Badmike wrote:
IF there is any interest?  Yeh, I'd say so!

How long does your average chariot death race last, Tim?

Mike B.

I was just mailing Doug about that; the standard race is 3 laps and eight chariots. My race has 12 chariots and we can do four laps if we wanted. A three lapper can go four hours; a 4 can be done in 5. It really depends on the ratio of racing to smashing and wrecking; I can controll that to a great degree by what type of cars I allow and how many Driver Points I allow.

bbarsh wrote:Now that is name I have not heard in a very long time! Sign me up!

Now Tim has me fired up to bring my copy of Man O War complete with miniatures for some death on high seas.

I believe it is the NorTex RPG Con? Now I know that the connection between RPG's and CM is tenuous at best (unless you were one of the regulars in my basement bitd). That is why I asked first. At GaryCon I am commanded to bring and run it, but the scope of GaryCon is broader.

I use ALL of the Advanced and 2nd Edition Rules. There are a couple of websites that have all of them available; the 2nd Ed. rules did not get very widely promulgated, sad to say. I had a hand in a couple of them when I used to run the Finals for AH back then. I have several copies of the rules and several sets of little reference cards that really help. It seldom takes newbies more than a lap or lap and a half to really get into the sytem and the play speeds up commensurately. The first half lap is painfully slow, often as not.

We can set the race at three laps or four; whatever we set beforehand is graven in stone as the length of the race has everything to do with strategy. Less than 12 will be faster than a full field.

I leave it in the hands of the organizers to decide: if they want it, if they do how long, and how many slots to offer.

hey chaps

if i get over that side next year, its likely going to be Texas again, rather than GenCon...due to funds, unless that changes drastically, but i suspect it won't.

i am going to Indonesia (with luck) in the October and then back to South Africa the following year, so they are my priorities for funds.

i would rather come over to game, rather than come over to spend...though GenCon for me is far more than that, and i want to get to see Martin too. So lets see what happens.

and hey Tim...i have no problem being killed, so no worries mate i truly want to come over and am working on an adventure myself just now...something a little different if i can swing that. *mental note....still need to e-mail Tim and Frank*

hope you are all well?

i am still basking in the glow of finishing an event i really didnt think i would.

Al

I am hoping to attend Gencon next year, as the economy picks up a bit sales have also, but they are still going to have to take a large leap to save up enough for Gencon.  My wife would love to go back as she had a great time, and this year's vacation was a bit of a fiasco (so much for the "family" vacation, blech).  Hoping that the new hotels going up in downtown Indy will help lower the prices overall for rooms.....we'll see...

NTRPG Con is taking up a huge amount of time and I see that in the future it will continue to do so.  I am also confident that due to Doug's promotional efforts it will start to become a bigger and better con and perhaps even a "must attend" on the schedule of old school gamers. I am hoping with Garycon in the spring and NTRPG Con in the summer we can compliment each other and give the old school gamer at least two good choices every year for playing old school games and getting together with like-minded gamers.  That is one of the big reasons I wanted to attend Gencon, but the cost is at least double or more attending NTRPG Con, and I can see a lot of gamers perhaps choosing us over Gencon if they continue to become more corporate and less aligned to old school gamers wants and needs. The availability of cheap hotel rooms and venues close to DFW airport, and the central nature of the con in regards to the US (almost smack dab in the middle of the country) will make NTRPG con an affordable option for now and the future.  

I won't pretend we will ever be in the top echelon of gaming cons (we are still far, far below attendence levels of even some mini cons dealing with comics and anime) but I think in our niche (old school gaming) we only have Garycon to complement and compete with us and that will serve us well with the resurgance in the retro gaming, simulacrum and OSR circles. It doesn't hurt that we are able to get guys like Tim Kask, Rob Kuntz, Paul Jaquays and others that most conventions won't touch based on their connections with older gaming systems that aren't "cool" enough for 21st century gamers.

Right now I know Doug and I are pumped about NTRPG even though there is still several months until the event but it's that excitement that will keep the con getting bigger and better.  I  know Doug think's I'm nuts but I believe the con can break even as soon as this year (ok, maybe next year) and that's all we require, I doubt we will ever make a cent but as long as we don't lose and arm and a leg it will be a viable convention.  As always we have to thank everyone who showed up last year and who have already committed to attending in 2010; I get excited looking at the new venue and how it will be filled next June with gamers, some familiar faces, some not, all using the familiar rulebooks and modules as they run their tables.  

Mike B.

Registered!  

BTW, since Black Blade is now publishing Swords & Wizardry, I don't know if Jon and Allan signed up for a table, but we'll only need one table for all three of us. Allan and Jon will have to man it, though. Because there will be a lot of fun stuff I have to be busy doing.

Jason,

Not yet on the Vendor Table sign ups...

I just spoke to the programmers today about some logic I need programmed into the registration system... ie: you can't register for a game/table if you haven't registered for the main Con etc.

I don't expect the programming to be up and tested until the end of December.

I appreciate everyone being proactive and trying to sign up so early, but I hadn't expected registration until Jan 1st ...

I'll let you know when you can sign up for a Vendor Table

Jaybird216 wrote:Is there any particular art topic/technique you folks are most curious about?

INKING!

Or how to sketch something that looks like what you want it to look like instead of what it happens to finally look like.

Jon,

You know, we plan to have Vender Shelves of some type... you don't have to man these and we'll handle the sales and money collection for a fee.... then you can play  and DM

I just bought a new Cash Register with a scanner and have been programming it....

tacojohn4547 wrote:We'll man the table somehow

Two words: Booth babes.  

Matt, inking is a fine idea - plus it's the part that's the most fun! Maybe I'll show all the steps of getting something ready for publication, with an emphasis on the inking process. To me, it's always been interesting to know what goes on behind the scenes. Granted, you already know about all of that...

grodog wrote:I didn't get to game with Matt or Frank last time

I played in your AD&D game, but I was sitting next to Paul Jaquays, so no one noticed me.    He's a guy of invisibility 10' radius!