U-Con Day 0: Fighting Zombies In My Room And Giant Beetles In The Lobby

Hey gang, Your Friendly Neighborhood Sniderman is attending his last gaming convention of 2015 -- U-Con Gaming Convention way up north in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Had a great time last year, so I decided to make a return visit this year. As I mentioned in a previous post, I won't be manning a booth in the vendor's hall, but Roy Snyder will be carrying Goblinoid Games/Pacesetter goodies in his booth, and I am truly appreciative of his offer to do so.

As always, I'll be live-blogging from the event, giving you the lowdown on what I've done, seen, played, and experienced. So stop by for the next few days to get a attendee's-eye-view of U-Con! I'm here a day early to settle in and get ready, so here's a bit of a preview of what's happening during the setting up hours leading up to tomorrow's convention:

• For my last con of the year, I'm planning on running as many games -- and playing in as many games -- as I possibly can in the 2 1/2 days of the convention. By my count, I'll be running/playing in 8 separate gaming events over the next 60 hours. It's been a while since I've tried to cram so much in. I even hope to play in a few after-hours games. Pray for me.
• Sadly, my Cryptworld game script for "Wasted" didn't come together in time to a stage where I was happy with it. So I'll be running "Unquenchable" in its place. It's still a horrific romp for the players, and I wish them well on their "rescue" mission. (Mwah-ha-haaaa...)
• Game stuff aside, I just learned that the first true snow of the season is to hit sometime tomorrow/Saturday. Groovy. I was hoping to drive home to Ohio in the first snow of the season, just in time for all drivers to careen and skid randomly.
• The TV in my room doesn't work. DAMMIT.
• I left an important piece of equipment at home. DOUBLE DAMMIT.
• Just got a text from Roy. He and Kevin will be getting in around midnight tonight. I'll be unconscious by then, but hope to meet the guys for breakfast in the morning.
• I learned some time ago to always bring some nifty solo games to play in my room/in the hotel lobby during downtimes so you keep in that fresh "always gaming" mindset while at a game con. This time, it's Run, Fight, Or Die.
• Zipped down to the lobby around 8 p.m.-ish to pick up my badge and see if anyone I knew was in yet. Ran into Larry Hamilton of Follow Me and Die, and he and I drank a beer and BS'ed about Games Long Past.
• A little later, Bill Webb of Frog God Games walked over, pointed at Larry and I and said "C'mon, we're playing Swords and Wizardry over here." Not one to turn down a pick-up game tossed into our laps, Larry and I joined 8 other victims for one of Bill's "Everyone will probably die" games. We did pretty well considering we started off naked in a dark, lightless cave. I even managed to crush a giant beetle with a big-ass rock.
• Around midnight I had to bail since I need to be up early tomorrow to prep and run Stuper Powers, followed by running a game of Ghostbusters RPG, followed by participating in an OSR discussion on urban fantasy, followed by playing a game of Coup, followed by playing in a game of Red Dragon Inn. So I gotta get some sleep...right...NOW.

And here are some photos of today's first "unofficial" day of U-Con!

Everyone who shows up to play in my Thundarr the Barbarian or Stuper Powers games is gonna walk away with one of these!

During a quick in-room game of Run, Fight, or Die, I found two other survivors -- the Mechanic and the Nurse -- then managed to find the Town Line just as I was about to lose my last health point. Good thing too, since the next zombie wave was going to slaughter us all. (But I did have two molotov cocktails on-hand just in case...)

 Adam Muszkiewicz of Dispatches From Kickassistan arrived later in the evening with his 4-month old baby in tow. I didn't catch the kid's name, but Bill kept calling him Baby Frog, so let's go with that. Knowing Adam, that very well may be the child's legal name, I dunno.

Here, Bill Webb explains to us just how horribly we're about to die. Being as we started naked and weaponless, it wasn't hard to believe him.

Michigan's U-Con Starts One Week From Today!

We're now one week away from U-Con Gaming Convention to be held November 20 - 22 in frosty Ypsilanti, Michigan. I enjoyed myself so much last year, that I decided to return to run (and play) in several games. Although I won't be manning a Goblinoid Games / Pacesetter LTD booth in the dealer's hall, Roy Snyder has graciously offered to carry the entire game line in his booth at the convention! So be sure to stop by the Goodman Games/Troll Lord Games/Out Of Print Games and Books booth and toss some gold pieces in Roy's direction!

This year, I'm planning on running several games, as well as participating in the OSR Track as a special guest. I'm all about the "old-school" gaming this year, so be sure to sign up for any one of these amazing events referred by (or attended by) yours truly!

