Jae Walker (gamerchick in our forums) asked me to post about Ziggurat Con, and I was happy to oblige.
The inaugural Ziggurat Con will be held at Camp Adder/Tallil Airbase, Iraq, on June 9th, 2007, and is open to all allied troops and personnel, as well as civilian military contractors. Problem is, there aren’t any good places to buy gaming books in their neck of the woods, and that’s where the good cause comes in: it’s tough to run con events without books.
If you’re so inclined, please consider donating RPG books to Ziggurat Con. There’s a list of games they’re planning to run on the con page (although all games are welcome), along with the address where you can send donations.
Update: There’s now an event list in the comments below that might help you decide what to donate. And from SPC Amberson, the con organizer, “We would love PDF versions of our favorite books.” (Thanks, VV_GM!)
I keep politics out of my posts here on TT, but I don’t view this as a political issue. These folks are fellow gamers in an incredibly shitty situation, and they want to game — that’s a good cause if there ever was one.
(I opted to order my donation via Amazon. Apart from having a deep stock at good prices, they offer helpful tips on how to make sure orders shipped to military addresses get where they’re supposed to go.)
I think this is what TT is all about: Helping your fellow GMs. And these GMs just happen to be stuck in a location where they have no resources for play.
I’ve written an email to SPC Amberson, the soldier organizing the event, and have asked for his input as to what supply it is that they will need the most of. If he says dice I’m sending dice, if he says D&D books I’m sending those.
Dave Amberson says they’re expecting about 300 people, and they need, well, everything. They’ve scheduled (so far) Babylon 5 RPG, Cyberpunk 2020, D&D, D&D RPGA, GURPS, Historic Miniatures Battles, Magic Tournament, MechWarrior Miniatures, Rifts, Shadowrun, Starship Troopers, White Wolf System-Vampire, White Wolf System-Werewolf, XCrawl…
I’m getting a good response everywhere. I want to see these men and women get so many games they won’t run out of new stuff before they *retire*.
Luckily I just ordered a bunch of D10 dice for convention gaming.
Luckily I just got a decent tax return and can order some books for them, package some of the dice with it, and order more dice for convention gaming.
This is something that I can wholeheartedly support. When I was training in the Air Force there were always gamers around, and I can imagine the difficulties of keeping it up in Iraq.
Hoo-Ah!!
I just emailed the SIQ (soldier in question), asking what they need, and will post here and elsewhere with the reply.
Anyone familiar with setting up a gift registry at Amazon?
(Telas) Anyone familiar with setting up a gift registry at Amazon?
That’s a good point — the con organizer should probably consider doing that, as it would prevent them from getting a dozen copies of one book and no copies of other books. 😉
If there winds up being an Amazon registry, I’d be happy to link it up in this post.
SPC Amberson responded with the following:
“We would love PDF versions of our favorite books. PDF copies are
sometimes easier to take with you due to their portability (it’s easier
to carry a laptop with a virtual library versus an actual library). We
do have access to printers, as a matter of fact, I have 2 in my office
right now, so printing pages is definitely not an issue.
Maybe it would be best if I sent you a copy of the events as I have them
right now. You will see a large variety of games.
Sunday – 1200-1600
1. GURPS – Miss Joy Brown
2. Shadowrun – PFC John Gilbert
3. XCrawl – SPC David Amberson
4. Magic Tournament (Sealed Deck – If we can get the cards) – PFC Samuel
Dickerson
5. Rifts – SGT Gary Decker
6. Babylon 5 RPG – SPC Matthew Joslyn
Sunday – 1600-1700
1. Wind up games, prepare for next session.
2. Drawings for FREE STUFF – SPC David Amberson & Miss Joy Brown
Sunday – 1700-1830
1. Dinner Break – To conform with DFAC hours
Sunday – 1830-Finish
1. White Wolf System – SPC Christopher Watkins
2. Starship Troopers – SGT William Morris
3. MechWarrior Miniatures Demo – Mr. Basram Musliu
4. Cyberpunk 2020 – A1C Elise Morris
5. Historic Miniatures Battles – Mr. Raymond Knapp
7. D&D RPGA Event – SPC David Amberson
I hope this helps.
Thank you so much for all your help and support,
Dave”
I had asked if they would prefer PDF ebooks instead of the actual books. Looks like it was the right question to ask given his response.
I’m going to order the GURPS PDF for them and send some dice sets over as well.
Nice work, VV! Did he indicate the email where he’d like PDFs to be sent?
I’ll have to see if I can cancel my order and send a PDF instead.
The email address is in my LJ entry, but here it is for convenience:
For more information, contact SPC David Amberson at the following address: david.amberson (at) iraq.centcom.mil
The email address that GamerChick posted is the address that I have been contacting him at. I was going to send the PDFs to that address.
GURPS doesn’t release the core books as PDFs. Lame considering how many expansions they release as PDFs.
Looks like they are getting Shadowrun instead!
(GamerChick) The email address is in my LJ entry, but here it is for convenience
I just wasn’t sure if he wanted that inbox flooded with PDFs once word got out. 😉
Props to you for spreading the word on ZC, Jae — getting John Kovalic involved was huge, and you’ve done an awesome job.
Hey, I’m swinging by from dumpshock.com where we’re organizing our own drive, mostly Shadowrun stuff. I’m in the process of sending 4 hex sheets, 200 or 1,000 d6’s and unspecified books.
VW_GM specified he’s getting “a shadowrun book” in pdf. What book are you planning on getting specifically? What edition? If you tell me, I’ll try to coordinate based on that to avoid sending two of the same.
Hello everyone. I have a small business selling swords at Ren Faires. One of my friends posted the link for Ziggurat Con on her site. I’m thinking about sending some pieces to be given out as prizes.
What do you think (good idea/bad idea)?
Hey all,
I am an Assistant Domain Coordinator in the Camarilla Club. I will be rallying my Domain to send as much stuff as we can.
Is the Sunday schedule the only games that will be going on? If so, we’ll make sure you’re well stocked, as well as supplying some extras for your givaways.
If you plan on having any other events, let me know, preferably via email: MooneyHST at gmail dot com.
Thanks!
-Sean
(Chris S) I have a small business selling swords at Ren Faires. One of my friends posted the link for Ziggurat Con on her site. I’m thinking about sending some pieces to be given out as prizes.
As cool as that would be, it seems like there might be two roadblocks: shipping swords to a military base, and regulations regarding owning them on-base. I don’t know if either of those things is actually a problem, so I’d recommend emailing SPC Amberson to ask about it beforehand.
Sean Mooney: I’m not involved with the con at all, just trying to spread the word. Emailing SPC Amberson is going to be your best bet for getting questions answered. 🙂