NTRPGCon Report

[Flambeaux]

Smoking cigars is about the only thing we didn't get to do that I was hoping for -- but we were too busy gaming into the wee hours.

[geneweigel]

I'm always amazed that nobody ever looks anything like I imagine them to look. Must be all these damned avatars.

FWIW, I look exactly like David Carradine, and I bet Foster looks just like Edie Sedgwick, too.

<- I don't look like this at all.

Thats just some "mock up" for the internet.

Heres the real "9 to 5" me:



Sorry!

[Jaybird216]

Hey Jason, what part of San Antonio do you and Brad usually game in? My parents live in Selma, so I visit there quite a bit.

I live just south of Selma, on O'Connor and 35. Well, not ON it, but near it. We play over at the Dragon's Lair store on Fredericksburg Rd.

[geneweigel]

Smoking cigars is about the only thing we didn't get to do that I was hoping for -- but we were too busy gaming into the wee hours.

Yeah, its hard to break it up sometimes when running a game then of course you get always get cornered by some other smoker who wants to "smoke out the DM" for a clue.

I can drink while I DM but its better that I don't at least until the pre-wrap up so that kills drinking at cons for me altogether.

Huffing miniature epoxy in the john on the other hand...thats another story!

Just kidding!

[Invincible Overlord]

Session 3

Everyone returned to the hotel for the start of the 6 PM game session on Saturday. I was in Rob Kuntz's El Raja Key game and I opted for an Elf F/M-U rolled up on the spot under pure PHB rules. Everyone was level 2, so Rob approved me as a 1/1.

The party never really cohered or acted as an intelligent unit so, as a player, it was a disappointing session....

.

Now that I have been giving the privilage of posting on this prestigious website, allow me to offer my most humble opinion of this brave and foolhardy party of intrepid adventurers...

I was the one to volunteer to be the party leader/caller. We set upon a secret trapdoor that in the words of Rob Kuntz "...not even Gary Gygax found that secret door 37 years ago..."

There was a reason for that...

On the other end of the trapdoor (at the other end of the passageway) were 3 drow warriors. Given their tactical advantage (and rendering the mages useless with all their sleep spells...), it was a literally uphill combat.
It's not as much as we weren't cohesive, but some people just panicked and bugged out (even before anyone died yet!!!).

Sissies... fine... we fought on...

We were given a clerical scroll (up to 3rd level) to use, so I picked the 2nd level spell: Hold Person for the cleric to use. It was used to hold 1 of the 3 drow warriors. We were finally catching a break in the combat... Afterwards we had dispatched the other two drow warriors, after the other half of the party fled. All of a sudden, one of the two clerics that retreated from the combat must have taken a break to have his two scoops of self-confidence with his raisin bran to return to the party and climb the passageway up. Just as I had pushed the held drow warrior into the 20' deep passageway below... With the cleric near dead (and the held drow NOT dead), I was relieved of party leadership At this point Paul Jaquay's character reluctantly took command of the group. It was a very tough fight, where we had NO tactical advanatage. I'm sure this disheartened us as a group (and this confusion and lack of cohesiveness in that particular battle), but we did rebound from that reasonably well.

------
I think the other thing that "challenged" the group is the style of DM that is Rob Kuntz. Once I had an understanding of how it worked, I got used to it pretty quickly. To sum it up: What you say is what you do. Like this example of Chris Finch playing the halfling thief at the table:

C.F. "I listen to the door."

RJK "The door whispers sweet nothing in you ear... IT'S A DOOR IT DOESN'T TALK!!!"

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

RJK "Ahh, trying to be a thief now eh?"
--------

The end-combat with the gnolls was a disaster in the worst dice-rolling way. After I had cast a sleep spell on 5 of the 9 gnolls, we couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. Then a few rounds later, the sleeping gnolls woke up, and I had to cast another sleep spell on them (this time only catching 4 of them). Since it was late, we decided on a hasty retreat, and Rob had generously called the game at this point. I had fun and would game with Rob as a judge anytime (now that I have a better feel for him...).

Sorry you didn't have as much fun Chris. I'll bring my bottle of Maker's Mark next time and we'll slip a few shots in for his next series of smoke breaks

Peace

[Flambeaux]

Sorry you didn't have as much fun Chris. I'll bring my bottle of Maker's Mark next time and we'll slip a few shots in for his next series of smoke breaks

Peace

Andy,

Please don't think I didn't have fun. I had a blast, largely due to the comments Rob never stopped muttering that no one besides Quatzl and I could hear. And my death was enjoyable.

