WhosyerCon 2026 (A bit late)

[Black Jack Rackham]

So I went to WhosyerCon this year and had a wonderful time. And as my tradition of reviewing every con I go do must continue, I present my list of The Good, The Bad, and A Bit of Both.

The Good:
Well really damn near everything!
1. I loved the games, all of them! From the sheer joy of actually getting to play in the games I’ve been building with you all for the last decade and a half, to Ken’s Kobolds 8 my BB game to the Call of Cthulhu game I played in (which was its own level of weirdness). I didn’t play a bad game the entire weekend! But I would be remiss if I didn’t point out some of the highlights:
a. During Kobolds 8 my BB, we had occasion to get an instant death check which killed us all. And unfortunately (or fortunately as it turns out), Darth Torg (ALL HAIL DARTH TORG) was with us and died also. One of the PCs picked up the helmet and declared himself to be the new Darth Torg (ALL HAIL THE NEW DARTH TORG). When he didn’t have much to do, he offered the helmet back to Ken but in a surprise move, another player picked it up and not only ran with it, but also guessed the very scene Ken had been planning for us. It was awesome to see!
b. The character I got for Call of Cthulhu had two skills I had never seen before, Overconfidence (at 83% btw) and one entitled, “ability to thoroughly discuss things you have no knowledge of” (at 76%). So any time any of the other players mentioned something I was unfamiliar with, I would bullshit my way through a good couple of sentences of utter gibberish. We had a great time and surprisingly, no one was injured and no one went insane. And as a bonus? We actually talked the baddie into giving up his baddie ways and going back to being a nice person. Stunning, really.
c. As a corollary to the CoC game, all the Cthulhu games being run at WhosyerCon are run by the You Too Can Cthulhu group. And as you all know I LOVE their games. Unfortunately so does everyone else (their game sessions at GenCon sell out in under 5 min every year). BUT at WhosyerCon, there were tickets available all weekend long!
d. Those 7th Sea games I played in. I will be honest, one of the main reasons I wanted to play (in addition to this being the exact kind of campaign I would want to play if I were not running) was to watch Ken GM. You’ve all heard me say on multiple occasions I think Ken is a far better GM than I am, so I’d planned on watching him and stealing his ideas. And whooo boy did I get some! Prepare to be amazed!
e. But onto highlights, there were many. First off, I got to watch as, once again, every table tackles the problems we set forth in some new and intriguing way. That coupled with seeing how the other GMs handle the personalities of the NPCs. It’s just a treat. But if I am forced to pick a favorite, it was Ep. 4. First off, it went long (proving once and for all, it’s not just me, VINDICATION!), which meant I was getting a little punchy. So we get to the last fight and Ken made some adjustments that were so good that I now want to re-write the ending (not massively, just fine tune it). But during the fight one of the NPCs got stabbed and as a one off line, Ken just had him grab his injury and exclaim, “Ow! My splanch!” and I could not stop laughing. Here it is two days later and just writing that is making me laugh.
f. Lastly, Ken and I got to do our traditional, “the Con is over for us, let’s just while away the hours talking about games and ideas and stuff and just hang out because we’re friends and don’t get to see each other all that much.”
g. Speaking of talking about ideas, on Sunday on the way to drop me off at the airport, Ken and I had a discussion about the campaign and he said that I sh…(REDACTED)…t was BRILLIANT!
2. Getting to see Ken and Mel and several of our regulars at the table. It was a blast getting to not be the responsible one. It’s such a different experience.
3. Ken himself! My host for the weekend came and picked me up at a wholly unreasonable hour (because my flight was over an hour late arriving), to driving me all over town to pick up Snapple, to introducing me to that bar that was just amazing, to taking me for my very first ever wine tasting (at the place that does the mead I love so much!) He just went all out and I so appreciate it!
4. The hotel – It got renovated recently and was real nice. If I were looking for things to complain about it would be tile floors in the rooms, but I am really stretching for that.
5. The con itself – lots to tout! Lemme give you a list:
a. It’s not just a convention, it’s a charity. Every year the profits they make go to help out locals and I cannot give them enough kudos for that.
b. The swagbags – So they don’t give them out (as you might expect) BUT you can buy them. As part of their charity, their swag bags had (this year) three different games, an enamel pin of the WhosyerCon Beholder, a tee shirt (your choice of sizes) and some other goodies. And that was the basic swagbag. There was an advanced one that had like 5 more games in addition to everything else. The basic one (the one I got) was just $25 which is about what I’d expected to pay for the tee shirt alone.
c. It’s size. I figured it’d be like a local regular con, but it looks to be about twice the size of the largest New England con I’ve been to. So lots of games and lots of people.
d. Speaking of, now I know I am not an Indianapolis native, but sheesh did I know a lot of folks, many of whom I have not seen in some time. It made me feel like part of the gang.
e. The dealers’ hall. WOW, just WOW. This is the largest dealers’ hall I have ever seen at a local con, bar none.

The Bad:
Honestly? Nothing. The few negatives were mixed in with the positives above, so I put them in the bit of both category. So let’s move on…

A Bit of Both:
1. I mentioned the games were real good and I had a blast at all of them. But if I am being honest, it was a bit of a letdown that there really wasn’t much to play on Sunday. It worked out for the best since I got to sleep in and have a leisurely breakfast, but maybe a little more robust Sunday lineup might have meant Ken and I getting to play together…
2. Ep. 4 was my favorite, no doubt, but Mel had a situation that took her away from the table before we were finished. And I was really enjoying having her around (I will let her give the details if she chooses). Plus I worry. So there’s that.
3. The hotel was nice and big, no loud folks in the hallways (or if there were, I never heard them). But it’s location is both inconvenient (I couldn’t just walk out and get to a grocery store to get Snapple) and a bit dangerous (there have been several drive by shootings in the area, not right nearby, but close enough for both Ken and the hotel staff to warn me off of walking the half a mile to the closest Kroger). Fortunately, I had Ken and Mel to bring my nectar of the gods.
4. The hotel’s restaurant had a good breakfast and I was easily able to get my gluten-free stuff, but their lunch/dinner menu was a bit skimpy for me. Not a disaster, just might have liked a bit more variety.
5. The wonderfully large dealers’ hall was, in fact, impressive. And I know con’s take the vendors they can get, but honestly I kind of wish there were more booths directly related to gaming stuff (as opposed to gamer-adjacent things).
6. Lastly, I think is a quibble that really applies to nearly all conventions. Sure there were a lot of games at the con (nearly 400), but I would have liked to see a little more variety beyond the usual lot of Pathfinder/D&D.

[Black Jack Rackham]

Just thought of an extra Good:
6. Recovery - It usually takes me a good 3-4 days to write this when I go to GenCon or Origins. I'd put it down to the drive times, but I realized even if its one of the local cons I still need like two days. But this time, despite flying and coming home VERY late, I was up and about things the very next day. In fact, had I not been exhausted, I might have been able to write this last night (or well, very early this morning, plane didn't land until after midnight).