Welcome to the 9th Annual North Texas RPG Convention! The NTRPG Con focuses on old-school Dungeons & Dragons gaming (mainly OD&D, 1E, 2E, or Basic/Expert) as well as any pre-2000 type of RPG produced by the classic gaming companies of the 70s and 80s (TSR, Chaosium, FGU, FASA, GDW, etc). We also support retro-clone or simulacrum type gaming that copies the old style of RPGs (Swords & Wizardry and others), and newer versions of some classic RPGs (D&D 5E, for example).  All RPG games are welcome at the Con, but we do not schedule card or board games except in special circumstances...unlike most other cons we are primarily old school RPG focused! Our sponsors this year so far are Frog God Games and The Royal Dragon Guards, and we are accepting another four room sponsorships. We still have places for several more full and limited sponsorships, contact Doug to find out more!

Our convention dates are: Thursday June 1, 2017 @ 9am until Sunday June 4, 2017 @ 6pm. You can register for the convention now at Ntrpgcon.com, where the link for Game/Con Information links to our site on Tabletop Games (who are handling our registration this year; same company that does Garycon).

Late registration will be from May 1, 2017 through May 15, 2017 and will be $75.00, as will be the fee for walkups at the Con. Single day tickets for each day are also available from $35 to $40 daily. If you register before May 1st you will receive a code for $10 off (making the weekend rate only $65). Note that we have raised our pre-reg limit to 450 attendees, and have 260 tickets left, so don't delay!
Registration fees are non-refundable, but can be carried over to a future year.

Please look around, read up and register if you plan to attend. You must pay for one day or a weekend before you are able to register for a game. 1/2 of all seats are available at $5.00 per seat. Any seats that don't sell along with the remaining 1/2 of seats will be free on April 15th, 2017.  

If you want to sign up to run a game, please buy your badge, then select the "Host" drop down box and submit your game. You can also submit games through the link, Doug will approve them, and they will be up for registration as soon as we can get to it.

We have moved a few miles north to a bigger hotel! The Con will be held at the Westin DFW Airport Hotel : 4545 West John Carpenter Freeway, Irving , Texas 75063. It's just north of the airport. We have a special rate for con attendees ($108.00/night) that is in effect until May 15th, 2017 so don't delay in getting your reservations.

This is our first year at the Westin, , and again we will have most of the hotel (including all breakout rooms) for the length of the con, except for the Grand Ballroom and Auditorium (Friday and Saturday only for those).  This is a great hotel with lots of space for all sorts of gaming activities, much bigger than the space we had at the DFW Marriott south. I t is only a couple of minutes north of DFW airport and easily reached by shuttle. This venue also features a full restaurant and bar, and is five minutes away from an area containing almost two dozen places to eat.

We have many confirmed special guests from the early days of the hobby attending in 2017: Bob Bledsaw Jr., Mike Breault, Chris Clark, Darlene, Jeff Dee, Jeff Easley, Matt Finch, Allen Hammack, Bruce Heard, Kevin Hendryx, Mary Hendryx, Jack Herman, Jennell Jaquays, Timothy Kask, Doug Kovacs, David "Diesel" LaForce, Stephen Marsh,  Frank Mentzer, Erol Otus, Steve Perrin, Merle Rasmussen, Dr. Dennis Sustare, James M. Ward, Bill Webb, Steven Winter.  This year our special fan guest is Bill "Stratochamp" Meinhardt, uber-collector. More guests may be added as time goes on!

This year games include AD&D 1E and 2E, D&D 5th Edition, Gamma World, Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperboria, Top Secret, Metamorphosis Alpha, Swords & Wizardry, OD&D, Basic D&D, GURPS, Traveller, Tunnels & Trolls, Boot Hill, Dungeon Crawl Classics, Castles & Crusades, Cavemaster, Classic Battletech, and many more! Included will be our 8th annual Mythrus Tower game run by Matt Finch and Bill Webb; Also this year we will feature our 7th annual chariot racing classic Circus Maximus (trophy awarded); classic man-to-man combat game Gladiator (trophy awarded), and more. Raffle, Silent Auction and Live Auction will again be back, with lots of prizes and goodies. Another art panel is being planned, and back for another trip into the bizarre is the Weird yet Sexy Midnight Auction, hosted by Badmike and Lloyd Metcalf and co-hosted by that infernal jokester Satan....every year this gets less family appropriate, and this year promises to turn the heat up even hotter....or whatever.

