Well where you are going to Gencon or not, FOE is having its massive "Send JP to Gencon Sale". This year, like previous ones, everything is on-sale for an additional 33%. That's on TOP of DriveThruRPG's Christmas in July. In short, everything is about 50%! (rounding is odd)
This is your chance to get a super-cheap version of the Akhamet campaign setting, Rhym Campaign Setting, or Tyrants of Saggakar and related products.
Just so you know, I have been writing short mini-chapters of a big story set in Saggakar on the FOE Patreon. They are currently grouped into three sub-stories that each introduce different characters.
Welcome to Saggakar brings in people through the Mists into the savage horror that is Saggakar.
Into the Light is set in the brutal training gladiatorial pits of Spiderfen.
At the Arena takes you into the stands of the grand arena on a day of games.
Standing in the light introduces someone who arrives in Saggakar with the means NOT to be a slave.
These short story parts form a greater tapestry of a story I have been thinking about for quite a while and patrons get to read it all from the start, in short installments as the story grows.
Just a quick word to you all... One of the regular artist working on FOE products is out there, you can meet the inimitable Britishark at Merida Comic Con in Merida, Yucatan in Mexico on the 13 and 14th of July! Man, I would LOVE to attend in the jungles of Yucatan... Another place on my bucket list!
I think this is pretty cool and I wanted to boost the signal for someone who has been doing awesome work for the past few months. Illustrated a number of new characters for the coming books. You can get full details on the Tsunami Medida website. Stop by and say hello! You can find Britishark in the artist alley over there.
Okay, as a total nerd, I put in the address of the Convention in Google Maps and I might make the beginning of the con if I left right now. It is a "mere" 43h's drive from Nashville and 10h of flying. If I'd known I would've loved to have attempted... practiced my Spanish! That would've been terrible for the attendee.
Hola! Si, escribo mucho pero no en español. Juegamos a Akhamet. Es como Egipcia pero fantastica. Hay muchos zombies... Muhahaha.
That would be horrible for those who paid good money to attend. Instead go see Britishark, you will not regret it. He's got some great work for sale.
Despite my initial worries, there were a lot of great things, many of which turned out to be awesome.
- The Location is awesome for me. I loved playing and being home 15 minutes later. For those who do not live in the 'Boro, the hotel is just off I-24.
- On-Site location, the gaming area was on an overlook that was literally at the center of the con, which no doubt helped traffic. Good thing.
- Access to food is great, you can walk to many places in less than 10 minutes. True, many of these places are junk food, but still. Close availability of food is a great thing.
- The participants were very interested in playing and taking part in what was happening. It was great to see people want to participate return to the game table over and over.
- I was really worried about it, but nearly all the table happened with many times we had two tables with 5-6 players every time. I did not expect that and was one of the best part of the con. It's always good to see games happening and the gaming area of a con growing.
A few things could be improved:
- No ramp to the overlook. We had a great location, but it was not very accessible as there were stairs but no ramp.
- There was a con suite which was cool. However, it seemed to me that it was closed most of the time. Improvable.
- My Badge did not survive through Sunday. By then, it was two leaf of plastic and a paper on my lanyard. Minor, but annoying.
For next time:
- I plan to update the Akhamet Iconics to be single-classed characters. Tetsora will be a rogue and Osaphis a fighter. This will make it easier for people to hop in.
- I have to plan more panels/workshops. There seems to be a thirst for gaming-oriented content.
Okay, so there should be no surprised that I was greatly impressed and I loved my time at Hypericon. I will definitely be back next year, make this con better. It is, after all, the one that is my Home Con and I want it to become even bigger and better.
I got to meet and chat with a lot of great people. Some friends I hadn't seen in forever: Buddy-B, Kveld-B, and Jacob. I met a lot of new cool people and talked a lot about Akhamet, 5e, and gaming in general.
Yiiiiiiiiiiiiii! I met Glenn Cook! Yiiiiiiiiiiiiii!
This past weekend, was Hypericon in my home town of Murfreesboro, TN. Last year, I took Jojo and ActionMan, and they had a real blast of it all. Read all about Hypericon 2018 Part 1 and Part 2.
