The ArcaneCon 2026 Debrief

Hey team! Winter is my busy season so I never wrote my ArcaneCon postmortem. Two goth clubs, budding romance, new connections, medical woes and a maid party will do that to you! Nearly a month after ArcaneCon (to the day), the sudden onset of a sinus infection has now bestowed me with the time to meaningfully debrief about it so let's dive right in!

What is ArcaneCon?

Over the past three years ArcaneCon has become the tabletop convention in Western MA, especially for the OSR crowd. Hosted in beautiful neighboring Northampton, the con is hosted by Arcane Sword Press, an OSR publishing label that is functionally synonymous with local indie darling and Certified Awesome Dude(TM) Bryan Larkin. It's also becoming something of a sister con to Under The Dice Fest, a much more skirmish-focused con headed by friends of the Arcane team, Under the Dice (similarly headed by a local indie darling Stephen Hupfer - There's actually pictures of Steve and Bryan playtesting Flames of Orion in the back of that game's rulebook). If you're thinking of a local con, run by passionate personable hobbyists, you're getting the picture. My journalistic instincts are doing their best to pitch this con in an informative and unbiased manner, but hot damn if my hobbyist heart doesn't just light up from having this stuff close by. I went as an attendee its first year, then had a booth on Friday of last year due to a last minute opening (thanks again Bryan!!).

This year sported a new venue (the Northampton Center for the Arts), more tables and more vendors than ever before! Before going in, attendees were emailed this delightful little hand-drawn map to give you a lay of the land:

(And yes having Rocky Horror playing a floor over was absolutely excellent energy)

In terms of venue, I'd say this was a huge step up from last year. The event hall was BIG and my only sadness was how separated the sponsored tables seemed to be out in the entrance hall (though I'm sure their foot traffic resulted in more eyes/sales etc). I didn't know what to expect from having a booth in an event hall where games were running, but frankly the energy felt electric and the noise level was never too loud to pitch, nor yap, nor run, just a steady hum of bustling nerds (I even got to watch a game of Orb Tyrants from my booth!)

Speaking of Booth ~ I was originally going to be located next to Tunic (a satellite booth for my favorite TTRPG coffee shop) a tactical consideration made to pitch to the uncaffeinated waiting in line, but due to a fortuitous mix-up I ended up being sandwiched between Better Legends (headed by international indie darling Sam Mamelli[*2]) and local friend (and indie darling) Eon (whose last name I am erroneously forgetting and can't find) of YouCanBreatheNow. And hecking wow, let me say that being next to booths of people who I could yap and joke with during the lulls was electric! I'll be sure to try to coordinate something similar next time (both for my own entertainment and the logistics of not being too afraid of the booth being unattended).

(I should've taken more pictures, but here's the rough size of half the con's main hall)

So What Did I Actually Do?

• I had a booth where I was selling Digital Angel and Beneath the Floating World in print - I also had some "Dare to Be Beautiful" stickers to give out to buyers and some preview copies of Inheritors stuff for people to flip through.
• The other half of the booth was dedicated to stocking my friends' games that I've been encouraging them to make all year! I'm incredibly proud of what was brought (from Brut, to D.E.D., to Ashborn and everything in between!) - This was done under the banner of The Bureau of Holistic Ludic Development and Research (BHLDR) a local server for friends I'm running that's part office LARP, part productivity tool, part TTRPG club. I've been a bit negligent of it of late, but I'm nonetheless happy with what we've managed to accomplish and the infrastructure I'm building. 
• I ran Beneath the Floating World Friday morning and Inheritors Friday night, all for new faces I'd never met!
• I hired local designer and personal friend GeoffCoolNumbers to be my assistant / table watcher / as they put it "abuse goblin" (I made sure to check in with them after any bouts of ridiculous commentary or inane side quests, and our booth neighbors seemed to be getting a huge kick out of the antics)
• I milled about the other booths, made some trades, got take-out at my favorite Chinese spot and generally had a great time.

What Went Well?

• Digital Angel literally sold itself, Beneath the Floating World too to an extent. I'm very used to every booth interaction being some flavor of sales pitch, but more than a few times I'd be busy talking with someone only for someone who had merely picked up and flipped through one of the books to hit me with "hey can I buy this." It was surreal and flattering, and definitely a testament to the power of a good cover and solid layout.
• People liked the free "What the Heck is a TTRPG?" pamphlet, and I should definitely bring those around to each con!
• I made some amazing connections! "Networking" doesn't quite feel right to describe the personal times shared, the laughs had and the food eaten with all manner of designers. A good example was how I got to connect with Rhodrick Magsino over documentaries and meditations on death (go check out a Most Brilliant Spark if you like the pitch of a game that explores PC deaths). Or how I got to connect with one of the volunteers who lives locally and we now grab coffee at Tunic and suffer in the pits of game design together (She also gave me a delicious head of cabbage!) SO MANY NEW FRIENDS AHHH ~ I feel like I had a hundred good talks with designers new and old about all manner of topics, and frankly that was the biggest highlight.
• Running Beneath the Floating World as a oneshot Friday morning was absolutely the play. It ran smooth, the players brought their a-game and it was an amazing way to kick off the convention.
• Running Inheritors on Friday night went terrible in a way that was really educational (something something failing forward). Despite it being the same rules and scenario as last year, we hit a lot more stumbling blocks with the rules in a way that helped me figure out where the friction had been hiding with that game. Perhaps one of the most vital "playtests" I've run. It also made me keenly aware that Inheritors brings much less to the table as a oneshot.
• I dolled myself up for both days and it was a huge boost to my energy and how I felt! Definitely worth planning outfits and showing up with something memorable. All that laser really was worth it ~

(the man, the myth, the legend who helps run d&d for kids at libraries, Eon on my left and me on the right)

What Would I Do Differently?

