Scrumtacular! A Scrum Con Success Story

I seem to fall into an emerging demographic: the middle-ager who has been in a gaming deep freeze for the past several decades (usually since high school or college) but has emerged from hibernation with renewed passion for a pastime that brought a lot of joy before being abandoned for so-called adult endeavors and responsibilities.

And like many a good fantasy tale, it involved me stumbling upon a forgotten treasure suffused with magic and mystery that set me down an unforeseen path. I was unwittingly drawn into this new adventure when I recognized, after unearthing a box in the basement filled with a couple hundred Grendier, Ral Partha, and Citadel miniatures from the 1980s, just how much I missed the inspiring pleasures and camaraderie of the gaming that took up so much of my teenage head space. 

I dabbled in board gaming when I could over the decades, and I even tried to get into a regular role playing game for a few weeks in 2002, but I was in the early days of a publishing career focused on economic justice issues that was ramping up. And ever hungry for a counterbalancing creative pursuit, I was already playing in two regular bands (1, 2) that filled most of my free time. When I finally set the guitar down, I started my own press and its imprint Lost Art Books in 2010. In fact, I even went through a now-regretted Great Gaming Purge around this time, selling off 90% of my collection, thinking I'd never find the time or inclination for that hobby again. Those decades had a lot of twists and turns. 

I've written in greater detail about my gaming past and rebirth in the post on attending my first-ever game convention at the advanced age of 47. And despite having a great time at the multiple cons I attended over the following year, I was vexed by how difficult it was to schedule games with local folks who approached gaming in the same spirit as me. So, I happily resorted to starting what I immediately dubbed the Second Saturday Scrum Club and created a standing invitation for some friends both old and new to come to my house for monthly miniatures gaming. Charter member and now friend Walt O'Hara described the club's name as "grandiloquent," which I'll cop to...but I've long lived by the adage that fortune favors the bold, not the bashful. Hell, I think I made an official club logo before we even had our first actual meeting in Dec. 2017. Fortunately that has subsequently been replaced by this better version below by fellow Scrummer John Sears.

How's that for grandiloquent, Walt?

Surely then it's only natural that a fledgling little  group like ours would start organizing our own convention less than a year later, right? 

Natural or not, that's how Scrum Con came to be (read the "origin story" for more details). I knew we should promote our modest effort at the Fall In convention in Lancaster, Pa., and so the scramble started early last fall to lock down a date and location. With that in place, we started recruiting game masters who we had played with and whose style meshed with ours. "Curated for quality" was the operating idea.

I also knew I wanted to find a way to bring in semi-local gaming luminary Zeb Cook, who I had met through gaming pals in the Aberdeen, Md. group the HAWKs. Zeb's work provided some of the rocket fuel that sent my imagination soaring as a kid. When my lovely friend Suanna heard that I had recruited Cook as Scrum Con's guest of honor, she said, "You never do it half ass, do you?" I suppose that's something of a theme to this yarn...as my mom, a recovering alcoholic, used to tell me, "Fake it till you make it."

Me and Zeb.

With a gang as talented as the members of the Scrum Cub, we didn't have to do too much faking it. Everybody pitched in, and after a few weeks of plotting and planning, the appointed day arrived. 

We provided complimentary donuts, bagels, coffee, and juice to everyone who attended. That's how we roll...

Ellen preparing to hang the posters showcasing her photos.

Rich overseeing the tables while the morning GMs set up.

Here I am working the registration booth, greeting people as they start to stream into Davis Hall  for a day of gaming.

Posted below are photos and the official program description from every game that ran in the morning and afternoon sessions. Interspersed between each set of game photos are some candid shots to provide a sense of the day's look and feel. 

Scrum Clubbers Jared, John, and I took some of the photos below, but most of them are by my immensely talented and generous wife, who is steadfastly by my side for every new adventure, when she's not the one actually leading the way. I have no illusions that I wouldn't have been able to make my part of this endeavor happen without her seemingly inexhaustible support (which included her taking time off work to help me get this across the finish line). You keep amazing me, babe.

(As usual, click any photo to enlarge.)

