At the start of the month, it’s one of Europe’s biggest tabletop game expos as UKGE heads to Birmingham. Geek Native will be there.

Free League Publishing and UKGE have announced an 18+ masters tournament for the Alien RPG. Competitive RPG playing? It seems so, but surely that’s possible with Alien RPG cinematic mode, where few characters make it to the end!

The first round of the inaugural masters will happen on Saturday and start with six tables of players making their way through the same scenario. UKGE will provide GMs, and at the end, each table of players votes for who think they think is their best player. It’s a sort of collective competitive RPG.

The winners of those votes all get specialist Alien dice and move through to the next round.

Round two of the Alien Masters tournament happens on the same day but at an undisclosed location within the expo, and a never-seen-before scenario will be used.

The GM for this round is Fiona Howat, host of What Am I Rolling and the DM’s Book Club.

Fiona’s round ends with another vote from the players on who they think was their best. That winner picks up a collection of Alien merch from Free League, including the core rules, the starter set and the modules Heart of Darkness and Destroyer of Worlds.

Tickets cost £5 and can be bought from UK Games Expo.co.uk. At the time of writing, there are 24 left.

Quick Links

• Alien Masters tickets.

Fandom, the former owner of D&D Beyond, makes most of its cash by running ads on fan-maintained wikis. Today, AnimeCon in the UK has announced a partnership with the wiki operator.

Running from the 17th to the 18th of June at Birmingham’s huge NEC, AnimeCon hopes to be the go-to event for anime, manga and cosplay fans. It’s an Otaku celebration.

AnimeCon 2023 will have a live arena, pop culture fame from Asia, an artist corner, panels and now a Fandom-hosted after-party. There’s also now an AnimeCon branded Fandom-hosted wiki.

Shaun Jordan, Vice President of Europe at Fandom, told the press;

The anime market is currently worth over $25 billion and growing, with expectations valuing it will double before the end of the decade. Traffic to these communities on Fandom continues to climb, as interest in the anime sector broadens.

Working with The Fanatics Group for the first Animecon event in the UK was a logical partnership that allows us to superserve our animefan base at this exciting fan-first event.”

Lanie, The Emberwolf and Fukuro, A-list cosplayers, are attending, and so is the skateboard artist Mangalivepaint, the digital artist Joshua Dunlop and a host of voice actors.

Quick Links

• AnimeCon UK
• Trains of Birmingham

KiwiRPG Week kicks off today and, yes, lasts for a week. There will be game premieres, online events and other goodies.

One of the goodies is a time-limited KiwiRPG Week Bundle. The headline stats are that the bundle costs $31.49 for downloads which normally costs $73.97.

There are 11 RPGs and supplements inside. Here’s the breakdown;

KiwiRPG Week 2022 bundle

• Doskvol Street Maps – Detailed Maps for Blades in the Dark by Old Dog Games
• CyberKittens: Project Bakeneko by Ardens Ludere
• High School Princess by Scary Monster Games
• On Mighty Thews by Simon Carryer Games
• Soaring Lions by Imaginary Empire
• Quiet Day in the Library by Scary Monster Games
• FSpaceRPG Living Rulebook by FSpace Publications
• Nod by Simon Carryer Games
• Dinosaur Princesses by Ardens Ludere
• The Natural Philosophers by Generic Games
• Left Coast – The Short Story edition by Steve Hickey

You can find out more about KiwiRPG Week from the main site and, as it’s an online social event, track the seven days of NZ fun on Twitter and social media with the hashtag #KiwiRPG.

Quick Links

• Time-limited KiwiRPG Week Bundle.
• Main KiwiRPG site.

Geek Native’s RPG and geeky convention calendar has had its first update for the year.

Over 40 listings have been added, but maintenance is a Sisyphean task, and so, if you see an error, please let me know. It may well be a mistake from these fingers or perhaps a convention needing to make changes to navigate the increasingly challenging world of real-life events.

The Geek Native convention calendar doesn’t just have real-life events, though, as it tracks online conventions and days too. Not actual plays, though.

2022 tabletop game conventions

And others!

Some of the new events include the online Romance of the Cyclops Con from Goodman Games, slated for May 13 to 15.

The calendar tracks online events the tabletop gamers might be interested in and isn’t restricted to just tabletop conventions. Comic Cons and anime events, for example, are also included. A bit like Geek Native itself!

For example, in March and in London, there’s the Games Music Festival to be held at the Royal Festival Hall. What a remarkable event!

I also noticed that AireCon has a merch site, and so I’ve added that, as the first convention, to the merch sites that support the hobby industry.

Luke Gygax and Gary Con, the tabletop RPG convention named after D&D co-creator Gary Gygax, has issued a statement addressing a lawsuit.

It’s an incredible lawsuit, surfaced by Tenkar’s Tavern and with a DropBox copy of the filing made public. The whole document is over 100 pages long and makes many allegations, from corruption to forced brothel visits and sexual harassment.

Servotronics, a parts manufacturer, a knife company, and others are named. Inappropriate financial relationships are alleged. The lawsuit paints a picture of widespread corruption, misbehaviour, toxicity and dishonesty.

Luke Gygax’s comments focus on a few points;

• To state that Ken Trbovich is not associated with Gary Con, nor ever will be.
• To state that Ken Trbovich has never owned Gary Con.
• To state that Gary Con has received some support from associated businesses.
• To address concerns around the charity auction and promise it will be videoed in the future.
• To acknowledge there are money fees to pay for handling charity auction donations.

Quick Links

• Gary Con statement on Ken Trbovich

Thought Bubble, a comic book festival that started in a basement back in 2007 and has now grown to a significant event, wants to encourage more people to read comic books.

