Special Guest

The Player's Special Guest: Karl Blackshaw

Karl Blackshaw has been roleplaying since the early days of the D&D "white box" set. Introduced to roleplaying by one of his wargaming friends, Karl, then 15, nagged his parents to purchase the radical new hobby core material for his birthday.

Like so many others, Karl read the player's handbook in a single night, crouched under the blankets of his single bed with a torch. The next weekend, he collected a group of friends - Dave, Spud, Danny and Danny's girlfriend - and began what has been an epic journey through over one hundred and twenty different roleplaying systems. Dave's first scenario was a bit rough and ready (aren't they all), but Karl was not fazed by this, and he was the binding force to keep that first game going for 3 years as they slaughtered their way through dungeon after dungeon.

But Karl's experience is not limited to home-run games. Karl has also played at numerous conventions in England, the US and in Finland, taking home on average three trophies and 4 certificates. Karl's stamina during a convention is legendary, often spurring him to drag writer's out of bed at 6am to get in an extra session at a convention.

In the more commercial vein, Karl has been a vocal and enthusiastic playtester for published systems worldwide - its a rare first edition roleplaying ruleset that doesn't have his name somewhere in the credits, although it is a long standing tradition to not mention him directly, but in an anagram form.

During FauxCon 7, Karl will be holding a number of seminars for Congoers of any stripe, whether boardgamer, roleplayer or warhamer - The Importance of Beating Ernest on understanding CheapAss games, Diet and Glycemic Index: knowing when to scoff the mars bar, and When Volume is Not Enough for players who want to maximise their freeform trophy haul.

Karl will also be holding an informal question and lecture session in the registration hall, canteeen and on the benchseats at the front of the convention area.