Return to the Isle of Dread

Role Playing Game • Fantasy
Rules: Dungeons & Dragons (Basic/Expert Edition) • Players: 8
GM: David “Zeb” Cook
Time/Location: 10:00 a.m. • Table 1

It’s been over 30 years since you last saw the shores of that dangerous island where you first made a reputation as an explorer and adventurer of note. Days ago a note arrived imploring you to return, painting a picture of tragedy and peril. You would have ignored it but for the sender’s name—Rory Barbarossa. So now you’ve come out of retirement for one last adventure—and a return to the Isle of Dread.

Coming in from the cold to get the game set up...

Reviewing those character sheets...generated randomly. Old school!

Save vs. Finger of Death.

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Some players at lunch thumbing through the Scrum Con printed program...

We exhibited Scrum Club photographer Ellen Levy's photographs from the past year's worth of games played at our home. Several of these posters were hung about Davis Hall.

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Junkwaffel: Southern Cross

Miniatures Game  •  Post-Apocalyptic Racing

Rules: Mad Maximillian 1934  •  Players: 10

GM: Walt O’Hara of the Second Saturday Scrum Club

Time/Location: 10:00 a.m.  •  Table 5

A decidedly not-turbo-charged game of car combat set after the apocalypse..no, not that one, the other one set back after World War One. Remember that? Gamers run races with up-armored motorcycles, buggies, jalopies, and junkers equipped with the finest early 1930s technology! Ford Model Ts, Hispano-Souzas, Fiats, and Packards take to the field firing cutting edge Lewis and Maxim guns. Feel the thunder!

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The Gleam in the King’s Eye

Role Playing Game  •  Fantasy

Rules: Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (Fifth Edition)  •  Players: 6

GM: Elizabeth Ferrara

Time/Location: 10:00 a.m.  •  Table 2

Lord Marlin Whitesparrow wishes to become king. But the Crown of the First Lord, the symbol of kingship that once belonged to his family has long been missing. Recent excavations beneath Whitesparrow Keep have uncovered an entrance to the forgotten family catacombs. Might the lost crown be buried within? Seeking 3rd-level adventurers to help the young lord recover his birthright! 

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Quantum Cola Blues

Miniatures Game  •  Post-Apocalyptic Skirmish

Rules: This Is Not a Test  •  Players: 6

GM: Joey McGuire

Time/Location: 10:00 a.m.  •  Table 8

A long dormant robot bottling factory has suddenly come to life again. What caused this to occur is secondary to local factions getting their hands on the special product produced there, the rare and very valuable Quantum Cola. The call has gone out for brave groups to enter the factory and secure what bottles they can. If you’re brave, crazy, or both, and foolhardy enough to fight a legion of homicidal robots for fame and fortune, then sign up right away. 

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Forgotten Grottoes of the Sea Lords

Role Playing Game  •  Fantasy

Rules: Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (First Edition)  •  Players: 8

GM: Keith Sloan

Time/Location: 3:30 p.m.  •  Table 2

Once these coasts were ruled by the dread Sea Lords, evil men little better than pirate-kings. Long destroyed by the new kingdoms, one of their ancient underground strongholds has been rediscovered, and a brave band of adventurers is set to seek their fortunes therein. This is a simple dungeon crawl, plundering expedition! Pre-generated characters provided.

We received lots of great player feedback on what a fun, well-prepared game Keith ran... 

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Our flea market was set up so that attendees could leave their stuff with the Scrum Con organizers to sell on consignment so that players could enjoy gaming all day without having to staff a table.

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Commandos at Dawn

Miniatures Game  •  World War II

Rules: Combat Patrol: WWII™  •  Players: 5

GM: Buck Surdu and Greg Priebe of the HAWKs

Time/Location: 10:00 a.m.  •  Table 6

Commandos attack to gather information and destroy an important Nazi radar installation. German guards and reaction forces must stop them. We will feature the under-development commando supplement to the published Combat Patrol rules. The streamlined and intuitive nature of the rules enables players to fight the game, not the rules.

We intentionally brought donuts for everyone, but didn't realize we were also bringing GM screens.

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Stonehell

Role Playing Game  •  Fantasy

Rules: Dungeons and Dragons (Moldvay Basic)  •  Players: 12

GM: Rich McKee of the Second Saturday Scrum Club

Time/Location: 10:00 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.  •  Table 4

This is an expedition to Michael Curtis’s mega-dungeon, “Stonehell.” Will you delve into its depths in search of fortune and glory? This is an old school dungeon crawl using the classic Moldvay rule set. Sign up if you like exploring, mapping, problem solving, and dying in the dark under ridiculous circumstances.

