North Texas RPG Con Day 3: The Realm of Pidgeonloft and Satan's Midnight Auction

Folks, today is Day 3 here at North Texas RPG Con 2016. Today is the most active day for me with the least amount of planned events. The auction is this afternoon (and tonight!), and this morning I'm running a game of TOON, the cartoon role-playing game. Hopefully, I'll be able to keep up!

Tomorrow morning, I'll be heading to the airport for the flight home, so this is likely my last post until my return. So what happened today? Wouldn't YOU like to know? Read on, Sparky!

• It's Saturday morning, so it's time for CARTOON MAYHEM! Normally, I run Thundarr the Barbarian for the 'toon aficionados, but this year I went full scale 'toon RPGs with...well...TOON by Steve Jackson Games. In "Dullards & Dragons", six intrepid cretins from the Looniverse were tasked with traversing the Lands of Teesahr (pronounced "tee-ess-ahr") into the dread realm of "Pidgeonloft: Land of Horror and Gothiness". After getting directions at The Obligatory Tavern (run by bartender Phil Obligatory), the party met Da Wolves -- a gang of '50s greaser werewolves who challenged them to a dance-off. The bard entranced the fiends with her mad kazooing skills while the the team snuck past. Brother Fahther the cleric even convinced one of them to join the party. Upon crossing the Deep Gorge (and having the thief fall to her doom) and reaching Castle Strahdovich, they used an angry moose to break through the walls. The party came face to face with the horrific Plaid Dragon who breathed laughing gas at the team! Once they hypnotized the Count into thinking he was Munchkin from Oz, he was easy prey for the bull fighter to charge him into the arena walls. (Did I mention this was all a live show at a Medieval Times-type restaurant?) In other words, it was a typical game of TOON with much chaotic insanity! And if you want to play the adventure yourself, I posted the files earlier today!
• I stopped in the main floor to watch a few minutes of Ryan Moore running his own Thundarr the Barbarian game using the DCC rules along with material from the zine Crawling Under a Broken Moon. Demon Dogs! What an adventure! (And Ryan mentioned he wanted to play the Wayward board game with me later today, so we've made plans to break out the board and give it a go here at the con.)
• Glen Hallstrom and I spent a good chunk of the afternoon at one of the side tables just talking about bookbinding, our respective entrances into the hobby, and general "how life was treating us" talk. Again, it's always good to take a moment away from the gaming tables and just hang out with pals at events like this. Good to see you again, Glen!
• The 4 p.m. auction was keen as usual as Frank and Tim (you may have heard of them...) stepped up to both bring in the bids and entertain the crowds. Several items got top dollars, but most heartening were the three #1 signed copies of "Chuck's Dragons", a fundraiser for Chuck Wright's rehabilitation. Each went for $400+ from the crowd. Always delightful seeing the auction in action.
• Before the auction, the announcement for the Three Castles Award was presented. For this year, the award went to Red and Pleasant Land by Zak S.! One of my favorite RPG supplements and very deserving of the award.
• Try as I might, I *cannot* locate Greg Costikyan, so it looks like my TOON will go unsigned. (cue sad trombone music).
• Stopped by and spoke to Jason Braun again for a few minutes at his artist's booth. I saw that he had prints of his artwork he created for the earlier Labyrinth Lord books. Knowing he did the artwork for the first Mutant Future cover, I remarked that it would have been nice if he had one of those for sale. AND HE DID. Getting this print became one of the highlights of this whole trip. Thanks Jason!
• Ryan Moore and his brother Grady joined me later for a game of Wayward, a dungeon-crawler boardgame I highly recommend and have reviewed here at TSAW. As we explored the depths of Darrowell Dungeon (and later Darrowell City), several interested folks stopped by to watch the game and ask questions. Nice to see interest in this game, as it's one of my favorites. However, Grady won the first game (and I didn't even make it out in time) and Ryan won Game Two (and I came in third).
• A guy I've never met stopped me in the dealer's area. "You! I've been looking for you!" he said as he pointed and motioned for me to follow him. Slightly bewildered, I walked over to his table as he rummaged through a backpack. He pulled out and handed me a copy of Event Horizon, a White Star module I edited a while back. It was author Johua De Santo, and this was a comp copy he brought to NTRPG Con specifically to give to me as way of thanks. Thanks again Johua!
• It's 2 a.m. and Satan's Annual Midnight Auction just ended. Hysterical stuff as The Dark Lord auctioned off one-of-a-kind items, unusual wares, and tons and tons of crap. Laughed my ass off for two straight hours as bids went high on the damndest of things. I got a Midnight Syndicate CD I didn't own, as well as a copy of the Chick Tract "Dark Dungeons" that was personally autographed by Satan: "Just hangin' with Marcie!"
• And, with that, my time at NTRPG Con comes to an end as my flight leaves tomorrow. Had a great time, played some great games, and met and reconnected with great folks. Thanks gang. And count me in on 2017. This is Your Friendly Neighborhood Sniderman, live from Texas, signing off.

The brave knights enters the TOON realm of "Dullards & Dragons"

Abner Kadabner, the wizard; Sir Loinstake, the warrior; Brother Fahther, the cleric; Rizzo DeRatt, the not-a-thief; Ranger Rick, the ranger; and Merry Eddie, the bard, all became Official Knights of the Four-Sided Polyhedral Table! HUZZAH!

Ryan running Thundar the Barbarian! Lords of Light! Ahhhhh-heeee!

Artwork from the prolific Doug Kovacs

This Jeff Easley painting was amazing. Skeletal warriors ROCK

 
 And this piece by Diesel was titled "35 Years Later And Still Full of Lizardmen"

Frank and Tim running the auction

A print of the first edition Mutant Future artwork I got from Jason Braun

Ryan, his brother Grady, and I played a few games of Wayward while we waited for the midnight auction. Great dungeon crawler boardgame and highly recommended.

The Dark Lord auctions off a copy of The Apprentice boardgame starring our potential future leader