OSRCon 2

That’s me in the black t-shirt, sort of in the middle (source)

I spent saturday morning at OSRCon exploring Dwimmermount with fellow blogger Ram (and several others). James M. was referee. I rolled up a second level magic-user named Eknuv and we proceeded to explore the dungeon. It felt like we were very successful (though who knows what all we missed), as we avoided a poison gas trap, defeated several groups of monsters, and discovered a hidden treasure room worth 10,000 GP. Along with other experience, this was enough to promote all of our characters to level 3, which we did. After that, we explored part of dungeon level 2 as well. Overall, this was a great example of how to get a lot done in a limited time, even with many players, and Zak’s suggestion about starting games where players can do things right away holds just as much for in person games as it does in G+ games.

In addition, delving Dwimmermount highlighted the value of small details. You really don’t need a paragraph of description to make a room interesting. One or two features is enough. For example, there was one room that was empty save for small metal rings set into the stone floor making up a pattern. We didn’t figure out what those rings were for, if anything, but the lingering mystery in and of itself is intriguing. This is a good reminder, being in the process of developing a megadungeon of my own. There were many other rooms with similar details, such as columns made of different elements. I’m sure some of those relate to puzzles that we did not solve.

Ed Greenwood running a Forgotten Realms setting (source)

I also played in a Labyrinth Lord game run by Carter Soles (from The Lands of Ara blog). I played Zephyr the cowardly fighter (whose character sheet I unfortunately did not retain, as I needed to leave the game early). That game was basically a commando assault against what seemed to be a haunted keep. As proper adventurers, of course we went in through the roof. There were undead sheep.

The conference as a whole was a lot of fun, though small. I got to play part of a Tunnels & Trolls game run by its creator, which was totally new to me. I also got to watch Ed Greenwood run a session in his Forgotten Realms. In hindsight, I wish I would have made more of an effort to exchange contact info with local OSR gamers or others that I might only know from blogs (for example, I now know that Akrasia was there, though I didn’t meet him). So, if any other readers just happened to be there, leave a comment! Maybe we can get some local Toronto OSR action going, at least semi-regularly.

4 thoughts on “OSRCon 2

  1. Evan W

    Hi Brendan,
    It was great to play in James’ game with you. I was he who provided the miniatures, if that jogs your memory. I was thinking about your comment about miniatures being potentially constricting on the game, the imagination of the players, etc. I thought that was a really interesting thought, and something I haven’t thought much about since discovering the OSR and getting back into playing. Perhaps worthy of a post?

    Second the thought too, about wishing I’d done a better job connecting with other players. You’re welcome at my old school game any time.

    Reply
    1. Brendan

      Good to hear from you Evan. Are you on G+? If so, add me (there’s a link right below this comment section). Or, feel free to send me an email and we can schedule some real-world gaming some time (email is in upper left corner of blog, under the OSR logo).

      Reply
  2. Ramanan Sivaranjan

    I have my two posts about the Dwimmermount game all writen up, though they are a bit too rambling.

    Evan, it was good meeting you. I was the skinny brown guy in the Dwimmermount game playing the unnamed fighter. Your miniatures were great. That side of the hobby is something I never got into, mostly because I suck at painting.

    Reply

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