2019 was going to be very different: the kids are in Canada so I would head out to the con by myself.
There were a few things to be concerned about:
- The move moved from the Nashville airport area to Murfreesboro, I know, it is "only" 20 miles down the road, but you never know. Murfreesboro is the sixth biggest city in Tennessee, and growing like CRAZY.
- Last year's participation in the gaming was uneven. I worried that I would sit by myself a lot working on my social skills.
- I was worried.
But then, a week before the con, I got my finalized schedule and my fear evaporated for the most part. I was really stoked to see there were two GMs who would be running D&D. Kathleen and I, this would make for a constant flow of people coming in. This would ensure there would be games starting every hour. The problem with that is that there is no or limited cross-polinating of the players.
Friday came around and after a great day involving a lot of writing and lunch with my friend Bojan at Big Shakes (love them chicken tacos!) I debated whether I should have steak and decided not to. Mistake. I should have.
I came into the Clarion Inn and quickly got myself oriented, got my badge and then ran into the first snag... The gaming was on the overlook, a nice, open area next to the con suite. The problem? It had no ramps and no direct elevator access to it. Well, I picked up my box and my trolley and powered through. I was all set up for my 7pm game.
I ran an Akhamet short featuring a lost tomb with traps and illusions. I play-tested two traps I had thought of but never placed in an adventure. It is a good one I will have to add... Two short hours later and many players stepped out to other pastures. That left me with no one for my late slot, so I got to head on home early. Not a loss. I got to put together some more writing in.
Saturday, my con day started at noon. I spent the morning watching TV and writing some more and painting minis.
I got there a little early, brought all my stuff up the stairs and got ready to give my workshop: creating an adventure. I was really excited about it, and I had seven very curious participants as we talked about how to break down an adventure, how to determine the antagonist, and how to make it exciting. There was so much I could've said, but I kept it short, flowing, and interesting if I do say so myself. My buddy Kveld joined the workshop, which was cool.
I had time before dinner so I hit the dealer hall. It was smaller than last year. I stopped by a table covered with books. "Oh wow! This guy has a lot of Glenn Cook books" I thought. Then I looked at the gentleman sitting behind the table and his badge read... Glenn Cook. Wow! I got to meet the man.
Glenn is a man of few words who gave short yes/no questions to my queries. I told him how I loved his works and the many I read, which I was sure he did not really care, but by then I was in full fangirl mode, so I did not care. I had to tell him.
I got to talk to Glenn Cook... Yiiiiiiiiiiiiii!
Today, I had my giant pyramid, which is an adventure in itself. It is not a strong story, but you get to move and explore a large dungeon. I then had slots at 2, 4, 7, and 9. One of the the fun things about running this is that you see the different group dynamics when faced with the same decision points.
Again, my 9pm did not run, so I decided to hop on Kathleen's 10pm game where I played Grim the Brown, dwarven fighter as we relived a D&D version of the Hangover. Many laughs later, I was back home, sleeping.
Sunday my first slot was at 10AM, so I showed up a early to a mostly empty room. "This day will suck" I try to keep out my mind when my early slot did not happen. Still, the gaming area filled up with people playing board games.
During that time, I returned to the dealer hall where I purchased a book from Glenn Cook himself - and got it signed! FULL FANGIRL MODE!!! I also bought a collection of short stories from a local author, Matt Hall. Okay, I used the "Last Day Sale" to buy it.
At noon, I ran a short pirate-themed game where the fight ran longer. Combat and talking... We had to cut it short, but it was fun.
Just a quick note, if you are in the Nashville area for the weekend after Fourth of July.
Why? Because it's Hypericon!
I really liked it last year and this year, I'm coming back. Imagine my surprise when I realized it was in my backyard, the Clarion Inn on Old Fort here in Murfreesboro! I will be running Akhamet adventures throughout the con and give a panel on how to build an adventure, Saturday at noon.
Come say hello, there will be a lot of time to play some D&D!
Check out the full details on the Hypericon Website.
