Welcome to the 7th 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). We also support 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 are Black Blade Publishing (http://www.black-blade-publishing.com/) and Gamehole Con (Gamehole Con), and Frog God Games (Welcome  to Frog God Games | Frog God Games) is again a room sponsor.  We still have places for several more full and limited sponsorships.

Our convention dates are: Thursday June 4, 2015 @ noon until Sunday June 7, 2014 @ 1800. You can register for the convention now at Ntrpgcon.com. Registration for events begins at 12:01 am April 15th, so please make sure you have registered and paid your fees beforehand at the ntrpgcon.com site! We will be adding events during the next few months in a variety of games, so check back often to see what new games have popped up on the schedule.

Standard Registration starts August 1, 2014 through April 30, 2015 and will be $55.00 for the entire four day weekend.
Late registration will be from May 1, 2015 through May 15, 2015 and will be $65.00, as will be the fee for walkups at the Con. Single day tickets for each day are also available.
Registration fees are non-refundable, if you cancel, your fee will be rolled over to 2016.

This is our third year at the DFW South Marriott, and for the first year we will have the ENTIRE hotel (including all meeting rooms) for the length of the con, from Wed night onwards!  This is a great hotel with lots of space for all sorts of gaming activities (we have the entire grand ballroom, atrium and all boardrooms, accommodating over 30 tables of gaming), it is only a couple of minutes south of DFW airport and easily reached by shuttle. This venue also features a full restaurant and bar, as well as being right in the center of an area with many restaurants and coffee shops within walking distance.

We have many, many confirmed special guests from the early days of the hobby attending in 2015, pulling out all the stops as you will see by this list: Wolfgang Baur, Bob Bledsaw Jr., Stephen Chenault, Chris Clark, David 'Zeb' Cook, Liz Danforth, DARLENE, Jeff Dee, Larry Elmore, Matt Finch, Joseph Goodman, Allan Grohe, Jeff Grubb, Ernest G. Gygax Jr, Jennell Jaquays, Timothy Kask, Doug Kovacs, David 'Diesel' LaForce, Steve Marsh, Frank Mentzer, Mark Nelson, Erol Otus, Steve Perrin, Merle Rasmussen, Lawrence Schick, Dr. Dennis Sustare, Jeff Talanian, James M. Ward, Bill Webb, and Steve Winter.  For the first year and continuing on from here, we will have special "Friends of the Con" guests every year, these are people who have significantly contributed to the success of the con and continue to support the con by their presence and contributions to the hobby.  This year two individuals who have attended every NTRPG con are honored, Bill Barsh and Allan "Grodog" Grohe!  

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 6th annual Mythrus Tower game run by Matt Finch and Bill Webb; Also this year we will feature our 5th annual chariot racing classic Circus Maximus (trophy awarded); Avalon Hill's classic man-to-man combat game Gladiator (trophy awarded), and more. Included is the 4th Annual NTRPG Con AD&D tournament (run once again by Pacesetter Games). We also will have a lot of gaming goodness for sale at several dealer's and special guest tables set up (this year expanded to 20 tables) along with a raffle and auction. Several seminars are scheduled including an art panel featuring Otus, Dee, LaForce, Easley, Elmore,  Jaquays and Kovacs.  And back for a second run is the wild weird and wacky Midnight Auction, hosted by Badmike and Lloyd Metcalf and co-hosted by that infernal jokester Satan!

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.  

Rooms at the beautiful Marriort DFW South are only $107 a night!  A bargain!!! The link is on the Frontpage of the NTRPGcon.

If you are thinking of running an event at the con, please feel free to post the details in this thread (along with any questions you might have about this con or past NTRPG cons) or email me at mikebadolato@ntrpgcon.com

Discussion of Con events, guests, games, and misc is now at ntrpgconforum.com!

Mike B.

Looking forward to another NTRPGCON
always good to see old friends again and meet new friends.

Lots of names on the Special Guest list...

Not sure why Mike only pointed out Bill Barsh and Allen Grohe

We will also be adding to the Special Guest list this year: Bill Webb, Matt Finch, & Jeff Talanian

In future years you will see others on the Special Guest list like Jon Hershberger, Michael Curtis, William Meinhardt to name a few...

We will start recognizing many others in the RPG industry for what they do/bring to the industry, so some of the names will be seen over the years as they rotate through the list. The "old guard" will continue to be Special Guests as well. Hope that explains it as some have asked.