With Comic Book Drive the organisers are coordinating a donation and redistribution program. Fans can donate comic books, just 1, 100 or more (but email in for significant donations). The event will put the pre-loved comics into the hands of schools, libraries and charitable organisations across the UK.

Comic Book Driveve donation points

There will be a drop-off point at the Thought Bubble itself when the comic convention runs at the Harrogate Convention Centre on the 13th and 14th of November.

Furthermore, a local store, Destination Venus, and event co-sponsor Travelling Man also take comic books, acting as drop-off points for the Comic Book Drive.

• Travelling Man Leeds, 32 Central Rd, Leeds LS1 6DE
• Travelling Man Manchester, 4 Dale St, Manchester M1 1JW
• Travelling Man York, 74 Goodramgate, York YO1 7LF
• Travelling Man Newcastle, 43 Grainger St, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 5JE
• Destination Venus, Westgate House, Station Parade, Harrogate HG1 1HQ

The drive will carry on until the end of the year, and you can donate at these local drop-off points until then.

If you work for a school, or library, or a charity that might benefit from the Comic Book Drive then please email Thought Bubble.

Wizard World was struggling to make money before the lockdowns, and since they’re in the convention business, you can see why the writing might be on the wall.

The company has sold its six most significant events to Fan Expo, a major competitor.

Wizard World’s Chicago, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Portland, St. Louis, and Cleveland are now part of Fan Expo HQ. The Chicago event, due in October, will run as usual.

Fan Expo HQ say they’re now the world’s largest geeky convention organiser. They’ve 17 significant events in their calendar of expos.

Owned by Informa, a true giant of events, Fan Expo HQ has been on the hunt during the COVID-19 crisis. Previously, they bought Denver Pop Culture Con while also setting up a 2022 event for San Francisco.

ReedPop is now Fan Expo’s main competitor, and they have the likes of C2E2, Comic Con Paris, Crunchyroll Expo, MCM Comic COn, New York Comic Con and the PAX series.

Geek Native (tries to) maintain a geeky event convention calendar. If you spy any alternations or have additions, then get in touch.

Since the July update, Geek Native has added 42 gaming and geeky conventions to the calendar.

No doubt there are ten times that number already scheduled somewhere, so please let me know in the comments below of any recommended additions or necessary corrections.

It’s become a bit of a start of the month routine to call out some highlights from those additions and the weeks coming up, so let’s look at that calendar.

If you want to coordinate meet-ups or chats during a convention, there’s a channel on the Geek Native Discord.

PazioCon Europe

PazioCon Europe Online is due August 19 to 22nd.

Women in Games Festival

Added to the calendar last month, but due in September is the Women in Games global festival. It’s an online event about collaboration and community.

Con on the Cob

Due even later, but looking wonderful is Ohio’s Con on the Cob which kicks off in October.

Quick Links

• RPG and geeky convention calendar.
• Physical conventions search.
• Online conventions search.

On Friday 30th July and Sunday 1st August, one of the largest tabletop gaming conventions will try and push on with an in-person expo.

It’s not easy, and I’ve sympathy for the organisers. Equally, it’s pleasing to see that people are going and worrying, and we’re left to hope the event does not become a super spreader.

The lockdown is set to be wiped away in England on the 19th of July, ending one of the longest-running and most severe restrictions in the world. It’s a controversial decision as while it helps avoid clashing with the expected winter surge and school schedules, it also comes during the start of the third wave of infections. People with two jags of vaccine can catch, spread, become ill and still die of COVID-19.

The UK Games Expo, as Gen Con in the States, previously said that they will not require attendees to wear masks.

However, in an update last night, and on a #PlayWithConfidence news page due for another update today, those rules change.

• Visitors to UK Games Expo will now have to take a home lateral flow test before coming to the venue.
• Everyone aged 16 and higher must also present an NHS COVID Pass on day one or, before attendance, email evidence of a negative COVID-19 test. (The NHS COVID Pass is only available in England, not Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales).
• Anyone younger than 16 does not qualify for the Pass and should bring email evidence of a negative test.
• Unless you have medical exemptions, you must bring and wear a mask.

It’s understood that the venue owners are involved in these new rules. Geek Native hypothesises that while it will be legally permissible for visitors not to wear masks that the Birmingham NEC venue has two considerations;

Keeping the venue open, avoiding being closed as an outbreak centre.
Cautious about insurance and liability, as the English legal requirements for venue owners Duty of Care is untested in this situation.

Quick Links

• UK Game Expo COVID-19 rules
• Convention Calendar

Geek Native runs an RPG, fandom and geeky events calendar. Phew, well, I try to keep up.

Firstly, if you know of any such events, either online or off, which you think should be included, please let me know in the comments below.

Events are added each week or updated as required and talked about on the Geek Native Discord. In fact, if you’re looking for a space to coordinate meet-ups during a convention, then there’s a channel for that.

In this post, let’s look at some of the fandom and RPG conventions and with recent news.

Gary Con XIV

Gary Con will run from March 24-27th in 2022 at the Grand Geneva Resort in Lake Geneva, and are now taking registrations.

WitcherCon

WitcherCon will run on Twitch and YouTube this July 9 at 7PM CEST and then against at 3AM CEST on July 10. The full schedule is available from the WitcherCon site.

Everyone-Games

Everyone-Games is an online event to promote accessibility in games and will run from October 1st, to the 2nd.

They’re looking for volunteers.

ShireCon 2021

The third ShireCon will be a one-day convention for RPGs and tabletop games in Berkshires, in Berkshires and the town of Falls Village.

ShireCon will be held as an in-person event on Saturday, September 18th.