For those who don’t know, Gary Con is a wonderful tabletop games convention held in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, by the kids of Gary Gygax in honor of their father. Gary Con Zero was held at the wake after Gary’s funeral, and it wound up being such an excellent and fun remembrance of the man that Gary’s kids have continued the tradition every year. Hard to believe he’s now been gone for eight years.
This year, I’m once again back as a special guest at the show, along with a host of tabletop gaming luminaries like Allen Hammock, Peter Adkison, Jolly Blackburn, Jeff Butler, Mike Carr, Stephen Chenault, Chris Clark, Michael Curtis, Jeff Easley, Joe Goodman, Bruce Heard, Tim Kask, Dave Kenzer, Terry Kuntz, Dave “Diesel” LaForce, Chris, Lindsay, Greg Marks, Mike Mearls, Dave Megarry, Frank Mentzer, Mike Monard, Terry Pavlet, Jeff Perren, Stefan Pokorny, Merle Rasmussen, Mike Reese, Rob Schwalb, Lester Smith, Steve Sullivan, Tony Szczudlo, Jeffery P. Talanian, Jim Wampler, Jim Ward, David Wesely, Tom Wham, Skip Williams, and – of course – Ernie, Heidi, Elise, Cindi, Luke, and (maybe even?) Alex Gygax.
Due to some SNAFUs, I just today managed to get my events listed for this year, and pre-registration for the show ends on Saturday, February 13, at 11:45 AM Central Time. Sign up fast to guarantee yourself a seat. If you can make it to the show, though, we’ll cram as many people into the rooms as we can, so don’t worry too much. The events are:
Shotguns & Sorcery Seminar: This summer, Outland Entertainment is releasing a new Cypher-system RPG based on Matt Forbeck’s Shotguns & Sorcery fantasy noir novels. Come hear Matt and co-designer Rob Schwalb talk about the game and what you can expect from it. March 4, 12 PM — 1 PM.
Games and Fiction Seminar: Come chat with bestselling, award-winning game designer and novelist Matt Forbeck about games, fiction, and the spaces in between. This one runs twice: March 4, 1 PM — 2 PM and March 5, 4 PM — 5 PM.
If you love old-school gaming, D&D, or just tabletop games in general, this is a show you should not miss. In addition to the special guests, I’m also looking forward to seeing Mike Witwer (author of Empire of Imagination: Gary Gygax and the Birth of Dungeons & Dragons) interview the Gygax kids and talk about the development of D&D. On top of that Pat Kilbane (of Mad TV and Seinfeld fame), will be previewing a D&D documentary he has in the works.
Join us.
