Welcome to Roadworthy! This is a chance to show off a Road Crew Judge and allow them to share their experience and wisdom. We provide these profiles to help provide insight into their personality and style, and maybe give up-and-coming Judges some advice on improving their game.
We recently caught up with Cory Gahsman, aka ‘DM Cojo’ to talk podcasts, running games online, and the rapid expansion of his school’s gaming club!
Roadworthy: Cory “DM Cojo” Gahsman
What’s your name, where do you live (and game), and what should Goodman Games fans know about you?
Cory “DM Cojo” Gahsman, from Lansing, Michigan. Goodman Games fans probably know me best for my frequent email questions to the Spellburn podcast (and guest hosting on episode #41).
How did you first discover DCC?
I had followed Judge Jim Wampler on the Save or Die podcast. When I heard that Jim was helping start the Spellburn podcast, I started listening right away. It took one episode for the original Judges J to convince me that DCC RPG was the game for me. I paused the episode in the middle, ordered a core book, funky dice, and Sailors on the Starless Sea…and then finished the episode.
As of “right now,” how many Road Crew games have you run this year?
I have run seven official road crew events so far this year. I ran games at virtual Gary Con, Spawn of Cyclops Con, Reaver Con, Empire of the Cyclops Con, and in person on Free RPG Day at my newly opened FLGS “The Gaming Cantina” in Okemos, Michigan.
How did the quarantine change your gaming life?
The quarantine actually helped me game more. After the initial shock and denial of Gary Con getting cancelled in 2019, and getting over my anxiety about running virtual, I got in the saddle and ran at several virtual cons over the past two and a half years.
Give us a favorite gaming highlight from this year.
I’ve had some great gaming highlights at the virtual cons this year, but play testing an X-Crawl Classics adventure I wrote, called “The Heart of Rock n’ Roll” was a blast. I had a great crew that really dug into the mechanics of the new classes they were playing. The group really embraced the “mojo” mechanic too. Mojo was flying around like a ping pong ball at the Olympics! It was a lot of fun to see the synergy that mojo brings to the game.
Tell us a little about your school gaming club.
Prior to the pandemic, I was a co-advisor for the RPG club at the high school where I teach. Leading up to the pandemic, the club had about 7-10 kids that would meet weekly. I have a bookshelf in my room with a gaming library of books that I purchased over the years, or were donated by publishers or other gamers. Unbeknownst to me, during the pandemic, the group continued to meet virtually and play games. When I came back to in-person teaching this school year, I was shocked to learn that the club had a president, VP, treasurer, and club artist already in place. We advertised the club at a back to school event, and waited with anticipation for the first meeting.
When the meeting day arrived, I was shocked to see 47 kids show up! I had to scramble to find enough classrooms for the club to use, when games were going to begin the following week. Now we have anywhere from 32-45 kids gaming every week, spread over three classrooms, with 5-7 games going at the same time. It’s almost like a mini-convention every week! I have 5 tables running 5th edition, 1 table playing the new Aliens RPG, and my son Chase is running a DCC game. He just finished Sailors on the Starless Sea and rolled right into The One Who Watches From Below.
You are a fan of U-Con, like myself. Tell us about your U-Con experience.
U-Con is a fantastic, small con that takes place in Ypsilanti, Michigan in November. Although it is a small con, it is a ton of fun. It has a great OSR track of games every year. It has brought in some great guests over the years, including Jim Wampler, Doug Kovacs, and Brendan LaSalle (who is a regular)! Other DCC creators who have attended in the past include Stefan Poag, Marzio Muscedere, Donn Stroud, James Pozenel, and Adam Muskiewicz. The Michigan DCC community is fantastic, and many of us attend U-Con on a regular basis. Although U-Con had to go virtual again last month, I am confident it will be back in force in November, 2022…and I just saw that Goodman Games will be represented there too!
What advice would you give to other Road Crew judges running online games?
At first, running online games, especially for strangers, was very anxiety inducing for me. But once I jumped in and tried it, it went very well. I prefer to run “theater of the mind” style, so all I need is a video connection, and I’m good to go. I’m glad there are some cool virtual tabletops out there…but don’t let that intimidate you from running virtually. You can play just fine without virtual maps, tokens, and dice rollers…just use your imagination!
Interested in learning about our other amazing Road Crew judges? Click here for all the Roadworthy profiles!