We will again be having a special "Pre Con Get-it-On" Wed night May 30th in most of the break-out rooms we have reserved, some scheduled games but hopefully lots of pickup games. This is the time to run board games or anything else you might want before the "real" con gets started. Best part is you don't need to be registered to attend this night!

Besides Garycon, this is the premier old school style convention in the country with more classic gaming available than any other con in the south, run by some of the giants of the industry.  NTRPG Con has quickly become the best place in the south to meet and game with the past icons of the industry that typically only attend conventions in the midwest or northeast.   Last year we nearly sold out our pre-regs and we anticipate selling out at our new exciting venue. Don't wait until the last minute because depending on space available we may or may not take walkups!

Discussion of Con events, guests, games, and misc is now back a the original forums, along with lists of raffle items, special guests, games being run, and much more. ntrpgcon.com is the place. The facebook page dedicated to the con:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/310434204630/

...has the most up to date info about all things pertaining to the convention.

Mike B.

"Squeaky Cage" (aka Raffle tickets) have been a standard money earner for the show from the first year It is one of our few revenue streams, and a way to get money directly to Doug and the con....as well as win a few incredible prizes. You do NOT have to be present to win!!! Only $5 a ticket, and we've had winners who only bought a couple!

http://ntrpgcon.com/squeakycage-2017.html

Here is what I can vouch for so far, I'll be adding to it as time goes on...

Castle Zagyg Boxed Set (signed by Jeff Talanian)
Ace of Aces Kickstarter Set
AD&D 1E Three Volume Rulebook reprint set by WOTC
OSRIC Hardback Set
Palace of the Vampire Queen (Pacesetter reprint)
Dungeonmorph Dice Set (three sets of dice)
Artisan Dice Set (wooden, 10 dice)
OD&D Brown Box Reprint Set
DCC The Chained Coffin Boxed Set
Dragon Magazine #4
Tiny Epic Set: Tiny Epic Kingdoms, Tiny Epic Galaxies, and Tiny Epic Western
Bones of the Dragon hardcover (signed by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman)
Tome of Horrors Complete (S&W version)
Miniature painted by Angela Imrie

Not to tug at your heartstrings, but Doug has been diagnosed with Stage IV Colon Cancer and will be doing his first chemotherapy in January. He expects a few tough months and a full recovery, but medical bills will make this convention a little leaner than past shows, as all available cash Doug has will be going to pay for his therapy and treatment. If you have ever enjoyed a NTRPG con, or if you want to be able to attend one someday, Squeaky Cage tickets offer the best way to support what we are doing AND win a fabulous prize!  Thanks to everyone who has already contributed!

Mike B.

I know Doug will fight this with all he's got. Best wishes for your health Doug!

Just saw this topic. Man, what awful news for Doug. I'll be keeping him in my thoughts and prayers, hoping for a full and swift recovery.

My thoughts and prayers are with Doug on this.  I've only chatted with him and hope to make it to North Texas once in my lifetime at least.  So far this year I already have Evercon, Gary Con and Gamehole lined up/attending.  North Texas is on my bucket list.

Happy Birthday Doug! And looking forward to wishing you many more.

I saw Doug today briefly, he was tired and feeling the effects of chemo, and we didn't get to talk long. I Have another visit with him planned this weekend to talk about convention stuff. Hoping things get better as time goes on.  I've been trying to get a lot of con prep stuff done myself, I don't have the permissions to get into the computer system and ok games and such but when I see Doug I'll make sure he either catches up or lets me in the system. Everyone who has submitted a game that hasn't been approved yet, please be patient.

As for the con, plans are moving on to publish three new digests this year....one by Zach and myself, one by Skeeter Green and Chuck Wright, and one by....Jennell Jaquays!  That one should be pretty cool if everything comes together.

On the NTRPG con facebook page, I'm running weekly auctions to benefit the Con and Doug, Monday through Friday.  The auctions will feature older con exclusive stuff, most of it out of print and collectible, as well as autographed items, donated items and more.  There will be at least 15 of these and all proceeds will go towards the con and Doug's medical bills. Check it out if you are on facebook and looking for some hard to find or unique items: https://www.facebook.com/groups/310434204630/

If anyone wants to donate material (not cash), please PM me. We will accept almost anything we can sell, auction or raffle off.

Mike B.

A GoFundMe for Doug, for those of you not on Facebook.  

