Gen Con: Day 2 (Friday for those keeping track of such things)

Right from the start, days at GenCon bled one into the other. I'd only gotten a few hours of sleep when it was time to wake up and take care of my dogs again. 5 bells found me getting showered and then heading back to my house for the dog feeding/walking ritual. Needless to say, I was tired. I figured it was prudent to get some more sleep, so I grabbed a few more hours and headed out at about 11 AM for some food. I skipped my morning Pathfinder game. One thing I've certainly learned this year is to only schedule things at 8 AM if you know you just can't bear to miss them.

My initial plan was to spend some time in the dealer hall and see if I could find a pick-up game. Thankfully I checked twitter that morning. I'd scheduled a Hollow Earth Expedition game at 4 PM on Saturday, but I knew there was absolutely no way I could play in it now with my dog care duties. HEX is one of the games I was really looking forward to trying a GenCon, and I knew one of my only real chances was a rumor that @KJBauman was going to be GMing a pick-up game sometime during the con. I'd gotten this info from @d20Blonde, and she'd recommended him as the best HEX GM she'd played with. Sure enough, today was the day. There was one spot left in @KJBauman's "Danger in the Arctic" game in the Embassy Suites' lobby at noon. I responded (as soon as I saw the tweet) that I would really like to play in the game, and managed to be lucky enough to get the last spot. See how useful social media (Twitter in particular) is at a con? I grabbed a quick sub at Subway in the food court at the mall, and headed to the game. After a little trouble in finding the group, they found me and we sat down to play.

This game was an absolute blast. Without spoiling this for anyone that might get the opportunity to play it in the future, the pre-gens form a shameless rip off of the Johnny Quest team with the same interactions built in to your motives. I played the brilliant scientist who can't quite get everything from paper to reality without some issue. There were rockets and Nazis and zeppelins and snowmobile chases and dogfights and portals to the moon and Hitler in a jar. The game was over-the-top pulp at its best. While we didn't play strictly rules-as-written, @KJBauman's modifications worked wonderfully for this scenario with new players and experienced. In my last post I talked briefly about being able to tell a good game by looking at the players. Our GM was up on his feet constantly, animated, and made every situation (bad and good) into something fun. The players were smiling most of the game, and grinning a good portion of it too. There was at least one good full belly laugh every 10 minutes (honestly, I'm surprised we didn't get asked to calm down). As you can probably tell, I thoroughly enjoyed this game. If you EVER get the chance to play in one of @KJBauman's HEX games, just make the time and do it. He gets nervous about GMing it seems, but I think that's because he puts a lot of pressure on himself to make sure everyone has fun. No need to worry, he's brilliant at what he does and it was again educational for me to watch such a good GM in action (when I managed to briefly break my immersion with the specific intent of trying to learn some techniques). This was absolutely one of the best twitter tips I got all con. So glad I was able to be a part of this.

As for the game, the Ubiquity system really plays smoothly. Sure, you need a GM who can come up with good numbers for target successes on the fly, but the skill and combat resolution is fast and smooth, keeping the game moving and exciting. The HEX system of rewards for playing built in motivations and flaws, even when doing so might cause a temporarily bad outcome, really adds roleplaying depth to the game. Yes, this system absolutely encourages RP. Even if you just don't RP, you're still going to gain significant advantages for staying in character because you're going to get rewarded with extra dice when you want them for doing so. This is a game I'm really glad I got a chance to play, and I am happy to have purchased the core rulebook in advance. I'd play a full campaign if the opportunity ever came up, and I'll probably look for another HEX game at GenCon next year.

I got out of this game at about 4 pm, and had a little bit of free time, but not a lot. I knew I wasn't going to my scheduled HEX game on Saturday, and I'd made plans for the night so I wasn't going to the Pathfinder GenCon special at 7 PM. Armed with this, I stopped by GenCon customer service and returned these tickets so they would know there were places for generics. I also got some money back (I think there was a 5% return fee...it was something small and very reasonable). At this point I didn't have to wait long in line, and everything went very smoothly again. The GenCon staff really has this down.

I think I may have wandered the halls a bit, but soon I headed back to my car to drive home and take care of the dogs. I was also picking up my girlfriend so we could walk around and admire the cosplayers. She likes seeing what people have come up with, so this was a great way to show her some fun at the con. We were also going to go to the Goth/Industrial night at the Ugly Monkey though we weren't planning on staying long. I had to be up early on Saturday and she couldn't be out very long with her back injury.

I don't remember what I did for dinner, but what does that matter? I know we headed back downtown and I changed into my goth clothes. We then walked around the convention center admiring the costumes. The Westin convention rooms are where all the film and anime events are held, so it's a great place if you want to see cosplay. We spent a significant amount of time there, and talked to a few folks about their costumes. We were heading back to the con center on the up escalator when I actually started listening to the performer who had set up his keyboard by said escalators. I heard Japanese, and it suddenly struck me that he was, for all intents and purposes, playing lounge versions of anime theme songs. Needless to say, we turned right around and headed back down to listen for a bit. Turns out he had a huge book of music, so when my girlfriend requested Gessekai by Buck Tick (the theme to Nightwalker, and one of the most goth sounding Japanese songs I've heard) he found it in no time and launched into a very respectable rendition. What a find. These are the cool little things you can see at GenCon by just being in the right place at the right time. The artist in question is Gavin Goska, and you can find out more at http://www.subtleinversion.com/gavin (unfortunately his page is locked behind some ridiculous login wall that even site registration doesn't seem to get you access too. Not the best marketing tool). I recommend catching some of his act if you ever get the chance and like anime themes or J-pop.

