Greetings friends. I have another article for contemplation. As my other summaries have shown, I usually go north and south for my conventions. Last weekend, I journeyed west into Utah to a town called Layton, just north of Salt Lake City. Here in the Beehive State, I was going to investigate a convention that runs four or five times a year, and has a cruise planned for 2026. This is my introduction to SaltCON.
Day 0: Thursday
SaltCON advertises its spring convention as the biggest one in its lineup, reporting over 2,300 attendees for this year. More than double its other two biggest meetings in June and September. It is popular enough that, if I remember correctly, they were already sold out of full weekend badges when I ordered mine in late January/early February. I had to order individual badges for Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. Truthfully, I needed the day off in order to catch up on some coursework. It would be better than trying to cram it all on between Monday and Tuesday after arriving home.
Sadly, Thursday would not be the first day I experience SaltCON. The wild winds of Wyoming closed vital roads and interstates, meaning I had to delay my cross-state trip. Instead of arriving on Wednesday, which was the day before SaltCon, I arrived on Thursday, the first day, around 3:30 p.m. Since my convention itinerary was already done by that time, I simply checked into the hotel and unpacked my clothes for the weekend.
Day 1: Friday
Nothing was unusual on Friday. I was cleaned up and ready for the day like a normal workday. At my hotel’s breakfast, I met three fellow convention-goers: Connie, Michael, and Shawn. We had a brief chat about Star Trek and we each arrived for SaltCON. Michael then recommended a series of audiobooks and was kind enough to email me a link.
The convention doors were already open when I walked across the street and a parking lot to reach the Davis Convention Center. My morning and afternoon were dominated by back-to-back TTRPGs. The first one was an adventure using the Cosmere RPG, which is based on the Cosmere setting of author Brandon Sanderson. I know nothing about Mr. Sanderson’s universe, but stealing a poor settlement’s prized pig back from a ‘Fuzed’ should not have been as hard as it was.
FEATURED VENDOR: Koldfire Role Playing Games
My second RPG was a system called Ter’Ra’Mentia from Koldfire RPG. Ter’Ra’Mentia has three unique selling points when compared to the two standby giants of D&D and Pathfinder. First, the system uses two twelve-sided dice as opposed to one d20. Second, magic is cast using pools of either mana, spirit, or both rather than traditional spell slots. Third, and most compelling to me based on what I saw, the classes are noticeably unique. There wasn’t any overlap among the classes being played. I had such a blast playing my Nether Touched!
Sadly, this was the only game of Ter’Ra’Mentia I had time in my schedule for. But thankfully, I met founder and creator Kurt Zimmerman on Sunday morning at their booth where he most kindly agreed to do an interview after I bought a Broken Claw Isle Starter Kit and a coloring book.
The adventure ended a little early, so I was free to wander around the building. According to SaltCON’s website, the spring iteration is the only one with a full vendor hall. With the rest of the day free to wander, I began browsing the assembled menagerie of merchants.
The evening was going to run late, so I headed off to Applebee’s for dinner before returning for a session of the Lander RPG by Massif Press.
Days 2 and 3: Saturday and Sunday
Saturday was my off day, so I slept in. I did not get up out of bed until I realized that it was a quarter to 8. I didn’t do much except for making sure that I was caught up with my coursework since I didn’t want it all hanging over my head once I was home in Wyoming. Otherwise, the day was uneventful.
Sunday began slightly later than Friday with a session using the Nimble RPG system, which is a stripped down version of traditional D&D. I and my follow players were hired hands on a ship set for the plane of Mechanus to find a book. Going to such an orderly place was both very interesting and very jarring. I didn’t know it was possible to have culture shock like how I did.
FEATURED VENDOR: Honest Mike’s Wall O’ Wonders
After completing the Nimble RPG session, the vendor hall was only open for another hour, so I began scouring for last-minute buys. A vendor which I surprisingly gravitated toward was Honest Mike’s Wall O’ Wonders. Mike was a jovial gentleman and his booth presented the atmosphere of a local store selling a little bit of everything–books, prints, swords, dice, maps, etcetera. I bought quite a bit from the Wall, including Call of Cthulhu and Starfinder adventure books, and a reversible desert-forest battle-map box.
James Meyer 