Chris, Serpents, and the Ides of April

The Ides of April: Advantages and Disadvantages
Although the ability to sign up for game tables at North Texas RPG Con still doesn't start until April 15th, it's time to start thinking about it since that date approaches fast (as USA taxpayers are uncomfortably aware - it's also the deadline for filing tax returns). Another note: it's the deadline for submitting articles for this issue of Knockspell Magazine, so it's going to be a busy day for American-conventioneer-author-tax procrastinators.

One of the things I'm going to do during the run-up to the convention is highlight a couple of the games being run at the convention (the OD&D and Swords & Wizardry games mainly, but some others of note as well).

Me Falling off a Chair, or, "Let Other People Do This Because I Would Die"
The first gaming table to highlight is that of Chris Cain, who will be running his table in the Saturday 8AM to 6PM slot. No, that isn't a typo - it's a marathon 10 hour session from what I can tell. The GMs aren't bound to run the entire length of their allotted sessions, so it might be a bit less, but still. Wow. I need to check and make sure that Mike and Doug didn't schedule me for anything that long, because I usually stand on a chair while running a game, and falling off in exhaustion would hurt.

Chris's Game Table
Ad Limina: What's A Nice Serpent Temple Doing In An Old Mine Like This?
(Sounds good already - what's not to like about serpents, temples, and abandoned mines?)

Game System : Swords & Wizardry
(I don't think Chris has decided yet whether he's using the WhiteBox, Core, or Complete Rules, but obviously that's a minor factor at a convention game - you'll know the rules even if you don't know the rules)

Basic Info: 4-8 players, characters level 3-5, use pregens or generate character at table.

World Setting: homebrew; a town called Limina (Latin for "Threshold") on the borders of a crumbling empire; several nearby dungeons full of mystery and treasure.
(It's nice that Chris provided the translation of "Limina" -- he's totally fluent in Latin, so don't try calling your levitate spell "wingardium leviosa" or your hold person spell "petrificus totalis.")

Short Description: Recent explorations by agents of the Merchants' Guild into The Old Mine, abandoned 10 years ago under mysterious circumstances, have turn led to rumors of fantastic wealth laying about for the taking. It's also produced evidence that an active, full-scale Temple of the Serpent Cult is in this "mine". The Serpent Cult was believed defeated over a millennium ago. What is going on here?

An old school dungeon crawl with plenty of monsters, mayhem, and mysteries to overcome. Come back to the threshold of adventure!