A really well done Hit Girl. Wish this
picture was better.

An orc...and a good one.

At about 10 PM we headed over to the Ugly Monkey for some dancing. As I should have expected, 10 to midnight was just too early, and very few people had shown up by the time we got there. The music was mediocre at best, so I'm not sure we missed much (though it may have improved later). Indy's goth/industrial scene leaves a lot to be desired, but it's nice to see them still trying. Maybe I'm just too old, but the music that gets played just isn't my thing for the most part. I got to dance to all of one song, so this part of the night felt like kind of a waste. We headed back towards my car at about midnight, and of all the flattering things, I got stopped by a bunch of much younger women so they could snap a picture and compliment my on my look. My girlfriend gets stopped a lot..she's significantly more attractive than I should be with, so it was a nice ego boost to be the one stopped for once.

I knew I had an 8 AM game, so we headed home and I got to sleep as soon as I could. Another great day of GenCon had passed, and I'd kept busy the whole time and had a blast.

It's Almost Here

It's been a while since I posted anything.  I guess there hasn't been much to say that I though would be of any interest. It's just a little over a month until Gen Con, and I'm starting to get into final prep mode.

One of the first things I'm doing is trying to decide what I want to make sure I've read before con time.  I'm pretty much where I want to be.  I'm close to finishing the Pathfinder Inner Sea Guide so I have a feel for Golarion.  It's such a well done setting, that the book is just interesting to read.  It doesn't hurt that I have more Pathfinder games scheduled than any other game.  I'm also going to try to read through the Eclipse Phase rules, as that looks like an interesting game.  I read rules some times just so I can join a pick up game if I happen upon one.

My Wednesday schedule is giving me issues.  There's a surprising amount of things I could be doing with that day. I think I've decided that the best use does not include scheduling much of anything.  I'm going to go to the Critical-Hits Drunken D&D game party Wednesday evening to watch the game and mingle.  That's about all that's set in stone now (that and making sure my roommate doesn't have to take a ridiculously expensive cab from the airport).  I think the best thing for that day for me is to use it to meet people I know from twitter and other places and maybe get involved in a pick-up game or 10. Yes, Wednesday has officially become a socializing day for me.

I had the last second possibility come up last week to bring Abney Park to play during Gen Con.  After looking at the costs and time I'd have to commit, I decided against trying this year.  It's just too close to try to plan and pull off something like that.  I have to say, Captain Robert was very interested in playing the con, and very helpful in making booking the band as easy as possible.  I want to try to do this next year when there's time to plan everything and when I might be able to get the Gen Con staff involved.  There's an awesome 1500 person venue a block north of the convention center. This year would have been perfect since they're releasing the Airship Pirates RPG.  I just wish the twitter conversation that started this had come a month earlier.  Might have happened then.

My next post will probably be a discussion of what I'm bringing to Gen Con.  Sam's Club sells cases and partial cases of 5-hour energy, and I know that's on the list.  I'll also be scouring con survival guides and trying to pull out the gems from there.  If you have any suggestions, leave a comment.  I'd like to make the post a very useful guide targeted specifically at Gen Con.

Oh...a final note: Indianapolis is in full construction mode.  They're doing a lot of work preparing the city for the Superbowl that may or may not happen this year.  The city should be really pretty by Gen Con time as a lot of the beautification projects will be complete.  There will probably still be significant roadwork going on though, so plan accordingly and check for construction updates if you're driving in.

My Current Gen Con Schedule

Now that the dust has settled, I figured I'd post my Gen Con schedule for anyone interested.  I know there are a couple of you out there that I definitely want to meet up with, and a few that have scheduled some of the same games as me.


View Gen Con Locations in a larger map

Wednesday


Wednesday is technically trade day at Gen Con, and the convention hasn't really started yet.  That's just a technicality though.  A lot of folks will already be in town, and unofficial gaming starts up Tuesday for the most part.  My  current plan is to get down town pretty early and game with Kentucky Fried Gamers for most of Wednesday.  They set up in The Ram and Scotty's Brewhouse and game from morning into the night.  At some point in this day, I'll take a break and get myself checked into my hotel room and retrieve my badge and event tickets from will call.  Might also stop gaming to meet folks as they come in.  Overall, it's a casual day and I hope to meet a lot of people and have a good time doing some open gaming.

Thursday:

Thursday I hope to not be too hung over from Wednesday :).

