On Saturday, December 4th, the Absalom Lodge of Quincy held their annual Holiday Conclave at Tri-States Games & Hobbies. This year was a trifecta of firsts. The first time we ran a Pathfinder 2e multi-table special, the first time we organized a concurrent event with another lodge via technology, and the first time we participated in the United States Marine Corps’ Toys for Tots campaign.
We gathered for our first session which was the PFS2 2-00 King in Thorns multitable special. This special was the culmination of the Season 1 metaplot and served to kick off Season 2 of PFS2 as well. Yes, the number sequencing is all messed up but that’s all part of the Covid-19 mess. This special requires three tables to be ran at the same time. That’s where we joined forces with the Pathfinders of Northern Virginia led by my good friend, Nicholas Ruchlewicz, who serves as the Venture-Captain for their lodge.
Nick has been a long time organizer for the USMC Toys for Tots campaign through the lodges in Virginia and asked me if we wanted to join forces with their lodges to run the special. So we put our heads together, developed a plan of action, and set up the event. We were able to fire two tables in the 1-2 tier here in Quincy while the Virginians fired up a 3-4 tier table. We had a blast with the event and bought some games to donate to the Toys for Tots campaign. There was also a PFS2 scenario, 1-15 The Blooming Catastrophe, which we played in the evening slot as well.
While this event is over, the Toys for Tots campaign continues to gather donations until Christmas. If you wish to donate to the campaign, please do so. The links I have inserted above go to the local campaign. This is a great cause and one which has a dual purpose. When you give kids gaming toys, not only are you helping kids have a great Christmas, you are also introducing them to our hobby. That’s a gift that lasts a lifetime as we gamers all know.
Some of the more memorable moments:
Thanks again to everyone who came to Tri-States yesterday to play. Thanks to everyone who donated. We will do this again next year and expand upon the campaign. We will have some events over the next several weeks, but they will be more spontaneous. I will post them as we develop them so you can join in if you can. I do know we will be having a GM Academy at some point in Quincy. More on that as we develop the plan.
It’s been a good year for the League of Aroden overall. First of all, we were able to return to live gaming after missing about a year and a half of our Conclaves. Not everyone has made it back to our tables and we look forward to your safe return to us. We have gained new players along the way and in spite of all the obstacles, we have grown the Absalom Lodge of Quincy, started up a new lodge in Hannibal, and restarted live play for our lodge in Columbia. Not only that, we are laying the plans for a lodge in Kirksville, Missouri. Additionally, I was informed that the game store in Macomb, Illinois wants to start a lodge there. I am hoping we have a great 2022 for everyone, in gaming and in life.
I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Be safe and enjoy the season!
The League of Aroden 