Hi me from the future, I see we're revisiting this blog post in last-minute prep for ArcaneCon 2027, so let me give you the run down on where we could improve:

• Definitely give my buddies their own booth. I think it was confusing to have a huge variety, and people generally like meeting the designer. It was worth a shot, but it muddied the messaging and generally I think hurt sales for all parties. It'd be fun to have them as a "satellite" out in the sponsor hall. Evidently compared to last year there were a LOT of no-shows both for games and admissions in general (likely the perfect storm of a lot of folks in the area being recently sick and the weekend itself being especially bitterly cold/wet), so that may have also contributed. I also felt slightly bad for encouraging my friends to stock product and not being more diligent about encouraging them not to overstock (unless, like me, they prefer to have backstock for trades, future sales, etc) - My assumptions for Saturday sales were WAY off.
• Signs need to be BIG - People cannot see and do not want to peer at small signs.
• If the stickers are the size of business cards, people won't realize they're stickers.
• Don't run in the evening. I was fried, my table was clearly exhausted, the venue was getting colder[*1] and I was certainly not on my A-Game. Methinks in the future I plan to run only a single session in the morning, and spend more time at the booth and milling. I've never been the biggest fan of playing games at cons (though I'm learning which one-shots best bring a group of strangers together) and I think you need a very specific kind of game or group to be running in the evening. If I bring Meteor to print mayhaps I'd run that... ((Also surprisingly very few people approached the booths after 430/5, unsure if that's due to the con's own hours or just less people like shopping after sunset?))
• Skullboy had an excellent method for building a booth up with wire frame shelves rejiggered to act as walls. This enclosure served two purposes: Firstly it allowed more products and signage to be at eye-level, secondly it allowed for a whole space behind those walls to store tools, books, bucks, food, bottles, etc ~ It created an excellently clean look. Similarly I think more decor could really help, though there's strength in minimalism... Gotta find the right decor.
• Keep options tight and small. I myself experienced some analysis paralysis at some booths, and I think having a limited focused selection really helps both with inventory and pitching. 
• TAKE MORE PHOTOS!!
• Try to conserve more time / energy / planning for after-partying. Sean and Mel of Windup Vampire (whose booth shared with Rhodrick became my defacto spot to go mill when I wanted to step away from my table) had invited me out to (/ were vaguely organizing) an afterparty at the local NoHo bars, and I really aught to have gone and gotten some more time with the trio and other amazing designers who I'd met! Buuuut I was truthfully hella exhausted, so next year I'll do my best to budget my time and energy accordingly.

Would I Recommend ArcaneCon?

ABSOLUTELY HECKIN WOW DEFINITELY. Bryan puts on one hell of a show, and as far as local cons go, you'd be hard-pressed to find one with more passion and heart. For those worried if they'll fit in, despite ArcaneCon's look of an OSR/Skirmish focused con, there was a little bit of everything there and a clear focus on games in general which I really enjoyed. If Northampton is within an hour drive of you, I can't recommend going enough, and if you decide to travel for it there's plenty of amazing things to see and do in Western MA while you're out here to really make a full trip of it.

Some behind the scenes numbers; I'd made about $350 over the course of two days in sales (not bad at all considering I was only stocking two 10 dollars zines with a 15 dollar bundle options - Not to mention there'd been another ~$100 in sales between all my buddies' stuff so the booth made about 450). Including hiring my buddy, buying food, grabbing some zines, print costs for all the overstock I needed, new decorations, and the booth (and not including the opportunity cost of taking 2 days off of work) ArcaneCon was a slight financial loss (roughly 95 bucks), BUT the exposure, connections, and fun I got out of it was WELL more than worth it for me. I think next year with a more focused booth and vision I could likely push those sales up, but only time will tell. I did notice buyers / attendance felt slightly more reserved this year compared to last, but I chalk that up to environmental factors and economic stressors. The hobby at large seems to be hitting a demand breakpoint due to oversaturation of genuinely amazing products, a general sense of burnout in "keeping up" with things and limited customer spending power, but time will tell what the next year may bring!

Whether or not those numbers would scare you as prospective boother really depends on your goals. I will say, from what I've heard from others and experienced first hand, you'll never find a kinder and more attentive con staff if you do take the (albeit really affordable) dive (the booth was only $100 how could I not?). For me, I go to these cons to have fun, swap zines, meet fans and support a con team so full of joy and energy that when they found a laser pointer to mess around with they started wearing sun glasses and "scanning" peoples badges with it as they came in. Truly this con has spoiled me for its raw energy alone. 

ArcaneCon is PURE electricity, and hopefully attendance will be a bit stronger next year as word continues to spread! If it sounds fun to you, and especially if you're nearby, I can't recommend it enough.

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[1 : I think my singular complaint with the con was that (due to the weather) the new venue was especially cold, and having a door to the outdoors that was often propped open created a certain malaise that'd occasionally hang over the lulls. And hey, if that's my only complaint I think they're doing great.]

[2 : An absolute highlight of the con was that I'd only ever known Sam as "Sam" or "Skullboy" and hadn't talked to him extensively. In the course of yapping during downtime at our booths I realized I'd been completely oblivious of the fact that he was also Sam from the hit podcast Between Two Cairns which I infrequently listen to, and the running jokes that ensued between us were priceless.]