Since 2013, Goodman Games, the publisher of the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game and Mutant Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game – Triumph & Technology Won by Mutants & Magic has released a book especially for Gen Con, the largest tabletop hobby gaming event in the world. That book is the Goodman Games Gen Con Program Book, a look back at the previous year, a preview of the year to come, staff biographies, community content, and a whole lot more, including adventures and lots of tidbits and silliness. The first was the Goodman Games Gen Con 2013 Program Book, but not being able to pick up a copy from Goodman Games when they first attended UK Games Expo in 2019, the first to be reviewed was the Goodman Games Gen Con 2014 Program Book. Fortunately, a little patience and a copy of the Goodman Games Gen Con 2013 Program Book was located and reviewed, so since 2021, normal order has been resumed with the Goodman Games Gen Con 2015 Program Guide, the Goodman Games Gen Con 2016 Program Book, the Goodman Games Gen Con 2017 Program Book, and Goodman Games Gen Con 2018 Program Guide: The Black Heart of Thakulon the Undying, and Goodman Games 2019 Yearbook: Riders on the Phlogiston.
With both Goodman Games Gen Con 2018 Program Guide: The Black Heart of Thakulon the Undying, and Goodman Games 2019 Yearbook: Riders on the Phlogiston, the series had begun to chart a new direction. Each volume would contain a mix of support for the various RPGs published by Goodman Games and the content published by the Goodman Games community, but the major feature of each volume would be a tournament scenario, staged the previous year at Gen Con. Unfortunately, events caught up with the eighth entry in the series, Goodman Games Yearbook #8: The Year That Shall Not be Named, as the Covid-19 pandemic forced the world to adjust, which of course, included Goodman Games. The result was that the traditional Gen Con Program Guide became a ‘Yearbook’ and this trend has continued since with the Goodman Games 2021 Yearbook and the Goodman Games 2022 Yearbook. However, it has shifted ever so slightly again with a name change the book in the line, Goodman Games Yearbook #11.
Goodman Games Yearbook #11 looks back at 2023 for the publisher and opens on a more reflective, even mournful note than is usual for the regular annual or Gen Con Program Guide. In turn, various members of the Goodman Games team look back at the year past, starting with Joseph Goodman, noting the year’s highlights, changes, and so on. Joseph Goodman examines how he has made the switch from running the publisher fulltime rather than as a ‘hobby’ job and made a concerted effort to look at the trends in the hobby, whilst Jen Brinkman discusses the shift to Goodman Games having its own dedicated warehouse in Fort Wayne, Indiana, along with Harley Stroh. (This move has its own article later in the book, ‘News Flash: Goodman Games Moves To Our Own Warehouse!’, which also introduces the warehouse mascot, ‘Bricky’.) Michael Curtis and Chris Doyle look at the development and output of Goodman Games for Dungeon Crawl Classics and Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition, respectively, whilst Brendan Lasalle gives a short history of Xcrawl and the success of the Xcrawl Classics Kickstarter campaign as well as overview of the activities of Goodman Games Road Crew for the year. This is the cadre of Judges who run games for Goodman Games at game shops and conventions, and are in many ways the public face of the company, and it is further supported by both ‘Ten Years of Road Crew Art’ and ‘2023 Poster Design Contest’, both of which look back at Goodman Games’ art. Rick Maffei talks about the end of the Goodman Games YouTube series, Talking TSR, and the start of the new series, The 50 Greatest Classic Adventures of All Time. These look like great series, the one worth going back to and the other beginning of.
The reflections come to a close on a sad note, with Goodman Games Yearbook #11 remembering the deaths of three stalwarts of the hobby, noted for their contributions to the hobby and in one way or another, the Old School Renaissance. They are in turn, Russ Nicolson, who was previously interviewed in Goodman Games Yearbook #8: The Year That Shall Not be Named; Jennel Jaquays, noted designer of The Dark Tower and The Caverns of Thracia, both originally published by Judges Guild and since republished by Goodman Games; and James M. Ward, best known for the creation of the first Science Fiction roleplaying game, Metamorphosis Alpha: Fantastic Role-Playing Game of Science Fiction Adventures on a Lost Starship.
The first gaming entry in Goodman Games Yearbook #11 with ‘DCC Gen Con Funnel Experience Adventure: The Forsaken Vault of the Crimson Oracle’. Written by Brendan LaSalle, this is a ‘Funnel Experience’, intended as a means to introduce new players to Dungeon Crawl Classics using Zero Level characters. For the Player Characters, it begins with the appearance of a giant colossus, bursting up through the earth, in West Mauldeen, a remote farming village, opening a maw into which tip the remains of the village and its inhabitants—both living and dead! Awoken and thrown from their beds, the ordinary survivors find themselves in a cavern filled with the dead and the buildings they once lived in, facing a demon! The scenario is short, direct, and deadly, but has some really entertaining encounters, such as with ‘Gallyjacks’, Dwarves and Humans being ridden by one-inch-tall humanoids called Prizetakers (who come from the City of the Prize-takers) as if they pirate ships and from which they can launch boarding parties on the Player Characters; a surprisingly helpful goat; and a dying ‘giant’ head, which might be helpful if a way can be found to save him. There are opportunities too, for quite a lot of treasure to be found. The scenario is a lot of fun and will work as a demonstration scenario as well.
