Steve Perrin Details for SoCal Minicon

This is just a brief update that Steve Perrin, the creator of games such as Runequest, Stormbringer, and Superworld, and original contributor to Call of Cthulhu and Thieves' World, will be running a game at SoCal Minicon 4 on Saturday, July 30, 11am-5pm. Steve is a true luminary of the first-generation West Coast RPG scene, and I'm very excited that he's coming out to our event!

Steve will be running his revised (i.e. streamlined) Runequest rules called Steve Perrin's Quest Rules (SPQR), which you can find information on by CLICKING HERE. Pregenerated characters will be provided.

Steve's game will be followed by a session of Stormbringer run by Nick of the Castle Dragonscar blog! A brilliant double feature!

Even though it's still two months away, seats are filling up for SoCal Minicon. Several of the sessions are already full. GO HERE for a list of sessions and to see how many seats are left available. Email me through my blogger profile if you'd like to reserve a seat. Remember - this event is free!

Joseph Goodman Intro for SCMC 4

Joseph Goodman is running a Dungeon Crawl Classics game at SoCal Minicon 4. He just sent me this extensive intro for the scenario he's running. There are only two seats left open for Joseph's July 30 afternoon session, so if you want in on the DCC action you better act fast and email me with your RSVP!

You are pressed shoulder-to-shoulder with sweating peasants under a
sweltering summer sun. The stench of hog herders and grain farmers permeates
the crowd as you all look north to the rickety scaffolding erected beside
the city wall. A large, slovenly man in a black hood heaves an axe over his
shoulder and mounts the steps to the platform atop the scaffolding. Waiting
for him to arrive is a prisoner, his face covered in a burlap sack, his arms
held securely by three men-at-arms. Even from hundreds of yards away, you
can hear his sharp intake of breath as the wooden beams creak under the
executioner’s heavy steps. Thirty feet above him, the Thirteenth Duke of
Magnussen looks down from the city wall, nervously fingering his thick iron
crown. This is the iron crown given to his sire thirteen generations
removed, when the ambitious first Duke of Magnussen made a fell pact with an
unknown power, who asked for but one thing in return: the thirteenth
daughter born to a Magnussen duke. Now, thirteen generations hence, that
daughter stands shaking beside her father, as both watch the executioner
sharpen his axe. The man to lose his head today is a screeching prophet who
madly called for the death of Magnussen’s daughter before disaster should
befall the city. For his words, today he dies.

The executioner swings his axe in a looping motion. Thunk. The severed head
somehow misses the waiting basket and rolls forward into the crowd, which
shrinks backward to avoid the rolling orb. There is a hot, sweaty moment of
stunned silence as the burlap sack falls away to reveal the dead man’s face.
It is – the Duke’s face! The dead man has the Duke’s same face! All eyes
turn to the stricken Duke, who looks on in horror.

Suddenly the obese executioner pulls off his black hood and the crowd gasps
as one. He has no face – no – instead, there sits at the top of his neck a
brilliant silver skull, gleaming in the hot sun. The silver skull turns to
face the Duke, and then the sun is blotted out as a vast leathery winged
lizard descends from places unknown. In a flash it grasps the Duke’s
screaming daughter in one of its massive claws and picks up the
silver-skulled executioner in the other! As it flaps ponderously upward, the
silver skull laughs ominously as the Duke reaches futilely to the sky while
his stunned men-at-arms try, too late, to string their bows.

“My daughter!” cries the Duke. “A fortune in gems to the man who returns to
me my daughter!”

In the distance, you see that the Silver Skull has mounted the great flying
lizard, as it wings back across the city walls to drop behind the Duke’s
mountain-top keep.

Water Spouts of Enceladus

Here's an image taken by Cassini in August 2010 from the night side of Saturn's moon Enceladus. The long white band at the bottom of the picture is the crest of Saturn where you can see different layers of Saturn's atmosphere.

The most remarkable aspect of this photo are the huge water plumes spewing up from the surface of Enceladus. These plumes are ejected from long fissures on the planet's icy surface. They demonstrate that there is a massive abundance of liquid water near the surface of Enceladus. Wow!!

By the way... I'm sorry posting has been slow over the past few weeks. I've been unusually busy at work and home. I've been gaming a lot and have a number of substantive posts I am aiming to write up when I  get a chance. I probably won't get to updating the blog rankings for a week or two - sorry about that.

Mentzer's TSR Belt Buckle Collection

Here's an amazing image recently posted by Frank Mentzer over at The Acaeum:

Holy smokes I would look sexy sporting a fabulous double-lizardman buckle like that... Just wow!

SoCal Minicon Session Reservations

Okay okay... I've been getting enough emails and phone calls from folks who are anxious to sign up for SoCal Minicon 4 that I'm just going to go ahead and open it up even though the final schedule isn't 100% set yet.

CLICK HERE to go to the dedicated website with all the minicon info and session RSVP details. You can always find this page throough the "SoCal Minicon 4" tab at the top of my blog.

PLEASE REALIZE that sessions may be added and various details may change after you place your RSVP(s). In particular, the time of Steve Perrin's game on Saturday has not been set yet, and Lee Gold has not yet decided what day to run her session. As soon as I get more information I will update the website. Feel free to change your RSVPs if you want to.

Preliminary List of SoCal Minicon Games

Here's a preliminary list of sessions and referees for SoCal Minicon 4 (July 30-31, Anaheim):

• T. Foster - AD&D
• The Shaman - Boot Hill
• Mobad - AD&D
• Bedivere - AD&D
• Telecanter - Swords & Wizardry
• Joseph Goodman - Dungeon Crawl Classics
• Nick Bielik - Stormbringer
• Cyclopeatron - OD&D / Spelljammer
• Lee Gold - Lands of Adventure or OD&D
• Steve Perrin - SPQR (= streamlined Runequest)

And, yes, this is the same Steve Perrin that created Runequest, Stormbringer, etc. It turns out he lives right here in Orange County! He will most likely be running his streamlined Runequest variant called Steve Perrin's Quest Rules (SPQR), which I have heard is excellent!

There are a few more "maybe" referees that I won't name until I get confirmation.

There are still several slots open for games, especially on Sunday. Please let me know ASAP if you want to run a game!

As I said before, once I get the schedule set a bit better I will open game sign-ups. This being said, a few of the DMs have already hand-picked players for some of their seats. The minicon is a free, informal event, and each DM has the ultimate right to choose who plays in their games.

This is going to be fun fun fun!

SoCal Minicon 4 - July 30-31!

CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS AND SIGN-UPS!

We finally have a date set for this year's SoCal Minicon 4!

It will be TWO DAYS this year: July 30-31.

It will be FREE!

It will be in ANAHEIM near Disneyland!

Consider this post as a SAVE THE DATE notice. More details will be forthcoming shortly.

This minicon works a bit different than normal cons. As we did last year, instead of attendees registering for the entire event, they will instead RSVP for seats in individual games. At a later date I will set up a dedicated website with a list of sessions and seat RSVPs (see this example from last year). You will be able to RSVP for sessions by emailing me directly - I will post instructions on how to do this once the schedule is (mostly) set.

If you are interested in running a game at SCMC4, please email me through my blogger profile. Since this is a free grassroots events, DMs will be expected to take some responsibility for filling their tables by advertising their sessions through word-of-mouth, blogs, forums, etc.

Here are pictures from last year's event => super fun!

I hope to see you in July!

Minotaurs of the Wild West

COLLAGES BY JAVIER PIÑÓN