Dungeons and Dragons enthusiasts should clear their schedules for this weekend and plan on attending two days of intense gaming and fun.

The Ames Science Fiction/Fantasy Association (AMESFA) will host Cycon, a gaming convention, in the Memorial Union March 1 and 2.

Karen Faber, former president and one of the event planners, said the event should be large.

Owen Rhoden, president of AMESFA, said he got the idea for the fund-raising convention last summer.

Since then, club members have been busy coordinating games and planning the weekend.

“There’s going to be a lot of cool games,” Faber said.

She said they will have various Dungeons and Dragons tournaments, card games, Dragon dice, other dice games, Chaos and miniature battles going on in various rooms in the Memorial Union.

Convention participants can also get involved in an auction, a raffle, a pre-painted miniature contest and a costume contest.

Rhoden said associations from all over Iowa and groups from Minnesota, Nebraska, Illinois, Wisconsin and Missouri are expected to attend the convention to participate and help coordinate the games as game masters.

According to Dungeon Master’s Guide, game masters are players who have quick wit, dramatical flair and a good sense of timing. They have mastered the rules of the game and must be creative individuals who act as game referees.

Faber said she hopes people from the community will come and register to get in on the fun with the travelers from surrounding states.

Rhoden said the fantasy artist for Steel Angel, Fredd Gorham, will be the guest artist of honor at the conference. He will judge the pre-painted miniature contest.

Other big names Rhoden and Faber mentioned include Lester Smith of TSR, the company that owns the rights to the Dungeons and Dragons games. Smith is creator of Dragon Dice and Chaos.

Faber said other people from TSR will attend, as well as Jim Peeples, regional director of the Role Playing Games Association.

She and Rhoden both said there will be prizes for the winners of the games.

Rhoden said there will be two magic tournaments — one is a Type II tournament, and the other is a Sealed Deck tournament.

He said competitors in both tournaments will receive a box of booster cards, unopened packages of cards.

In addition, businesses will demonstrate and sell games at the convention. Two Ames businesses, Mayhem Collectibles and Rose’s Collectibles, will also get in on the action.

The tournament begins at 8 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. However, Rhoden said people can come register in the Regency room as early as 7:30 a.m. Play will run until midnight Saturday and until 6 p.m. Sunday. The games will run on a four-hour slot schedule.

The cost for one day of play is $8 and $15 for both days.

Faber said, “Everyone is welcome.”