This year we will revisit tea stains, but jump to paint perhaps. Revisit this page as we make plans and prepare.

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When attending conventions, especially large ones like Gen Con, there are thousands of people in a little bit of space. Inevitably folks share germs, bugs, and sniffles even when they are healthy. In the Navy we called it “Creeping Crud”, convention goers know it as Con Crud. There are a few steps you can take to minimize the effects of Con Crud, The following is my tactic for any convention experience. Shared here in the hopes of helping my fellow con-goers.

I don’t want to send any germiphobes into a panic, but the following is my personal take on convention health and approach. It does include tending to germs and viruses.

For myself, I start preparing the week before the convention by taking Multivitamins. Most people (Especially in the US) are well fed, but malnourished. Multivitamins bolster the immune system on all fronts, give you more energy, keep your mind sharp, and generally help mood and body maintain balance. I like the gummy bear type… I’ll admit it – I HATE pills. I attempt to bump the vitamin C a bit with extra oranges and citrus while minimizing any alcohol or other chemical intake that week. During the convention there will likely be some drinks, but there is no reason to lower your tolerance to Con Crud before you get there. Let’s not forget that you will also likely be on a plane, or traveling in a car some distance to get to most cons.

At the Con

During the convention you shake hands with a lot of folks. Hugs, signing books, high fives, fist bumps and whatever else folks do to interact. HAND WASHING is your friend. I take regular breaks to wash my hands with soap and hot water every hour or so (Sometimes more frequently after some intense interactions). Some hotel restrooms have luke-warm water, find a place with some hot water and remember it.

I try to limit alcohol intake at the con for a number of reasons, a good one is that drinking too much can lower your resistance to virus and germ infection. If you are a smoker, smoking more can also lower your resistance. It’s okay to hang around the smoker’s hut to socialize, but keep your mind on how many you are lighting up and minimize that action.

Remember to SLEEP! Rest is essential to fighting the crud, being on your A-game, and staying on track. Reserve an hour or two in the middle of the day to grab a nap if you have to. The hotel rooms tare more quiet mid day while folks are attending events. For a vendor, this is very important. You want your A game in the after hours as well as vending hours. Find good help tending the booth so you can get a break.

Take in some sun – Just a 10-15 minutes a day in direct sun for fair-skinned folks produces as much as 10,000 IU of vitamin D. Along with the mental benefits of a sunny break, it’s worth a few minutes.

After the Con

Post Con recovery is tough, but it’s time to double-down on some things. Diet and Multivites particularly.

Super foods are your friend! Raw spinach, greens, blueberries, almonds, apples, bananas, grapes. Eat them raw whenever possible and often. Day one post-con I usually double up on multivites, then continue regular vitamins for some time after.

If you found a sniffle, things like Zicam and other OTC medications can shorten the lifespan of a cold (Or the crud) significantly.

SLEEP – It’s still on the list and post-con more so. We schedule at least one extra day after conventions to do NOTHING. Sometimes we even tell friends and family we won’t be home until the day AFTER. Sleep, nap, rest, watch old Conan movies or Star Trek reruns. Let your body heal after all that action.

Do laundry carefully. When you return from the convention, you are home, but your laundry is still lingering at the con. Toss the lot in on its own and wash your hands again after. There is the outside chance that the crud, you ran into that day is lingering in the laundry. It’s strange to think about it, but it can help you avoid the post-con-crud.

Make it simple

The easiest way for myself to hit all these points is to continue before, during and after the con the following points.

• Multivitamins daily
• Eat Superfoods (Raw if possible)
• Cut down on over-processed, super fats and …. things I’ll be eating AT the con.
• Hand Washing
• Take in some Sun
• Alcohol – in moderation at the con, not before.
• Hand Washing
• Make time to sleep & rest

I also try to make a conscious effort while shaking hands and greeting folks to minimize how much I touch my face. It’s not that I don’t think my friends are unclean, it’s just a matter of avoiding Con Crud. These days it is more important to us than ever to avoid this plague. My mom has MS and she is staying with us while she looks for an apartment with the supports and maintenance she needs. Her immune system is compromised because of the MS, and bringing home the crud can just make the whole family miserable.

