Andre Kruppa

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Andre Kruppa is an inveterate road GM, bringing his theatrical style of role-playing with props, sound effects, lighting and more to tabletop conventions all over New England, be it in the Call of Cthulhu or Star Wars milieus, or powered by his very own Lucid Dreams game engine.

TARA: How did you get into the tabletop hobby?

It started with a session of basic Dungeons & Dragons in a study hall in 1978 and quickly escalated from there. I was running Dungeons & Dragons within the week. That quickly led to branching out into board games like Avalon Hill’s Starship Troopers, some miniatures gaming, and eventually gothic, weird, and cosmic horror role-playing.

I discovered Runequest in 1979 and it paved the way later for Call of Cthulhu in 1981. I’ve been playing a mix of role-playing, miniatures, and board games ever since!

TARA: What brought you to Carnage originally?

ANDRE: I first came to Carnage because I had re-kindled my interest in historical miniatures gaming. I drove up to play in a few sessions and check it out. This was probably around 2000 or so. Many of the role-playing settings I favor are historical fantasy and historical miniatures games and the research required go hand in hand with my approach toward role-playing settings. I started running games at Carnage the following year!

TARA: What inspired you to develop Lucid Dreams?

ANDRE: I wanted a tool kit to allow a variety of grittier role-playing scenarios set in any era with a broad range of tools for the Game Master. The Lucid Dreams Role-playing Engine offers a skill-based system with increases gained from use and training. Horror, fear, and insanity effects are modeled. Options include organizations to support Player Character operations. Resources include Wealth, with abstracted mechanics to reduce record keeping, and Social Class, to help define character background and station, as well as options for Contacts, Fame, Retainers, Agents, Glory, Wealth, Spies, Military Force, and more to be used as needed  Combat is lethal, revolves around a simple Shock Test, and is fairly fast-paced.

TARA: What makes Lucid Dreams unique?

ANDRE: The system facilitates a number of campaign styles allowing for direct challenges as well as games involving action in the wings from spying to military raids. The rules for organizations allow modeling of anything from a feudal estate to a detective agency or governmental branch office to help support play.

TARA: What is your most memorable moment at the tables at a Carnage convention?

ANDRE: There have been so many fun moments. I think we all do this largely for the shared excitement of a given collaborative scene or story. For me, some of the most fun is at the end when the madness and mayhem ensues.

To read more about the Lucid Dreams role-playing game, visit Andre’s website, Game Soapbox, and like Game Soapbox on Facebook. You can get a peek of theatrical role-playing on Game Soapbox Productions’ YouTube channel. The very bold will find Andre running games of Derelict Adrift and The Missing at Carnage 21 this year. After that, book Andre to run games through Dark Phoenix Events.

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Jeannie Compter

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Jeannie Compter is a long-time GM at Carnage, as well as host of game nights and other events in her home of Dalton, Massachusetts.

TARA: What game is kind of your jam?

JEANNIE: I love playing a lot of different games, but especially pick up and deliver games. Empire Builder was my first real game experience. If I had to pick a favorite game, it would have to Merchant of Venus.

TARA: What brought you to Carnage originally?

JEANNIE: Thomas started going to Carnage in 2007 and at that time I was just along for the ride and to relax and hang out for the weekend. Eventually he convinced me to start playing some games, and since then I’ve been an avid gamer.

TARA: You’re involved in hosting a lot of activities back home. What are they and how did you get into so many different things?

JEANNIE: I have done a lot in my life and I love most of all teaching people to have fun. I started the 2 Flights Up Dance and Game Studio here in Dalton, MA. in June 2014. I teach line dancing and Thomas and I teach couples dance classes at the studio. We both love playing games. We host a game night every Thursday night from 6 to 10 pm and every third Saturday from 11am to 10 pm.

We also have Paint for Fun classes once in a while. I started painting back in 1992 with the Bob Ross technique and I fell in love with my paintings after my husband made me put them into frames. I attended a Bob Ross instructor course several years ago, but just started teaching paint classes after I opened 2 Flights Up.

