[Gencon 2025] After Action Report Part 3

Parts 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Saturday

Whenever Saturday comes, we're now in the groove, like we've done this for a long time. It's difficult to explain until you are there. A clear feeling that you've made it through the toughest part of Gencon. But that's a fake feeling. There is so much more left to do.

For some reason that wasn't clear to me at the time, our sales for the Saturday afternoon slot were very low. It allowed me to give Bill a chance to play something else. In this case, he became a knight of Tarsyn. I later learned that this slot also had the Critical Role announcements. No matter... We had a great time and the FOE gang delivered.

As a testament to the awesome work of the FOE GMs is that I had 7 players with Generic tickets waiting to play. At the last minute, EVERYONE with a full ticket showed up and I had to turn these guys away. That's always bittersweet to do, but I value the experience more than cramming more players at the tables. I've yet to play a table of 7 with a positive outcome, so I keep FOE tables to a strict maximum of 6.

The evening's Battle of Emessos turned out to be quite a challenge. The encounters flowed into each other with multiple groups failing the goal. Now mind you, it was designed to be challenging and combat-heavy.

The adventure delivered.

The GMs delivered.

Sunday

Sundays are always tough. Fatigue takes over and willpower is the only thing dragging you forward. Even if tickets are sold, whoever shows up is different set of people. This was the first special created by Brandon-A, making this special a collaboration between FOE and Player Hater Gaming. Last year, Brandon ran an adventure in Skytorn...

A rather oniric adventure...

The drive down was quick and without incident. I sat, ate dinner with my wife, then slept until Monday, then took three naps during that day...

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the return drive is that Thor and I talked about some of the low-budget indi movies I've been watching on Tubi... As an exercise to keep our minds awake, we began taking apart one of the plot and reconstruct it as a DND adventure. The original idea (and movie) was set in Rome, so we moved it to Olympia. But as we discussed and ironed out the kinks, it felt more like Ozaka to the both of us. It blends supernatural horror and real-life elements that makes for a compelling samurai drama.

So... It looks like we may have an adventure for next year already in the works.

Yes, before I forgot everything, I opened a Word document and put the outline in there with as much detail as I could. I'm excited to return to it.

Parts 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

[Gencon 2025] After Action Report Part 2

Parts 1 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Thursday

Thursday started early as I had to carry everything a mile and a half to the stadium. It was quite a long haul. I had so many things to carry. Lucky for me, I split the miniatures for the specials into "what I need Thursday" and "Later," with the size of the two sets being roughly the same.

Before that first slot is always a worry... Will ALL the GMs show up? What will people think? Will everyone show up? Will we be able to seat everyone with a generic? What will the overall vibe be?

Well... All this worry turned out for naught. Everyone showed up and the morning was off to a roaring start.

Now a fun thing... Mike-B showed up at the doors of the stadium for his badge and I waited for him at the tunnel. Then, to our devices stopped connecting: no text, no calls, no messenger... Lucky Steve-E was there to save the day!

The evening slot was lighter in ticket sales. A mixed blessing. However, since the adventure had a lot of social interaction, this turned out to be a blessing because it allowed everyone to get more involved in the adventure, as each table got to do more things. There were SO many things to do.

When GMs asked "How can they do it all?" The answer was a simple "They can't."

Players have a way of surprising me when I write these types of epics. They make choices that, at first leave you perplexed, but after a moment stir the creative juices going and push the setting into new and excitig directions. This is one thing I love about writing these epics specials...

Then bed and sleep.

I survived Day 1.

Friday

Day 2 started somewhat differently as I got a later start and miscalculated the time it would take me to reach the room... A late start put me on the back foot to get everything ready.

But once everything got rolling, I settled down and slept on a chair.

The afternoon and evening came by without much to report...

EXCEPT.

During the evening's Parting Shot, there was a moment when I had an NPC betray the PCs in a very opportune moment. I was both worried and stoked for this secret reveal.

As the discovery happened, two people reacted aloud with "Oh fucker!"

