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The World of Georic 1989-Present

Thursday, November 20, 2025

Mepacon 50 - What to Run?

So, Mepacon 50, our local con here in Pennsylvania, is being held April 17-19 outside of Allentown, PA.  

I'm still trying to verify any scheduling conflicts, but as of now, I'm dedicated to not only attending, but running games as well.

And that brings up the big question: What to run?

I've been attending Mepacon since the first one, and if we go back through the convention's genealogy, there are only one or two attendees who can claim an earlier claim.  

The fiftieth con is the best time to consider a "Best Of" selections of my convention games.  Introduce some great games to a new generation, upgrade a few that might not present well theme or statistically.  

I have set up a poll to take everyone's input.  You should be able to vote for multiple options.  Thanks everyone for your help! 

  1. Talislanta - (2 HOUR)  The Crystle Dungeon - Lehicon IV 1991 - My first ever convention game for teenage, essentially a dungeon crawl that luckily was filled with adolescent players.  Will need an overhaul (and I'd use 2nd or 3rd Edition for simplicity... it's one of the reasons I fell in love with the system.

  2. TWERPS - (2 HOUR) Showdown on Starmist  - Bogglecon 1995  - "The Worlds Easiest Role-Playing System" is normally a silly hex-based beer and pretzel game, but I've turned it into a four-hour convention game a few times.  Cutting it down to 2 hours for fun and clarity.  

  3. TOON - (2 HOUR) Cthulhu comes to Springfield - Lehicon VI 1994 - Classic (90s) Simpsons Characters and the Cthulhu Mythos... using Toon!  Each  "epsiode" ran an hour... so I just need to pull out the better scenarios like "Krusty the Kultist" or "The Reactors of R'yleh"  

  4. GURPS/RISUS - IOU  (2 HOUR)   SCAVENGER HUNT - CoveCon 1996 - Perhaps my most perfect convention game ever, back when GURPS was my jam.  Cross-dimensional, multi-genre Illuminati University and a simple case of a campus wide scavenger hunt.  

  5. My Little Pony - (2 HOUR) Friendship is POWER  - Mepacon 33-35 - I admit, I ran the My Little Pony: Tails of Equestria game (River Horse Press) to help fill up the Kid's Block of game.  If the games weren't in direct conflict with the kid's LARP or scavenger hunt, they were rousing successes and great memories.  

  6. Hackmaster - (4 HOUR) Pirates of the Beluga Chew -  My Mepacon 2 game.    The best and more of the best of what made Hackmaster great.  

  7. Burning Plastic (HOUR) - Bogglecon, Lehicon Jr, UBCon, Mepacon 26 - The game of green army men who might represent killer robots.  

  8. Gnome Wars - (4 HOUR) Tales from the Front (Yard) - Mepacon/Historicon/Cold Wars - Gnome Wars is a 30mm Miniature game using garden gnomes of many nationalities to fight battles based on World War I tactics.  We run the game at HMGS conventions to hundreds of satisfied players.  Heck, we've even had a game or two in run up at the Clarks Summit Mepacons (25-30?) 

  9. Legions of Steel  (2 HOUR?)- Lehicons/Bogglecons/Origins - The classic mid-90's miniature/board game where we answer the question, "What if Space Hulk replaced Genestealers with Terminator robots that shot back?"  

  10. Illuminati (4 HOUR) -  The original no-frills Steve Jackson version.  Okay, maybe the expansions. 
  11. Car Wars (4 HOUR) - Choosing this one means I finally scratch a decades long itch to play the game and hook a whole new generation in the original rules. 
  12. Fistful of Lead - Fistful of Gnomes - Historicon - I love my gnomes.  And another option is using the same figures in skirmish/mission settings using my favorite minis system, Fistful of Lead.   

  13. Fistful of Lead - Galactic Heroes -  Historicon - I also run a mean multi-dimensional sci-fi town with Star Wars, 40k, Firefly, and other characters playing side by side.  

  14. D&D - Isle of the Abbey - We lost one of the godfathers of Lehigh Valley conventions, Mike Griffith, this past year.  It can be argued pretty well that without him, Mepacon would have never come together 49 conventions ago.  I believe Isle of the Abbey was one of his go-to convention games, so it makes sense for somebody else to run it, updated to the current edition.  

  15. D&D - The Jade Monkey - Mike's partner in crime for many early cons was Joe Ward.  I don't his status, but his running of this RPGA scenario is one of my fondest memories of convention gaming. 
  16. D&D - They're Only Kobolds - Joe's trademark game.  PCs vs classic dog-faced kobolds.  How hard can it be?

I think that's a healthy enough 

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