Friday, November 1, 2019

The Game That Never Was


Ah, yes [sigh]... another missed opportunity.  But at least I tried.

A surprising hole (no pun intended) in my schedule at work allowed me to run Cha'alt at Game Hole Con this year. 

Unfortunately, only a week out meant that everyone had already scheduled games, events, and whatnot.  Although, I did promote the shit out of it.

Ordinarily, I would have scheduled games far in advance with the hope that I'd be able to make it.  I did that two years ago, but had to cancel my entire run of games last minute because our twins were about to be born prematurely and I couldn't leave my extremely pregnant wife who was ready to burst at any moment.

So, it was just me at the table surrounded by 8 empty chairs.  This was going to be the first time I ran Cha'alt at a non-virtual table, face-to-face with players since obtaining the book.  I had the giant triptych map of The Black Pyramid all printed-out and laminated, as well.  I'll put a description of the session in the post-script for the sake of posterity.

The very first in-person session of Cha'alt will have to be next Saturday at Misty Mountain Games.  Details over here.

I did drop some books off at booth #13 in the Dealer's Room of the convention, though.  Seven signed copies of Cha'alt that will hopefully sell out before Sunday afternoon.  Want your own fancy hardcover? Look no further!

On my way out of the Dealer's Room, I spied RPG veteran, legend, and creator of Traveller Marc Miller.  We talked a bit about Kickstarter, printing, shipping, self-publishing, and the rest.  I gave him a copy of Cha'alt for his long service in the industry after getting a picture with him. 

I also chatted with a cool dude named Andy Hand at the Limitless Adventures booth.  He was nice enough to listen to my sob story and commiserate as I mentioned my lack of players.

Lastly, I have a little gaming convention tradition.  Even though I don't need any more dice, I always try to pick up at least one new set. 

These two (pictured) tickled my fancy.  If I was going to play a dark elf, these are the dice I would want to roll.

I traded them for my last copy of Cha'alt.  The couple tending that booth needed a present for their friend (niece?) who was getting married and she loved both D&D and eldritch, gonzo, science-fantasy, and post-apocalypse type stuff.

On the way back to the office, I drowned my sorrows in an obscene amount of Chinese food and mountain dew. 

Hopefully, next year will be better. 

Game on!

VS

Cha'alt is an eldritch, gonzo, science-fantasy, post-apocalyptic world.  Adventurers will be exploring The Black Pyramid - a bizarre, trans-dimensional, lunatic asylum of a megadungeon containing both malign entities and wondrous treasure.  I'll be running it with my own basic, minimalist, old school O5R (OSR + 5e) house-rules called Crimson Dragon Slayer D20. 
Venger Satanis is the best-selling author of not only Cha'alt and Crimson Dragon Slayer, but such titles as Alpha Blue, The Islands of Purple-Haunted Putrescence, and How To Game Master Like A F#@king Boss.


2 comments:

  1. A damn shame. The midwest is a long trek for a Texan. Maybe someday, though.

    ReplyDelete