HYPERBOREA / Gamehole Con!

**Posted by Ghul** 4/21/2016 5:54 am

My first Gamehole Con will be this year! I have submitted four HYPERBOREA events. These will be a combination of old and new adventures that I've written for Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea since 2009:

HYPERBOREA: "Rats in the Walls"
HYPERBOREA: "The Mystery at Port Greely"
HYPERBOREA: "Charnel Crypt of the Sightless Serpent"
HYPERBOREA: "The Sea-Wolf's Daughter"

"Rats in the Walls": In the City-State of Khromarium, a dockside tavern is plagued by rats of a most unusual breed. These abominable rodents have ruined the tavern keeper’s business and his life. The man is desperate, and he offers a substantial reward for the elimination of his horrific problem.

"The Mystery at Port Greely": Until recently, the peculiar village of Port Greely was renowned as one of the most prolific exporters of crustaceans in the realm. Then, about three years ago, the Greely lobstermen severed all ties with outside partners. Subsequent attempts at renegotiation were shunned. More recently, a small group of Fishmongers’ Guild representatives from the City-State of Khromarium has gone missing in Port Greely, and answers have been less than forthcoming. At present, the guild seeks answers. They want to know what became of their representatives, and they wish to reestablish their lucrative partnership with the Port Greely lobstermen. Your party has been contracted to help resolve the mystery at Port Greely.

"Charnel Crypt of the Sightless Serpent": A knave of the City-State of Khromarium claims to have witnessed the Sightless Serpent, a legendary beast reputed to shed gems for tears from eyeless sockets. Tales of the Sightless Serpent stretch back to the time before the Green Death, and many heroes have sought it. For a pittance, the knave will lead your party to its trail.

"The Sea-Wolf's Daughter": The player characters dine in the hall of a petty kinglet known as Björn Blackbeard. He has abducted Gunnhildr, the daughter of Ragnarr “The Sea-Wolf”, a Viking chieftain, and he intends to marry her when Selene (the larger of Hyperborea’s two moons) is next full. The young woman is somewhere in Blackbeard’s compound. She must be rescued. Meantime, some 40 bloodthirsty Vikings, including Ragnarr himself, lie in wait, hidden in a nearby gulch.

As I understand it, two other gentlemen are running AS&SH events at Gamehole, including the often imitated but never duplicated chainsaw! Trying to get one or two more people to run a game, so if you're attending and you're up for it, let me know!

Best,
Jeff Talanian

**Posted by Chainsaw** 4/21/2016 7:10 am

Ghul wrote:
As I understand it, two other gentlemen are running AS&SH events at Gamehole, including the often imitated but never duplicated chainsaw!

I don't even know what those words mean, but thanks! And yes, I'm attending Gamehole this year as well, running my Crystal Point adventure from Gary Con and NTRPG Con. Can't wait to see if the Gamehole gamers can outperform the Gary Con folks, who suffered many deaths including a TPK. Plus, I am adding a whole new level, chock full of treasure to reward the brave. Should be good!

Title: The Strange Tale of Crystal Point (for AS&SH)
Times: Friday 10AM-2PM and 4PM-8PM, Saturday 10AM-2PM and 4PM-8PM
Players: 6, level 7-9 pregens provided
Description: In the far reaches of Hyperborea’s Crab Archipelago, lies a small, but mountainous island known as Crystal Point. Passing sailors have recently seen a crimson glow in Crystal Point’s waters, beams of reddish-brown light shining up from its steep cliffs and unusually frequent lightning storms. Ariston Thalassa, an Atlantean sage in Khromarium, Hyperborea’s largest city, has heard these strange tales and approached your party with a promising explanation. He believes Crystal Point may hold the ruins of a lost Atlantean colony – and its secrets! Eager for adventure and treasure, you agreed to explore the island and, after a long journey, have finally set foot on its rocky beach.

**Posted by Handy Haversack** 4/21/2016 8:18 am

Sounds great, you guys! I'm afraid I can pull off only one gaming trip to Wisconsin per year. Though this happened:

Handy: I was thinking we could move the holidays to early November this year and meet your parents in Madison, Wisconsin, for a gaming con.
Ms. Haversack: Were you.

