Reflections on My First North Texas RPG CON (2024)

It was everything I wanted it to be.

Let me begin at the end.

This is my last day of a four day Con which I found out about in January through Tenkar’s Tavern Youtube channel.

I haven’t been to a gaming con, outside of my state, for over 10 years and wasn’t sure if I even wanted to go, but the selling points were too good to pass up

• this is, predominantly, a con about old school gaming

• the attendance is limited to appx. 500 people

• a chance to be around people who really love rpgs

So, this being my last day, I am happy to report that this Con was everything I wanted it to be.

Now, from the beginning.

I arrived on day one with my schedule mapped out and ready to jump into some games I’ve never played before and roll some dice.

Game One: Spattered Patina of the Barbarous Blades (Weird Frontiers)

I have played in one DCC (Dungeon Crawl Classics ) game once before but it was a funnel game, meaning I played 4 zero level characters with the hopes of one of them surviving to become my first level character moving forward.

I haven’t played a theatre of the mind game in a long time but our GM, Ian, did a fantastic job of painting the picture for our group of western archetypes.

Conquering demons and a devilish dagger was our goal and after my character was briefly possessed, attacking the rest of the party, we were triumphant.

I enjoyed using a deck of cards to facilitate combat and would be happy to play another game.

Game Two: The Wyrm Well (Castles and Crusades)

This is not a game I played in, this is a game I ran, for the first time. Yes, it takes a certain kind of hubris to run a game you’ve never played let alone run but this was going to be my one place where I was virtually guaranteed to have some players and some player I did have.

These two “dwarves”

Played the game of their lives. These guys role played the crap out of their dwarf characters. The funny thing is, this was a dwarf-centric adventure with 8 pre-generated characters available, two of them dwarves. Synchronicity? Certainly. Providence? Only Moradin the All Father knows.

I enjoyed running the game. It ran crunchier than I thought it would but that’s not a bad thing. I’m stoked to run more C&C.

Game Three: The Yeti Return (Hyperborea)

All I have to say is, if your character has never been trampled by a mastedon during a hunt, highly recommend, 5 stars.

If you enjoy Howard’s Conan and Lovecraft’s horror, this game is for you.

This game was out of this world, almost literally.

Game Four: Fire of the Forge Kings (Shadowdark)

This is the second game, Hyperborea being the first, I’ve played in that has had 8 players in it. I always thought running a game this large would be a nightmare, and I’m still in that camp, but playing in a game this large was not as bad as one might think. Yes, turns move a little slower but I enjoyed the people, the jokes and the creativity.

Our characters were taken from cages and sent down some tubes to race against other teams of adventurers to the top of a ziggurat. I immediately, thought, “We are playing The Running Man!”. The tubes and the race are where the similarities stop. There were spiders, piranhas and angry Fire Horde warriors with a dash of boars and panthers. Deadly encounters but we were a force to be reckoned with.

There was a point where I was wondering why our GM, Jess David Collins, was giving us exposition on the design of the adventure, etc. and then I caught on, this was a play test for an adventure to be published. I enjoyed the insight and would play at his table again. You can grab his other adventure here.

Last, but not least.

Seminar: Podcasting 101 with DM Mike

I have some experience with podcasting in another market, but I wanted to hear from gaming podcasters and learn from them.

Among the panel was Eric “Tenkar”, Shane of Shane Plays, Mike Stewart of the Save or Die Podcast and Glenn Hallstrom of Radio Grognard Kingsize

They all shared a ton of great information with my main take aways being

• find your why

• talk about what you love and let the audience find you

• you’re not going to make much money, if any

Like I said, I have some experience, and even success in the podcast space, so I can confirm the last point.

Some other take aways include

• cross platforming in the form of running ads on similar or adjacent channels.

• Interview those with slightly larger channels and podcasts and you may gain some followers.

• If you’re an rpg gaming podcast, use affiliate links such as DriveThruRPG, Amazon or Humble Bundle to make a few dollars.

• Team up with like minded people to do live streams and draw other audiences in.

• Don’t take money to talk about products where you have to lie about the quality of the product. Better to refuse the money and give an honest review than lose your soul for cash.

• Set a schedule (once a week, once a month, etc.) so your viewers/listeners can know when they can hear from you.

• Don’t focus on off topic things, ex. If you started a Geek Gaming show, don’t include episodes about wood working. Stay on topic, that’s what your audience signed up for and expects from you.

My advice, if you want to start an rpg/gaming podcast

• First, set a number of episodes, like a season of tv/streaming, and when that season is over, evaluate, first, whether you liked doing it or not. If you don’t, quit. If you do, keep on going.

• Second, what does the data tell you? Did people follow, subscribe, like?

• Third, your first 20 episodes will suck, They will sound confusing and you will judge yourself too harshly. Produce enough episodes (the average is 12 before people quit) to see if you can find your voice, your POV.

You may be wondering, “Are you going to start a gaming podcast, Paul?” Maybe. Subscribe to this newsletter and you will be the first to know.

Final Thoughts

If I didn’t mention it before, this was my first time at this con but I hope it will not be my last. Thanks to Mike Badalato, Gary Oliver, Erik Tnekar and the host of others who helped put this, and the other 15 years of cons, on.

Thanks to everyone who ran games or came to my game, it was a blast.

Thanks to the Vendors for bringing awesome for me to buy.

Shout out to Peter for the good conversation and for coming all the way from LA.

Shout out to Leroy for the conversation over dinner.

Shout out to all the staff and Con vets who made me feel welcome.

I’ll be sharing the loot I purchased, very soon, over on my Youtube channel for your viewing pleasure, if you should so desire.

But, I’ve love to hear from those of you who came to the con this year (2024). Leave your highlight of the con below.

Thanks for reading.