Return of the Khan: GhengisCon 2024

Introduction

Greetings readers and happy new year! Yes, I know that we almost one quarter of the way into it now, but better late than never. I wanted to post something closer to the start of 2024, but I wasn’t exact sure about what to say.

I digress though. It is mid February which mean that my first convention of the calendar year has arrived: GhengisCon in Aurora, Colorado hosted by Gamer Girl Games. I covered both Ghengis and its sister TactiCon last year. I like Ghengis better between the two. Without further ado, allow me to enlighten you of how this year’s gathering went.

Day 1: Thursday

This year, the convention ran a four-day weekend from February 15-18. I had booked myself events for the whole contention, the very first one being a Starfinder adventure at 9:00 a.m. titled, “The Year of Fortune’s Fall.” The premise involved a group of Starfinder Society members attending a fanciful gala which gets attacked by a group of thieves. I have a large, Starfinder box set that was gifted to me from a friend, so playing these kinds of games help me become more familiar with the rules and mechanics.

The game ended around 1:00 p.m., with my next activity happening an hour later. A fun, 90-ish minute romp call “Darktide’s Night,” hosted by the wonderful folks of Gooey Cube. Stick a pin in that name because they are front and center this convention. Darktide’s Night had myself and three other players exploring dark woods and a haunted tree house next to a carnival. There was a spooky factor to it, but not frightening.

My third and final event for Thursday was another Gooey-sponsored event, but it wasn’t until 7 p.m. so I had time to kill. The large vendor hall wouldn’t open until Friday, but there were small booths set up in the hallway connecting the vendor hall to the open play tables. Among the tables was Mr. Jon Lee of Ghost Die Games showing off his Mobile Armor Battalion RPG.

With Mr. Lee’s system having caught my eye, I enjoyed the familiarity of the Hyatt Regency’s conference centers and meeting room before the day’s finale, part one of the Gooey After Dark series–The Great Gooey Dungeon Gameshow! A rambunctious, dungeon crawl, game show live stream filled with audience participation! Visit Gooey Cube’s Twitch page to watch the show. A befitting send off to the first day of GhengisCon!

Day 2: Friday

Friday was one of my two easy days of the convention. I had only scheduled two events for the day. The first one was “ShadowDark: Tomb of the Serpent Kings,” a system which I would describe as a stripped down version of 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons. Myself and two other players spelunked and crawled through a winding dungeon filled with serpent-people, goblins, and a basilisk.

By the time ShadowDark ended, the main vendor hall had opened for business so I decided to browse. It was a who’s who of familiar faces: Gooey Cube, Strange Fate, HenkelMade, Crystal Sully, Archon Games, Imonisus Limited, ELC Customs, Pirate Borg, Wooded Meadows, and many more. I felt good to wander around the enclosed marketplace for an hour. One of the familiar face was Ms. Stacy of Moon Gate Exploration Company. I’d played one of her adventures at TactiCon last year. This her, she kindly allowed me to record her story.

Unfortunately, I had to depart the convention shortly after 2:00 p.m. to drive one of my bank’s branches in Fort Collins. Thankfully, I arrived just in time for my other event, Pulse Racing with Vigo. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because he also runs the Star Wars podracing game. The two play very similar, using ten-sided dice to race around a track in unique characters. The home stretch was a nail biter!

Day 3: Saturday

Without a doubt, Saturday was my busiest day. The day started with another 9:00 a.m. game. This one was “Blood for the Khan, Part 2.” Blood for the Khan is short adventure from Gooey Cube set in their world of Zyathé. GhengisCon’s co-owners, Andre’a and Donny, are inserted as questgivers who task the party with finding an artifact know as the Blood Crystal. This part of the story centered around the adventurers getting momentarily distracted and solving a murder important to another NPC.

Immediately after Blood for the Khan, I scurried into one of the nearby conference room to attend a panel called, “Become the GM Your Players Wish You Were.” The featured speakers were Bill Keyes, Michael Surbrook, Karl Keesler, and Darrell Hayhurst. The quartet talked about matters related to being a game master like worldbuilding and creating a fun game for your players. This panel was not only a good learning experience, but also a chance for me to practice filming video.

I was supposed to participate in another of Vigo’s games based on the chariot racing scene from the 1959 film “Ben-Hur.” However, because I had already done Pulse Racing the day before and was worried about exhaustion, I found Vigo and told that I was bowing out and to give my seat to somebody else. He was very kind about the situation and understood completely. I now had another afternoon free to roam around the Hyatt.

Featured Vendor: The Eldros Legacy

I do not hide the fact that creative writing is one of my passions. Some of my earliest posts were short story submissions for the Ironage.media website. And whenever my procrastination habit doesn’t override me, I am slowly crafting a superhero mythos of my own thanks to my passion of the TTRPG Prowlers & Paragons. One of the habits I am trying to adopt as a writer is to look at other peoples’ works and see what I can learn from them. And found two sources of inspiration in the forms of Todd Fahnestock and Mark Stallings, two of the founders of the Eldros Legacy shared universe.

The last game of Saturday was called “The Derelict,” based in the Call of Cthulhu RPG. Although I thought this tale felt more like monster horror instead of cosmic horror, it was nonetheless enjoyable. And the best part was that most of the characters survived!

Day 4: Sunday

Sunday would be the final day of GhengisCon. And as with each preceding day, it began with a 9:00 a.m. game–Blood for the Khan, Part 3. The adventure’s climax, the party tasked with finding the Blood Crystal delves into the hidden lair of evil, necromantic druids where it was hidden. Time to cut down the rotted tree. I bought the adventure as part of my purchase from Gooey Cube. I look forward to running it with my own gaming circle.

Sunday was my other easy day. After finishing the morning’s quest, I wandered among the vendors, making last-day purchases and collecting interviews with new friends in the forms of Mr. Craig of Black Oak Workshop and Mr. Thomas from Sundial Games. From the former, I bought a dice big and filled with enough d6s to roll Meteor Swarm. And from the latter, I bought this year’s calendar and quest book, “The Leaf Riders of Wrenwood,” for my workspace.

The grand finale of my visitation to Ghengis was surprisingly subdued. The fourth and final part of the Gooey After Dark slate, “Drinking and GM tips with Alphinius Goo.” Who is Alphinius Goo you inquire? He is the Gooey Cube’s director who over four decades in playing TTRPGs. He, myself, and about 15-20 other guests crowded into a private board room wherein the gooey wizard regaled us with advice and insight. I find it such a wonderful privilege to learn at the feet of those who have such great experience.

Closing

GhengisCon was a blast this year. It is always good to break away from the humdrum of everyday life. Making new friends, seeing old faces, and being a part of a group of creatives recharges my batteries and provides me with more inspiration than I can handle. My next convention is Cheyenne Gaming Con in about two months time. I surrendered to FOMO this year and have already bought myself a VIP ticket. Until next time, stay safe everybody!