairwell” opening in the center of the board).

I could, really, go on and on about this game. We were very lucky to be playing with a few experienced players who really knew how to take advantage of the various tactical abilities of the different characters.  In the end, I think I’ll just post a bunch of pictures…









In the end, we were extremely, surprisingly lucky. We only lost Apone, my son’s character… and that only about 20 minutes from the end – from an acid splash! Everyone else made it out OK. Somewhere I have a picture of the brave colonial marines that made it out that day.

After such a harrowing event, we rushed back to our room for chow. We brought a microwave with us. I know, crazy, right? But we live so close and it’s not that difficult to just throw it in the van. This way, we saved some money by having simple lunches every day. And it’s quicker than driving into town which, while it isn’t far, doe eat up some time. And we only had an hour or so before…

The Haunted Keep.
The Haunted Keep is an introductory adventure using the Moldvay Basic Dungeons & Dragons rules. This event is suitable for all age groups and welcomes players 8 years or older to come and explore the Haunted Keep. Adults must be accompanied by at least one kid! Pregenerated characters will be provided, so just bring a writing instrument and your dice

I wanted to provide the actual description of the event because this is becoming very common at GaryCon…games geared towards kids. And I love it.

The second thing about this game that really needs to be given a shout out is the gentlemen running it – Paul Stormberg.


It was Friday afternoon, and I can tell you that Paul was already making CON checks. He runs events for something like two or three hundred players across all the days of the convention. One of the things he runs that gets tons of people involved – even wives and girlfriends and kids of your standard attendees – is the jousting tournament. And this is tough because anyone can walk up and play at just about any time during the convention. I have not done it to date, but I’m in it next year for sure.

Paul also runs Battle for the Brown Hills, the original Chainmail…in a sandbox…

Most amazing, Paul is the same nice guy whether he’s dead tired or spry as spring, running the Haunted Keep for me and my offspring, or the finals of the Jousting Tournament. He’s just one of the Nice Guys who also happens to be keeping the memory and legacy of those seminal games alive.

The things I recall about this game focus in my mind around how carefully my kids explored this place. I don’t want to give away spoilers (heck, I hadn’t even played this!) but they were cautious and thinking their way around obstacles like seasoned veterans. I was so proud. But I also know that as a convention game, that can sometimes get in the way of moving things along. So there ended up being some hand-waving and such as we neared the end of our time.>

And I hope we weren’t too much trouble for Jason Azze.




This event ran right up until 6PM and I was the only one scheduled for another game. Though my game was scheduled for 6PM, there was a note that it was starting and ending later. So I was able to squeeze in a bit of time with the family before they headed off towards the pool and I hustled to the next game, “Quondam Fount”, run by none other than Frank Mentzer.


Frank runs a great game but here’s the thing. You have to be prepared for a crowded table and a certain amount of…well, I wouldn’t call it gawking, but there’s a definite novelty thing going on. And Frank is gracious to everyone – which is the way we’d all want it or there would be nerd rage all across the Internet about how Frank dissed someone at such and such table of Whatevercon.

The game itself was pretty cool and had some really interesting things to figure out – only time was limited, it being a con. So just when things were starting to heat up (or cool down as the case may be), it was time to call it.

It was still early, so I trundled off to the Open Gaming area and ran into Doug Kovacs who was in a game of The Red Dragon Inn with some friends. They allowed me in, but it was clear early on that for various reasons we would not be ending the game in the normal fashion. So we packed up and got everyone home safe and sound and then it was off to bed to get some sleep for Saturday’s adventures…

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

GaryCon V - Day 2


Note to Self: Do Not Schedule 8AM games for Thursday at GaryCon.

Thursday morning did not creep up on me, it hit like a sledgehammer to the back of the head. It wasn't that I was gaming until the wee hours of the morning – we finished around 12:30 AM or so, if I recall correctly. No, it’s that I can’t fall asleep in hotel rooms, particularly not on the first night of a stay and certainly not without my wife and family. Add into that the fact I felt the need to get up by 7 AM and, well, it was only a few hours of sleep when all was said and done.

Why so early? Two reasons, the first of which is rather innocuous. I had an 8AM game to learn how to play Hackmaster. This would give me time to shower (first rule of gaming as my kids can recite – always shower) and grab a bite to eat before the game.

The second reason is something I really should talk to the Powers That Be about – souvenirs. You see, each Thursday morning of the convention, for the last four years, I've fretted about souvenirs. I want to make sure to, at the very least, get a t-shirt for myself and each of my kids. I also knew they had glass beer steins on sale and I could not remember if I pre-ordered that with my platinum badge. Some years they have these really sweet commemorative coins…like this…

GaryCon I and II:


GaryCon III and IV



In past years they've had commemorative dice and mini figures as well. And in past years, I was lucky/persistent enough to be around before they sold out of things in which I was interested…sometimes just barely.

