I made it back yesterday afternoon. TL;DR is I had a great time... but if you want details, keep reading, hoss!
Staying on-property forced my tentacle into staying 4 nights (anything less wouldn't allow me to book a room there), so I came up Wednesday afternoon. I ran 6 games, which seems like a lot... probably because it is, but I wish I had booked 7. Also, I wish I had written in the event submission notes that I'd like my games to be held at the Timber Ridge because that's where I was staying.
Two of my games were tabled at the waterpark. I mean inside the waterpark. They literally turned the water off and got the kids out so a dozen or more tables could be set up on the edges of the pools and waterslide areas. That was weird, but it worked out because I just told my players to come up to my room where I arranged the couch, coffee table, and chairs to run the game in the peace and quiet of my hotel room. Worked great!
The rest of my games were in Loramore B, and they were all loud and distracting.
I had a lot of players from previous years, which was awesome, because the games I run (especially, Cha'alt) are unique in play-style, atmosphere, genre, and attitude or approach... I prioritize narrative over numbers, for instance. I heard from other familiar faces that they tried to get into one or more of my games but were all booked-up, though two games in particular were short-handed. The first because a couple women bailed without us knowing the reason. I can understand not signing-up for a Venger Satanis game, but when you already have the tickets, why flake? The second was because a player had, in my own words based on what I'd heard, taken too much of something, went crazy, and never came back to the Air BnB they rented with friends.
For the first time, I brought boxes of Cha'alt books for a booth to generously stock and sell for me... but they didn't sell a one. I have a feeling that if that's the direction I want to go in at a place like GaryCon, I'd need to get my own booth and do the selling myself. I saw very few system-neutral books of adventures, guides, and GM advice, so who knows... maybe I'll look into that.
Spent some quality time with my friend and VENGER CON alum Bill Allen and his friends, which was cool. We talked about games, future projects, and conventions over dinner and chilling in the lounge listening to Black Sabbath.
I'll just list the highlights because to go through each session would absolutely fucking break me. I'm already playing catch-up and don't have the time. But will elaborate on key points as I go, and if you have a specific question, please ask.
Very few people carried cash around. Out of 10 people asked, only 2 or 3 of them had a $20 bill on their person. I thought that was strange, but with technology I guess we're moving to a cashless society. Kicking myself in the tentacle for not remembering that my paypal "name" is Kort'thalis Publishing, and not based on either of my names, which I use to log-in.
I had 8 pre-generated characters and every adventuring party included Becka'ala, the pineapple-folk sorceress. I almost didn't include her in the lineup because she was such a ridiculous gonzo PC, but when in Cha'alt...
One of the most badasss moments was when the PCs commandeered a starship, blasted a massive Lovecraftian entity that had been released from The Necronomicon, may their slumber be short and resplendent with psychedelic dreams, and the party's warrior jumped out with his newly acquired ultra-telluric, vorpal sword, got a crit (possibly via fuchsia burn), and decapitated it... and then (as per the sword's magical ability), the giant Lovecraftian creature head sprouted alien spider legs and served the sword-wielder as a mouth while keeping that eldritch book in its mouth until they reached Wa'avenjour. That deserved Divine Favor, but I was probably too wrapped-up in the moment to process game mechanics.
At one point, while traveling on the back of a reptilian riding-spider, I had Ta'al (the former slave NPC) ask the adventurers what got them into this kind of life. It's one of those quiet, introspective moments coming from social interaction that is probably rare in gaming - especially at conventions, I don't play enough to know for sure. Everyone had something to say, those who took their character's provided backstory synopsis and made it their own, synthesizing how the PC was presented with how players decide to roleplay them, were able to improvise something deep that felt like PSYCHOCOSM to me.
I got a tremendous compliment from a player who had been in one of my games years ago at either GaryCon or Game Hole, vaguely remembered that it was "crazy, wild Lovecraft gonzo" but didn't remember Cha'alt or myself, and rediscovered it when he signed-up for one of my sessions. His name is Jay, and he said "Yours is the strangest game I've ever played." Which simply gives credence to my claim that "the Cha'alt experience" is rather unique in the anals (yeah, I know) of our gaming culture.
A friend of mine who always tries to play in at least one of my games made me a really cool violet-hued set of dice which I rolled several times throughout the con. Thanks again, David - awesome dice!
The "Black Skull Suggestions" happened. I mentioned that house-rule, along with Cha'alt X-Cards [FREE PDF here!!!] during all the Cha'alt games. I wish I had done a similar thing with my Alpha Blue session, ask the players to write down a familiar scifi or X-rated trope, character, concept, or what-have-you. It forced me to improv in spots where I wouldn't have necessarily gone for it. Without that concept, we wouldn't have "The salacious cat-warrior gave me herpes" or something about Bruce Campbell's chin, tentacles, and being an Elvis impersonator.
I finally did the Lovecraftian investigative horror genre justice (last year wasn't bad, but that session was, again, in a noisy crowded room). Not only did it last the full 3-hours (the allotted time-slot), but it was solid, unexpected, and all the players loved it. It helps when their expectations are low, a couple of them (maybe more) had recently come away from lackluster games of that ilk, so by comparison, mine seemed graded on a curve. ;)
I came up with the horror blurb for my adventure six months in advance, like all my games, and my mindset 3 weeks prior to the con is invariably worlds away (quite literally, sometimes). But I did my best to take what I had outlined months before and use it for inspiration on whatever I come up with in the actual adventure writing process.
