*/ climbs up on soapbox/*

I lost 3 whole days last week to being in bed with Covid. Thanks whomever didn't bother to NOT go to Gamehole Con that had symptoms and didn't bother to wear a mask, take a test (you get them free from the gub'ment) or like, not attend.

That level of selfishness is par for the course these days it seems and it makes me both angry and sad. Not only because I lost all the work time on the Atomic Altars I had planned, but also because it then spread to my kid and they lost out on a prime social opportunity in the big Halloween sleepover party they were supposed to attend on Saturday.

I'm not one to tell others how to live their lives and like RPG characters, I want everyone to have agency in their own lives and their own bodies. But when it starts negatively impacting the people around them and spreads out like ripples in a pond, that's where it has to stop. This is the second time that Covid from a convention has negatively impacted my life outside of the cons. The first was Gary Con 2023 where Covid then prevented me from even being onsite for the event that I help organize, The Midwest Gaming Classic, which is part of my day job. I'm tired of it. It makes me not want to go to physical conventions anymore. I cancelled my Rock Con attendance this coming weekend because I need to make it up to the kiddo somehow.

*/steps off soapbox/*
*/kicks soapbox into corner/*
*/grabs podium with Ophoric Labs logo on it/*

At Gamehole Con I hung out with my good friends Guys, Games and Beer. They're wonderful people doing the great work of interviewing people who make games, playing games, drinking beer and recording it for everyone to see later. Since they were short staffed near the beginning of GHC, I did a couple interviews (available on their Facebook and Youtube). Later in the con, they had me sit down and run them through the final encounter of Ziggurat of the Megaton Maiden including a top down camera of the action, and the electronic Atomic Altar. If you like what you see from them, click subscribe, like, follow or whatever. They're a great group, always fun to hang out with, always happy to lend a hand, and always down for some gaming action.

The added bonus here is that you get to see how I run part of the adventure! Hopefully a helpful piece of information for all those Judges about to set off into the wasteland.

Here's the video:

Trivia note: Tom, in the purple shirt, CNC'd the windows in the electronic Atomic Altars for me. ;)

So, in case you don't follow me on Twitter, Facebook, or Discord... here's how the weekend went at my favorite RPG-focused game convention, Gamehole 11!
4 games. 4 hours each, 7 players each
1 one-wire defusal. (accidental)
1 one-wire detonation. (intentional)
2 detonations due to hasty decisions.
28 characters started, 4 joined along the way, 8 survived for a 75% mortality rating. My dice in the last 2 games were muy caliente!
3-1 in favor of the Megaton Maiden!
Thousands enter the Endless Army

One full group survived (the one-wire defusal).

One character in another group survived. He was a manimal and Glowburned to get a 32 Temporary Invulnerability. As most of the party was down he went after the Atomic Altar. His fatal flaw was he clipped all the wires with his claws and detonated it. That group also did not stop the reactor meltdown. It created at 100km wide atomic fireball. The manimal flew 48km, hit the ground and walked away because of the mutation (see below).

Gamehole Con starts tomorrow and I've got 4 full games of Megaton Maiden... and these!

Not where I wanted to be at but it's close. I need to get a couple more done today and tomorrow morning. The design is basically just as I imagined it. A couple may be without tilt sensors as that has been the most problematic piece as they are far touchier than I had hoped. But for the most part, I've got them in there and in a position where should the box stay upright and not be moved TOO much during defusing it'll work just fine. I've left the battery connections outside. Everyone can decide if they want to open them to shove the battery in or just make a rule at the table that the power switch and the battery are instant detonations. That's my plan this weekend. 

Also, because I want to showcase Megaton Maiden (which is why I'm running 4 packed sessions), I also put together the papercraft version. This time I used cardstock and that was WAY easier than me using standard thin printer paper. Here's how it turned out. After Gamehole I will put together a video on how to assemble it just so it's out there for everyone. It's not terrible but it does take a little patience (which I'm running thin on this week) and some dedication. 
Here are some pics of the papercraft build in progress.

So, I'm on track to start pushing out these electronic Atomic Altars next week after I fulfill pick ups this weekend at Gamehole. As I get them done they'll go out to the 10 or so of you that I won't see this weekend. :)

Hello everyone,

I just wanted to drop a quick update for all you Atomic Altar Adherents... I think I'll just let the images do the talking, yeah?

So there you go. Atomic Altar assembly is moving along. It's still a lot of work ahead, but after I get ones done for Gamehole Con attendees (sound off in comments! I know Cole will be there from a previous comment.), then I'll start shipping the rest. I may also have one or two for sale at GHC, depends how far I get. While buying parts the lowest common denominator was like 20 so I will have a few extras in the long run.

According to the poll results, yes, I will paint them silver, distress them and add some highlights. You win! ;)

Those with raging FOMO now...

Mega-Maiden, Megaton Maiden, and Wizard Sea Chronicles #1 are all available in physical form from my personal shop. If you're thinking of getting more than one, there are buttons at the bottom for multiple books with combined shipping.