Tumbling through driftless valleys and hilly plains, we take a semi-quiet drive through the lands of Wisconsin. My brother and I ride our Toyota-branded chariot into the moonrise as sibling pact bound by blood, passion, and vices. Our quest brings us to the big chain of lakes that make up the Madison sprawl, and the inn that holds our place of rest for the festivities come the next four days.
As we arrive late at night, all of the boxes are checked:
A brotherly briefing concerning food choices and spending habits.
Set to pick up my press pass tomorrow; my first in any con experience.
Our fare is ramen, trail mix, apples, oranges, string cheese, carrots.
A duo of limited funds plays it cheap. Save our cash for big dinner opportunities.
Will grab groceries later in the week.
Arrange our backpack essentials, and hit early bed.
7am rise. Continental breakfast. Easy parking, and the acquisition of badges.
This year, more than last, is a focused effort on networking and getting some connections, but keeping laid back and not encroaching on anyones space.
As such, I strapped a flyer to the back of my solar-paneled backpack; a birthday present of a few years ago which turned out to be a dud in charging against newer batteries and more savvy phones. Excellent to repurpose as a walking billboard, of course!
However, our first game is about to begin. In the organized play halls, we seat at our table to engage in a Tier 2 Dungeons and Dragons Adventurers League adventure as a pair of warlocks. Both “Pact of the Chain”. … Nothing intelligent behind that decision; its just how it panned out.
Whipping together a warlock was a rough draft process with multiple revisions, but by the time I got to final draft, the action was starting.
Our DM was late, but fashionably, ready to jump in within moments of sitting down and setting the scene. Despite various levels of play experience, organized play, and confusion of the rules between pre-and-post-2024, out eagle-eyed DM executed with an encyclopedia grasp of the rules, quick to correct and keep all of us on track.
Fantastic! My sleepy, sluggish brain needed it.
My character was named Prometheus, a “Pact of the Celestial” Warlock. As an Aasimar with an Imp familiar, one could call him a complicated person. One would certainly call him quirky, friendly, and aloof.
Our task is to investigate the nature and contents of a mysterious puzzle box by locating a gnome in a festival who may be able to help. Amidst our festival goings, our Tortle fighter is victim of an attempted pickpocket who may be trying to obtain this item. As soon as we react, we are ambushed. Rogues and mages of a nefarious mission. My character is instantly unlucky, hit with lightning within an HP of his life. Saving his skin requires a Misty Step and Eldridge blast, before hiding behind a shop stall.
Once licking wounds and rebuilding courage, Prometheous jumps out with wings expanded in a display of divine prowess, hovering over the stall and ready to blast… someone.
All of the enemies are already beaten.
Prom scratches the back of his neck. How embarassing.
He makes up for it by going and healing a downed compatriot.
Collecting ourselves, we head to the open market where the gnome may be. Of course, Prom, for being not a very wise person, does notice ‘Bobs Popcorn Stall”. … A craving takes hold. Amidst grabbing two large bags of popcorn, his eyes glaze over, noticing the collectors edition extra large bucket. Oooo! … 1GP, and take my money.
Prom and Delmirev (my brothers character) sit and eat popcorn outside while the other characters try to haggle with the puzzle box stall owner. Some schenanigans, pickpocketing, and guard calling ensue before we realize those characters feeling, and we join in.
We finally get a lead on Deckland Pierce, the gnome who can tell us about the puzzle box. We managed to get him to open the box for us. It contains a map to an area outside of town known as The Pits, and a page from the grimoire.
Pits is a dump yard, and a landfill where a potters field used to be. Walls have been built out of the trash, and we can witness some movement in the dump. Strangest of all, a mausoleum resides in the middle of the dump. This appears to be our destination
Lo and behold, we are not out of danger; the danger appears to be following us. Yet another ambush takes place, with cloaked combatants jumping from the top of the garbage wall. A lone mage steps out from behind a wall, and with incantation and gesture, conjures a garbage monster from a nearby pile. The battle starts, with the core of our party being dealt large amounts of damage. Stone-bound defenders were summoned to turn the tables, but concentration is broken with a painful strike. The caster withdraws atop a garbage wall to puppeteer his creation.
Prometheus tell his imp “Hold my popcorn”.
Prometheus decides to misty step across the battlefield to the top of one of the walls, meeting the caster at eye-level from across a gorge. He waves a friendly “Hi” with one hand, and tosses and Eldritch Blast from the other. Minimal damage, and one miss. … The caster grins, and returns the gesture, pummeling me with a powerful blast, downing me.
Delmirev climbs atop a wall, and says “I’ll avenge you brother” and sends his own bolts of energy. Two significant strikes make the caster stumble.
As this battle takes place, with the caster preoccupies, the party manages to gain the upper hand and down the construct. My imp flies to Prometheus, feeding him a potion, bringing him back to consciousness.
As the fight ends with a focused chase and downing of the caster, our game session ends. The cutscene: we all enter the maloseum, and approach the chest which this map points to, intent on acquring the rest of the grimoire.
It’s a rouse! The grimoire is not there,…
… but treasure is!
And we did it for the children via ExtraLife tickets.
The above is one sample of the gaming opportunities that are available at GameHole Con, from Dungeons and Dragons and tabletop RPG games, to Magic the Gathering, board games, fantasy books, accessories, zines, figures, dice, and plenty more.
Interested? Consider grabbing a ticket for the next GameHole Con, and take a trip to Madison, Wisconsin!
In the next part, I dig into some of the panels and seminars we attended, and other gaming opportunities.
However, one of my experiences was my first romp through Savage Worlds! … The adventure and experience was written thoroughly enough that I might make it a main-website item. Make sure to check out the latest main-line articles at https://www.chaoticanwriter.com.
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