Friday, July 12, 2013

The Story of Trolls 8

On decks all across the seas of history, tales are rendered amidst the noise of memories that overlap in foam-capped waves of delirious confusion. Somewhere there is a universal truth, but no one much cares about it.

This continues the story of Trolls 7.

As the books took shape and were prepared for printing, several things came into play. The Trolls found themselves with an exhibitor booth at the most illustrious gaming convention in the western Hemisphere but they had no actual booth to set. There were no tables, banners, chairs, nor even display cases. This began the first of a yearly trek to get ready for Gencon when it was too late to get ready for Gencon. Putting the booth together was a difficult task then, as it proved to be for years to come.

Mac, being the money man, set up an account with a small company called Cafe Press. They had only just opened their own doors and offered good prices for logoed-up t-shirts. Sizes were culled and the t-shirt design laid out. Within a short while t-shirts were on their way. Sadly none of these shirts remain, though you can see them in the early pictures of Gencon.  He also ordered commemorative mugs with logos.

Gencon itself provided a table and two chairs, so that was covered and now all that remained was displaying at the booth.

Banners were expensive and the budget did not have a place for any more expense. A plan was crafted over perhaps way too much Vino's brew, to create a series of picture frames with the covers of the books in them and to hang them on the backdrop. Wholly unsatisfied, the Trolls were set to rig it anyway.

Enter Kathy, Steve's wife. Completely embarrassed at the sheer idea how cheap her husband could be she pirated the logo and took it down to Arkansas Flag and Banner, a homespun banner shop and purchased their banner for $397.00.

Now the crew set about attempting to determine what a good hook would be. How to get people to stop at the booth and look at what was offered. Years of treks to Dragon Con proved useful in giving the Trolls plenty of experience in avoiding vendors, but now that the shoe was on the other horn, the challenge was to outsmart themselves. Mac and Steve gathered at Vino's and plunged into a long debate on signs, posters, handouts, the Seeker, comp modules and any other crazed idea that came to mind but was settled on was dice.

Dice. the only thing that all gamers of all stripes love.

An order was placed for 2000 dice from Crystal Caste, a new company in the dice making field and what would start a long relationship between TLG and the Arizona based company.

It was decided to do a very simple design. Black with orange pips, and Troll Lord Games in place of the 6.

About this time, disks began arriving from the east, cover and interior art for the books from Jason Walton and as importantly the giant map as drawn by Davis in hotels across the states of North Dakota and Wyoming. The world of Erde had arrived.

Next up: Making maps.

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