NTRPGCon 2023 Wed May 31 - Sun Jun 4

[tetramorph]

Would love to meet and see some of you all at this year's NTRPGCon.

If you are offering any games, please let us know!

Here are my games for the NTRPGCon this year:

Wed 6pm Beyond the Marches
Fri 1pm Beyond the Marches
Sun 10am Beyond the Marches

They are the continuation of my "Avant Marches" play-test con campaign. Perilous Realms convention ruled OD&D.

I am calling it "Beyond the Marches" (creative, I know). If you've played in any of my con campaign games, bring your character and head out into the wildernesses beyond the Avant Marches to clear land, die miserably, chase orc tribes, or whatever. If you don't have a character from my previous campaign, we'll roll you up one or get you a pre-gen, and he can die like the rest of 'em.

Fight on!

[skars]

Their website is having some serious issues tonight, unfortunately. Have a great time, I am not putting any travel dollars into Texas anytime soon. But, I hope to someday attend as I have heard good things about this event over the years.

[tetramorph]

NTRPGCON 2023 PLAY REPORT
(Cross posted from the K&KA Forum)

Thu afternoon, Dex' Return to Searlin's Tower. Classic AD&D with fun combat. Dex' world is rich and elaborately detailed. Dex always has a solid game, and that on very little sleep!

Thu evening, the Social where Bloodmaster and AustinJimm ran us through the Opposing Orb of something that starts with an O. Space elves. Green slime monsters. I tried to bullshirt my way through our first interaction with the main scientist astronomer space elf. What is your ID #? (I roll d100) 41! I don't think he bought it. Ended up on another planet with Welleran's character after he wished us back to the mothership. He tried to wish us home. No more wishes in his sword of seven wishes! Oh well. Now we'll just have to head over to the Contemptible Cube!

Fri evening, EOTB's pick up game. A lot of his own homies were there. They already had a relationship with the mega dungeon and shared a play style, so they kind of took the lead. Although some of the rest of us were a bit restless, we learned to be good followers! I got tired early and zapped out. EOTB's mega dungeon is pretty incredible. So many different ways to go and explore that his own boys were finding a new space. The tricks, traps and puzzles are rich and interesting and everywhere! I particularly enjoyed one where we interacted with an hourglass with a being of light and a being of darkness were locked in combat within.

Sat afternoon, Welleran's Hadashim Sorceress. Welleran's games are always well planned and creatively imagined. This one was no different. My character walked into a room to check it out and fell down a 60' pit trap, only to trigger the arrival of a bunch of BEES! I played side by side with AustinJimm. He had a Wand of Rad that could do things but we didn't know what. At the end, AustinJimm insisted that we run out with him. I was on my way but wound up caught in the room with the baddies with everyone else that failed to take Austinjimm's advice. We lost a bunch of characters. I think mine finally got out. Then Welleran showed us his map. Very interesting!

Sat evening, SteveRobertson's gonzo mega dungeon Castle Dreadmoor. I got to play this one with my daughter who was there for her first time! She had been playing with Steve most of the con. This one deserves a little report: about three years ago (I think), Bloodmaster had crashed a session. He used his sword (I think) of wishes to wish himself to be "the most powerful magic user in the dungeon." Steve decided that this meant that he was now a lych who would now be an NPC in the dungeon. So this Sat night, the man in town ordered us to kill the lych! After much searching, including talking to an oracle, we found the right place. But before that, my daughter's character thought of a purple worm before a trick that asked her to think of a monster. Behold! A purple worm appeared. Another character used a wish to tame it. We all rode into the teleport to the lych's village! A bunch of children approached us and ran ahead of us. Then a little boy came and raised up a little twig at us and started chanting! We webbed him, and polymorphed him into a one legged chicken. Then we had the purple worm attempt to eat him. But before that the wounded and trapped polymorphed lych simply exploded with fear into a shower of chicken nuggets! Then the purple worm ate the chicken nuggets. Good bye, Lawson the Lych!

[tetramorph]

NTRPGCON 2023 REFEREE REPORT
(Cross posted from the K&KA Forum)

I ran three games. I called them "Beyond the Marches," because I made them continuous with my con campaign I ran 2021-22. I was play testing the "Avant Marches," as a kind of campaign starter kit. It was designed to get 6 player characters from level 1 to 4. Hope to have the ready to share soon.

So I had a few folks with level 2 to 4 characters who wanted to keep playing. So what is beyond the marches? I named it "Faewilds of the Perilous Realms." So that is what I will call it in future. The Avant Marches were human-centered - no fae characters. The wilderness is fae. So, as playing characters journey to places where there are hobbits, elves, and dwarves, these races are "unlocked" for play.

Wed evening:
Welleran, Ateltan, tjsharp1970, and a few others.
The group journeyed into the faewilds from Fort Avant, deciding to head to Dickerby (Dicker = barter, by = town, Bartertown) an orc village run by a powerful Amazon ("Auntie"), rather than heading to the citadel caravansary of Roc Sabadab. Two players were interested in finding some quick XP to get their level 2 characters to level three, and thus be more wilderness-worthy. In Dickerby, they learned that there were regular orc caravans and that these caravans were regularly raided. They set up and executed a successful ambush (mass combat), largely due to Welleran's tactical and wargaming skills and talents.

From thence they journeyed on to Idyldown, the hobbit town, which had sent out advertisements for adventurers who could free them from brigands, led by Colonel Wallach, who bullied and robbed them regularly. They set up yet another ambush (mass combat), Magnificent Seven style, and were yet again successful, although this one was a bit more iffy.

At this point, word was sent all around and they were beginning to grow famous in the region, known as folks you could trust to solve your problems for you. (Think "A Team.) However, as they began to set out again for adventure, they learned that the brigands had played an important role in the regional bellacose-ecosystem, and now that they were significantly routed and diminished, the war between the three main orc tribes was rising to a fever-pitch, and a new threat to the good hobbits of Idyldown!

Fri afternoon:
Ateltan, tjsharp1970, either Flambauex Sr. or Flambauex Jr. at any given moment, Welleran joined half way through, Josh (user name?) and a few others.
The adventuring party journeyed on to Gradford, an uncanny village where many whispered that their children were being kidnapped and replaced by changelings. Long story short: they found the Faestones, a henge of 6 monoliths, discerned the correct one, cast knock, and entered into inner-faery to find the Fastness of Everlost and the chaotic faery king, Imric.

Lots of exploration in the dark fastness. Early on they successfully found Imric and dispatched him (gotta beef up that encounter!). But one character got stuck with a Broken Sword-inspired cursed sword.

Sun morning:
Welleran, Ateltan, tjsharp1970, Albigensian, and a few others.
The cursed sword lept from a lower level fighter (one of Flameaux's sons) to another higher level fighter (one of Welleran's buds). After much exploration the party discerned how to release the faery queen from her enchanted prison, reverse the curse of the changelings, and picked up a good deal of treasure and magic items along the way. They cleverly avoided several potentially big fights but picked a pretty big one at the end that resulted in the death of a very effective, but, alas, not very resilient (first level) hobbit!

Where will they journey next? What will happen with Idyldown and the orc-war? How will Gradford welcome back their children, deal with the changelings in their ward? Will the party answer the advertisement to exterminate the goblin infestation at the Dwarrow vault of Nil'Bogh? Or perhaps journey to the southland and its Demon Dunes to loot the Azure Pyramid of Power and oust its cult of the Illuminati? We will have to wait until NTRPGCon 2024 to find out!

Fight on!