Stay well, stay healthy, and share those Gen Con Pics!

~Lloyd Metcalf
Fail Squad Games

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Gary Con IX Approaches!

Roll for initiative because it’s upon us! Gary Con is an annual game convention celebrating the life and works of Gary Gygax, the Father of Role Playing Games. It’s also where my career in the game world got its start.

It seems like a lifetime ago now, but it was only a few months before Gary Con V that Luke Gygax contacted me and asked if I could provide some artwork for his first adventure module. There was some discussion about a bear defecating in the woods, and I went to work.

Humble Beginning

Luke’s first module was my first module to illustrate, and I was very green with digital art and illustration. The temple of the fire elementals in that project came up as nearly a black square on the page (Sorry about that Luke). It marked the beginning of something special for me. I always dreamed of becoming and RPG artist, and fantasized that maybe I could create an adventure someday.

That first module set the wheels in motion and I knew I HAD to get to Gary Con somehow. I maxed out my credit cards and emptied my bank account to get on a plane for Lake Geneva that year. I had a pretty crude portfolio, some business cards and a new focus. (along with bologna sammiches in the hotel room)

At Gary Con, I met Zach Glazar from Lesser Gnome- Now Frog God Games (It was his first convention too). He would press me for more art on his project daily later on. I met Jeff Easley, a Dungeons and Dragons artist of great inspiration to me. The names of many people in the industry that inspired me were there: James Ward, Chris Clark, Frank Mentzer, Tim Kask, Jeff Butler, Jeff Dee, and a long list of others.

Fail Squad Games

It’s hard to believe that it has only been four years since that start, and Fail Squad Games was created and is growing. I long since quit my “real job” to pursue adventure writing, design and illustration full-time. I was “On Staff” with the con soon and still cling to that title happily. Graphic design, illustration, web site services, shipping/receiving are services I provide and whatever else comes up in between. This year there was the surprise of being given a badge as a Special Guest of Gary Con. A real honor!

Well Aren’t You Lucky?

Luck is only a marginal thing in this journey. What doesn’t show are the hours of work, focus and drive to create something from nothing. The days worried about bills, marketing, deadlines and contracts. This is my work and I love it, I also do it 24/7. Even this blog post, is part of it. Building a game company and surviving on it is no small feat. Folks in the RPG industry say, “The best way to make a million dollars in the tabletop gaming industry is to start with TWO million.”

Every day that I do it though, I do it because I went to Gary Con V that first year.

Gary Con IX

Gary Con IX is at the Grand Geneva in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. It has followed the early paths of Gen Con from the horticultural hall, to the lodge and now here. Gary Con is about to begin March 23-26.

Currently, I live in Milwaukee, and that means boxes arrive on my doorstep daily filled with incredible convention things. Shirts, cups, badges, dragon heads, dice…. this is Nerdvana! …l and chaos.

Some days the convention is a friendly little Flumpf that wants to play a game. Other times it’s akin to riding a terrrasque through a spiraling gateway to the chaos realm – but it’s always worth it!

Folks have a feeling of connected home and friendship at Gary Con. For me it’s the yardstick of my progress as an artist and writer.

I am ALWAYS proud and grateful for all my Gary Con friends and family. Walking through the doors of the thing we created is wonderful.

Why we are there is clear when I see the table of honor for Gary Gygax. “Celebrating a life well-played” That is what we do at Gary Con.

I am also reminded that Gary really did alter the world – and it began in a little home in the small town of Lake Geneva. Anything is possible.

Come join us!

Don’t just sit there – make the hero’s journey. It is worth the trip and there are over 1,000 games to sit in on over the weekend. All of Gary’s friends and family gather in memory of the things he loved the best – gaming, friends, family.

