A Texas-Big-Super-Sized thanks to Doug and Mike for hosting the convention. They went above and beyond what most convention organizers do for their guests. Yee' Ha'   

So I arrived Friday morning with plenty of time to unpack and relax at the hotel ( I thought that the full-length mirror that was actually a door was really cool, almost like a secret door [already getting into gaming mode for the con]). I walked into the convention room and after getting a pile of raffle tickets I rounded up whoever was there and opened up my Munchkin Box. It's a really easy game to play (like a mix between D&D and Screw your Neighbor), and played until the first round on Friday began.

I have pictures I took from the Cattle Ranch Dinner (someone wanted a picture of Rob Kuntz's meal?   Aneoth?   ). Send me an e-mail address to send it to...

------
Friday night's game was Frank's game. I play in his home campaign, but I wanted to experience what his high-level game was like. We might have completed the event, had we had the whole weekend to do so (Huge amount of material to explore...). No one in the party died, and all was good.

------
Saturday morning was Jon Hershberger's game (mid/high level AD&D). I haven't played a magic-user in a while, but it was like riding a bike. And remember, although a 16 hit-die Earth Elemental may be your friend, always cast pro. evil on yourself before summoning.  

------
Saturday BBQ at Doug's was awesome. I think that pork back/shoulder piece looked like it was a whole pound.... mmmmm... And as hot as it was, the swimming pool was a refreshing break from a Texas-hot day.

------
Saturday afternoon I drove with a few guys to the Gen X hobby store. I found a few RPGA mags for $2.00 each (#22 and #28 to be exact), but the modules were already ripped out of it...  

------
Saturday evening I played a 2nd level magic user in Rob Kuntz's game. It was an experience I will never forget, which brings me to my quote of the weekend:

R.K. "...You guys found a secret door that not even Gary Gygax found 37 years ago..."

I.O. (after almost getting our teeth kicked in) "Yeah, there's a reason he didn't find it..."

Once I got acclimated to his style of DM'ing, I'd have to say that this would be my pick of the con, which brings me to my other quote of the con:

(Chris Finch, playing his halfling rogue) " I listen to the door..."

R.K. "The door whispers nothing but sweet loving words to you... IT'S A DOOR, IT DOESN'T SPEAK!!!"  

(C.F.) "I listen AT the door."

R.K. "Ah, now you're trying to be a rogue eh?"

------

I had breakfast Sunday morning at I-Hop with the other early-riser-morning-people con goers. With a hearty breakfast, we headed back to the hotel for the trip to Reaper's.

I can't say enough about how cool the trip to Reaper's was, to actually learn the miniature process from start to finish. The 3 "Battle Maidens" were incredibly painted, my favorite being the bluish-grey planscapish looking one. Also, there was a Solar in the room behind the main room, also incredible...


That's where I also found an Orange B3 on sale for $9.99. Talk about an awesome find... (I'll be posting the picture later)

------
Sunday Afternoon my DM was Mike Stewart, running a Judges Guild module named (?) Dragon Cave ...(?) [we had to recover an item for a red dragon, and it was a tournament event module from 1979]

I was playing a 2nd level cleric, with my standard issue two CLW spells. The rest of the party members were between 2nd and 4th level, wandering into kobold caves and causing much mayhem.

The room where the crown was located had a hell-hound guarding the treasure. It won initiative and breathed on the party. Every party member FAILED their saving throw vs. db, and three party members immediately fell over dead (The dwarf, elf, and magicu user). There were maybe 10 hit points between the 3 remaining characters. With much luck, we dispatched the foul beast and recovered the crown.
-------

I arrived home late last night with my winnings in tow all tired as hell.

Thanks again,

Andrew

p.s. I put my ass on the line for the con, and am damn proud of it.

ScketreWhisp® wrote:Ok, the $10.00 B3 is not for real .. nobody freak.. he is pulling your leg (though he does have pictures)....

Actually, I have the pictures. I will be selling them on ebay this weekend  

bbarsh wrote: Jason Braun (jbird) our MU then chased after the "thief" and got assassinated! How cool was that!!!

If my character sheet hadn't read Alignment: NG, Matt's assassin would have received a Lightning Bolt enema as he ran past me, with no questions asked. As it was, though, I figured it would be more prudent to use the benefit of my invisibility to tail him and hopefully get a little more insight before I made a judgement. That didn't happen

I agree with Bill though, Al. It was a lot of fun even if it didn't go the way you'd expected.

Al had misled me into believing it was his homebrew My Little Ponies® the Role Playing Gameâ„¢ campaign.

killjoy32 wrote:
yeah that was on the 2nd level  

you know, and i was going to wing this too....i had worked an extra few rooms in, where a mad hermit was residing and he had control over these little creatures who he used to go get him food n stuff....guess what they were  

and dammit...you didnt go that way  

Al

I believe that was going to be my old character from Gencon 2007, driven mad, surrounded by his "friends" a horde of giant shrews.... Yes that would have been fun, I was ready to roleplay the character had you happened to wander that way, I even had my little shrew dolls there to make it more realistic....!

Mike B.

The Con was overwhelmingly awesome, no doubt about it.

Doug and Mike organized and ran this convention brilliantly.  Doug cooked a ton of food at the BBQ, rented a "real" bus for the BBQ and the Reaper tour, provided cheap snacks and drinks, etc.  Mike was his able second-in-command.

All of three of the games that I was conscious to play (Tim, Al, and Frank) were awesome.  I was fried by the time Sunday rolled around and zoned out and nodded off during TacoJohn's game.  I think TacoJohn's game had velvet floors or something.  

Serleran wrote:Well, I guess I did not win anything in the raffle... oh well. Typical.

So come in person next year!  Take that Friday off and go back late Sunday night.

The raffle was not the be-all, end-all of the Con.  If anything, it interrupted game sessions.  

Doug and Mike, you guys outdid yourselves. What an AMAZING weekend of fun. Thanks especially to Doug, who pulled a few strings and then some to make sure I could attend this year. It was really appreciated.

Although being extremely tired on Friday night (with only an hour of sleep the night before), I was able to keep up with Rob Kuntz' group until around Midnight and had a blast. Saturday I was happy to finally play in one of Al's Tegel Manor games (although backstabbing Tim Kask's character was really NOT my intention - it was an attack of opportunity that could have happened to anyone).

Saturday I ate my fill at Doug's barbeque, and was so full I slept for several hours when I got back to the hotel.

I must say that the folks here on Acaeum are just as gracious in person as they are online, and I was surprised to be welcomed right away and talked to many people like we'd known each other for years. That alone says a lot for this group!

Even the old-school veterans Rob, Frank and Tim were very easy to talk to...for everything they've accomplished in this industry, talking to them was as open as talking to another Acaeum member. Listening to their stories of the old days of AD&D was like a trip back  many years ago!

Once again, if you missed NTRPGCon this year, you definitely missed out. Make sure to go next year - it is a hell of a good time.

Thanks guys!

Matt

It was a great convention - I'm already looking forward to next year!  

Other discussions here:
http://swordsandwizardry.com/forum/view ... =32&t=1218
and here:
http://knights-n-knaves.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=5785

serleran wrote:Cool. I won something. Wow. That is a first. I was OK with losing, as I am used to it. But, to win is even more fun.

I won three things, but since they were all things I already had, I had them put them back in the hats for other folks.  That didn't help me win any Otherworld minis, though, alas

The show was positively excellent.  It had more fun there than I had at LGGC#3, which is saying something!