TARA: What is your favorite thing about going to a gaming convention?

JEANNIE: I love teaching, and most of all I love teaching people new ways to have fun.

TARA: Why should people come and find you at Carnage this year?

JEANNIE: Anyone that has ever wanted to paint a painting, but were afraid to try should come try Paint for Fun on Saturday. This is a great opportunity to learn in a no-pressure environment and just have a fun time.

If painting’s not their thing, I’ll also be at the UnPub Mini event showing off the awesome card game that Thomas and I created a few years ago. The name of the game is Behütunsburg, and it is all about building a power base while assembling a retinue for the king and queen and building a castle before the other player(s). It plays with two or four players.

In addition to teaching painting on Saturday morning, you can find Jeannie running games all weekend long at Carnage 21 like Chicken Foot, Tokaido and Swinging Jivecat Voodoo Lounge, as well as the Unpub get-together. Additionally, you can keep up with what’s happening at 2 Flights Up on Facebook.

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Ellane Austin

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Ellane Austin is co-creator and co-captain of the Villainous Vixens, a dragon boat team raising money to fund research against cancer with Dragonheart Vermont.

TARA: How did you get involved with the Vixens?

ELLANE: I am the co-creator and co-captain of the Villainous Vixens dragon boat team. We saw an opportunity to bring something to the Dragonboat Festival and Dragonheart  Vermont that was unique in comparison to other dragon boat teams. We strive to raise as much money as possible as well as to bring as much fun as spirit to the festival and the events we are a part of leading up to the festival every year.

TARA: Of which of the Vixens’ accomplishments are you most proud?

ELLANE: As Vixens, we are most proud of the spirit and creativity we bring to the festival and the community. After winning Top Spirit awards each year, in 2018 we won a new award for going above and beyond in spirit, the Over The Top award. We are also proud that we have been in the Top 5 Fundraising Leaders in the whole festival since our establishment as a team, raising over $17,000 for our local cancer charity pledge partners over the last 3 years.

TARA: If people want to contribute to Vixens fundraising, where should they go?

ELLANE: People can come to one of our many events, make a donation through the Dragonheart website, go to our Facebook page, visit our web store, or send a check or M/O payable to Villainous Vixens, 240 Guptil Road Waterbury Center, VT 05677. We also have a website coming soon, www.villainousvixens.org.

TARA: Why should people come and find you at Carnage this year?

ELLANE: We bring a unique energy to every event. We enjoy meeting people, have fun interactive games and opportunities like face painting you might not get otherwise at a convention. Also, we are raising money for a cause that in some way affects us all.

Did I mention we also cosplay?

TARA: What’s your favorite thing about going to gaming conventions?

ELLANE: The community is my favorite thing about gaming or fandom conventions. In my experience, the community is what makes or breaks a show. Carnage has a wonderfully kind community of gamers, artists and players. It’s everything you should strive for in a convention, with stability and progressive growth.

You can find Ellane and the Vixens on Facebook and Twitter, and make a donation through their team page on the Dragonheart Vermont site. At Carnage, the Vixens will be tabling in the Northstar Lounge and offering facepainting for donations on Saturday morning.

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Jon Jessop

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Jon Jessop holds events for the Realms LARP,  one of which you will find on the Carnage 21 schedule, cohosted by Carnage staff Tara.

TARA: What are you binge watching right now?

JON: Right now, I’m keeping up on The Purge, and waiting not so patiently for more Man in the High Castle and Britannia.

TARA: What was the first “gamer” game that you played?

JON: I had a Radio Shack TRS-80—Yes yes, I know I’m old—and I loved Dungeons of Daggorath and Starquest.

TARA: What brought you to Carnage originally?

JON: I first came to Carnage to help my friends run content for Realms. I had never been to any type of con before, and was blown away by the great sense of community, and of course, the incredible variety of fun games there are to play.

