Con On The Cob Day 1: Vendor Booth During The Day And A Ghosttown Shoot-out At Night

Howdy gang, and welcome to Day 1 of the 2014 Con on the Cob travelogue. Unlike previous years where I'm running back to my room to hammer out the daily updates, I'm blogging from the Vendor's Hall in the Goblinoid Games / Pacesetter booth. So if you stop by the booth and see me hunched over, I'm bloggin'.

here's today's highlights:

• For the first time at a convention in a while, I didn't have an early morning game to play or run on the first day. So I was able to sleep in until 9 a.m. Nice to not have to race off on the first day.
• Stopped by the restaurant for the complimentary breakfast buffet that comes with my room, and they were putting everything away -- at 9:30 a.m. When I asked, the hostess seemed a bit exasperated and made it CLEAR that the buffet ended at 9:30 a.m. She begrudgingly allowed me to grab some sausage and a piece of French Toast. So tomorrow I'll be beating on the door at 6 a.m. sharp. "IS THIS EARLY ENOUGH?!?"
• Got the Goblinoid/Pacesetter booth set up. The banners and signage are very sharp. Gotten a lot of complements on them. As I type this, the Vendor's Hall is 1/2 hour from opening.
• First sale: Cryptworld. Boo-yah.
• Just met Ron at the booth. He picked up Mutant Future and said, "Did you see some guy wrote a Thundarr supplement for this?" We had a laugh when he found out who I was. He also mentioned two other local Ohio cons I was unaware of. Looks like my con schedule next year just expanded by two more! (Good to meet you, Ron!)
• There seem to be a lot of Pacesetter fans who are thrilled about the resurrection of the brand and system. I have heard a LOT of tales about old Chill, Timemaster, Star Ace and -- yes -- even Sandman campaigns.
• One of the Con runners heard I was from Mansfield and mentioned a game convention that was once held there. He was stunned to find out I was at "Panzer Con" in 1985 as well. Spent a good amount of time reflecting on a long-dead game convention. Never met anyone else who remembered that con, let alone attended its one and only showing!
• At 8 p.m., I ran my first game of the convention -- Cryptworld's "Death in the Dust." Five agents for the DAPA organization (Defense Against Paranormal Agents) are dispatched to an Old West mining ghosttown that's being renovated into a tourist attraction. Someone or something was damaging the facility with some very nasty vandalism, including a pickaxe driven into a painting of the town's founder. During the course of the game, two agents used an air conditioner to "freeze out" a pair of threatening rattlesnakes under a desk; another agent tried to talk to an animated construct made out of mining tools -- and got a pickaxe to her chest and a sledgehammer to her shoulder for her efforts; all five agents scrambled to get out of a house that began sinking into an underground mineshaft; and an Old West shoot-out occurred when the True Owner of the property rose from his underground tomb to reclaim his property and get beyond-the-grave revenge on the current owners. Another great time fighting the supernatural!

Well, it's 1 a.m. as I put this post to bed. Stay tuned for tomorrow's blog post. Thundarr in the morning! Werewolves in the evening! And more merriment from the Cosmic Circus of Con on the Cob! And now, some pictures taken during the day:

 The Cosmic Circus is now underway!

 The new Pacesetter signage is awesome. Jim Holloway's artwork is impressive wall-sized.

The Goblinoid Games/Pacesetter booth is now open for business! Free Pacesetter d10s with purchase! And quick Action Table runthroughs upon request! (And I just noticed my reflection is in the mirror to the far left - gah.)

Arial photo of the Vendor's Hall about to open.

Five intrepid DAPA members go undercover in Cryptworld to solve the mysteries found in Weaver, Arizona, in "Death in the Dust"