And there the discussion hath ended.

**Posted by Ghul** 4/21/2016 7:12 pm

Handy Haversack wrote:
Sounds great, you guys! I'm afraid I can pull off only one gaming trip to Wisconsin per year. Though this happened:

Handy: I was thinking we could move the holidays to early November this year and meet your parents in Madison, Wisconsin, for a gaming con.
Ms. Haversack: Were you.

And there the discussion hath ended.

Make it so! Or not . . .

**Posted by Chainsaw** 10/31/2016 7:04 am

Only a couple of days away! Will post some pics for all who couldn't make it.

**Posted by mabon5127** 10/31/2016 12:35 pm

Chainsaw wrote:
Only a couple of days away! Will post some pics for all who couldn't make it.

Awesome! Kill some characters for the rest of us!

**Posted by grodog** 10/31/2016 4:43 pm

Chainsaw wrote:
Only a couple of days away! Will post some pics for all who couldn't make it.

Donovan: please keep an old-school eye out at the con. Jon and I are still considering trying to add this to our schedule if it "makes the cut" and has a significant old school customer base attending. Based on our analysis of the submitted events the past few years, that doesn't seem to be the case thus far.

So, definitely interested in your impression of the con in general, and how much the players there may be (or not be) old-school-oriented.

Thanks!

**Posted by Chainsaw** 10/31/2016 7:11 pm

grodog wrote:
Donovan: please keep an old-school eye out at the con. Jon and I are still considering trying to add this to our schedule if it "makes the cut" and has a significant old school customer base attending. Based on our analysis of the submitted events the past few years, that doesn't seem to be the case thus far.

So, definitely interested in your impression of the con in general, and how much the players there may be (or not be) old-school-oriented.

Will do!

**Posted by lige** 11/10/2016 11:05 pm

So how did it go?

**Posted by grodog** 11/19/2016 11:40 pm

Also curious to hear Jeff's POV, too!

**Posted by Chainsaw** 11/22/2016 8:38 pm

Some long overdue pictures from a great convention.

I have been attending Gary Con in Lake Geneva, WI (March) and NTRPG Con in Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX (June) since 2010, but this year I added one more - GameHole (November). This Madison, WI-based convention caters to a broader audience of hobbyists and has more people (I want to say 2k?) than Gary Con (1200?) or NTRPG (350-450?). Quite frankly, given the larger, broader target audience, I figured I'd be one of only a very few old school dudes, so I had some doubts about the demand for my three AS&SH games, but it was still plenty receptive to old school games and cheer. For example, I had 2-3 people in each of my three AS&SH games that were 5e/PF people who said they wanted to try something new and ended up having a very good time!

Overall, it felt very like a small con despite having like 2,000 attendees. Rooms were full, but not too noisy. The staff was friendly and the event was well-organized - very solid. They also arranged a bunch of really good food carts out front, so you weren't limited to food from the convention center's concession stand. I would go next year for sure, but it falls at a horrible, horrible time for me at work. We'll see! Fingers crossed.

View of lobby area of floor one from the stairs - enter building from left, register, concession/PF/5E/vendors/board games on right, smaller old school game rooms upstairs.

Registration desk

Mythmere and Ghul Thursday morning near registration

Greyhawk map near registration

To the right of registration past this robot leads to the concession area were the vendor room, board game room, PF society and 5e rooms were

Featured table schedule (right past the robot thing, video streamed)

The setup for Stefan Pokorny's game

Concession area behind that robot thing, PF/5E to the left, vendors/board games right

PF Society room (left of concession area on one)

5E Adventurers' League (left of concession area on one).

Board game room (right of concession area on one)

Nice little referee's refuge with complimentary coffee and snacks

Some dude's pretty sweet Star Wars set up on one

Seminar schedule (on two)

Some dudes on two in the hallway

All old school people from what I could tell

entrance to one of the rooms upstairs holding old school games

pretty cool Castle Greyskull referee screen

Ghul running a Hyperborea game

Food carts outside (all surprisingly good)

Vendor room pics all below

**Posted by mabon5127** 11/22/2016 8:56 pm

Great pics! Thanks for sharing them.