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Post by Scott on Mar 28, 2021 13:18:54 GMT -5
Gronan's game was a very good example of old school dungeon crawling. Lots of empty areas, lots of tricks/traps. Kind of a cross between Greyhawk and Blackmoor. The dungeon is kind of owned by Lord Gronan, and you adventure by invite, but it's not actually in Gronan's castle. Had the little dungeoneer's market just outside the dungeon entrance selling hirelings and last chance items. Some encounters he stole from Greyhawk. A few Greyhawk and Blackmoor stories that would relate to what we were doing. We had a random encounter as soon as we reached the bottom of the steps to level 1, gnolls that kicked our asses and took out one M-U and a few hired spearmen. Mike did use unconscious rules and hand waved rest/recovery time. At one point we were in an area that that we assumed would have secret doors, and the other players were kind of stumped after they checked once and didn't find any. So I started re-checking and we found a secret door. Mike told a story of how Rob one time kept checking and re-checking the same area for 90 minutes because he assumed there would be a secret door in the area, and he eventually found it. He told a more detailed version of the story of Tom Champney killing Serten to steal his snake staff. Apparently Tom had beens king Ernie to see it for weeks or months, gold, magic items, etc. and Ernie kept on saying no. They were adventuring together and Tom surprise attacked Ernie, got him with a finger of death, and stole the staff. Ernie rolled up a new chaotic character on the spot and joined Tom and continued the adventure.
I had to cancel my ticket for Jim's AD&D game today, which sucks.
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Post by Scott on Mar 28, 2021 14:17:41 GMT -5
The story of Serten was part of a discussion on PCs dying. In OD&D there's not much guilt in PCs dying in your games because you can roll up a new one in 5 minutes, but the time investment involved in creating characters in some systems is a deterrent for killing the characters because of the work involved. 5E was where the discussion started, but Mike was a Champions player back in the day, and he talked about how nobody ever died just because nobody wanted to go through that again. There were a few players who were like accountants that everybody else would ask to help with the character creation because they had the rules down so much better than everybody else.
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Post by GRWelsh on Mar 29, 2021 8:13:37 GMT -5
I looked up the Dungeon Hobby Shop Museum. It looks like a place that is definitely worth visiting for historical purposes, but they charge for gaming. It wasn't clear to me how much that would cost. There are various levels of membership you can buy, and some membership levels give discounts on other costs, so it is a bit confusing to figure out. If you were in Lake Geneva and Ernie was going to DM a game you were interested in playing, how much would you have to pay? Would he be considered a 'legendary' (highest level) DM and therefore you'd have to pay $1,000? Would that be on top of a minimum $50 membership fee, as well as an entry fee of $3? They have a couple of black t-shirts with old TSR logos that I'm interested in. I'd like to see what other 'artifacts and relics' from the old days that they have on display, and take the guided tour.
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Post by Scott on Mar 29, 2021 12:58:10 GMT -5
Doesn’t sound appealing at all. The campaign aspect of the game and the social interaction are the most appealing parts of the game for me. I can’t imagine either in a pay service that I would have to drive to Wisconsin to play. If I go to Gary Con I person I’d check the museum out while I’m there, but that’s where my interest ends.
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Post by GRWelsh on Mar 29, 2021 14:25:48 GMT -5
Yeah, I agree. I'm not sure what the idea is. Maybe they are thinking there are people who will make the pilgrimage to Lake Geneva for a single adventure with someone like Ernie Gygax or Frank Mentzer just to be able to say they did? And that it's contributing to a good cause (of the museum)? Maybe they are thinking a lot of the older fans like us have more disposable income to be able to afford this sort of thing (which is probably true)? It reminds me of of that event from last fall where you could go on a getaway and play D&D with Ernie and others for a couple of thousand dollars. I think, like you, I'll just stick to planning to attend GARYCON live next year and perhaps buy a higher rank badge to be able to get into games I want. I don't mind spending in the $100-200 range for that.
I've really enjoyed the past two GARYCONS, even though they were virtual. I regret not attending previous GARYCONS, or the LGGC, or the GEN CON when it was held in Lake Geneva. I just was never a convention person and didn't have a high regard of convention games played with people you don't know, because to me the main appeal was -- like you said -- the ongoing campaign plus social interaction with friends. But in the right sort of convention there is potential to make new friends and learn from the masters. I'm very appreciative that I had to the opportunity to play games with Tim Kask and Tom Wham, especially.
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Post by Scott on Mar 29, 2021 15:14:14 GMT -5
Yeah, gaming with Gronan let me particIpate in my favorite Con activity, BSing with old gamers. I also got a few laughs out of it. There were one or two gamers with no old edition experience. The whole concept of a stuck door was alien.
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