Our sensational OSR Euro Con is over, and participants and organisers alike are hooked! Already, folks are craving for Cauldron 2024, and we are determined to make it as big a success as the first one – a second edition that doesn’t suck (Thanks, Hasran, for this pun)!
So what happened at Cauldron 2023? Four dozen attendees travelled from eight different countries – one crazy guy even took a flight from Seattle to Frankfurt just to spend the week-end with us. From the beginning to the end, the atmosphere was enthusiastic, OSR aficionados meeting like-minded players and DMs all eager to play! Chainmail, OD&D, AD&D, B/X and derivatives, we played on and on, during five game blocks, with up to 7 sessions running simultaneously.
Thrilling as it was to unite some famous names of the OSR scene in one place, such as the guy who showed the world how to screw good taste and earn money with OSR products at the same time, the Magyar grandmaster of OSR dungeon design, Bill the wandering sage or the gruesome OSR module reviewer from tulip land who makes the most revered art-punk auteurs tremble, and many others, rather our aim was to provide a place for gaming for everyone with everyone, all of us just being ordinary DMs and players. So we gamed, seasoned dungeon veterans and the younger OSR-curious alike, and enjoyed our time.
We also held an auction where a huge hoard of rare and curious items were available from the collections of all who wished to share their treasured (or get rid of unwanted) possessions. I think it took us two hours of fierce bidding and then sorting out all the transactions. Items changed owner for as little as 1 Euro or as much as 140! Some revenues were given to charity like Red Cross and many of you donated liberally to Nexus e.V. – our club for promoting fantasy culture. Thank you all!
Finally, we awarded DMs and players with well-earned cauldron trophies – for best DM, most valuable player, best looter and the Cup of Demise. Not because we wish to establish some kind of distinction, but because it was fun to see your faces when we handed out the rewards – in the end, every player at the table is playing to the benefit of the group, and every DM is a creative, an artist who brings to life an entire world.
Watch Jim’s video uploaded on-site or read what Blackrazor has to say about the convention (part 1, part 2), witness Melan’s account of his perilous journey or hear this terrifying tale from the Age of Dusk to get a better impression. Also, in case you are interested in the action on the Chainmail table, you can read my battle report.
See you in 2024 at Cauldron – the OSR Euro con!
Ghoultunnel 
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