I am back from EGG Con this past weekend, and it was fantastic. I sold a lot of books and played a few games. Heidi Gygax Garland and Erik Garland did a hell of a good job with the Con. Reminds me of Gary Con in its early days. It is kind of small, but I hope it grows; it is really a great con.
Jackson, IL
I got to play some NIGHT SHIFT in Jackson. I ran a session of "For Whom the Bell Tolls." It was a fantastic experience to see Valentino, Renee, Andy, Rowan, Denise, and Candy brought to life by others. It was just so great.
It really got me excited to do more with Jackson and Jason, and I talked about it quite a bit. I am pleased that people seem to really love it.
It also got me thinking a lot about my Dark Places & Demogorgons crossover as well and how the two games are getting further apart.
Yog: The Dying Lands
I also sold a lot of Wasted Lands. I mentioned to a lot of folks that I use Wasted Lands as my D&D replacement and that is true. I do often do that, but usually run something I have. Like some B/X or AD&D modules. What I was lacking was a solid idea. I was going to buy a copy of DCC's Dying Earth (I have the PDFs and I love them), but I was complaining that I have too many systems and not enough time. I told Jason then that Wasted Lands did everything that DCC did, and vice versa.
It dawned on me that I had already put together an idea for a Dying Earth-like game, my Wasted Lands: The Dying Age. I also had another world I have been playing around with; a pastiche of cheap 1970s-80s Sword & Sorcery novels. And by cheap I mean dirt freaking cheap. Cheap and sleazy. Some of it has also come out of my exploration of Appendix N fantasy. I have been calling the world Yog. On my drive home, I combined them all into one idea: Yog The Dying Lands.
I'll detail some more Yog later on; it is turning into a fun little experiment. Spent quite a bit of time with it Sunday and Monday night. It went pretty fast since I combined three other ideas I had. "Yog" is the world and the last continent.
This gives me my world, my desire to do Dying Earth, and my desire for some cheap pulpy novel action. AND I get to do it all in Wasted Lands. I want it to feel like a cheap used paperback you found in 1982 with a half-naked barbarian on the cover with a giant snake and an even more naked sorceress in the background summoning lightning. The cover was enticing, scandalous even; the words might be good or not. Doesn't matter really.
It is a really fun idea, but not grabbing me as hard as Jackson is right now.
As my habit, I tend to pool all the things I buy at a Con into a single idea, so I'll likely try to fit the various Gaxland adventures I picked up.
I plan to play it very much as a dying world, and everyone knows it. The heroes are not really expected to save Yog, just merely survive. I know, not much of a reason for adventuring; I am working on it.
I DID have one idea.
Back on Facebook a month or so ago, this guy was lamenting that there had never been a good Gor movie. I replied back that this was because "Gor sucks." Since starting this blog, I have read some of the Gor books in my efforts to complete my "Classical" education. Yeah. They suck. But I have been stewing this idea of a Gor-like world, BUT (and this is where it becomes mine) there is this group of witch "freedom fighters" who fly in on booms (flying is important, brooms are just fun) and rescue women and children and take them to a sanctuary. So part Gor and part "Logan's Run." Also, while drawing inspiration from the Soviet Night Witches and the Women's International Terrorist Conspiracy from Hell (W.I.T.C.H.).
Honestly, I rather love the idea of this world, with its slavers and abusers, being terrorized by a group of flying witches. It would give the setting some conflict. I can imagine guards standing watch at night and then suddenly hearing the cackle of witches and seeing their silhouettes against the starry skies. Sounds like a Falero painting to me.
Of course I am on the side of the witches. Turn them into what our world's ultra conservatives think feminists are. Sounds like a freaking blast. Sounds a bit like the whole Hexengeddon line from Relentless Fiction. Witches vs. The Patriarchy, or in this case, Witches vs. The Priest-Kings. I kinda like that.
I might have some version of Vera Rook/Veyra Shadoraven in charge of the witches. That sounds like fun.
Signings and AD&D 2nd Ed
I got a few books signed. I am not an autograph hound, but I do like talking with the original creators.
So I spoke with Jeff Easley and Ed Greenwood again; both are always a pleasure. And I got one I have been wanting for years, Tom Wham.
Getting these reminded me I really wanted to convert my AD&D 1st Ed Forgotten Realms game over to 2nd Edition, but it has also become my Advanced Witches & Warlocks playtest game.
I'll have to think about it more. I do want to dust off my AD&D 2nd Edition.
Now to check eBay for some AD&D 2nd Ed books for my kids.