TARA: What do you want people unfamiliar with Realms to know about it?

JON: Realms is a live action role-playing game where players go on quests, compete in tournaments and more, using foam props to represent their weapons and other abilities. Playing in the Realms is a lot of fun.

I started playing Realms in May of 1997, so better than 21 years now. One of the things I like most is the game has a strong community that encourages and helps people learn and grow in ways outside of the game as well as in it.

TARA: What at Carnage are you excited about this year?

JON: I am most excited about melding our medieval fantasy-based Realms into the sci-fi/space theme that Carnage has for this year. This will present a real opportunity for some outside the box creativity for our entire staff.

To learn more about the Realms LARP and the events they hold, you can visit Realmsnet. You can find Jon at Carnage leading adventurers on quests all over the grounds during the weekend of the convention.

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Robin Lea

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Robin Lea, with the Killington resort's ski slopes in the background.
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Robin Lea is a game designer and author, working under the Peryton Publishing imprint to create games like Qalidar: Resistance. She lives in Cleveland, Ohio, with her old man. This year at Carnage 21, you can find Robin running Just Another Layover and Dungeon!

TARA: What game are you playing the most right now?

ROBIN: Icons. I’m running a regular campaign and playing in another one. I’m also playing in a regular Buffy the Vampire Slayer game.

TARA: How was GenCon this year?

ROBIN: It was really nice. I ran fewer games than in previous years, didn’t have any particular obligations, and just kind of wandered around and enjoyed the craziness. One of my old friends from Arkansas showed up too, which is always fun.

TARA: What was the first “gamer” game you ever played?

ROBIN: The first RPG I played was D&D, with the sort of purplish box and the Erol Otus cover. I suppose if we’re talking about anything that counts as a serious gamer game, it’s probably this old Avalon Hill game my dad had, called Alexander the Great. It was about his invasion of Persia and had some fairly complicated “clashing army” rules. They seemed complicated then, anyway.

TARA: What brought you to Carnage originally?

ROBIN: Back in 2009, my old man was chatting with one of the organizers on a now-defunct RPG-based social network and somehow got the idea that he had committed to absolutely definitely go to Carnage that year. It sounded like a fun trip, so off we went. After that, we were hooked. It’s a fairly long drive from Cleveland, but it’s worth it.

TARA: What is your favorite thing about Carnage?

That’s a tough one! Carnage is my favorite convention and there are a lot of things I love. I guess the word would be “cozy,” which covers both the amazing location and all the friends I’ve made there.

Outside of running into her at Carnage, you can reach Robin online through her website, on Facebook, and on Twitter as @RChristinaLea.

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Oscar Rios

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Oscar Rios is the president of Golden Goblin Press, specializing in Call of Cthulhu role-playing content. This year at Carnage 21, you can find Oscar running games of Robotech and Cthulhu Invictus, as well as performing Glimpses Into the Empire — LIVE!

TARA: What makes role-playing the Cthulhu mythos in a historical era uniquely interesting?

OSCAR: It’s a double escape for players. Their characters are living in another time and place, a citizen of a different historical period, be that the Jazz Era, the Victorian period, Dark Ages, or Classical period. Secondly, this individual is also involved in battling strange cults, monsters, and alien gods to defend mankind from their malignant horror.

TARA: How did you get involved with the Cthulhu Invictus setting?

OSCAR: I was a play tester to the original version, and became the setting’s biggest fan. I’ve written a large number of scenarios for the setting over the years, including the settings only published campaign, The Legacy of Arrius Lurco. My company, Golden Goblin Press, produced a supplement scenario collection called De Horrore Cosmico, and when we tried to publish a sequel  to that book Chaosium asked if we would take over the setting and convert it to 7th edition. We jumped at the opportunity and spent to next two years completely overhauling the setting from the ground up. Writing for Cthulhu Invictus for over ten years, I’d learned a lot about that period of history, its culture, mythology and the setting’s strengths and weaknesses.

