It's January, time to think about Gen Con again.

The winter feels longer than it really is; the weather is bad and it's not a lot of fun to be outside. I've neglected this blog for a while, because reporting no news does not make for a very exciting read.  Now, however, we've reached January and that's Gen Con badge pre-order and housing time.

Yes...I have a 4 day badge for Gen Con 2011 and I have a room at the Westin downtown.  I really wanted to book the new J. W. Marriott, but it was a little more expensive and I can use the extra $40 or so to have more fun.  Ideally I'll just be in my room when it's time to sleep and clean up.  Overall cost for Gen Con should be about $1100.  I think I can swing that.  It'll be even cheaper for me if I can find a roommate, but I'm picky there.

D&D Encounters is almost at the end of the season.  I've been playing fairly regularly, and with one week to go in this season, I think I've had enough of the format for now.  It's served its purpose of getting me used to 4E while having a good time, but now I'm ready for full games with more than one encounter per session and more roleplaying opportunities between combat encounters.  Last week though, encounters did something for me that I didn't really expect...it gave my anti-D&D roommate a chance to see what the game was all about.

I've tried to describe how D&D plays to her in the past, but she just didn't really get the picture.  She kept wanting to pigeon hole the game in a boardgame shaped hole.  Out of nowhere last week, she announced that she would like to come watch me play.  After picking my jaw up off the floor, I gave her the address of the game store, and met her there.  Remember, this is the girl who is opposed to D&D for religious reasons.  I'd actually turned her to being open to at least checking the game out.

Naturally, it was the lamest session of the whole season.  The poor DM tried to make it fun, but the players were me, a 10 year old, his 13 year old sister and their mother.  None of them really wanted to be there that night, and play just suffered.  We had a TPK, which I felt was actually a merciful end to a bad session.  I thought that would probably end it for my roommate.  Fortunately, she picked up on the fact that the particular session sucked.  She got to see how the game plays from a mechanics point of view, and left with a much better understanding of the game.  Turns out it was still a positive thing for her to watch.  I think she accepts it a lot more now that she understands the game a little better, and this will make selling me spending money on Gen Con a lot easier.

Anyway, that's the news.  Now that we are moving back into con season and people are thinking about Gen Con again, I'll be posting a lot more I hope.  I've got a couple of  local eatery reviews lined up, and hope that will be valuable for those attending.