That filled me with dark, morbid joy.

Parts 1 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Tarsyn: Lost Holy City - Now Available in print and pdf

Crusaders Victorious! Tarsyn Liberated!

The wait is over — Tarsyn: Lost Holy City is here. This richly detailed mini-setting blends the grandeur of Arthurian legends, the fervor of the Crusades, and the mystique of a holy city lost beyond the veil of worlds.

The Story So Far

Ten years ago, the Holy City of Tarsyn fell to a crusading host determined to free it from foreign occupation and restore the Vaspianic faith to its glory. Their victory was short-lived. The city’s rulers, cursed by a power beyond mortal reckoning, were transformed into First Ones — ancient beings of conquest and domination.

And then… Tarsyn vanished. Somewhere, in the far-flung reaches of the multiverse, its towers gleam under alien suns. Its knights now ride across strange realms in search of the road home, their banners still proud, their faith unbroken.

What Awaits Inside

The Tarsyn Campaign Setting brings your table a complete, ready-to-run world filled with intrigue, honor, and danger. Inside, you’ll find:

• Three new character races
• Three human subraces steeped in the culture and history of Tarsyn
• Thirteen new class archetypes for every style of champion, zealot, or knight-errant
• New backgrounds, magic items, monsters, and NPCs to fill your adventures with rich detail
• Rules for running tournaments — from jousts to melee — plus extensive guidelines for in-game research, archives, and scholarly discovery

Whether your players want to defend the faith, uncover the city’s mysteries, or navigate the dangerous politics of a people in exile, Tarsyn offers fertile ground for epic storytelling.

Compatible with both flavors of 5th Edition.

Available Now

The Tarsyn Campaign Setting is available in multiple formats:

• PDF — DriveThruRPG
• Print & Kindle — Amazon.com

Rally your party, sharpen your swords, and prepare to ride for the Lost Holy City. The road to Tarsyn begins now.

[Gencon 2025] After Action Report Part 1

Parts 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Before Gencon

As usual, Gencon started back in September when I asked the FOE GMs who wanted to write an adventure. This year, many new faces joined the writing crew: Brandon, Chris, and Rees joined veterans Bill, and Rebecca.

To my great joy, they all wanted to write something in different settings, which would limit my workload in each setting. Yay!

I spent most of the year writing the sequel to my first novel, which will be released "soon." Rebecca and I collaborated on the creation of Tarsyn, a new mini-setting for FOE that mixes elements of the Crusades with Arthurian Legends.

How each adventure came together is its own journey. I did a lot of text tightening and turning combats into more dynamic encounters. Oh and removed boxed text. A lot of boxed text.

I got particularly stuck on one of the specials. Despite re-writing it 4-5 times, the result always ended up... Blaaah. It felt uninspired, repetitive, and not something I wanted to actually finish writing. A few hours of video chats got me back on the right track and the story into something I was excited for.

Wednesday

I woke up early, excited to leave. I discovered that something was wrong at work. I diagnosed, and sent as many notes to my team as I could. I had expected to leave everything dont and finished but I didn't have time to get everything done.

After finishing to pack for the con, I left to pick up Thor. I stopped at McD for coffee and food andoff we went. Up I-24, then I-65.

The trip was uneventful, were it not for the scolding heat and my AC on the fritz... (again). Still we made good time, checked into our hotels before heading to the convention center. I obtained the badges, realized I forgot a few people, but I got this quickly resolved.

I was rather worried because this that the first time. FOE was not in the Hyatt/ Marriott/ JW Marriott, but in Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the NFL's Indianapolis Colts. I had several questions about the layout, the location, the amenities, and how far it was.

Well... we could not get into the Stadium that night, leaving questions for the morning... The ongoing tradition at FOE is to eat a good meal at Denny's before the start of the con. The tradition continued this year with Brandon and Joe joining us. Chris, Matt, Rebecca, and Zhan made a quick stop to say hello.