Friday, 9 a.m.
Stuper Powers!: “Apocalypse...NOW?!”
Doctor Dredd and his evil team of villains have taken over Washington DC! They plan to start World War III unless your team of "D-list" heroes are able to stop them. Will your ability to "Induce Slight Headaches" and "Turn Things Plaid" be enough to thwart Armageddon? (Nah...probably not...)

Friday, 1 p.m.
Ghostbusters: “Ragnarok-A-Bye Baby”
Judgment Day may be at hand!  In the center of all the chaos and destruction, one place seems untouched – The Wee Tots Nursery School. Could this be the Antichrist’s day care center? The Ghostbusters are mobilized to save the world (and perhaps change a diaper or two)!

Friday, 6 p.m.
OSR Discussion Panel: Old School City Scapes Roundtable Panel
Come gather round and take part in a round table style panel with the OSR Track's Guest of Honor Bill Webb (Frog God Games), Industry Insider Jim Wampler (Goodman Games), our track's sponsor John Reyst (PFSRD.com), along with Tim Snider (Goblinoid Games) and Michigan's own Bill Barsh (Pacesetter Games). We will discuss cities and their importance in old school gaming from the earliest days to the OSR as it is today. Time permitting, discussion and Q&A will be allowed with the audience. Hosted by Gamers & Grognards' Ryan Thompson and RPG Podcaster Adam Muszkiewicz (Drink Spin Run). Free! 

Saturday, 9 a.m.
Mutant Future: “Thundarr the Barbarian: Warlord of the Sacred Library”
Lords of Light! Drakexx the Unstoppable has established a stronghold in the forbidden Congers Library where thousands of Ancient texts are stored. What use does a warlord have with these tomes, and what secrets does he hope to unlock? The tribal shaman of the village of Linkon has tasked Thundarr, Ookla, and Princess Ariel with stopping and driving out the mindless brute!

Saturday, 2 p.m.
Cryptworld: “Wasted”
It's a raucous Saturday night at "Sweet Oblivion," the roadhouse on the outskirts of town. But this night of revelry will turn to horror when Death stops in for a nightcap. Can you survive The Night of The Living Dead (Drunk)?

And, as always, I'll be live-blogging from the convention, so stay tuned next week for observations, news, and you-are-there coverage from Michigan's U-Con!

Ask For RPG Goodies And Write Some Too! Secret Santicore Is Underway!

Ho-Ho-Hurrraaaaarrrggggghhhh! Secret Santicore 2015 is now underway, accepting requests for your deepest role-playing desires. Want a new monster? A new race? An adventure hook? A random table? Climb up on Ol' Santi's lap and let him know what you want. Then, in a twist on the classic gift exchange, YOU'LL be given a request from another person. You fulfill a gift request by creating what that person asked for and, come later, everyone gets a newly created RPG goodie! (And all of this OSR DIY open content goodness is compiled into one big ol' book for everyone! What kinds of stuff could appear? Take a look at last year's voluminous tomes for inspiration! (My own offering from last year, The Plague of The Vermin Guild, can be found in the Adventures volume.)

Move fast since you only have through November 14 to get your request in! Later that week, you'll get your own gift request to create, and you have until  December 1 to get it done and submitted. Then Santicore's Paindeer take over the editing, proofing, compiling, formatting, and general hammering into shape.

So why are you still standing there? Go sign up! And don't forget: "He sees you when you're sleeping, and he knows when you're awake."

"100 Oddities for a Graveyard" Now Released!

Skirmisher Publishing LLC has released their newest Oddities sourcebook: 100 Oddities for a Graveyard. The tome of creepy delights is intended to aid GM creativity, turning possibly bland areas or gaming episodes into something more. Here's just one example from the booklet:

A hollow, many-chambered headstone. In the breeze, it hums and whistles softly, like a set of deep, distant pipes. That, however, does not explain the soft voice that can occasionally be heard singing in an unknown tongue.

From the press release:

As roleplaying locales go, graveyards are classic, and can play a part in just about any type of game. As long as adventurers venture and people die, there will be graveyards. Fantasy, historical, urban, modern, horror, and even sci-fi or post-apocalyptic games can all benefit from the occasional introduction of a graveyard — and we have the Oddities to help you “flesh” them out.

Oddities are intended to aid GM creativity, turning possibly bland areas or gaming episodes into something more, and the goal of this publication is to make things more fun and to take your imagination in directions it might not otherwise have gone. They fill in the corners of a bookshelf, a room, a level, a scenario, with all the sorts of things that add interest but take loads of time to come up with.

"100 Oddities..." is 10 pages of creepy uniqueness and is only 99 cents. Sniderman says, "Check it out!" (Click this line for the link.)