Compiling Events for Mepacon 46 - April 19-21, 2023

The next MEPACON (Mid-Eastern Pennsylvania Gaming Convention) is slated for April 19-21, 2024 at the SureStay Plus Hotel by Best Western at 300 Gateway Dr. Bethlehem, PA.  Next spring's con will be Mepacon 46, and with some of the original convention staff still on board, the convention crew literally has hundreds of years of con experience under their belts and with the "new" established location, has made it a destination con for gamers in all directions from the Lehigh Valley. 

The theme for Mepacon 46 is "Games Gone By" and my very first thought was, "Great, I can break out all the classic convention events I've over the years.

My second thought was, "Crap, I need to rewrite and rebuild every classic convention event from over the years if I want to run them."  

In oldest to newest chronological order, here's the possible examples of games I might run for Mepacon.  I'm also including whether the whole event would take a normal 4-hour time slot, or the trendier 2-hour variety.

1. Talislanta "The Crystle Dungeon"  (Time: TBD) - My first-ever convention event I GMed, way back at Lehicon IV in 1991.   The players blew threw my adventure in two hours, but years of experience have meant I can add some enjoyable fluff to the adventure if the group act like Navy SEALS.  Not sure if I maintained the classic Tal era with the OMNI d20 system (way, WAY older than 3rd edition) or I modernize with Talislanta: The Savage Land and/or use the 5e rules as a simpler introduction. 
   
   
   
2. Risus Illuminati University "Scavenger Hunt" (Time: 4 hours) - Run at CoveCon, circa 1996, this was a basic introduction to GURPS: IOU, the cross-time, cross-dimension, cross-your-eyes, cross-your-legs-we're not-stopping-this-car-until-we-get-to-Wally-World game set in the most dangerous place of all... COLLEGE!   The nostalgia comes from having perhaps the greatest table of players I've ever had.  When we weren't "Yes, And-ing" we were "Yes, but-ing" and transcending a simple college scavenger hunt into something epic.  My GURPS-fu is a distant memory, and while the game continues to this day, I'm using RISUS for my generic game-play.  I'd even go beyond my normal basic rules for increased playability for four hours. 
   
   
   
3. TWERPS: Space Cadets  "Starmist" (Time 4 hours) - Before Risus, FATE, and the modern rules-lite movement, there was TWERPS "The World's Easiest Role-Playing System" and I was intent on making it more viable than it probably should be, running a number of sessions at Mepacon's predecessor, Bogglecon, in a number of genres.  Starmist was the most memorable one I could reconstruct, perhaps into RISUS, PBTA, or a modern 'zine RPG I've picked up over the years.  
4. Legions of Steel (2/4 hours) - I was an official demonstrator for the miniature game by Global Games in the 90's, even running it at Origins in Philly, Dexcon in Jersey, and a few cons in upstate New York.  I've got the figures and the game tiles, might as well make use of them.  
5. TOON "Cthulhu Comes to Springfield" (Time 4 hours) - Running at all three classic Lehigh Valley convention circuits (Lehicon, Bogglecon, and Mepacon), This Simpson meet Lovecraft gams is usually three to four hour-long "episodes" each gaming session.    I have all the material from the last time I ran two full slots of the game, when Mepacon was still in Clarks Summit.  Of course, it's oddly fitting (and sad we missed the obvious tie-in) that I might write a new episode dedicated to the Yellow King.  (ADULTS ONLY)
6. Hackmaster "Veiled References Only I Get" (Time 4 hours) - I've run enough Hackmaster 4th Edition in the early 2000's, always to full tables, and since one of my pipe dreams is tie up some pretty big loose ends in a campaign that ended almost 20 years ago, it's not a stretch to break out the classic scenarios, "Resident Chaotic Evil", "A Pirate's Life for Me", and "Q".
7. My Little Pony "Friendship in Two-Hour Blocks" (Time 2 hours) - My last big foray into GMing at Mepacon was running non-stop 2-hour blocks of My Little Pony: Tails of Equestria, for the kid's track.  All are welcome to play, and they were some of my favorite recent games (don't tell my current players in my home campaign).  I would stick with the River Horse Tails of Equestria rules, and not play the very recent (and largely disappointing  and overpriced) Renegade/Hasbro rules. 

I'm sure there are others I'm missing, including a potential "It came from the Mepacon Auction" anthology of games I've snagged at Mepacon auctions.  Suggestions and memories in the comments are quite welcome. 

Of course, these ideas are just that until my kids' AAU basketball schedules come out. Easter is two weeks earlier, so it's prime time for a massive three-day Spooky Nook tournament.

It's also my birthday weekend, so there's nothing better than playing the games I loved over the years.