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Across the Seas of Mars

Miniatures Game  •  Science Fantasy

Rules: Home brew  •  Players: 8

GM: Steve Braun of the Second Saturday Scrum Club

Time/Location: 3:30 p.m.  •  Table 5

Command a flyer or a frigate as your crew searches for rhadum somewhere near the Brakett Sea. You won’t be alone and the locals may not take kindly to your efforts, so pack accordingly. May I suggest a cutlass and a radium pistol?

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144 hot dogs got us through our bargain "gamer's lunch" lunch with a couple to spare.

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Double Dare

Role Playing Game  •  Horror

Rules: Call of Cthulhu (Seventh Edition)  •  Players: 6

GM: Jared Smith of the Second Saturday Scrum Club

Time/Location: 10:00 a.m.  •  Table 3

Bill Wessler is the biggest bully in high school. Heck, he is probably the biggest bully in the small rural town you live in. You’ve all had run-ins with Bill and his two sidekicks. Just this week, Bill dared anyone brave enough to spend the entire night in the old Denford school on the edge of town. Can you stay or will you be called chicken?

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Scrummer Walt holding up the event's program.

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Shootout in Peckinpah County

Miniatures Game  •  Wild West

Rules: Gunfighter’s Ball  •  Players: 8

GM: Ed Watts

Time/Location: 3:30 p.m.  •  Table 7

Another quiet day dawns in Peckinpah County’s town of Bitter Creek. Unfortunately, it never seems to stay quiet...noisy cows arriving, express wagons rumbling toward the bank, noisy cowboys and ne’er-do-wells drinking far too early and making foolish life decisions. What’s a lawman to do?

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Kobayashi Ishimura

Role Playing Game  •  Sci-Fi Horror

Rules: Savage Worlds  •  Players: 6

GM: Scott McKinley

Time/Location: 3:30 p.m.  •  Table 3

Captain’s Log, USS Kellion, Stardate 22508: Long-range sensors have detected a vessel orbiting Aegis VII, an abandoned Federation mining colony. It is unclear if it is an Earth ship, but erratic power signatures indicate it may be in distress or a derelict. Admiral Altman at Starfleet Command denied my request for more information about the system, saying the data was classified. Highly unusual. The admiral didn’t go so far as to order me not to approach, but he was clearly agitated. I’ve laid in a course to investigate. Play characters from each of the classic Starfleet divisions in this Star Trek/Dead Space mashup adventure. Do you believe in the no-win scenario? How about the no-win scenario with zombies?

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Viking-Saxon Skirmish

Miniatures Game  •  Dark Ages Skirmish

Rules: Blood Eagle  •  Players: 8

GM: Kelly Armstrong

Time/Location: 3:30 p.m.  •  Table 6

Vikings are raiding a small monastery as the locals rally to resist. 

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John and I taking a break from the throng by the registration desk.

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The Forgotten Hive

Role Playing Game  •  Fantasy

Rules: Dungeons & Dragons (adapted Fifth Edition)  •  Players: 6

GM: Luke Stacks

Time/Location: 3:30 p.m.  •  Table 2

Beneath the crumbling walls of a keep lies an unexplored warren of caverns stretching into unknown darkness. Within the depths, an ancient evil stirs and grows hungry. Forgotten horrors, once relegated to legend, are on the move–with only your band of heroes between them and their goal.

What begins as simple exploration rapidly becomes a struggle against denizens of the underworld and its environs. Through crumbling caverns and against long-trapped foes, the party is confronted with a threat that places the future of the surface world in jeopardy. Your heroes must act quickly to secure the world, or face the consequences of their failure to halt the advance of the denizens of The Forgotten Hive. Pre-gens provided.

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Francesco thinking hard, trying to formulate his retort...

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Silence the Gun

Miniatures Game  •  World War II

Rules: When Technology Meets Tradition  •  Players: 8

GM: Neil Carmichael of the Army of Central Maryland Wargaming

Time/Location: 3:30 p.m.  •  Table 8

German gun batteries are causing havoc on French troops and supplies moving north to the village of Rossignol. The French 2nd Battalion orders two companies forward to locate, destroy, or capture the German guns. German troops to the West are moving to cut off French reinforcements and the road leading East into the village.