TARA: Are you working on anything new you can tell us about?

OSCAR: We are finishing up several projects, including Riding the Northbound, a hobo-themed 1920s scenario; Tails of Valor, a Cathulhu scenario collection – yes, you play as a cat fighting the Cthulhu Mythos – I am re-writing a couple of scenarios for Britannia and Beyond, our first setting supplement for the new 7th edition Cthulhu Invictus; and will soon be writing a scenario for Tales of the Pacific, a 1920s scenario collection set across the Pacific islands).

TARA: What at Carnage are you excited about this year?

OSCAR: Getting away from my day to day grind, to relax gaming with great people on a mountain top resort in Vermont. What’s not to get excited about?  I’m also doing a live performance of Glimpses into the Empire on Friday night. That’s my fan-contributed segment on the ENnie Award-winning Miskatonic University Podcast, where I share amazing stories from the ancient world. There is also the Extra Life charity raffle, which we love supporting and participating in.

TARA: What’s your favorite thing about going to game conventions?

OSCAR: For gamers like me, it’s a safe place to be yourself, because this is my community. I’ve been going to gaming conventions since 1984, and it’s become a huge part of who I am. This is where people understand what I do, why I love it, and don’t judge me for it. That was true when I was 13, and it’s still true today. Gaming conventions are where I’ve made most of my friends. It’s where I found amazing people to work with in this industry, who helped me found Golden Goblin Press, and continue to help run it with me. In a cold and brutal world, gaming conventions are the warm glow of a window, the smell of a hot meal, and the soft bed of coming home. Sorry if I wax poetic, it’s kind of my thing.

To get in touch with Oscar, you can visit Golden Goblin Press’ official website and their Facebook page.

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GM Submissions Closing Soon for Carnage 21

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The submission period for GMs to run games at Carnage 21 is winding down. If you’re interested in hosting a game or other event at the convention this year, head over to the registration site and submit your idea today. Submissions close at the end of July 31st so that Carnage staff can build this year’s schedule to make the best convention possible. Proposals submitted after July 31st will be considered and schedule on an as available basis in terms of space and scheduling.

Not sure what to run this year? Get in touch with your field marshal and find out where the schedule needs a little shoring up. Not sure which field marshal you need to talk to? Email info@carnagecon.com and we’ll get you in touch with the right person.

Carnage XX Blog Roundup

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If you couldn’t make it to Carnage this year, or there was just too much going on for you to see everything, some of our friends who came kindly wrote about their experiences at the convention this year. Check it out:

Thank You for 20 Years of Carnage

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Even Steam Park can be timey-wimey, with the right player at the table.

The certified comedians of Improvised Weapons make Dungeons & Dragons even funnier.

Mike and Doug snuck into the cheap seats at Fenway Park.

Robin Lea gets into her role running “Timelash Redux.”

This year at Carnage XX, we:

  • raised over $2300 for Children’s Miracle Network hospitals with Team NEG and Extra Life
  • raised over $1100 to find a cure for cancer with Gamers for a Cure
  • proposed — and accepted! — marriage during Cards Against Humanity
  • told ghost stories by the fireside with Oscar Rios and Golden Goblin Press
  • caught a ball game at Fenway Park with Green Monster Invades the Green Mountains
  • streamed Dungeons & Dragons games for laughs and good causes with Improvised Weapons, Gemhammer and Sons and Victory Condition Gaming
  • passed Sneaky Carnage cards around all weekend
  • played a ton more games

Thank you, everyone, who helped make Carnage possible this year, last year and every year prior since Carnage at the Crossroads kicked the whole thing off in 1998. A convention like Carnage exists entirely because of you, the gamer, the one who wants to spend a whole weekend meeting new friends, trying new games and enjoying the daylights out of the tabletop hobby.

From the very beginning, Carnage has been a labor of love. The committee members love playing games, learning new games, teaching the games they love to other people. But you can’t make a whole convention out of that without so many more people also believing in that same vision of sharing their love for the hobby. Without GMs to teach the games and players to play them, there would be no Carnage.