Come to Gary Con and celebrate a life well-played!

~Lloyd Metcalf – Fail Squad Games

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Excited about Evercon 2017?

You should be, it’s going to be the best one yet!

You don’t need to wait for Friday!

THURSDAY January 5th from 1-3PM Evercon special guest Lloyd Metcalf will be at Barnes & Noble in Wausau signing his books while talking about writing and illustrating adventures!

You can not only get an early jump on the con, but you will be able to enjoy more focused attention from one of the special guests! Lloyd has working as an illustrator for many emerging game companies and is finding his way as owner of Fail Squad Games into the annals of gaming notoriety.

So come on over the Wausau on Thursday to Barnes & Noble and join in the fun of the PRE-CON party!

If you are going to Evercon the following weekend, Lloyd is hosting a number of events that you can reserve your seat for NOW!

CLICK HERE to register NOW
 
 
 

Lloyd Metcalf / Fail Squad Games will be presenting the following events along with a vendor booth at Evercon 2017 this year!

Critical Fumble: Learning to fail with style

A round table discussion / presentation by Lloyd Metcalf of Fail Squad Games. The journey to becoming an RPG illustrator and game designer, or any creative endeavor is not always a level well-paved road that is easy to travel. Addressing failure, minding the gaps and embracing the screw­-ups creates new paths to achievement for anyone chasing a dream.

Lloyd had to face the reality that failure was not only likely, but inevitable with his dream of becoming a fantasy artist and game producer. Understanding how to grow from failure became a critical piece of the journey. Many artists, writers, and creative people make failure or the fear of failure, an intimidating barrier to progress. Learn to flip that fear and turn it into a tool of self-improvement.   Discuss some of the lessons learned along the way with Fail Squad Games, art, design, production process from idea to being published with distributors around the globe.

The Witch’s Trial:

You settle in for a quiet night’s rest in a warm cozy bed. Tremendous rats, madness, voices, and chaos spin your world into madness! Where are you? WHO are you? Can you even survive the Lands of Lunacy to ever find your way back to your safe warm bed?

Welcome to the Lands of Lunacy setting, a universe created from chaos and consisting of limitless dimensions connected to limitless planes. Herein, domineering lords rule over domains interconnected by webs of lunar gates surrounded by the utter madness of the Chaos Void. The price of entry may be your sanity, or even your life. The rewards are immeasurable, and every domain brings new possibilities, rewards, and challenges.

You may never be the same.

You may never return.

The post You don’t need to wait for FRIDAY to start your EVERCON weekend! appeared first on Fail Squad Games.

Wausau Wisconsin is the location for this dead-of-winter gaming convention where you can warm your toes and your dice. It’s worth the trip to attend ans has been a long running con. Their new location holds great promise and the list of games is always expanding. This might be the best way to beat the mid-winter blues!

From the FB page:

Over the last 16 years Evercon has grown from a small, school-run event with a handful of gamers to a 1,000+ attendee gaming convention. Evercon brings gamers from across WI and nearby states who gather each January in Wausau, WI so they can start the new year enjoying their hobby with like-minded, dedicated gamers.

The convention features role-playing games, board games, fantasy and historical miniature gaming, collectible card games, and video gaming. Evercon is for the fantasy and sci-fi gaming enthusiast. Evercon features a Dealer Hall, Artists and Authors, and some of the best gaming you can find to start the new year off right. If you are a gaming fan, don’t miss out on Evercon!

Join me this year in attending, Fail Squad Games has a vendor table and Lloyd Metcalf as a special guest!

Click here to check out their Tabletop page.

The post Get rid of the mid-winter blues once and for all! appeared first on Fail Squad Games.

Recently I was was invited to join my friend Frank Mentzer to check out a convention in mid / northern Wisconsin called ‘Evercon’ where he had been asked to be a special guest. When it comes to things like this, you don’t need to kick me twice to say yes.

