Imagine a world inhabited by Cthululian Horrors, Arthurian Knights, Icelandic Vikings, and the odd Gloranthan adventurer, all coming together for a weekend of libations, laughter, and (tabletop) adventures. Now, add in jolly hobbits, a few flightless kiwis, and about 23 million sheep for good measure. Welcome to Chaosium Con NZ, and its sister event, Gaming at the Green Dragon Inn.
A long (very long) time Lord of the Rings geek and very new resident of Aotearoa New Zealand, when I saw the press release about gaming at Hobbiton, I was simultaneously enchanted and more than a little curious about how it had come about. I had the pleasure of chatting with celebrated artist Paul Tobin and Chaosium vice president Michael O’Brien about their upcoming events.
I couldn’t say for myself whether my love of games or my love of all things hobbit-y came first, and I imagine I’m not the only person in this hobby that would say that. Hobbiton and other geeky pursuits seem like a natural pairing. What was the catalyst for a game day at the Green Dragon Inn?
Paul Tobin: A very special birthday party, not unlike Bilbo’s 111th. Originally, I had planned a gaming event at the Green Dragon Inn to celebrate my 50th birthday, but unfortunately COVID prevented it from happening. The idea was reignited years later at my friend and DM, Eric Heath’s, 60th birthday party at Hobbiton. His wife, Stacy, was one of the organisers of the event. We had met during our time at Weta Workshop and had spent many years gaming together. I mentioned the idea to her, and a few months later we found ourselves gaming together at the Green Dragon Inn at last.
Chaosium Con has taken place in a few countries now. What sparked the partnership between Chaosium Con and Gaming at the Green Dragon Inn for this year’s event?
Michael O’Brien: Myself and several other Chaosium colleagues were fortunate enough to be part of the Green Dragon Gaming event that Paul and Stacy organised last year: we flew over from Australia for it, and it was well worth the trip! I’ve been to Hobbiton a few times before that, but this was the most magical and amazing visit of them all: gaming in the Green Dragon Inn until midnight! It was such an amazing experience that when we started planning for Chaosium Con New Zealand in November, we thought, hey, let’s see if we can talk Paul and Stacy into doing it again! Fortunately, they were very keen!
Michael, you’ve been a part of the Role-Playing Game industry since the 90s. What do you think about the RPG boom we’ve been seeing this last decade, fueled at least in part by actual play shows, Stranger Things, and the D&D movie?
Michael O’Brien: Actual play shows like Critical Role certainly have been a huge driver for the popularity of TTRPGs in recent years.
I loved the D&D movie. If they don’t ever make another one of those, let’s see if we can get a Call of Cthulhu movie happening, because that would be awesome. And BTW, those Stranger Things kids? They might have been into playing old-school D&D, but if you think about it, what they’re going through in the show really is a Call of Cthulhu scenario.
For those not familiar with Chaosium Con, either in the States, UK, Poland, or here in Aotearoa, how would you describe the event to someone who’d never been?
Michael O’Brien: Chaosium Con New Zealand will be the fourth country we’ve brought the event to, after the USA, Australia, the UK, and Poland. The convention is a celebration of all things Chaosium. This naturally enough includes all our current games, including Call of Cthulhu, Pendragon, RuneQuest, Rivers of London, Age of Vikings, ElfQuest, QuestWorlds, and Basic Roleplaying, but Chaosium is a company going back 50 years, and we cheerfully celebrate our older games too—they may no longer be in print (such as Ringworld, Hawkmoon, Stormbringer, Nephilim, and so on), but you can play them at Chaosium. We’ll also have a big focus on our new board games: Horror on the Orient Express, Miskatonic Tales, and Credo! Our convention also features panels, workshops, VIP Games, international and local guests, and more. Our conventions have a reputation for being friendly, convivial, and welcoming for newcomers—so even if you’ve never played a Chaosium game before, you’ll be made to feel most welcome. And the great thing about our roleplaying game is that most of them are based on the d100 system; if you’ve played one of our games, it’s super easy to pick up and play another one.
Coordinating four cons in entirely different places seems like a ton of work, and then Chaosium also has a large presence at numerous cons throughout the season (like Pax AU and Gen Con) as well. What keeps you all energized for that many events, and what organizing magic are you using to keep all those gears turning?
Michael O’Brien: I enjoy attending conventions and meeting fans of Chaosium games all over the world. But living in Australia (or New Zealand) means it’s a l-o-n-g way to travel to shows in the rest of the world. So if I’m going anywhere, I try to see if I can get double value out of the time and distance. For example, in May-June this year I went to the UK for Chaosium Con UK and then UK Games Expo, and then on the way home, stopped in Istanbul, Turkey to put on a Call of Cthulhu actual play show in the 5th century Cistern of Theodosius (which was almost as cool as gaming at the Green Dragon Inn at Hobbiton). So that’s three events in one trip.
To keep the gears turning for our own events, we fortunately have dedicated convention coordinators in our various locations, and they put together local teams on the ground (including New Zealand). A big part of that is the GMs running the game sessions—we have a special program for that called the Cult of Chaos.
Paul, your background includes working at Wētā Workshop, and you’ve also done work with a number of IPs. Do you have a favorite project?
Paul: That’s a hard question to answer, because I feel incredibly fortunate to have worked within so many of my favourite inspirations. The Narnia series were the first fantasy books I read as a child, so getting to design Peter’s shield and Susan’s horn for the films was a real career highlight. Not long after discovering Narnia, I read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and during my time at Weta Workshop I spent seven years working on The Hobbit trilogy, designing within Middle-earth itself. Flashing back again to my university years, I was obsessively playing Call of Cthulhu—and now I get to spend my days art directing my favourite Chaosium games. It’s surreal to realise how many of the worlds that shaped my imagination as a kid have become part of my professional life.
The photos from last year’s event look fantastic. How was the reception? Can we expect any changes this year?
Paul: Last year’s event was truly magical, and we were genuinely overwhelmed by the response from everyone who attended. From the beginning, our goal was to create a boutique experience for devoted fans—something intimate, immersive, and genuinely unforgettable. For this year’s event, we’re taking the same exclusive approach. With Chaosium now joining us as partners, however, we’re able to offer even more: a full Hobbit-style feast before gaming begins, and best of all, some very special Game Masters.
To play any game at the Green Dragon Inn would be a treat, but what games in particular should we expect to see that evening?
Paul: As with our first event, we are keen to theme the evening’s gaming to our amazing location.
So our wonderful GMs will be taking our brave adventurers into a Tolkienesque fantasy using Chaosium’s Basic Roleplaying Game (BRP) rules system.
No surprise, tickets for Gaming at the Green Dragon Inn (one might say, an expected party) went lightning fast (in under an hour!), but you can still grab passes to Chaosium Con, Nov 21-22 in Wellington, Aotearoa NZ.
