Con On The Cob Day 2: Experiment TB-4 Is Defeated, But No-Shows Cause World War III

Howdy folks,

It's 7:42 a.m. when I began hammering together today's missive. Today is Pacesetter Day for me, with games of both Timemaster and the new Cryptworld scheduled. May take in a seminar on RPG design later tonight. Let's see how the day shaped up together, shall we?

• Met and spoke with Andy Hopp, the founder and chief wazoo of the con. He mentioned that, if the con has grown this year as much as he thinks, it may have officially outgrown the current location. While talking to him, I grabbed a couple of his Low Life RPG books. (It's gonzo post-apocalyptic, and High Weirdness personified!) He was gracious enough to not only sign them, he did a custom sketch of a Creamfillion for me. Thanks Andy!
• Got to my table for Timemaster and got everything set up. Today's adventure is one of my favorites: The Day the Sky Fell. Time travel, space travel, it's got it all. And, speaking of time, the start time came and went with no one signing up. Very disappointed, as it's the first Timemaster game I've run at several conventions without anyone signing up. So, thanks to the Time Corps no-shows, the Damoreans have caused World War III in 1975.
• So while I turned in my no-show paperwork to registration, I overheard someone nearby signing up for the Cryptworld game at 2 p.m.! He apparently follows the Goblinoid forum and he was explaining the Pacesetter system to the interested registration staff. So I shall have at least one enthused player in a few hours! (Hope he's still enthused after the nightmare I put him through...)
• Swung by the dealer's hall and picked up a few cool games I've had my eye on, including the big-budget-disaster-film RPG Our Last Best Hope and the post-apocalyptic-vehicle-mayhem card game Heap!
• My Cryptworld game went very well as I had four stalwart reporters who showed up for a press conference at a strangely empty research hospital. Someone...or someTHING...lurked in the shadows, consuming all it came into contact with. The game ended with one person hurling a "Drano Bomb" at The Thing, while another blasted holes into it with a found pistol, and another hurled syringes filled with powerful medicines into it. Earlier, the fourth player ninja'ed a door it was crawling through, severing one of its limbs. Yes, they pwned "Experiment TB-4" in "Condition Critical". We all had a lot of fun, and it was a great Cryptworld game!
• Swung by the bar to grab a beer, and ran into artist Jason Braun. Happened to have my Mutant Future rulebook with me, and he graciously autographed my favorite spidergoat illustration within. Later, Brian Thomas popped in and he sold me some of the original artwork he contributed for Cryptworld. (Also signing my rulebook too!)
• Gotta hit the bad earlier than I'd care to because tomorrow at 8 a.m. Saturday morning TV comes alive as Thundarr rides into battle! Ookla, Ariel! RIDE!

Wanna see some pictures now? Of course you do:

The hallway that leads to the Con Proper.

Coblin banners hang everywhere throughout the event area.

A game of Dementalism gets underway. Meanwhile Andy Hopp, con organizer and Low Life creator (seated lower right), signs and sketches a personalized autograph for a fan.

And that fan would be me. Creamfillian ahoy!

My empty Timemaster table. The Demoreans are now running rampant through the timeline now. The recent government shutdown was all their fault, in fact.

However, Cryptworld was great fun for players and CM alike!

And more autographs as Jason Braun signed his spidergoat illustration in my Mutant Future rulebook, and Brian Thomas not only autographed his troglodyte picture in my Cryptworld book, he also sold me the original artwork for both it and the mummy illustrations! Thanks Brian and Jason!