Back at the room, I turned on the TV but was asleep before the commercial ended during AEW.

Worries about the reception of the new setting...

Parts 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

[DM's Guild] Real Housewives of Ravenloft goes Platinum!

The Real Housewives of Ravenloft has reach a milestone and is now a Platinum Best Seller on DM's Guild.

It has been a few years since I first published the Real Housewives of Ravenloft and it has been my best-selling product of all time. This is a way to add a mystery AND an opportunity to work WITH Strahd and advance the story.

It is one my players talk to me, over five years after we ran it.

Good Memories...

It is also part of the Ravenloft Bundle on DM's Guild.

[Olympia Novel] The Bloody Notebook Released!

The Bloody Notebook is the first book of the Olympia Chronicles, a new book series of fiction book set in the world of Olympia. Inspired by, and using, Greek Mythology as a base, this brand new self-contained story tells of a warrior, named Arakos, from another world who comes to Olympia and seeks to discover about his origins and where he comes from.

He is joined along the way by a band of colorful characters including a grumpy wizard, a singing Spartian, a barbarian woman, and a con artist. These characters create a tapestry that was fun to write and see how their relations evolved as the story unfolded.

This is my first novel, and the first time I have really enjoyed my own fiction. The Bloody Notebook is a love letter to Ancient Greek stories, and the eternal truths they contains.

The Bloody Notebook

Arakos is a warrior from another world with no memory of how he came to Olympia. A blood-stained notebook filled with names and places he does not remember is his only tie to his past. After losing his only friend escaping a doomed city with a woman he dislikes, he sets out to regain his memories. On his travel, he encounter a colossus of a man, giants, gods, demigods, the Great Oracle, a sorcerer, and a witch. Are his missing memories worth reclaiming, or do they protect him?

The Bloody Network is available on Amazon and DriveThruRPG.

For a full PDF experience of the world of Olympia, you may get The Bloody Notebook as part of the Olympia Bundle.

[Olympia Campaign] Eleusis and Opyros

The heroes press on. They again their ship is victim of a time-distortion. After breaking it again, they made it into Eleusis, which they found besieged by a Titan army, blocking the Isthmus between the lands of Athenion and Aeolia.

They offered to sail some refugees away, in exchange for payment, sending one of their own to sail them away (someone wasn't there that day).

In town, the PCs discuss with the soldiers and their strategos, General Kassandros. The strategos struck a deal with them to help each other. He will arrange to draw the enemy force away, allowing the PCs a chance to take out Opyros, the Titan of Flame who is leading the enemy army. They gather rumors and learn that soldier's weapons cannot hurt the Titan.

In the morning, the Athenian cavalry maneuvered to draw the enemy vanguard away, leaving the PCs a straight shot against Opyros. They found an area where dead soldiers littered the ground.

Another mega-battle with the Mythic Titan damaging the party, but they managed to defeat him just in time before it destroyed them.

[Olympia Campaign] Time Stands Still

While out at sea, one of our heroes suddenly notices something strange... their ship seems to be passing along the same stretch of coast. Someone is playing with the timeline, somehow...

Making landfall, and discuss whether to continue on foot or by sea. That's when Enyale, the Titaness of Rage appears with several of her worshippers. Follows a massive battle where the Titaness destroys the shield guardian, damages the Good Vibes in a deadly battle where she pounds the heroes. After several close calls, they manage to defeat and bind her using the ritual found in the Vault of the Jade Prince.

The second picture shows the cultist emptying in pants in the middle of the action...

[Olympia Campaign] The Bridge

Our heroes reunited in the village of Kolkis where they shared their separate adventures, trying to understand the significance of what they found.

They met with the Athenian generals who requested their aid in defeating the Titan army. But our heroes chose to press on to Delfos and their main quest as time became ever-more pressing.

They decided to head back to their ship. Below is when they were ambushed by an hydra and some cyclops. The hydra withdrew but the cyclops gave them a good run for their money.

They ended the day at their ship, the Good Vibes...