We had a three hour ride up, and another three hour ride back. It turns out Frank (Being a natural DM) and myself are talkers and we had plenty to discuss, while our wives were at Frank’s house for many hours doing the same apparently. I was relieved to find out, that after so many years, an accomplished wizard also has to mentally prepare for ‘convention mode’. We all want to put our best foot forward in meeting new people, but what about when there are dozens, hundreds, thousands to meet? It can be very taxing, and while a person is genuinely pleased to meet new friends, it takes a little shuffling of the brain.

All of the conversation on the ride, talk about how to approach conventions, and what we do moved into practice when we got to Evercon.

Evercon has a lot of young people attending. Many highschool or younger, with a number of beaming parents and a few older gamers mixed in. The gamer parents are easy to spot, they physically GLOW, I mean RADIATE watching their kids rolling dice.

The highlight of the convention for Frank (His words), and myself were two young folks who attended. A young lady of about 10 or so with her gamer mom, and a teen age fella who had never played D&D, only video games.
The young lady played a dwarf cooperatively with her mom. A wise move, since the ten year attention span was allowed to wander away from the table a couple times without disrupting play, since mom could fill in.

Frank gave the young lady some pertinent information about the adventure in private, a key to a puzzle. She was the only player at the table with this information. We then watched the birth of a young gamer come into her own. This completely removed to tendency to talk to the young player as a child. There was ZERO condescension when the older players interacted with her.  I learned how special this is to kids, and how difficult it can be to have adults tune in on an even level to them. She became very involved with the game, and she was immediately incorporated as a valuable team member by the group.
I illustrated her character among the text of her character sheet and she refused to let go of the thing after Frank signed it.

The other young fellow was hoovering around the table, at a respectful distance, but hoovering. Frank had turned a few other folks away since the game was full. Something about this young man caught Frank’s attention and he offered him a seat and a character sheet. He had never played D&D before, had only ever played video games.

Frank quickly ran down what was going on, the basics of his 0Edition game, and handed him a fighter. likely the most straight-forward character archetype for the situation. after a few minutes in, he had a unique weapon created, participate din group play, and before our eyes we watched another tabletop gamer being born.

After the game was over and everyone cleared out he asked Frank,”What do I need to do so I can play this some more?”
He showed up the following day with an AD&D book in hand, well on his way. What’s more is that he can say his very first Dungeons & Dragons game was played with Frank Mentzer!

I write, illustrate and produce my own adventure modules, Frank is an expert game designer and writer himself. If you don’t think so, 14,000,000 + copies of D&D redbox speak otherwise. The convention time wasn’t about pitching products, it was gamers meeting gamers. It was elevating the hobby. I began to realize that many eager indie publishers may be making a mistake by attempting to turn every conversation into a plug for their product.

Attending the convention as the guest of a special guest, instead of a vendor or attendee, certainly shone a new light on conventions for me. Frank Mentzer has attended hundreds of conventions and gatherings around the world, he is practiced at the art, has many products on the market for sale. When folks meet him, it’s one gamer meeting another.

We represent and create tabletop games. SOCIAL games, based on social interactions. We (producers of products) need to be careful to remember that and not enter into a TV commercial as soon as someone says hello.

When I watched Frank help give birth to some brand new gamers, I remembered why I make and illustrate RPG products. Because gaming is fun, it’s cool, and it’s a great thing to share.

Thanks Frank for inviting me along and sharing your space and a little of your lime-light. The trip certainly has renewed my vigor and approach to conventions.

~Lloyd M
Fail Squad Games

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Ogres of the Fen is HERE

In a final push to be ready for Game Hole Con, I managed to get Ogres of the Fen completed!

It is waiting for you in the webstore, I am quite pleased with the end result.

You can also bid on the #1 module off the press WITH original pen and ink art work used in production!

Click here to see the EBAY listing now!

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