Morale has been low. Thanks to the intensity of work commitments and important family obligations, I have been subject to a gaming embargo since the end of June. The restrictions were lifted at the beginning of October when I ran “Deliver Us From Evil” at Miskatonic Repository Con and hosted some work friends for their first Call of Cthulhu game. In typical Doc fashion, I ran these two games back-to-back and the experience reignited my excitement for my upcoming trip to Madison, WI for Gamehole Con.
This would be my Gamehole Con, and I’d been dying to go for several years after continued and growing praise about the quality of the event and games from many trusted sources. Given the proximity to Halloween, I decided to run three of my favorite Spooky Season Call of Cthulhu scenarios along with an introductory Paranoia game as a palate cleanser. This seemed like a relatively sane plan for a four-day convention, and I decided to set aside ample time to PLAY games.
My flight to Madison on Wednesday wasn’t until 3:30 p.m., so I spent the morning wrapping up work projects, stopping by Spirit Halloween, and hastily assembling handouts for my Grindhouse Cthulhu session. As usual, I kept adding materials to my pile and rushed to the airport. I downloaded From Beyond (1986) and the latest Vox Machina for the flight.
I arrived in Madison after 9 p.m. to a quiet, empty airport. Though small, it was pleasant and easy to navigate. I stepped out into the crisp fall air and quickly caught an Uber. Instead of heading to the hotel, I took the Uber to a Walmart to fill my Trick-or-Treat bag with candy for my players. Being a responsible adult, I enjoyed a bag of Funyons for dinner while waiting for my ride to the Hilton Suites. Since my first game started at 8 a.m., I skipped social activities to stay ahead of the inevitable con exhaustion.
Uncertain of the badge situation, I woke up around 630 a.m., grabbed my gaming gear and an overflowing bag of candy, and headed down to breakfast. The Hilton Suites, like the Clarion Hotel, offered a complimentary breakfast with a variety of breakfast sandwiches and waffles. The Clarion, site of the games I would be running and much con socializing, was a short five-minute walk away, with a convenient intervening Starbucks. It’s connected directly with the main convention venue, the Alliant Energy Center, via an enclosed tunnel to avoid the chilly weather.
Gamehole Con immediately stood out compared to other large cons like Origins or GenCon. At 7 a.m., there were only three other people in line for badge pickup. Everyone was friendly, efficient, and helpful. With time to spare, I grabbed a second coffee from the local vendor and began setting up for my 8 a.m. game.
Game 1 (Call of Cthulhu – “First Night”): I have never run a game at this frighteningly early hour, and I was shocked when ALL the players arrived early and the game got underway before 8 a.m. Several players reported they always sign up for 8 a.m. games since it gets things rolling early, allows for lunch, and opens up extra time. This game was set in the early 80s and riffed on sorority horror classics. Written by Alex Guillotte and Ian Christensen, this scenario immediately engaged the players as they explored their new sorority house with their sisters. I’ve run this Grindhouse scenario before with three players, but a full table of six brought out the varied personalities of the pre-generated characters. Intended to be a three-hour survival scenario, I stretched it to nearly four hours with added investigation and a second location populated by a lesser NPC. Thanks to clever gameplay, we wrapped up just shy of three and a half hours. “First Night” is quickly becoming one of my favorite one-shots, and my preferred module from the Grindhouse Collection. If you’re curious, check out this entertaining playthrough from the Miskatonic Playhouse.
Afterward, I wandered through the Vendor Hall. Free League had an impressive booth and hanging sign. It was great to lay hands on a copy of Electric State. Next door was Limithron with plenty of materials for Pirate Borg. I didn’t see any advance copies of their latest project, but it was great to see the creative team drawing folks in. I dropped by Chaosium to check out “Order of the Stone” and “No Time to Scream,” which has since dropped to PDF and I now own. I enjoyed a brief chat with the Chaosium road crew—great to see Rick Meints back on his feet by the end of the con! The Vendor Hall was packed with goodies, including art from Doug Kovacs, and treasures at Noble Knight Games.
Following my preliminary Vendor Hall survey, I dropped by The Old Ways booth positioned conveniently outside the Exhibit Halls. It was great to see familiar faces and this year they had a full schedule of interviews and live games. Plenty of content to revisit after Gamehole!
