Gary Con 2024

 I am back from Gary Con 2024! Well...back is an odd word, I drive up from home every day and drive back at night. Just about an hour to get there, not too bad. And I had a GREAT TIME!

I was there with Elf Lair Games, selling copies of NIGHT SHIFT and Wasted Lands. I have to admit, we did really great.  I was going to run some games, but in truth I was so busy at the booth that I never had the chance, but no worries this year we were joined by our long-time writing and collaboration partner from our Eden Studios days, Derek Stoelting, ran all our games. He is particularly good at it, too, and he has written many of our adventures.

The Con itself was fantastic.

New Friends and Old

I got the chance to talk with some really great people. We went in with Pick Up and Go Games for our booth, which was great. They are really fantastic. 

Next to us was Black Oak Workshop, which was selling these great dice sets. Including the 31-Themed Dice set above, which I am going to feature in October. I will open one up a day!

Across from us was The Bewitched Parlor. They were great and had a lot of cool witchy-wear including some rally great hats. Jason bought one for his wife. Plus, they had the coolest looking booth.

Of course, I HAD to stop by Troll Lords Games' booth.

Picked up the only two books they had that I didn't own. We went separate this year from them as an experiment and I say the experiment worked out quite well for us.  But if you missed them, Jason WILL be with the Troll Lords at Gen Con selling copies of his new Troll Lords books. He has a few more coming out with Troll Lords, but I am not 100% sure if they will be ready for Gen Con or not.

I was THRILLED that so many came by to chat, say hi, ask about what we are doing next. There were so many folks I wanted to talk to but didn't get the chance. Manged to chat with Tim Kask for a bit. I found out we hung out at a lot of the same places at our university, except 15-20 years apart. His brother lived in the same dorms I did. I gotta remember I need to get him to sign something next year.  

Speaking of which.

Autographs

I am not an autograph hound, but this year, I wanted to make an effort to get the signatures of some of the people I grew up admiring while I still could.

I got some art from Dave "Diesel" LaForce and had him sign a few of my books, including a cool Eye Monster in my early printing DMG. We talked about how this Con was more like a work reunion for him and how he got to see many old friends and co-workers again.  We talked a bit about Trampier and others no longer with us.

I also got some more art from the ever-wonderful and lovely Darlene. I also got her to sign my DMG as well.  Those Greyhawk map art prints are really great.  I also got a LOT signed by Jeff Easley. He was also fantastic. We sat there and chatted for a bit during one of the infrequent lulls in his booth.

Larry Elmore was there, but I have a lot of things signed by him and I have a lot of his prints since I see him at Gary Con and Gen Con. 

I also got to meet David "Zeb" Cook and that was fantastic. 

Jeff Grubb was there. He even came by to see us at Elf Lair Games, which was really great.

I got him to sign my Manual of the Planes, which is still one of my favorite books.

I waffled back and forth on whether or not to get Luke Gygax to sign my AD&D books. But in the end, I figured he was "Otiluke," and Gary Con exists because of him.  I am glad I did. We talked a long time about the Con, his dad, his little dog "Grogu," and more. Honestly, He was great, but that tracks everything everyone has been saying.

I also brought my Deities & Demigods for everyone to sign too. As you can see I have been at this one for a bit. This was the only thing I got signed by Erol Otus. I think next year, if he is there, I'll bring my B/X books.

So Gary Con was AMAZING! I had a great time and I am looking forward to next year.