Inaugural Road Crew Game Day In The Books! And Next year, It's WAR! (of the Cyclops Con)

This past Saturday, Goodman Games rewarded their hard-rolling judges by hosting the first-ever Road Crew Game Day! This free event was open only for members of the Road Crew - those folks who have taken time to run a game (or games) for public consumption. The Goodman Crew run a fine online event -- as their numerous Cyclops Cons and DCC Days Online have shown. And having a mini-event just for the folks who run and promote their game lines was a nifty idea and much appreciated.

I had the opportunity to run my upcoming "Mayhem on the Magtrain" MCC adventure for a party of eager Seekers who managed to defeat the S'kwik menace while trying to stop a runaway locomotive. (The rover also learned to listen at doors before swinging them open.) It was a great final playtest and I'm glad the players had fun.

I also got the chance to play, and my long-running cleric Jarrod Theodyne found himself in the middle of a Secret Playtest run by Brendan LaSalle himself! I'll steer clear of any spoilers, but this was for an upcoming holiday adventure. The only spoiler I'll toss out is that you should prepare yourself for some sad, depressing, heart-rending situations. (One player's background had Bambi's mom -- yes, THAT scene.) In spite of the soul-crushing depression, we laughed our keisters off and saved the world. Great time, and I'm looking forward to seeing the final adventure!

The evening wrapped up with a Twitch show discussing the day's events and some upcoming goodies for the Road Crew to be aware of. (Take a gander below for info.) Great time, and I appreciate that Goodman Games hosts such events for the folks who keep the tables humming. Thanks!

And now, howzabout some pix?

A team of Seekers find themselves hurtling across Terra A.D. in "Mayhem on the Magtrain"!

Some "Armageddon Barbarian" cosplay

Road Crew judges will have access to an exclusive adventure next month! Want it? Join The Crew!

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And in 2023, it's WAR (of the Cyclops Con)!

And speaking of "War", this will be the perfect opportunity to unveil a project I've been working on for a while...

2020: My Busiest Convention Year Ever?

Because I live in the middle of a gaming "black hole", it's tough for me to get to the table without driving an hour north or south of my present location. And, as all GMs know, trying to get a game together remotely is like herding cats. That's why I try to attend two or three conventions every year. It's where I'm guaranteed to have full tables of eager players ready to play. This year's global C19 pandemic squelched that, by cancelling face-to-face tabletop gaming events worldwide.

Or did it?

The first scheduled event this year I was planning to attend was Gary Con, which was also one of the first directly affected (i.e., shut down) by the pandemic. There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth from the gaming community as we all saw the writing on the wall for the rest of the year. However, in an inspiring show of community and never-say-die, the Gary Con staff and organizers hurriedly assembled "Virtual Gary Con", which became solely an online convention. Admittedly, I had never run an online event before, nor had I played in one as I'm admittedly a grognard about such things. But I also wanted to show my support for a convention that I really enjoy and that was having a tough time this year. So I studied up, signed up for a Zoom account, and ran four online games over the weekend.

Shortly thereafter, Goodman Games wanted to test the online waters (and support Tabletop Events) by hosting their own virtual event, Cyclops Con! It's no secret I really enjoy their Mutant Crawl Classics line so - once again - I signed up and ran three more games online. A little less than two months later, Goodman Games' DCC Days expanded to encompass an online event as well, and thus DCC Days Online was launched. And, yet again, I ran three more online games.

So, for those of you who need help with the math, in 5 months, I went from an online gaming know-nothing to running 10 online events with a running time of around 40 hours. And next week, I'm running two events for Gen Con Online - each 4 hours long - taking me to 48 hours of gaming. Heck, even in my best convention-attending years, I've never run that many accumulated hours in a year.

And the year's not even close to being over. Here's hoping I see you at the virtual table this year.

Cyclops Con Days 1-3: Seminars, Games, And Mutants-Mutants-Mutants!

As readers of The Savage AfterWorld knows, with every game convention I've attended, I have filed a daily travelogue so folks who couldn't make it would be able to game vicariously through my thoughts, photos, and amusing anecdotes. Welp, just as I did with Virtual Gary Con a few weeks ago, I'm filing today's report from Cyclops Con! (AKA, my basement and home office.)

Cyclops Con was founded, formed, and launched this weekend by Goodman Games to celebrate all things DCC, as well as give home-stranded gamers an outlet for those RPG frustrations. Since I began an old hat at online judging at VGC (or so I think), I decided to throw caution to the wind and run 18 mutants through my three Mutant Crawl Classics adventures - one available, one coming out next month, and one that got an initial playtest at this event!

As usual with these little travelogues, I'll share what I've seen and done to give you a feel for what's going on each day I attend. However, since the "seen and done" mostly takes place in one room of my house, I'll combine all three days into this missive.

