Another glorious Gen Con is in the books. This year’s show was fantastic—we ran 28 total sessions with a 10-Keeper crew — and once again, our players really brought their best to our tables, keeping the energy high. Gen Con is our biggest event, and we put a huge amount of work into it. This year we debuted three new Black Letter qualifiers (The Grey Baby, Beneath an Indifferent Sky, and Friendly Fields). Fortunately all three of these were basically completed by Gary Con, in March! Having the work done early made a huge difference. Each of us was able to tweak our games, while the bulk of our summer efforts went into the Black Letter Event.

This year’s big event, Homecoming, was written by Dave C. He was the creator of the first two Black Letter Events, but had happily moved into semi-retirement. I was thrilled when he approached me last year, volunteering to do the 2019 game. The premise for the event was a comfortably familiar setting for most of the team: 80’s high school. Of course, this being Call of Cthulhu, and coming from the twisted mind of Dave C, the familiar quickly gave way to the bizarre. Players lost sanity with more than just math quizzes, Shakespeare readings, Presidential Physical Fitness tests, and school pizza! And the Senior Prom breakdance battle was an instant YTCC classic moment.

We also brought several old favorites back for new players, in our Classics track: High Water (a former Black Letter Event), Flaming Star, Last Days of Central State, Do Spirits Return?, Strangers, and the one that got it all started, a little child shall lead them. And we expanded with some additional new games: Descent into Avernus, The Queen’s Got Your Number, and The Lost and the Damned.

Along with our many games, we did get to spend some time with Chaosium’s own Mike Mason and Paul Fricker. Both great guys! We were extremely pleased to welcome Allan Carey from Type 40 to play in Michael’s High Stakes scenario. We also met Andrew Bean and caught up with Rick, Neal, and Jeff. 

It was a great Gen Con! I am 100% pumped up about next year, and am working on plans…mysterious plans. Who knows what fruit they might bear?

Did you game with us at Gen Con? Let us know how your session went, in the comments!