Doug's Chemo Relief - SoTA CTA by Chad Ekern - GoFundMe

We are having weekly auctions on the NTRPG Con facebook page of NTRPG con rarities and donations for the next few months.

Mike B

Summary of this year's AS&SH offerings below. I'm sensing lots of mayhem and madness - should be fun!

Thursday
12PM-6PM - Foolsgrave (chainsaw)
8PM-1AM - The Beasts of Kraggoth Manor (Ghul)

Friday
12PM-6PM - Crash at Corpse Creek (chainsaw)
7PM-1AM - The Strange Tale of Crystal Point (chainsaw)
8PM-1AM - The Anthropophagi of Xamboola (Ghul)

Saturday
12PM-6PM - Crash at Corpse Creek (chainsaw)
7PM-1AM - Foolsgrave (chainsaw)
8PM-1AM - The Saga of the Sea-Wolf (Ghul)

Event Descriptions
The Anthropophagi of Xamboola (Ghul, Fri 8PM-1AM). Visitors to the desert-city of Xamboola beware! Demoniacal cachinnations and dull totemic drumbeats sound nocturnal from the outskirts of the city. Vile shrieks echo the nightmarish noises, making even those of heroic aspect shudder in repulsion. Residents do not tarry at sundown, locking themselves in their homes—for something sinister lingers in the black of night. Whisperings and warnings intimate that guests residing at the inn of Aramis D'Athak often disappear at night, never to be seen or heard of again. Where they disappear is not known, nor do the people of Xamboola speak of the hellish noises that darken their oasis city in the gloom of night.

The Beasts of Kraggoth Manor (Ghul, Thurs 8PM-1AM). Travelling to the hills north of Khromarium, seeking sanctuary beyond the Lug Wasteland, the party hears word of a place for respite, a small estate known as Kraggoth Manor which had recently been used as a settlement for a band of pictish adventurers. Yet when they arrive at the shattered walls outside the boarded-up house, the PCs find Kraggoth Manor under siege by a tribe of vicious mountain apes. To gain access to the house, and finally feel the warm comfort of a hearth, the party will have to assist the trapped picts against the mountain apes and their unholy shaman leader. Unfortunately for the PCs, the secrets inside Kraggoth Manor may prove far more dangerous than the beasts outside.

Crash at Corpse Creek (chainsaw, Fri/Sat 12PM-6PM). A strange object has fallen from the stars, crashing into the cold, haunted swamp of Corpse Creek. Several curious trappers from a nearby camp went to investigate, but none have returned. The remainder have hired your group to explore the site and find their friends, but they warn you that Corpse Creek teems with the living dead and that its giant bugs have awakened early from their winter freeze, including some strange varieties never seen before in Hyperborea. A site-based adventure for 4-6 player characters of levels 3-5.

Foolsgrave (chainsaw, Thurs 12PM-6PM, Sat 7PM+). Khromarium's mysterious spiraling towers of black gneiss predate the city itself, an ever-present reminder of how weird and alien things once ruled Hyperborea. During the Festival of Plutonia, a sombre commemoration of death, darkness and the all-consuming void, one such tower's impenetrable doors slowly creaked open, admitting anyone brave enough to descend into its depths. Many have entered, but few have returned - some with wealth overflowing, others simply mad, drooling and babbling. Locals now refer to the labyrinth as Foolsgrave. A megadungeon crawl for 6-8 player characters of levels 1-5.

The Saga of the Sea-Wolf (Ghul, Sat 8PM-1AM). The player characters dine in the hall of a petty kinglet known as Björn Blackbeard. He has abducted Gunnhildr, the daughter of Ragnarr "The Sea-Wolf" (a Viking chieftain), and he intends to marry her. The young woman is somewhere in Blackbeard's stronghold in Brigand's Bay. She must be rescued. Meantime, some 40 bloodthirsty Vikings -- including Ragnarr himself -- lie in wait, hidden in a nearby gulch.

The Strange Tale of Crystal Point (chainsaw, Fri 7PM+). In the far reaches of Hyperborea's Crab Archipelago, lies a small, mountainous island known as Crystal Point. Passing sailors have recently seen a crimson glow in Crystal Point's waters, beams of reddish-brown light shining up from its steep cliffs and frequent lightning storms overhead. One famous sage believes Crystal Point may hold the ruins of a lost Atlantean colony - and its secrets! Eager for adventure and treasure, you agreed to explore the island and, after a long journey, have finally set foot on its rocky beach. A site-based adventure for 4-6 player characters of levels 7-9.