Convention: Preparing for the Cauldron 2026
Next Wednesday I will be taking a night bus to Frankfurt, Germany to attend Cauldron, “an OSR Euro Con.” This year the con will run four days, with packed schedule: old-school games, Chainmail competition, AD&D tournament, you name it.
I will be running four OD&D games using little brown books only:
- Thursday Block II Halls of Viridian Mist: You fell down the pit trap. Now you are rolling in a pile of refuse while green mist is making you gag. Will you get out alive? Or will you feed what lurks beyond the haze?
- Friday Block I Abattoir of The Impotent Idolater: The Golden Eagle has gone missing. Gore-ladden trail leads to the cave deep in the woods. Tales of monstrous abominations run amok. Will you be the ones rescuing this holy regalia from the den of evil?
- Saturday Night Block Conquering the Barbarian Altanis: Do you dare leave your mark in the Barbarian Altanis? Will you feed the insatiable hunger of antediluvian ruins? Session 197 of our ongoing campaign.
- Sunday Block I The Darkness Beneath Megadungeon: Can you survive the Warrens of the Troglodytes?
Below are my thoughts and reflections on preparing for the con. They build on my previous preparations.
Selecting adventures to run
Since I knew this would be an incredibly busy year for me, I planned in advance. Three of four sessions would use adventures, while the campaign session would be emergent. Last one, technically, demands a lot of preparation, but all of it is done in weekly increments so it spreads out.
I authored two out of three adventure I will run, so that minimised the time investment as well. First, Halls of Viridian Mist, is a Jaquays tribute dungeon. It features many twists, turns, secrets behind secrets, factions, and more. I ran this twice, and it was a howling success both times. Players will be pressured to think and act quickly, for viridian mist is ever hungry.
Abattoir of The Impotent Idolater is based on an adventure site from our very own campaign. It left such a mark on the players they deemed it worthy of Wilderlands Hall of Fame and commissioned legendary Stephen Poag to illustrate The Abomination which gave them nightmares. Players will have to be both careful and daring, or else risk suffering horrible fates.
My good friend Mitch Hyde encouraged me over the years to write it down. I finally did, and it will be published in the con exclusive zine Beneath the Black Pyramid. Andrew Walter did an absolutely amazing illustration for it, capturing the vile atmosphere down to a v.
Warrens of the Troglodytes is one of the levels of the legendary, community-driven Darkness Beneath Megadungeon. If you think Tucker's Kobolds were bad, wait until you experience the Attronarch's Trogs. Hero level characters, first level dungeon, maximum level threat. Also, the chief editor of Fight On! zine will be at the con as well, available to answer questions about the megadungeon.
Last year Conquering the Barbarian Altanis session attracted 17 players, and lasted well into the night, going for some six hours or so. It was both the largest and longest game of the con, albeit unplanned. Everything that happened then impact the campaign world, leaving a lasting mark. This year will be no different. The session is open to anyone willing to endure the savagery of the Barbarian Altanis. Expedition plan will be decided on the spot, by the players who attend. Several of our regular players will be there, but everyone gets a vote. Players can expect total freedom and opportunity to leave a lasting impression on an ongoing campaign.
Preparing supporting material
Due to how I run the game, I just need a battle-mat, markers, wiping cloth, and dice. Players bring their own dice. As I wrote before, I find OD&D just perfect for con games:
One of the reasons I prefer running OD&D at cons is because of how lean and fast it is. It is mostly rolling d6s and d20s, options and spells are limited (just compare Cleric spell lists in Men & Magic to the one in Greyhawk), there are only three classes, and contains only the most essential procedures for running underworld and wilderness adventures. Perfect!
Since reference materials are re-usable, I simply printed what I had prepared last year:
- Judge reference sheets
- Cleric and Magic-User spell references
- character overview
- 80 character sheets
An attentive, eagle-eyed reader might notice that characters have suspiciously similar attribute scores to those from the last year. Indeed, I just changed the names and few optical elements. Creating new characters is the most time consuming activity, so I re-purposed as much of the work that I could. Also, I wonder how many will make it to the end of the con this year...
Choosing games to join
When I learned the con would be four days I rejoiced, because I thought it'd be easier to join all the games I wanted to partake in. Oh, how wrong I was. The agenda is absolutely packed with great sessions. Games offered span OD&D, AD&D, retroclones, Chainmail, and naval battles.
On Thursday I plan to join EOTB's Convention Dungeon's; after that I will run Halls of Viridian Mist until everyone dies or escapes. On Friday morning, after a hearty breakfast, I will run Abattoir of The Impotent Idolater, and then spend rest of the day playing. I am eyeing Palace of the Eternal Autocrat with Gabor Lux, THALANÛR: Against the Pale Citadel with Dreadlord, Sunken Redoubt of the Serpentine Lich with Ignatius Umlaut, and Army of Madness with Settembrini.
Next day I plan to join Temple of the Gnoll God with Keith Sloan, and Return to the Storm Giant's Castle with Ignatius Umlaut. The latter will surely be a blast, for it is an unofficial sequel to one of the worst Judges Guild adventures. I will finish Saturday by running the Conquering the Barbarian Altanis night session. I am curious to see where the players take it! There is only one slot on Sunday, and as usual, I will run a Darkness Beneath Megadungeon level.
Looking forward to next week. Let me know if you are attending, and come say hi even if we don't play together.
#Convention #Cauldron #OSR #FightOn
Subscribe to get the latest post in your inbox. No spam.
rootring
Prev · Random · Directory · Next