Moreover, without the friendships that spring up among conventioneers — there’s nothing quite like standing in line to pick up your badge and catching up with friends you haven’t seen since last year, or the annual Saturday night dinner out before rushing back — there’s no way Carnage could have lasted 20 years. Carnage is here because you are here. Carnage is fun because you make it fun. You make the friendships and the memories that keep you and all your friends coming back. Every year, we are humbled that you all choose Carnage to be the place to renew those friendships, make new ones and celebrate our hobby.

Thank you, each and every one of you, for helping make Carnage the best little game convention in New England for the last 20 years. We could not have done it without you.

Carnage 21 is November 2-4, 2018 in Killington, Vermont. We’ll see you on the mountain!

Local Designers Offer Demos and Playtests at Carnage XX

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This year at Carnage XX, the convention is pleased to present a selection of regional game designers showing off games both in design and ready for prime time. Some will be available for perusal in the vendor room — Northstar Room, on the ground floor of the Killington Grand — and others are on the formal schedule in the Oscar Wilde Ballroom, just down the hall from the Northstar Room.

Epic Endeavor Games (Northstar Room)

Pocket Kung Fu (Demo / For Sale)
The Original Kung Fu Fighting Microgame, 2-6 player
Turn your table top into an arena full of Kung Fu masters with Pocket Kung Fu! (Everyday) objects like books, glasses, or cellphones transform into active game elements as fighters leap, flip, and battle their way to victory. This portable game can be played anywhere, in between other games, while ordering food, or even while waiting in line.

Vigilante (Demo)
1-4 player, semi-cooperative, campaign
In Vigilante, you create a character of your own design by building a deck of abilities, weapons, allies and locations. You and your fellow players work together to defeat the Criminal’s forces and schemes before the “Grand Scheme” timer runs out. Be sure to manage the Public’s opinion so as not to fall out of favor with those you seek to protect — or game over!

The Excavators (Demo)
1-4 player
Dig into the adventure as you and your team uncover lost treasures in search of the ultimate prize. Compete with up to 3 other players as you attempt to match artifact pieces, scoring points and ultimately grab the ancient artifact of lore. This unique spin on Rummy combined with pulp adventure will get your heart racing!

2 Ton Porcupines (Northstar Room)

Kapow! (Demo)
Our first project is Kapow!, a comic hero vs. villain dice-battle showdown. Use a mix of static power dice and customizable “Action Dice” (with removable faces) to perform superhero moves and unique special powers. The Kickstarter launches in late October 2017!

 

First Stall Productions (Oscar Wilde Ballroom)

History 101: The POTUS Punch-Out (Demo)
What if all the former U.S. Presidents walked into a bar? In this unique new board flipping game you will be leading a team of former presidents and competing to see what former President will still be standing when the dust settles.

See the convention schedule for scheduled demo times and sign up for one.

Society of Ultimate Evil and Terror the Card Game – S.U.E.T (Demo)
Play an Evil Genius competing to gain entry into the Society of Ultimate Evil and Terror. To do so you must be the first to complete a doomsday device and blackmail the world.

See the convention schedule for schedule demo times and sign up for one.

Endeavfour Studios (Oscar Wilde Ballroom)

Apoc.EXE (Playtest)
You and up to 3 of your closest thrill seeking friends could try to survive the end of the world. Whether you survive or not, please remember one thing: don’t touch the zombie T-Rex –or was it don’t let it touch you?!

See the convention schedule for scheduled demo times and sign up for one.

 

 

Resonym (Oscar Wilde Ballroom)

Visitor in Blackwood Grove (Demo)
Fresh from its successful Kickstarter campaign, a mysterious Visitor has crash-landed in Blackwood Grove. Race to figure out the secret rule and save the alien in this induction game by local designers! This is a quick game, demos will continue thru out the slot.

See the convention schedule for scheduled demo times and sign up for one.