I think the "tone" of the evening was a bit dissonant since we started about an hour and a half later than the other groups.

And you tell me what sensible adventurer doesn't flee from exploding spears being rained down from 15 feet above?

Several of the players didn't understand RJK's DMing style until near the end. It wasn't just Cimmerian. The idea that table talk was effectively prohibited was a huge factor in our inability to work together as a party.

[T. Foster]

Aha -- Chris Finch = Cimmerian @ DF. I know him too (and now spot him in the pics -- the guy wearing the blue "Hobie" t-shirt in the pics of Rob's Saturday game) and in fact had the pleasure of level-draining him and killing his ass (and then killing his character too!) at last year's "DF ScCal mini-con."

[Badmike]

With all those games happening in the same room and so close together how difficult was it to hear and be heard?

It was damn loud, and if you weren't close to the DM, it could be difficult to hear (and for him to hear you). I was sitting far from Rob during his game, and I had to strain, sometimes (and I know he missed a couple of things I said during the game). After that, I made an effort to sit close to the DM for both my Saturday games (Allan's and Tim Kask's).

I didn't get to play at the round table, which was off in a side-room (jokingly referred to as "the closet). However, I popped in there while he was running his game and it sounded much quieter in there. Everyone seemed to be conversing in relatively normal tones.

Was this all the space the hotel had available?

I believe so. I think we had permission to overflow into the breakfast area of the hotel, but I don't know how that would have gone over, in practice. The breakfast area is open to the main lobby (i.e. it's a room off the main lobby, with no wall/door on that side). I think the con ended up drawing more attention than they originally expected.

I understand that next year the con will be in a different venue, though. They're expecting more people next year.

First thanks to everyone that attended. We were planning on maybe 20 guys showing up, lots of old school support pushed us over. We had 66 register and 55 show up, which we were very pleased with. Unfortunately the room capacity was 50, so it was very crowded. Thank goodness for the storage room off the meeting room which we managed to squeeze a table and chairs into, it actually made a really nice intimate setting and it was much easier to hear and be heard there. I suppose had that not been there we would have had to spill over into the breakfast area, which would have been fine....

The noise issue was tough, but everyone seemed to cope. Actually I think the soft spoken DM's (with the exception of Tim Kask, who could get quite loud and boisterous) was as much a problem as the environment.

No gamer funk to speak of, mostly because I changed T-shirts 2-3 times a day (I'm a prolific sweater), and I think Jaybird used deodorant most of his stay....

Needless to say we are planning a larger venue for next year, one with perhaps a couple of rooms and one that can hold 50-100 comfortably. The La Quinta though did a great job and let us keep the meeting room open 24/7 (as opposed to some places we looked at that told us they had a strict "close at midnight" rule). They also let us bring in snacks and drinks. One of the only negatives besides the cramped area was the lack of shuttle service to and from the airport. We wanted to start out small and build.

We actually had one 3.5 game...mostly kids and young-uns, but they were good gamers (they had the longest game, starting Friday at 6 pm and ending 5 am the next morning). What was most gratifying to me was that a few of them ended up joining 1E and older games on Saturday and Sunday, and generally enjoyed the experience. I like to plant seeds and watch them grow.....!

On the subject of looks, both Mythmere and Philotomy looked nothing like I expected....I thought they would be two old, crazy bearded grogs muttering to themselves and carrying roll up tubes of megadungeon covered graph paper.

Mike B.

[Juju EyeBall]

I only missed because my wife had a baby the week prior. In order to ensure my attendance next year I have taken a vow of abstinence.

[Flambeaux]

I only missed because my wife had a baby the week prior. In order to ensure my attendance next year I have taken a vow of abstinence.

Continence does have it's advantages. Congrats on the new baby.

[Juju EyeBall]

Thank you, sir!

[Flambeaux]

Thank you, sir!

You're welcome. We're talking about another one but it's all in the timing. Our youngest (of 3) will turn 2 next month.

[Juju EyeBall]

Two girls is enough for us! My five year old has a modicum of interest in polyhedrals and cartographs so perhaps we'll have a family game going in the future.

[Flambeaux]

Two girls is enough for us! My five year old has a modicum of interest in polyhedrals and cartographs so perhaps we'll have a family game going in the future.

My oldest will be 6 next week and he's been itching to play for two years. I told him that once he can sit still, roll dice to resolve combat, and read we'll sit down and play.

My wife and I are aiming for an in house adventuring party over the next few years.

[Jaybird216]

I think Jaybird used deodorant most of his stay...

Not by my own free will. Pfft! Wimmin!