I refilled my coffee at the GM Lounge and ran into Chaosium cartographer, Matt Ryan, who had just collected some snacks from the lounge. This space reflects Gamehole Con’s commitment to the folks running the games. A handful of Goldfish, a bowl of potato chips, and a carafe of hot coffee go a long way for folks running from game to game. It was also a nice quiet space to socialize with fellow GMs.
I had about a half-hour before my next game, so I sat in on the D&D History Roundtable. It was a nice discussion with some knowledgeable panelists, including Michael Witwer, who penned the introductory article for the recent special D&D issue of Time magazine. (An aside to my Impossible Landscapes fans…is this a coincidence?!? I think not. We are merely puppets in the great drama. Long reign the Yellow King!)
Game 2 (Call of Cthulhu – “The Dare): Another Halloween classic! I brought glue sticks and cutouts of the character portraits provided at the back of this scenario. Players selected one of the ten pre-generated Kid-thulhu investigators, described their Halloween costume, and grabbed a fist full of candy before heading into the Old Barnaker House. I used my maps and handouts to liven up the exploration, and Sanity Loss flowed freely around the table. This outstanding group of players lost a single heroic friend before executing an Extreme success at Play with Matches. Indefinitely Insane, Harriet the Know-it-All happily decided to take the fall for all the tragedies that unfolded on that fateful fall night in 1985.
Game 3 (Dungeon Crawl Classics – “Bride of the Black Manse”): Judge Gary Fortuin made some inspired modifications to this Harley Stroh scenario (DCC #82) and put our group of five Level 3 characters through the paces. I played Gründlik the Noxious, a Chaotic Dwarven miner, who incessantly needled his Lawful companion, Lawful Joe the Dwarf. Joe was a great sport, and the table enjoyed lots of laughs during this moody, horror scenario. If only our cleric could have found a D20 that liked him. This is a top-notch DCC one-shot, and I’m looking forward to running this module for my gaming group.
We wrapped a bit before 11 p.m., so I headed back to my room to put myself to sleep with some 40K fiction.
Game 4 (Paranoia – “Hogan’s Heroes”): I ran this same introductory scenario twice at Origins, and the majority of players were new to the game. With this group, all but one player had experience with Paranoia and it showed. The Perfect Edition rules are streamlined and smooth, which is great when everyone at the table is running amok. Remarkably, this team managed to lay waste to one another while accomplishing their goal. Chaos ensued as a constant stream of secret notes flowed as players deployed Mutant Powers and addressed their Secret agendas. Despite their treasonous ways, the Troubleshooters demonstrated a remarkable commitment to their Mandatory Bonus Duties, as the Hygiene Officer kept the Loyalty Officer well-supplied with hand sanitizer (he drank most of it…) and the Team Leader proudly wore his “I am Responsible” T-shirt. Fanboy moment: THE Steve Jackson brought a waffle to one of the players. This player, a Steve Jackson Games employee, also revealed that a Paranoia version of Munchkin is forthcoming!
Game 5 (Night’s Black Agents – “The Mechanism”): Ken Hite’s Gumshoe-powered vampire spy thriller has been sitting on my shelf next to the system’s legendary Dracula Dossier campaign for several years now. I have failed to get this modern vampire-hunting setting to the table, and, when I stumbled upon an open seat on Friday afternoon, I dropped my 5e Dark Sun organized play game to jump in. Embarrassingly, the game had already started, and GM Todd Olson and his players generously welcomed me to the table. Fortunately, we were in the open stages of the adventure as the cell prepared to receive an informant at London’s Heathrow airport. Overall, Olson ran a masterful game with cinematic cuts, well-balanced party splits, and gentle rule suggestions. An experienced Gumshoe GM, the merits of the system shined as clues flowed freely and skill rules felt appropriately impactful. Each character had opportunities to demonstrate their abilities and the whole team contributed to an intense climax. Olson echoed everything I had heard about The Dracula Dossier and revealed that upon completing their two-year playthrough, his players requested to do it again (he obliged!). The adventure we played is a prelude to the smaller Persephone Extraction campaign (five adventures), and I’ve already picked it up.
Game 6 (Call of Cthulhu – “Death of Superstition”): By this point, regular readers have heard enough about my Detroit-based Halloween scenario featuring Harry Houdini. I had sworn to retire it after 2023 but could not resist running it as part of my Cthulhu-ween triumvirate. We had four folks who had never played Call of Cthulhu before, and their excitement as Sanity slowly disintegrated was a true delight. By the scenario’s climax, two-thirds of the table had jumped off the deep end and they embraced the insanity as I relied on the trusty Bouts of Madness deck. There were some choice selections, and I had never seen the “Irritable Bowels” card played before…truly brilliant, understated roleplaying by Detroit native Eric.