Not every time I GM Cha'alt, but maybe every other session, something happens that becomes established lore in how I run it. Before GaryCon, I didn't have strip club customers taking their pants down before the lap dance commences, thus being able to enjoy it more... known as a "full-release lap dance."
Similarly, giving a reptilian riding spider a zoth enema boosts their speed three-fold. A player asked if there was a demon bounty, probably since I mentioned the brief history of talons. And that makes so much sense (in certain places) I can't believe it never crossed my mind. Various sorcerers, priests, and prophets through the ages removing and attaching their foreskin to The Necronomicon in order to become part of it... visceral attunement. Such a cool idea, and that came from a player who was just winging it; though, I wouldn't be surprised if he had in-game experience of dealing with stuff like trying to use dangerous artifacts of the Lovecraftian variety.
And when it came to Alpha Blue, I came up with klitorian crystals aka sex crystals for female humanoids. Extremely rare and valuable crystals that made female fantasies more immersive, virtually coming to life while they're being railed. It was a player who asked how it works, do you grind it up and snort it? To which I replied "Uh... yeah, you can grind it up into powder and then sprinkle it over the clitoris.
What else? I had a player who took the degenerate gambler aspect of his character's personality and made that the focus of his adventure while the "A-plot" felt more like a side-quest. While that can be tricky for a GM to manage, I think that kind of commitment really enhances a session.
I remember a theoretical discussion on whether drinking the water of a man who transformed into liquid could be drunk and then pissed-out later... and cleansed of impurities. The almost immediate gonzo card stimulation (within the first 10 minutes of the game, highly unusual, but also welcome) forced me to come up with an idea - the soap opera characters briefly mentioned in a throw away detail about the cantina they started out in - became real patrons in the cantina that the PCs could interact with, and ended up asking them to come along. This helped both fill-out the roster (that was a session with only two players), and also gave us some awesome social interaction throughout the adventure.
And of course the jokes! So many hilarious things said at the table, I only managed to jot a few of them down as things were being said... "If your sleaze factor-5 lasts longer than 5 hours, consult a doctor." Lol, that still cracks me up. "Did the stripper dream of The Necronomicon?" Due to the green-skinned privatives sacrificing the most beautiful of their women, "Eugenics based on ugliness becoming the desired trait in girls." A sorcerer communicating with a slime entity by jiggling his belly (like a bowlful of jelly) cracked-up the entire table - hey, he rolled a 19. If I do come up with future Alpha Blue scenarios, "Strange New Holes" has to be a title.
The Cha'alt scenario was very exposition-heavy at the beginning, so let's talk about that. For a convention game, I think that's fine... maybe not ideal. You want (mostly, because of player expectations, based on the format) a lot of structure for the session. Those guardrails get narrower and narrower until it almost kind of feels like a railroad, but there still has to be some free range possibility with plenty of off-ramps. You also need players to feel like they have plenty of narrative choices at the beginning, middle, and end. I tried to provide that as each of the four times I ran that exact adventure with the same list of pre-gens, and the middle sections were wildly different.
I also think, for a setting as... unexpected as Cha'alt, introductory exposition gives players a sense of place and a window into what the world is like. However, next time, I want to go in the opposite direction and just have the PCs wake-up in a strange cave, unsure exactly how they got there or what's going on. That will also require some sophisticated maneuvering of the adventure writing variety, but I'm always up for the challenge.
Speaking of adventure writing, I spoke with my friend and fellow GM Bill Allen about opening-up a limited license later this year for those who want to write Cha'alt content. I'll have a formal announcement about that this summer... just wanted to tease the idea ahead of time.
Before I forget, the only time anyone the entire weekend said anything complimentary (or anything at all) about my hand-made maps (I only brought 3, but they were some of my very best ones) was this random guy who said "Cool looking map" while I was standing there holding all my stuff, waiting for a shuttle or trolley that would take me back to my hotel room. But that happens in my home game, too. It doesn't bother me so much as it just seems weird that more people don't comment on the one visual element that's presented at the table. Also, I showed players images on my phone of various NPCs (mostly strippers, prostitutes, and nubile potential sacrifices) and creatures.
As for the dealer's room, it was... fine. I bought a handful of old Dragon magazines that were reasonably priced from Noble Knight Games. That's about it. I've exited my dice acquiring phase, and will wait until a set of seven really knocks my tentacled socks off before purchasing. And I really don't need any more RPGs at this point in my life. If I want to explore vintage games from the 80s and 90s (and I do), trying them out at a convention like GaryCon or VENGER CON (attend the con happening this July in Madison, WI right now! Link below) is the way to go.
Thanks for reading, here's a video about GaryCon that I made while there. As it goes, there's actually no part 2... Lol. But this blog post definitely serves as a exhaustive follow-up.
VS
p.s. Yes, weekend badges are now available for July 2026's VENGER CON V: The Will To Power. Want a great new TTRPG community where you can hang out with other gamers, get ideas, advice, and training in order to improve? Look no further than the fastest-growing group on X - it's the Kult of Kort'thalis. Want the hardcover Cha'alt trilogy? Here's how (and they're currently on sale!)!!
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