Memorial AD&D event at GenCon - looking for writers and

Posts: 2938 · Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2008 11:41 pm

From an industry list I'm on:

Keith Baker wrote:

Hey all!

There are going to be a number of events at GenCon this year that honor the memory of Gary Gygax. One of these is going to be an ongoing AD&D game, run continuously throughout the convention. The basic concept is "The Tower of Gygax" - a constantly shifting dungeon crafted by the great wizard who taught the gods themselves how to create worlds. This dungeon has no map; instead, it is a mass of rooms, and the DM will randomly select a new room whenever you successfully make it across the room you are in. The goal here is to create an experience that's part Tomb of Horrors and part Killer Breakfast. Players will play in hour-long shifts, and we're scheduling 12 people to a session; the idea is that the mortality rate will be high, people will cycle through the table, and you'll get ribbons to commemorate your achievements whether or not you survive. We want to give people a taste of AD&D, but they don't have to commit a full four hours to it - though if they enjoy it, they can come back again and again.

I'm coordinating the event, but I'd like to have as many people involved as possible; if you have fond memories of AD&D or just want to take a step back in time, I'd love to have you involved. I'm looking for two different things: Room design and DMs.

With room design, the dungeon is going to be a mass of randomly connected rooms; as such, each room is, in a sense, a self-contained adventure, with the challenge to the PCs being to make it out of the room alive. We want rooms to be colorful, challenging, and ideally to include a number of random elements - so even if players compare notes they don't know exactly what to expect. We want rooms to be dangerous enough to cycle through players (think Tomb of Horrors and Grimtooth's Traps) - but at the same time, we want to create an experience that's entertaining as opposed to frustrating. So you may walk into a sphere of annihilation - but is there anything we can do to make that something you can smile at? If you're interested, let me know I'll send you more details (power levels of PCs, etc).

With DMs, the Tower will be run for 80 consecutive hours throughout the convention. While I've got myself and a few other DMs on board to run it, I'd love to have as many "celebrity" DMs as possible take a shift, to make it a more memorable experience for the players. It's an hour commitment; if you're interested, let me know and tell me what times youd be available. Of course, it's not going to be a normal adventure; at any given time, you're going to have six spectators, and part of the challenge is to make things dramatic enough so as to keep the spectators entertained as well as the players. Part of this falls to the room designer, but as DMs we'll need to bring some energy to the table.

In any case, if you are interested in helping as a DM or in designing one or more rooms, please contact me offlist. Thanks for your time.

-Keith Baker

Remember, contact Keith Baker at <SPAMonesmallkeithSPAM@gmailSPAM-DOT-SPAMcom>on this (since I'm not likely to be attending GenCon this year Sad

). I'm sure you can figure out the email address requirements, eh? Very Happy

Posts: 7612 · Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 3:26 am

i would love to be a part of this as DM but i just won't have the time. sorry

Al

Posts: 4545 · Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 3:41 am

I'm planning to roll through this about 3-4 am either Friday or Saturday morning.....hopefully with a full on alcohol buzz.....so it should be fun. If any other Acaeum members are game let's work out a time....it should be something crazy like 1-5 am so we can all get in together. Also would help if we've all had a few shots beforehand.... Twisted Evil

Mike B.

Posts: 7612 · Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:04 am

well i have my daughter with me, so no can do here.

Posts: 318 · Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 10:15 pm

Just leave a set of dice, paper, and pencil along with an empty chair at the table--whether up with the DM's or with the players--throughout the dungeon.
(for EGG!)

Wish I could be there--sounds like a lot of fun! (sigh)

Posts: 1440 · Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 11:59 pm

Spamalishish.

Wish I could be there too. Sad

Play a room or two for EGG..... Cool

It would be nice to remember Robert Bledsaw during the convention as well.

Posts: 7612 · Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 3:09 am

Aneoth wrote:

It would be nice to remember Robert Bledsaw during the convention as well.

he wil be anny - thats what my game is all about as well.

Al

Posts: 2938 · Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 3:54 pm

An update from Keith Baker:

Keith Baker wrote:

We are still looking for writers and DMs to participate in the Tower of Gygax memorial event. With DMs, we are looking for people to cover late night or early morning shifts throughout the convention, or any time on Sunday. With rooms, the submission deadline for a room is August 1st. If you are interested in contributing a room and believe that you can meet this deadline, please contact me at onesmallkeith@gmail.com and I'll send you the room design guidelines. Thanks, and I hope to see you at GenCon! - Keith

Posts: 177 · Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 6:45 am

Is anyone interested in spit-balling some ideas for a room? There are a bunch of us missing GenCon and an Acaeum members tribute room might be a nice way to be part of the memorial event.

Posts: 2938 · Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 7:18 pm

I'm definitely planning to submit some, even though I won't be attending the show this year. We could kibbitz in this thread, as far as I'm concerned Very Happy

Posts: 610 · Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 7:39 pm

grodog wrote:

I'm definitely planning to submit some, even though I won't be attending the show this year. We could kibbitz in this thread, as far as I'm concerned Very Happy

If someone knows what the rules/requirements/guidelines are, I'd be glad to help pitch ideas. I guess just post the guidelines on this thread if that's possible or start another thread.

Posts: 177 · Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 10:17 pm

Yes, the guidelines: I'll write for them later tonight unless they get posted.

This should be fun. Smile

Posts: 2938 · Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 10:10 am

Keith asked that the guidelines be distributed by him by email only, so that players aren't tipped off unduly by reading them: write him for the details.

Posts: 177 · Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 12:55 pm

Yes, written him, and I'm just waiting for a reply. I hope he hurries up! Smile

I figured if the guidelines could be posted you would have grodog.

That said, should we post here or exchange ideas via e-mail/pm's? Or, if deimos is willing, we could use one of his chat rooms.

However, we should start soon, if only to see how miserable I'm with these sorts of things...though I am very good with deciding which shade of chartreuse is just right for any given occasion.

Starting point anyone or should we wait for the guidelines?

Posts: 2938 · Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 2:09 pm

Post your email, PaulKM, and I'll forward the guidelines to you (and to anyone else who needs them).

Posts: 177 · Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 2:53 pm

grodog,

Please call me Paul. Keith just sent them. I've given them a quick read and I like the whole set-up.

So, who's in on the room design?

Posts: 4545 · Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 5:23 pm

PaulKM wrote:

grodog,

Please call me Paul. Keith just sent them. I've given them a quick read and I like the whole set-up.

So, who's in on the room design?

Paul, if you could forward them to me, I'll take a looksee, and maybe we can all brainstorm in the near future...

Mike B.

Posts: 610 · Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 9:30 pm

PaulKM wrote:

grodog,

Please call me Paul. Keith just sent them. I've given them a quick read and I like the whole set-up.

So, who's in on the room design?

Likewise, forward to me(PM me?) and I'll make suggestions. I already have some ideas, but I don't know if they fit within the guidelines. Confused

Posts: 2938 · Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 10:03 pm

Email sent to Badmike and benjoshua.

Posts: 177 · Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 10:49 pm

Thanks g-dog, I was waiting for e-mail addresses.

Are we listing ideas here, pming or e-mailing?

Best,

Paul

edit: here's my e-mail, roan72 AT hotmail DOT com