Game 7 (Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay – “Slaughter in Spittlefeld): A two-hour introductory adventure to the WFRP system. I’m familiar with the rules and have been studying the Enemy Within for future use, but I haven’t gotten to play this system yet. The pacing was a tad awkward and the adventure somewhat railroad-y, but everyone had a good time. I look forward to more standard-length adventures, and I firmly believe Night of Blood is a much more compelling introductory WFRP scenario.
Game 8 (Savage Worlds – Rippers – “Witches of Waterford”): Another system I’ve been wanting to try. I’ve read numerous sourcebooks, listened to praises sung on The Smart Party podcast, and nearly organized a game, but Cthulhu-based horror always seems to win out. The Rippers’ setting is wonderful. Think high-pulp Gaslight Cthulhu that leans on the classic period monsters and villains. GM Paul Dundee ran a well-paced game filled with dramatic tension and gravity despite the delirious goofiness of the players. We spent nearly as much time trying to develop a business plan for our lantern vending enterprise as fighting the supernatural. To everyone’s dismay, I played cowboy Elijah Holloway, who bumbled around the rural seaside village of Waterford to the embarrassment of his responsible English companions. Everyone else at the table brought tons of Savage Worlds experience, and we enjoyed the excitement of exploding dice and Bennies as we reached the adventure’s wild conclusion. I picked up all the rulebooks for the Rippers setting and plan on running some Pulpy Victorian-era investigations soon.
Game 9 (Call of Cthulhu – “Black Sun Rising): I finished my Savage Worlds game and headed directly back to the Clarion Hotel for my final game which started just minutes later. I’ve seen the You Too Can Cthulhu team annually at Chaosium Con, but never got to play with them. I had originally blocked off Saturday night for socializing and packing, but I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to play with Keeper Kit Wessendorf. Regrettably, my energy began to flag during this six-hour game. Fortunately, we had a very engaged table with a strong commitment to roleplaying. Keeper Kit weaved an intriguing mystery in modern Berlin that would also work very well as a compelling Delta Green scenario. There were some top-notch German accents to be enjoyed, as well as high-yield visual aids provided on the signature YTCC monitors. As a consultant on the Interpol team, my history professor felt reluctant to get involved in the dangerous investigation and often relied on his familiarity with spy thrillers and crime dramas to generate his off-the-wall suggestions. In the end, he revealed himself to be a hopeless romantic, generally ineffectual, but eager to witness mind-melting revelations. With D100 Sanity Loss up for grabs at the scenario’s finale, he walked away relatively unscathed despite his brazen desire to witness the truth. As I trudged back to my hotel to pack, I imagined that the lovelorn Professor Biruk went on to assume the Endowed Chair in Occult Historical Studies at Humboldt University and became an unhinged academic rockstar promoting wild, but frequently all-too-real theories. Overall, it was a fitting end to Gamehole Con and the six hours of play flew by as veteran players dove into a great story.
Ultimately, I really would love to return to Gamehole Con in 2025. This con is a perfect size. It draws a committed fan base. People love it, and they are not shy about telling you why. The players are wonderful. The GMs are skilled and passionate. The vendor hall is well-stocked but not overwhelming. Madison is a great host city with plenty of great dining spots—and the food truck options were solid. The event space is comfortable, and the couches in the Monte Cook area were a great landing spot between games. The only downside was some gaming areas got a bit loud during the day due to shared space with other events, but overall, Gamehole Con was a phenomenal experience. (I avoided any parking dilemmas, but the morning Uber ride to the airport ran expensive due to surge charges.)
Next time, I hope to balance my gaming with more socializing, as this convention draws some truly fabulous folks. I bumped into many friends en route to games but lacked the time to dive into conversations. I made some great connections at the game table and got to play more than once with some fantastic individuals. I can count on many of these great people returning next year. For students of RPG lore and history, there are opportunities to chat (and game) with RPG legends like Marc Miller, Ed Greenwood, Jeff Grubb, and David “Zeb” Cook, to name just a few. As someone said to me, this is an insider’s convention, and based on some conversations, it seems like the organizers are committed to maintaining the esprit de corps and cozy atmosphere. This is a truly special community, a family. The Gamehole Con experience ignited my dormant gaming engine, and I look forward to drawing on this thriving well of energy again in 2025!