GASP Games Day Report

I attended GASP Games Day for the second time yesterday, a local gaming group. Games Day usually happens the second Saturday of each month. There is open board gaming, minis gaming, CCGs, and RGP sessions. To find out what's happening or learn more, I recommend the GASP Forum, where there are sections for each type of game and discussion threads. As Games Day approaches, people usually start organizing events.

Since I'm primarily interested in RPGs, I jumped in a couple extra games. I joined a DragonLance game that is using the Labyrinth Lord rules. Since there was some open time slots due to cancellations, someone offered to run a Gamma World (new edition) game that I jumped in on, and the second session of the Darves Hill Labyrinth Lord Campaign.

I joined the DragonLance Campaign because I was hoping to get at least one more regular game in at Games Day. To be honest, I was most interested in it because it's being run with Labyrinth Lord. I'm not really familiar DragonLance. I know the basics of the setting, but I've never read the novels or anything. As it turns out, we're actually playing characters from the original trilogy (I'm playing the barbarian/plainsman Riverwind) and playing through the novel's story. Kind of a different playing style from what I'm used to, but the group is good and the DM is letting us solve the scenarios as we see fit. I plan on sticking with it, unless something really intriguing shows up in the first slot.

RPGA ended up canceling this weekend, so there were a bunch of open spaces in the RPG pod. I don't have any interest in RPGA style gaming, so somebody else's loss is my gain. One of the other GASP members threw a Gamma World game together. I'm really liking this new edition for mini-campaigns and one-off sessions. The GM had picked up the new Famine in Far-Go expansion, and we were able to try out the new mutations. I ended up rolling a Seismic Plagueweilder name Dirty Girt. I mostly bashed the enemies with a piece of concrete covered re-bar. I think everyone at the the table was having fun. It's a nice little system, and even though parts of it can be a bit fiddly, it's pretty simple over all.

Finally, the reason I got involved with GASP, the Darves Hill Megadungeon. We did get a third player, who rolled up a Cleric with a Dwarf retainer. The party of 6 headed back to the hill to continue the exploration. Unfortunately, we met with a bit of tragedy. In the very first building we entered, we were attacked by a mutated skeleton. The new cleric made quick work of it, but a bunch of bugs rose up out of the soil. In befitting Old School style, one bite to the poor sickly Tyrvand Dedsoon, my magic user retainer, was enough to take him down. Dead.

Tyrvand Dedsoon RIP.

You were the first Dedsoon to ever leave the confines of Nahm and return in one piece, even if it was only two days. He will be remembered by his kin and stories will circulate through the Dedsoon clan, telling of the brave adventurer Tyrvand, who died of a bug bite. 

I rolled a new character. I was hoping for stats for another Magic User, but the dice weren't cooperating. I ended up making a fighter named Targ. He wears chainmail and swings a heavy pick. He worked out pretty well. We solved a strange musical puzzle, defeated another half-demon, and discovered some other crazy hidden clues about the history of the temple at Darves Hill.

Unfortunately, I'm going to miss out on the next session at GASP, as I'll be in San Diego for the American Library Association Conference. I'll definitely be heading back for the February date, though. Great fun. I highly recommend it.