So on Thursday morning, before the 8AM game, I wanted to be ready and in line just in case. Only, they didn't have any of it out an available. I understood – they wanted to sort through all of the pre-ordered stuff as well as anything that people were to receive as part of their badge purchase. I checked periodically in the first couple hours of Hackmaster to no avail. Of course, by the time my 8AM slot of Hackmaster ended, they were in full sales swing. Again, this year, I was lucky to get the shirts I wanted. Also, this year, they seemed to have a lot more of stuff so there were even coffee mugs available on the last day. So maybe it’s not something I should concern myself with…though I think I’ll offer to volunteer next year to help get that all going. Onto gaming…

My 8AM slot was, as I mentioned, Learn to Hack. I’d never played Hackmaster before, but was well aware of the system. One of the mantras for me, personally, at conventions like GaryCon or GenCon is to try at least a game or two of things with which I am not so familiar. So I did as the event catalog described – I brought my dice and no experience.

A gentleman named George Fields ran the slot and, as described, he walked us through the basics of character generation. It was complex, but with years of experience in the various forms of OD&D/AD&D/D&D it was pretty easy to pick up. Once we all had our characters, we ran through a couple of combats to get a feel for the system. It was fun and interesting, though I’m not sure I’m sold on Hackmaster as a system.

At noon I was originally scheduled to play in an AD&D game with one of my friends running it – a kind-of continuation of a game we play every year at GenCon. Unfortunately, he had to back out a few weeks before GaryCon, so I had an eight hour opening in my schedule. But this is GaryCon…no worries.

Just before I finished the Learn to Hack slot, Doug Kovacs came around and we decided we’d have lunch together when my slot was over. So after we finished the slaughter I went out and purchased my t-shirts (yay!), Doug and I went to his car (at this point I was without a car as my wife had not returned with the kids in tow) and drove into Lake Geneva proper.  Again, one of the great things about GaryCon is an opportunity like this to just sit and talk with someone like Doug for an hour or so…about like, parents, siblings, and what make us tick.

When we returned, I went back to my room to gather myself. I returned to the restaurant to find Doug along with a couple of his friends already playing a board game….actually more of a card game.  It is called TheRed Dragon Inn. I’d never played before (imagine that!), but it was a lot of fun. Essentially you are the adventuring group back from a successful plundering and you are sitting around the tavern in the midst of drinking and debauchery. You have an alcohol counter, a constitution counter, and some gold. The first two, alcohol and constitution, are on a circular track heading toward each other – so as you gain alcohol and or lose constitution, the two markers head towards each other, one clockwise, the other counter clockwise. When they meet, you’ve passed out and lost. All the while you are trying to keep the gold in your pocket from being taken in drinking contests, gambling contests, or the party illusionist tricking you out it…because if you are out of gold, you are out of the game.

I’m seriously going to be looking into this game. It was simple, fun, and could change each time you played depending on the character you chose and the luck of the cards. All in all it was a blast and I made it to the end, only to be beaten by Doug in the closing moments.

After The Red Dragon Inn, we decided to try a reprint of a game from, I believe, the 60’s – called NuclearWar. To be honest, I can’t really tell you much about this game. The rules were very difficult to follow so we just made stuff up for a while. Add to this the fact that about half way through the game, I got the call from my wife that she and the kids were pulling into the parking lot of the hotel.

By the time I unloaded the family and their stuff, it was about 7PM. I took the opportunity to grab a quick nap, and by 8PM my son, daughter and I were downstairs getting settled at our table for our first game of DCC – the Dungeon CrawlClassics Role Playing Game.

In the Court of Chaos is apparently a forthcoming DCC adventure written by Michael Curtis. You remember Michael – the GM for Day1’s impromptu Gamma World game. Oh, and he was running this game of DCC as well! Unfortunately, I don’t want to say too much about this adventure as it is still officially in development. But I can say this…

In a nicely written and well delivered opening scene, we the adventurers were swept into the courts of chaos. There were met several Lords of Chaos who “requested” our aid in retrieving an item from the Lords of Law. After giving us some time to consider their offer, and a moment to add a great little twist, we were on our way.



 I can say one of my favorite moments was when my son, the wizard of the party, tried to cast a Comprehend Language and rolled a fumble on his spell check (the second fumble in row, the previous being a Color Spray that shot bursts all over the place). He then rolled to see the results of the fumble and got a misfire. For almost the rest the game, one of our party spoke in dragon tongue…completely incomprehensible to everyone else in the party….and the target played it to the hilt, doing nothing but grunting and gesticulating to communicate.

Oh…and I died!

Michael ran a great game. It was a bit loud in the room at the start, but we were the late game and the room cleared after a while. After, Michael handed out ribbons to both survivors and victims that were added to our convention badges. And we get to have our names as play-testers…even Colin!*

The kids and I stumbled back to the room and crashed at about 1 AM. We had to get our rest for Day 3…

*Harley, he literally crossed his name off the player list and wrote in Colin….I kid you not.