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The Enchanted Forest

Miniatures Game  •  Fantasy

Rules: Blood & Swash (Fantasy Variant)  •  Players: 8

GM: Eric Schlegel of the HAWKs

Time/Location: 10:00 a.m.  •  Table 7

Groups of adventurers have entered the Enchanted Valley in search of fame and fortune, but what will they find? Orcs? Fairies? Giants? Hidden treasure? Or Death?

My Loot

At our flea market, I managed to score the starter set and a supplement for the out-of-print All Quiet on the Martian Front. I've seen it set up at other conventions, and it can be a really striking game. I'm going to have to scour the internet for some 3D STL files of early 20th century buildings so that I can start pulling together enough terrain to get it on the table. Fortunately, I already have quite a few bits and pieces (trees, shrubs, etc.) from my zombie apocalypse game that I trot out at Halloween, which is also in 15mm.

But the coolest new treasure I walked home with wasn't procured at our flea market but rather given to me as a birthday present by my friend, Scott McKinley (my birthday was on Feb. 14, and the proximate date of Scrum Con wasn't exactly a coincidence). He recently had overheard me bemoan that I had never had a chance to play the Against the Giant series of modules back in the day. He showed up at Scrum Con with this sweet original copy of Steading of the Hill Giant Chief. How awesome is that? 

Thanks again, Scott!

CLOSING THOUGHTS

As my friend and fellow Scrum Clubber John Sears would say, I can cross another item off the gaming bucket list. I had no thought of launching a con around a year ago, and I wouldn't have entertained proposing the idea if it wasn't for the gaming gang I run with now. Some of them are 20-year friends, others more like 20-month, but they're good people, and I'm lucky to know each of them. When Francesco and I stood in Davis Hall in the final hour watching over 100 gamers enjoying themselves, I actually started to get a bit verklempt. 

For those keeping score, we came damn near selling out with 111 people scheduled to walk through Davis Hall in College Park, Maryland. There were six registrants who cancelled in the week leading up to the con, and another six who simply didn't turn up. We also had six people show up at the door who hadn't pre-registered who we managed to squeeze in, so in the end we had around 100 folks actually attend. We served around 120 hot dogs, and several dozen bags of chips and cookies. I'm not sure how many gallons of free coffee and juice we served in the morning, but it was needed to wash down the dozens of free bagels and donuts we had on hand. And we tried to keep the GMs hydrated, with water throughout the day.  

As I've already told the GMs a couple of times in private, they were amazing to watch in action, and the day was only possible because of their generosity of time, talent, and creativity. Thanks so much again for helping make the day a success.

Will there be a Scrum Con 2020?

The Scrum Club will have to discuss it, but I have a feeling we all had a good enough time to want to make this part of our club's extracurricular activities. We never saw this as a money-making proposition, and deliberately charged as little as we could for pre-paid admission ($8) and lunch ($4). A quick tally shows we likely didn't break even, but we didn't expect, too, either. It is pretty clear that we've out grown Davis Hall, even in our inaugural outing.

When we started this, folks with the voice of experience in this area cautioned we'd be lucky to get half the numbers we did, and so we wisely started with modest aims. But I think last Saturday shows that there is an appetite for a small local con focusing on miniatures gaming and role playing games. That's what appeals to our club, and it seems we're not alone, so let's see where this thing goes...

Thank again to every single one of you who attended. We made some new friends, and hopefully you did, too. Besides the games, that was my wish...that you might meet your next lifelong gaming pal at Scrum Con. After all, that's our story, too...

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If you are interested in hearing about possible plans for Scrum Con 2020, please go to our home page and sign up for the mailing list; it is the only guaranteed way of making sure you hear about it from us as soon as the details are worth sharing.

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But Wait...There's More!

• Check out fellow Scrub Club member John Sears' post at his blog 1,000 Foot General for another take on Scrum Con 2019!
• Scrummer Walt O'Hara has also weighed in with his thoughts and photos from Scrum Con 2019 in a post on his blog Third Point of Singularity.