And here we go:

• DAY ONE: After I got home from work Friday evening, I fired up the old laptop and ran six folks through my MCC 0-level funnel "Dead in the Water." I've been running this for years now, but I always get a kick out of bringing new folks into the hazards of The Island of Fire. By the time the game ended, I had killed off nearly half of the 0-level fodder, and the highlight occurred when one brave zero-level nobody took a deep breath, ran through a forcefield and onto the ocean floor, and stabbed a giant squid in the eye with a trident. Not only did the ocean depths not instantly crush him, he delivered the killing blow to The Sea-Wraith, and the survivors were welcomed back as heroes!
• DAY TWO: Today's game was "The Desk in Room 8-10" - a small adventure (Ha!) I've written to be released next month on DCC Day. The team managed to fight their way into The Underdrawer where they met the remaining memebers of a previous Seeker team as well as held off The Ravenous Ones until they could repair MICRON to end the experiment! (Yes, I realize this is vaugue, but you'll have to play the game to put the pieces together!
• Later that evening, I joined up with other Goodman fans (as well as with Joe himself!) at the Boulder Tossers bar, where we gabbed about our respective gaming backgrounds and kicked back with a few cold drinks. (My beverage of choice that night was a frosty Yoo Hoo.)
• DAY THREE: Today was the day I led six excited players through the premiere run of "Plague From Below." While visiting a neighboring village, a mysterious illness began to overtake the village council. The team was tasked with finding a cure for this ailment at a recently uncovered Ancient medical complex. Skyhooks, Time Wolves, Virii, and a "helpful" med-bot named MORT provided the cure to the ailment. (Exc ept there was one last issue to take care of upon returning.) The players enjoyed the game and I got some valuable feedback on where to tighten up some plotlines.
• Due to some technical glitches (as well as losing track of time), I was unable to attend DCC College. However, right behind it was Joe's "What's New at Goodman Games" seminar. He shared news and artwork from upcoming projects such as Xcrawl Classics, Empire of the East, and Dying Earth. He discussed DCC Day (still scheduled for next month, but some alterations could occur during the pandemic crisis). The item that stunned me was the announcement of the next in the Original Adventures Reincarnated line: "The Temple of Elemental Evil"! And finally, he discussed the new ways that Goodman Games is embracing VTT gaming with artwork and adventure support for Roll20 and Fantasy Grounds rolling out. A lot of incredibly exciting things are coming from the Goodman Gang, so keep an eye open!
• One special treat, I recorded my game of "Plague From Below," so if you'd like to see some mutant mayhem, click this link to be taken to the video!

And, finally, as the online event comes to a close and my screen's phosphor dot slowly fades, here are some random shots from throughout the event:

Joe Goodman presents "What's New With Goodman Games"

My visit to the Boulder Tossers after hours lounge had gamers from across the country and around the world in attendance!

The players first encountered the pseudoscorpion in "The Desk in Room 8-10"!

Holy crow! The Temple of Elemental Evil has been announced as the next adventure in the OAR series!

Several MCC mutants found themselves "Dead in the Water"!

During my visit to Boulder Tossers, I inked up my MCC dice, adding gold paint to the high digits to tel them apart.

For this event, I cracked open a case of the finest chocolate-milk-like beverage money can buy!

I love the shirt designed for this year;s Cyclops Con!

And my homemade badge to commemorate the event. Thanks everyone at Goodman Games for a great time!

Cyclops Con: All Dungeon/Mutant Crawl Classics! All Weekend Long!

This weekend, keep an eye out for Cyclops Con! (Ha! See what I did there with "eye"? Because a cyclops only has...one... ahem.) Cyclops Con is the brainchild of the Dark Forces at Goodman Games who are holding a weekend-long online convention revolving around their many role-playing games: Dungeon Crawl Classics, Mutant Crawl Classics, XCrawl, Fifth Edition Fantasy, and any versions and derivatives thereof!

I've recently taken a shine to MCC RPG, creating material for the game for the annual Gongfarmer's Almanac as well as my own 0-level funnel, "Dead in the Water." So this weekend, I'll be running three adventures I've written: One released, one coming out next month, and one currently in playtesting.

Friday sees the return of "Dead in the Water" to the the (virtual) tabletop. I had retired this from convention play, but I thought I'd give it one more turn at the table for this specific con. After all, it's their game that spawned the adventure in the first place!

Saturday I'll be running a few folks through the terrors to be found in "The Desk in Room 8-10." The adventure is written and being laid now, with plans to be officially released on DCC Day on May 16! (And I may just run it again on that day to celebrate!

Sunday will see the premiere first run of my newest adventure "Plague From Below." It's a concept I've had for awhile and am super-stoked to give it its first runthrough with a team of second-level MCC players. It will be a bit "looser" as I'm still working out some of the details of the plot, but it's gonna be fun for all.

Cyclops Con has a few hundred games to choose from, plus several DCC-focused seminars and talks from the creators and authors. Also, each night has a social hangout where you can talk All Things Goodman with other fans. Hope to see you there!