Both Dungeon Crawl Classics and Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition are catered for with ‘Two More Old School Traps’ by Chris Doyle and converted by Mihailo Tešić. Inspired by Original Adventures Reincarnated #8: Grimtooth’s Old School Traps, the two traps here are detailed and dirty, nasty affairs. The first of the two, ‘The HyStairical Trap’, is also inspired by DCC #106, Trials of the Trapmaster’s Tomb and is a set of stairs that is trapped not once but three times. First, by a pressure plate that releases oil to make the stairs slippery, second by a pressure plate that releases laughing gas, and third, a pit which is really hard to avoid given the effects of the first two! ‘Whole Lotta Pit Traps’ is quite simple, five pit traps on top of each other and each one deadlier than the one above…
The scenario for Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition in Goodman Games Yearbook #11 is William Fischer’s ‘Chains of the Conflagrator’. This is an expansion to Jennell Jaquay’s Original Adventures Reincarnated #7: Dark Tower, very much a classic, but highly thematic dungeon. It is designed for four to six Ninth Level Player Characters and intended to be played in a single session. They encounter Argun the Conflagrator, an ancient red dragon who terrorised the lands far to the south of Mitra’s Fist, the location for the ‘Dark Tower’. He has been long been imprisoned by cultists dedicated to Set and asks the Player Characters to free him. The main part of the scenario takes place in his lair where the Player Characters must survive the volcano environment and find a way to free him. It is a big and enjoyably bold encounter and adds a pleasing side quest to a classic game, but which could also be added another dungeon without any difficulty. It is supported with several new monsters devoted to Set.
Marc Bruner takes us back to ‘Dinosaur Crawl Classics’ in The Goodman Games Gen Con 2017 Program Book with ‘The Return Of Dinosaur Crawl Classics!’. This presents a new Character Class for the setting which is based on that of Dinosaur Planet: Broncosaurus Rex. This is the Protoceratops, a highly intelligent ceratopsian, which is also curious, peaceful, and psionic. They record knowledge on stone using their highly dextrous beaks, are good translators and negotiators and so serve as diplomat, and have psionic powers such as Rustling Brush which camouflages the user and Strengthen Bonds of social connections, new abilities also given here. There is a quick guide to converting the psionics from Mutant Crawl Classics to ‘Dinosaur Crawl Classics’. This is a solid addition to the setting, but just like its original inclusion in The Goodman Games Gen Con 2017 Program Book, it really makes the reader wish that it was a proper setting with a book of its own. It is followed by ‘From The Vault: New Mutations
For Your MCC Campaign’, in which Erica Barlow, Julian Bernick, James Pozenel, and Skeeter Green give yet more mutations for Mutant Crawl Classics, including Acid Generation, Bio Boost, Salvage Savant, and Warp Reality.
Throughout, as is the norm for all entries in the series, Goodman Games Yearbook #11 includes photographs from various conventions that the publisher and its representatives attended over the case of 2024. This, of course, includes Gen Con 2023, but also includes Gameholecon, Garycon, and many more. They are not as profusive as in more recent issues of the program guide and are threaded throughout the supplement rather than in blocks. This makes the events themselves and Goodman Games’ presence feel a little more peripheral than in past years, which is obviously not the actual case. ‘DCC Day’ is, of course, special for Goodman Games and so gets its own article with ‘DCC DAY 2023’ highlighting the great releases on the day. The publisher’s presence at Gen Con is dominated by the Goodman Games booth, which always has a physical presence. For Gen Con 2023, this was with a Wizard Tower Dice Tower Podium and its creation—as have the creation of other features have been charted in previous volumes of the Gen Con Program Guide/Yearbook—is enjoyably detailed by Wayne Snyder in ‘Building The Wizard Tower Dice Podium’. Lastly, the Goodman Games community and their contributions are highlighted in ‘The 2023 Goodie Awards: Our Annual Thank You To The Community!’. This brings the program guide to a close by bringing many names in the community to the reader’s attention and what they give. It brings the Goodman Games Yearbook #11 to a fitting close.
Physically, the Goodman Games Yearbook #11 is a slim affair, in keeping with the current reduced format of the series. It is well presented, a pleasing read, and full of very good artwork.
There are really two strands to the Goodman Games Yearbook #11—community and content to game with. Although it feels very much like there is more of the former than the latter, both are engaging and entertaining, capturing another year of Goodman Games and giving some fun gaming content too.
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Goodman Games will be at UK Games Expo which takes place on Friday, May 30th to Sunday June 1st, 2025.
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