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Andre Kruppa

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Andre Kruppa is an inveterate road GM, bringing his theatrical style of role-playing with props, sound effects, lighting and more to tabletop conventions all over New England, be it in the Call of Cthulhu or Star Wars milieus, or powered by his very own Lucid Dreams game engine.

TARA: How did you get into the tabletop hobby?

It started with a session of basic Dungeons & Dragons in a study hall in 1978 and quickly escalated from there. I was running Dungeons & Dragons within the week. That quickly led to branching out into board games like Avalon Hill’s Starship Troopers, some miniatures gaming, and eventually gothic, weird, and cosmic horror role-playing.

I discovered Runequest in 1979 and it paved the way later for Call of Cthulhu in 1981. I’ve been playing a mix of role-playing, miniatures, and board games ever since!

TARA: What brought you to Carnage originally?

ANDRE: I first came to Carnage because I had re-kindled my interest in historical miniatures gaming. I drove up to play in a few sessions and check it out. This was probably around 2000 or so. Many of the role-playing settings I favor are historical fantasy and historical miniatures games and the research required go hand in hand with my approach toward role-playing settings. I started running games at Carnage the following year!

TARA: What inspired you to develop Lucid Dreams?

ANDRE: I wanted a tool kit to allow a variety of grittier role-playing scenarios set in any era with a broad range of tools for the Game Master. The Lucid Dreams Role-playing Engine offers a skill-based system with increases gained from use and training. Horror, fear, and insanity effects are modeled. Options include organizations to support Player Character operations. Resources include Wealth, with abstracted mechanics to reduce record keeping, and Social Class, to help define character background and station, as well as options for Contacts, Fame, Retainers, Agents, Glory, Wealth, Spies, Military Force, and more to be used as needed  Combat is lethal, revolves around a simple Shock Test, and is fairly fast-paced.

TARA: What makes Lucid Dreams unique?

ANDRE: The system facilitates a number of campaign styles allowing for direct challenges as well as games involving action in the wings from spying to military raids. The rules for organizations allow modeling of anything from a feudal estate to a detective agency or governmental branch office to help support play.

TARA: What is your most memorable moment at the tables at a Carnage convention?

ANDRE: There have been so many fun moments. I think we all do this largely for the shared excitement of a given collaborative scene or story. For me, some of the most fun is at the end when the madness and mayhem ensues.

To read more about the Lucid Dreams role-playing game, visit Andre’s website, Game Soapbox, and like Game Soapbox on Facebook. You can get a peek of theatrical role-playing on Game Soapbox Productions’ YouTube channel. The very bold will find Andre running games of Derelict Adrift and The Missing at Carnage 21 this year. After that, book Andre to run games through Dark Phoenix Events.

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Jeannie Compter

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Jeannie Compter is a long-time GM at Carnage, as well as host of game nights and other events in her home of Dalton, Massachusetts.

TARA: What game is kind of your jam?

JEANNIE: I love playing a lot of different games, but especially pick up and deliver games. Empire Builder was my first real game experience. If I had to pick a favorite game, it would have to Merchant of Venus.

TARA: What brought you to Carnage originally?

JEANNIE: Thomas started going to Carnage in 2007 and at that time I was just along for the ride and to relax and hang out for the weekend. Eventually he convinced me to start playing some games, and since then I’ve been an avid gamer.

TARA: You’re involved in hosting a lot of activities back home. What are they and how did you get into so many different things?

JEANNIE: I have done a lot in my life and I love most of all teaching people to have fun. I started the 2 Flights Up Dance and Game Studio here in Dalton, MA. in June 2014. I teach line dancing and Thomas and I teach couples dance classes at the studio. We both love playing games. We host a game night every Thursday night from 6 to 10 pm and every third Saturday from 11am to 10 pm.

We also have Paint for Fun classes once in a while. I started painting back in 1992 with the Bob Ross technique and I fell in love with my paintings after my husband made me put them into frames. I attended a Bob Ross instructor course several years ago, but just started teaching paint classes after I opened 2 Flights Up.

TARA: What is your favorite thing about going to a gaming convention?

JEANNIE: I love teaching, and most of all I love teaching people new ways to have fun.

TARA: Why should people come and find you at Carnage this year?

JEANNIE: Anyone that has ever wanted to paint a painting, but were afraid to try should come try Paint for Fun on Saturday. This is a great opportunity to learn in a no-pressure environment and just have a fun time.

