Gary Con XI, After Con

[Necron 99]

I have some pics I'll post further down along about an RPG, Ragnarok I picked up while there. I think it was the only purchase I made the entire time I was at Gary Con, but I dropped a little over $200 to get just about everything that is currently available in print and that was with $40 as a discount.

Looking forward to this---the packaging really caught my eye in their Annex booth, too!

Allan.

Allan, I started a thread in Role Playing Games for this, you can check it out there.

[grodog]

Thanks Jay!

Allan.

[Necron 99]

Paul Stormberg had a cool story to tell from the event he ran at Gary's old house this year. This was posted on Facebook and I know some folks here aren't on social media, so I thought I'd give a replay.

I was running a new level of Greyhawk Castle this year at Gary Con, specifically, the 330 Center St. Gaming at Gary's event. As I arrived to set up for gaming there was a film crew who had showed up and some D&D celebrities were posing here and there for photos. They went into the cellar doorwell and took some shots and, then, went into the basement through the house to film and interview. We tried to chip away at the icy sidewalks in time for the players to arrive but it was too loud. We tried to be quiet but the floor creaked. We tried to set up our tables and chairs for the game but occasionally bumped the floor. "Quiet on set!", would be shouted from the basement each time.

A couple of gamers showed up early; I knew them from previous conventions. They helped me bring in tables and chairs without being asked. We whispered as we negotiated doorways and corners and tried quietly to unfold tables and chairs.

When we were done, I waved them upstairs, where the entire Gygax family once slept. Where Gary would tell his bedtime stories, of General Ruko and Captain Erniezawa to his boys. We stood in the small space, quietly, and I told them in a hushed voice how I believed the house was a living thing, that when I ran games on the sand table in the basement and D&D on the dining room table and Gary's old friends had come to play at his house for the 40th anniversary of D&D, it was alive. Shouts of victory, groans of defeat, boisterous but amicable arguments over rules, and bouts of raucous laughter flowed through the vents like life-blood, it's beating heart the games being played. How happy I thought the house was. How flush it was with the joy of gaming coursing through it after all these years.

We stood quietly and were about to leave but then I told them my favorite story of Gary, the one that always makes me tear up. It is the ultimate testament to a man who cherished gamers of all walks of life, as if they were his own flesh and blood, for they were. The story gets to the point where it realy chokes me up and my voice cracks a little. We all tear up a bit and agree that this place is special and that Gary Con is special and that we all feel a little closer to Gary here.

Soon, the film crew left but the gamers remained. We started a little late because of the interruption but none of them complained (well Ed did a little but I chided him for it and he relented). I started the game, a descent into Greyhawk Castle to a level rarely visited due to its inaccessibility, an ice level penned by Rob Kuntz 44 years ago. As the ice turned from obsidian to indigo, sapphire to turquiose, white to crystal, I described how their breath hung in the air, chillblains crept into their fingers, and crystal fractal patterns formed at each footfall. The world around them was an alien ice kingdom. Cold was sinking into their bones as they ventured deeper into the frozen realm.

Outside, freezing wind and icy rain pelted the house, encased it in its grip. I noticed the players increasingly hugged their arms, rubbed their hands unconsciously, leaned forward and pushed their hands between thier knees to keep warm. When I had them shaking in their boots in the great ice hall and the frost-breathing ice-caryatids surrounded them, they started pulling on their coats. I was shivering.

In a narrowly won battle with the ice people of this weird glacial underworld, the group secured a massive treasure horde of diamonds and escaped. Truly, a great adventure was had by all. One of my best adventures at 330 Center St. But I was still shivering when they left.

I checked the digital thermostat and it was blank. I squeezed down the narrow steps to the basement and found the furnace had shut off. I flipped the circuit breaker on and the house slowly began to leave the ice world it created. Had the house just helped me run Greyhawk Castle? Had Gary?

I talked to the owners who graciously allow Legends of Wargaming to play games there each year. They said that the furnace had never shut-off like that. Amazed, we agreed that this place was special. Gary Con was special. Gary was special.

And that, my friends, is what it's all about.

[Ancalagon]

IndEEEEEEEEEEEEd!!!

[rredmond]

Great pics, I recognize a few of those jokers!

[rredmond]

Great Stormberg story. That dude seems pretty cool.

[Necron 99]

Great Stormberg story. That dude seems pretty cool.

Yeah, he's a good guy, I first met Paul back in 2015, when James and I first attended Gary Con (VII). We often refer to that year as the best GC we've ever attended because it was the last year the convention was at the old lodge, before Luke moved venue locations to accommodate the larger attendance. Aside from being at the old location, it was also the first time I met several of the online folks from Dragonsfoot (and KnK). I had a great time playing in several old school games, two of which were both run by Paul. The first one was called Temple (or Ruins maybe) of the Fire Opal. It was a simple dungeon crawl but a lot of fun. The other was Battle for the Moathouse a Chainmail game that had the forces of Law fighting Chaos, set prior to the events in Hommlet, when the Moathouse lay in ruins. This was my first time playing Chainmail and I had a great time.

[grodog]

Paul runs a good game, and is a definitely a great guy too!

Allan.