I’m happy to report back that GaryCon XVIII was a resounding success from my perspective. This is my fourth year in attendance, joined by two members of the RPGuild (a shared gaming Discord).
GaryCon really proves to be a regional gaming convention with the quality of a large con. Most of the players I meet are from the Chicago, Milwaukee, or the Twin Cities area. But the representation of authors and designers from TSR and old-school gaming companies is significant. In short, it is the premiere convention for playing old-school roleplaying games, whether traditional or OSR. While you can play more modern-styled games, like 5th Edition or Daggerheart, it’s much easier to find games of AD&D, OSE, Pirate Borg, and Shadowdark being run.
Here’s my top five gaming experiences at this year’s GaryCon, to help you consider whether you’ll be attending next year:
(5) Dolmenwood: The Ruined Abbey of St. Clewyd (GM: Jon Britton)
Dolmenwood is the (relatively) new hotness from Gavin Norman, author of Old School Essentials. It’s a massive forest with grim fairytale vibes that comes along with its own mechanics, different from OSE. I was curious to check it out, because it tonally fits some of my preferences.
The basic gist of the story was that adventurers were sent to reclaim an abbey that had been despoiled for four centuries. Upon arriving, there was all manner of fairytale evil going on. As we pressed on, there was significant faction play within the scenario that led to some enjoyable intrigue and shenanigans. This was part 2 of 3, so I only got to experience the middle of the story. But I was struck by the beauty and mystery of the setting.
I did not realize that I would be playing with Jon Britton, lead Game Master for 3d6 Down the Line on Youtube. He was a wonderful Game Master, who gave players the freedom to explore at their own pace. Really enjoyed playing with him and would certainly jump at the chance in the future.
Walking away from the experience, I’m curious to try Dolmenwood as a setting. The rules didn’t seem terribly distinct or exciting in contrast to other settings. So I could foresee running a Dolmenwood game in Shadowdark or a similar ruleset. But altogether, two thumbs up.
(4) Mausritter: The Broken Oaken Tower (GM: Jeff Brunner)
Mausritter is an OSR take on Mouse Guard, Redwall, and similar settings. My kids and I are big fans of the Mouse Guard stories, but the Mouse Guard RPG is a little crunchy for preteens. So I was curious to give Mausritter a try. I loved it! In short, it’s a hack of Into the Odd that seems clearly informed by Cairn and Knave. That makes for quick action and lots of storytelling.
We were mouse adventurers, sent to find a missing vole boy. We explored a tree that housed a wizard’s tower. It had been abandoned after a lightning strike. It was a fun stealth, exploration adventure that ended with a bang. Jeff Brunner did a great job running the table and my fellow players were all very engaged. It was an excellent con game.
One thing that I particularly liked about Mausritter—which I hope to run in the near future—is how the inventory system works. It’s a modular sort of setup, where items get moved around from hand to body to inventory slots. Like Knave, you can get wounds that fill inventory slots. But generally it feels more common-sense and easy-to-grasp. Big points for that mechanic, in my book.
(3) AD&D: Palace of Queen Ehlissa (DM: David Prata)
I have not played with a more skilled AD&D Dungeon Master than David Prata. When the RPGuild gang played with him last year, I was blown away not only by his mastery of the rules, but by how smoothly he shepherded players along. Theer’s no dilly-dallying or looking up rules. It’s all movement and action, which AD&D DMs sometimes struggle to promote in my experience.
This was an old-school AD&D dungeon crawl—“Door D&D” to use Brad Kerr’s taxonomy. When run well, these kinds of games can be very fun. And it was well run! We were searching through an “abandoned” fortress seeking a magic item of great power. Like Dolmenwood, this was Part 1 of 3, so I only experienced the first part of the dungeon.
What struck me as most remarkable was the level of detail that Prata put into his dungeon—and his visual aids. He put painstaking detail into his maps and sketches of the outside of the dungeon, which gave away PILES of information to clever, observant players. I’ve never seen visual aids use so ably in a game before.
I also enjoyed being the mapper for the group, making a dungeon map that was passed on to the next group. As the forever-DM of a mostly online group, that’s not an aspect of AD&D that I’ve gotten to experience much. So that was a very enjoyable part of the process.
Here’s hoping I can play with Prata again next year. Bravo!
(2) Liminal Horror: Truck
It feels kind of lame to put a game that I run so high on the list, but boy did we have a good time. I picked up Mynar Lenahan’s Truck recently and IT IS WILD. I’m planning to write up a full review soon.
Regardless, the RPGuild guys and I partnered up with Tony from Revivify Games for this gritty, brutal horror-mystery about an out-of-control semi that keeps running over civilians in a small Texas town. It ended up being a dark comedy of sorts that leaned into the tone of many Coen brothers movies. We laughed until we cried and we tried our best to save the town. Truck is quite a ride!
(1) Pirate Borg Epic Multi-Table Event
Well, the good folks at Limithron have done it again. This was not only quite probably my best con game experience ever…it has to rank in my top TTRPG experiences ever. And I’m pretty sure I’ve been playing longer than Luke Stratton.
Seven different tables represented seven different pirate crews in Pirate Borg, all laying siege to a British fort. Each table elected a captain, who decided what role we would play in league with the other captains. And the siege began!
The Pirate Borg tables were all set up in the water park at the Grand Geneva, which was very fun. And it was cool to hear tables of pirates shouting with victory, when they took down various objectives. There was a real sense of partnership and collaboration between tables, as we helped one another and coalesced in one big final naval battle against an unexpected foe.
Our table had a good deal of Pirate Borg experience, especially among the RPGuild crew. That led to some creative and wild ideas that—I think—surprised not only our GM (named Austin), but also Tyler Stratton who was running the event. I hope that Limithron will continue to offer these events in the future, as it was an amazing experience enjoyed by all.
Conclusion
GaryCon XVIII was really a con to remember. If you like these kinds of games, I really can’t recommend a better convention for you. From AD&D to OSR games, with a solid offering of 5e, Pathfinder, and other modern games, there’s stuff for every taste. Hopefully I’ll be back again in the future!
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