If painting’s not their thing, I’ll also be at the UnPub Mini event showing off the awesome card game that Thomas and I created a few years ago. The name of the game is Behütunsburg, and it is all about building a power base while assembling a retinue for the king and queen and building a castle before the other player(s). It plays with two or four players.

In addition to teaching painting on Saturday morning, you can find Jeannie running games all weekend long at Carnage 21 like Chicken Foot, Tokaido and Swinging Jivecat Voodoo Lounge, as well as the Unpub get-together. Additionally, you can keep up with what’s happening at 2 Flights Up on Facebook.

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Ellane Austin

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Ellane Austin is co-creator and co-captain of the Villainous Vixens, a dragon boat team raising money to fund research against cancer with Dragonheart Vermont.

TARA: How did you get involved with the Vixens?

ELLANE: I am the co-creator and co-captain of the Villainous Vixens dragon boat team. We saw an opportunity to bring something to the Dragonboat Festival and Dragonheart  Vermont that was unique in comparison to other dragon boat teams. We strive to raise as much money as possible as well as to bring as much fun as spirit to the festival and the events we are a part of leading up to the festival every year.

TARA: Of which of the Vixens’ accomplishments are you most proud?

ELLANE: As Vixens, we are most proud of the spirit and creativity we bring to the festival and the community. After winning Top Spirit awards each year, in 2018 we won a new award for going above and beyond in spirit, the Over The Top award. We are also proud that we have been in the Top 5 Fundraising Leaders in the whole festival since our establishment as a team, raising over $17,000 for our local cancer charity pledge partners over the last 3 years.

TARA: If people want to contribute to Vixens fundraising, where should they go?

ELLANE: People can come to one of our many events, make a donation through the Dragonheart website, go to our Facebook page, visit our web store, or send a check or M/O payable to Villainous Vixens, 240 Guptil Road Waterbury Center, VT 05677. We also have a website coming soon, www.villainousvixens.org.

TARA: Why should people come and find you at Carnage this year?

ELLANE: We bring a unique energy to every event. We enjoy meeting people, have fun interactive games and opportunities like face painting you might not get otherwise at a convention. Also, we are raising money for a cause that in some way affects us all.

Did I mention we also cosplay?

TARA: What’s your favorite thing about going to gaming conventions?

ELLANE: The community is my favorite thing about gaming or fandom conventions. In my experience, the community is what makes or breaks a show. Carnage has a wonderfully kind community of gamers, artists and players. It’s everything you should strive for in a convention, with stability and progressive growth.

You can find Ellane and the Vixens on Facebook and Twitter, and make a donation through their team page on the Dragonheart Vermont site. At Carnage, the Vixens will be tabling in the Northstar Lounge and offering facepainting for donations on Saturday morning.

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Jon Jessop

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Jon Jessop holds events for the Realms LARP,  one of which you will find on the Carnage 21 schedule, cohosted by Carnage staff Tara.

TARA: What are you binge watching right now?

JON: Right now, I’m keeping up on The Purge, and waiting not so patiently for more Man in the High Castle and Britannia.

TARA: What was the first “gamer” game that you played?

JON: I had a Radio Shack TRS-80—Yes yes, I know I’m old—and I loved Dungeons of Daggorath and Starquest.

TARA: What brought you to Carnage originally?

JON: I first came to Carnage to help my friends run content for Realms. I had never been to any type of con before, and was blown away by the great sense of community, and of course, the incredible variety of fun games there are to play.

TARA: What do you want people unfamiliar with Realms to know about it?

JON: Realms is a live action role-playing game where players go on quests, compete in tournaments and more, using foam props to represent their weapons and other abilities. Playing in the Realms is a lot of fun.

I started playing Realms in May of 1997, so better than 21 years now. One of the things I like most is the game has a strong community that encourages and helps people learn and grow in ways outside of the game as well as in it.

TARA: What at Carnage are you excited about this year?

JON: I am most excited about melding our medieval fantasy-based Realms into the sci-fi/space theme that Carnage has for this year. This will present a real opportunity for some outside the box creativity for our entire staff.

To learn more about the Realms LARP and the events they hold, you can visit Realmsnet. You can find Jon at Carnage leading adventurers on quests all over the grounds during the weekend of the convention.

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Robin Lea

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Robin Lea, with the Killington resort's ski slopes in the background.
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Robin Lea is a game designer and author, working under the Peryton Publishing imprint to create games like Qalidar: Resistance. She lives in Cleveland, Ohio, with her old man. This year at Carnage 21, you can find Robin running Just Another Layover and Dungeon!