And of course I am hoping to have other Special Guests show up that aren't even on the list, as a last minute surprise

Bracton wrote in North Texas RPG Convention 2015: June 4-7:Hey Mike, I do have a question for you.  Now that I've finally played it, I'm thinking about running Tracy Hickman's Eye of the Dragon at NTRPGCon.  Other than those who bought the limited edition module, no one has seen it, so I thought there might be some interest.  And it really is a fun adventure.

But it's not a short adventure.  What would make more sense, an 8 hour slot, or running it as two 4 hour sessions, on separate days?  The problem with the latter is that players would really need to sign up for both.  So I'm tempted to go with an 8 hour session, even though that's pretty long for a single game.  Thoughts?

I am IN, and I vote for the one 8 hour session!  

Bracton wrote in North Texas RPG Convention 2015: June 4-7:Hey Mike, I do have a question for you.  Now that I've finally played it, I'm thinking about running Tracy Hickman's Eye of the Dragon at NTRPGCon.  Other than those who bought the limited edition module, no one has seen it, so I thought there might be some interest.  And it really is a fun adventure.

But it's not a short adventure.  What would make more sense, an 8 hour slot, or running it as two 4 hour sessions, on separate days?  The problem with the latter is that players would really need to sign up for both.  So I'm tempted to go with an 8 hour session, even though that's pretty long for a single game.  Thoughts?

I'm going to say one long slot, much like Erol Otus runs Island Town.  From being at the con you remember there are both early and late slots, with no set time limits for either. Well, the late slots run from 6 pm until finish (whenever that is), so you could do one there. Alternative is to do a morning slot early (9 am) until finish (5 pm) with a break for lunch.  

I would suggest it is hard to keep a group focused that long, even though I have flipped through it (Doug's copy) and it looks like a very fun adventure!  What you might do is schedule a 9 am slot and basically run it until everyone is tired, characters dead, or they have reached a certain objective.  It's really hard to finish a longer adventure unless you take the entire day, and most people are loath at a convention to give up a lot of other games for just one game.

So, my suggestion would be a 6 pm until everyone is tired (you can go to 1 or 2 am if everyone really wants), or a 9 am until 5 pm with a break in the middle for lunch.

I don't know how many con sessions you have run, I know you have been to a ton, so you probably know all sorts of tricks to compress time...pregen or already generated characters, for example, or pre-con set up through email (if you run a game, you'll get the emails of all the people in your game) so you can get started within 30 min or so of everyone sitting down.  

Mike B.

Bracton - I would like to be in also if you decide to "sign up" on Acaeum Forums. It might also be possible to get the groups of folks to chip in and sponsor a room so you have a guaranteed spot to run it when you want to run it.

A quick note, the below page is serving as the NTRPG Con forums until we get the "real" forums up and running again (probably not until this summer).  There is plenty of con info here and lots of questions about the con are answered! Your ntrpgcon forum name will not work, you have to create a new name to post.

NTRPGCon Forum - Index page

Mike B.

Badmike wrote in North Texas RPG Convention 2015: June 4-7:Guys, Bracton can only do this if he chooses not to list the game as an "official" game, but then he would not have a guaranteed table. We don't allow pre-con sign ups for any games, sorry.  However, we put a 8 person limit on people signing up for games....but the gamemaster has discretion beyond that for extra players (walk ups or otherwise).  I would make it very clear in the session's description it is going to be intensive, and not for the casual D&D gamer by any means, stressing the fact it will probably take 8 hours to finish.  You'll scare off enough newbies with that alone!

The best thing is, if Bracton lists it, make it your first choice when April 15th midnight rolls around. If you dont get it, immediately email him and see if he can fit you in as a walk up.  My game fills up very quickly every year with 8 slots but I have always had at least one (sometimes two) extra players.  

Mike B.

Fair enough.  I agree with Badmike that if you make the description scary enough, or weak enough, and just advertize the real deal here, you should limit the casual and careless participants to a minimum.  Of course, ultimately this is Bracton's game so he can pursue whatever path he feels best.  I'm just trying to provide feedback.  

There's no way I'm crossing Mike and Doug . . . there's a reason it's known as the Acaeum Texas Mafia.    So the game will be listed and open to regular registration.

I'm thinking about going with a slot from 6 pm to 1 am (or later) slot.  That way the players can play in a morning and afternoon game if they want, and not effectively give up the whole day to one game.  It's a gaming convention; sleep is for wimps.