TARA: What game are you playing the most right now?

ROBIN: Icons. I’m running a regular campaign and playing in another one. I’m also playing in a regular Buffy the Vampire Slayer game.

TARA: How was GenCon this year?

ROBIN: It was really nice. I ran fewer games than in previous years, didn’t have any particular obligations, and just kind of wandered around and enjoyed the craziness. One of my old friends from Arkansas showed up too, which is always fun.

TARA: What was the first “gamer” game you ever played?

ROBIN: The first RPG I played was D&D, with the sort of purplish box and the Erol Otus cover. I suppose if we’re talking about anything that counts as a serious gamer game, it’s probably this old Avalon Hill game my dad had, called Alexander the Great. It was about his invasion of Persia and had some fairly complicated “clashing army” rules. They seemed complicated then, anyway.

TARA: What brought you to Carnage originally?

ROBIN: Back in 2009, my old man was chatting with one of the organizers on a now-defunct RPG-based social network and somehow got the idea that he had committed to absolutely definitely go to Carnage that year. It sounded like a fun trip, so off we went. After that, we were hooked. It’s a fairly long drive from Cleveland, but it’s worth it.

TARA: What is your favorite thing about Carnage?

That’s a tough one! Carnage is my favorite convention and there are a lot of things I love. I guess the word would be “cozy,” which covers both the amazing location and all the friends I’ve made there.

Outside of running into her at Carnage, you can reach Robin online through her website, on Facebook, and on Twitter as @RChristinaLea.

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Oscar Rios

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Oscar Rios is the president of Golden Goblin Press, specializing in Call of Cthulhu role-playing content. This year at Carnage 21, you can find Oscar running games of Robotech and Cthulhu Invictus, as well as performing Glimpses Into the Empire — LIVE!

TARA: What makes role-playing the Cthulhu mythos in a historical era uniquely interesting?

OSCAR: It’s a double escape for players. Their characters are living in another time and place, a citizen of a different historical period, be that the Jazz Era, the Victorian period, Dark Ages, or Classical period. Secondly, this individual is also involved in battling strange cults, monsters, and alien gods to defend mankind from their malignant horror.

TARA: How did you get involved with the Cthulhu Invictus setting?

OSCAR: I was a play tester to the original version, and became the setting’s biggest fan. I’ve written a large number of scenarios for the setting over the years, including the settings only published campaign, The Legacy of Arrius Lurco. My company, Golden Goblin Press, produced a supplement scenario collection called De Horrore Cosmico, and when we tried to publish a sequel  to that book Chaosium asked if we would take over the setting and convert it to 7th edition. We jumped at the opportunity and spent to next two years completely overhauling the setting from the ground up. Writing for Cthulhu Invictus for over ten years, I’d learned a lot about that period of history, its culture, mythology and the setting’s strengths and weaknesses.

TARA: Are you working on anything new you can tell us about?

OSCAR: We are finishing up several projects, including Riding the Northbound, a hobo-themed 1920s scenario; Tails of Valor, a Cathulhu scenario collection – yes, you play as a cat fighting the Cthulhu Mythos – I am re-writing a couple of scenarios for Britannia and Beyond, our first setting supplement for the new 7th edition Cthulhu Invictus; and will soon be writing a scenario for Tales of the Pacific, a 1920s scenario collection set across the Pacific islands).

TARA: What at Carnage are you excited about this year?

OSCAR: Getting away from my day to day grind, to relax gaming with great people on a mountain top resort in Vermont. What’s not to get excited about?  I’m also doing a live performance of Glimpses into the Empire on Friday night. That’s my fan-contributed segment on the ENnie Award-winning Miskatonic University Podcast, where I share amazing stories from the ancient world. There is also the Extra Life charity raffle, which we love supporting and participating in.

TARA: What’s your favorite thing about going to game conventions?

OSCAR: For gamers like me, it’s a safe place to be yourself, because this is my community. I’ve been going to gaming conventions since 1984, and it’s become a huge part of who I am. This is where people understand what I do, why I love it, and don’t judge me for it. That was true when I was 13, and it’s still true today. Gaming conventions are where I’ve made most of my friends. It’s where I found amazing people to work with in this industry, who helped me found Golden Goblin Press, and continue to help run it with me. In a cold and brutal world, gaming conventions are the warm glow of a window, the smell of a hot meal, and the soft bed of coming home. Sorry if I wax poetic, it’s kind of my thing.

To get in touch with Oscar, you can visit Golden Goblin Press’ official website and their Facebook page.

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