Time	Event	Location
10 am - noon	True Dungeon: The Lair of The Sea Lich (Puzzle Oriented)	Marriott Ballroom
4 pm - 6 pm	Tower of Gygax	JW Marriott, 303
10 pm - 4 am	Tower of Gygax Presents: The Howling Hills	JW Marriott, 303

Thursday morning I'm getting my True Dungeon run out of the way.  I'm really psyched that I got in this year, and I'm hoping it'll start the convention off with a bang.  I've got a pretty big slot open between noon and 4 in which I plan to head over to the dealers' hall and wander through it.  I've got plenty of time to stop and play a demo game if I find something really interesting.  I'll also grab some food in this window, and hopefully meet up with more friends.  If someone happens to be playing an open game, I may just join that too.  Finally, if I feel like it, I might run an hour or so of the RPGA D&D delve.  I wanted to make sure I got a good bit of time for Tower of Gygax, so I went ahead and got tickets for a two hour slot.  Once this is done, I plan on going and grabbing some dinner.  Hopefully I will have met enough folks that I won't be eating alone. This would also be a great time to grab a beer. I can't have too much to drink, because I have to be back at the JW for the overnight Lich event with the Tower of Gygax folks.  @saveversusdeath is running this event, so I know it's going to be a blast.  After that, it's off to catch a few precious Z's.

Friday

Friday is Pathfinder day.

Time	Event	Location
8 am - 1 pm	First Steps, Part II - To Delve the Dungeon Deep	ICC 231-234, Paizo HQ
7 pm - midnight	Gen Con Special: Blood Under Absalom	ICC 231-234, Paizo HQ

I'm a little miffed that I didn't get into the first adventure in the First Steps series.  That's just the way it happens with Gen Con scheduling though.  I may stop by Paizo HQ and see if there's any way I can get to play this prior to 8 am Friday.  In any case, I'm planning on starting a Dwarf Cleric I've made in this game, and if he is as fun to play as I think he'll be, he will be my new main Pathfinder Society character. I'm not sure what the special event is going to look like, but I've got a monk I can use if it's more combat oriented.  I've got a huge block of time on Friday for open gaming, hanging with friends, hitting the dealer hall, and anything else that strikes my fancy.  I'm pretty glad it worked out this way.  There's going to be so many things to do that I didn't want to have the majority of my time locked down with pre-scheduled events.

Saturday

Saturday is all over the place

Time	Event	Location
8 am - noon	SND01: Revenge of the Iron Lich	Crowne Plaza, Conrail Station, 1
1 pm - 2 pm	TerrorWerks 2011: The Holy Code	ICC, 107-110
4 pm - 8 pm	The Lost Logbook of Wei Pei	Crowne Plaza, Pennsylvania Station B, 4

Up early again on Saturday morning for some FourthCore D&D.  I've been looking forward to playing this for a while, and I'm eager to tackle this adventure.  Many energy drinks will be consumed to jolt me into working form I suspect. I've got a short lunch break after this, then it's off to TerrorWerks.  This sounds like the Sci Fi horror equivalent of True Dungeon, and I'm eager to try my hand at this.  Once that's completed, I collapse...or not.  I've got a two hour slot where I'll probably try to get some more food in me and maybe rest and hang out with friends.  At 4 pm I've got one of the games that I'm trying out at Gen Con: Hollow Earth Expeditions.  This looks like a lot of good, clean (or not) fun.  It's a tropical setting adventure, so I'm hoping I can really send my mind on vacation with this one.  I've left Saturday night free for socializing and open gaming, but probably not much sleep.

Sunday

I live here.  There's no reason for me to stop gaming Sunday.  I'm going to pack up, check out of the hotel, then back for more gaming.

Time	Event	Location
8 am - 1 pm	First Steps, Part III - A Vision of Betrayal	ICC 231-234, Paizo HQ
2 pm - 4 pm	Arkham Horror	ICC Hall E, White, C-D

Today, I finish up my Pathfinder series, and try out Arkham Horror.  Arkham Horror will be another new game for me.  It looks pretty cool, and I've wanted to give it a try for a while.  It's also a nice, quiet way to end Gen Con.  I'm sure I'll be sad it's over, but I'll also be ready to hit my bed at home for a marathon sleep session.

Yes, I'm going to Gen Con

It's all done.  While I handled it very poorly, I did get the final item in line to go to GenCon.  I will be there this year, and staying at the Westin. I'm going to take Wednesday thru Sunday off work, so I will probably be hanging out at the RAM with KFG on Wednesday, and stopping in to get my badge and check into my hotel at some point that day.  I've got 10 events in my wish list, and those are going to keep me plenty busy during the day, with time to socialize at night.  Looks like I'm not going to get a lot of time in the dealer's hall if I land tickets for everything, but that's probably for the best financially anyway.  I've got some D&D, Pathfinder, Hollow Earth, and Star Wars Saga lined up, as well as True Dungeon and TerrorWerks.  I guess I'll know if I'm overplanning in about 100 days. I'm really looking forward to meeting a lot of my gaming twitter friends there, and hopefully getting some game time in with you fine folks. While I've plotted this for 2/3 of a year now, it's hard for me to believe I'm actually going to do it.  Childhood dream, here I come....

Whos Yer Con 2011

The last time I attended a convention, was a long time ago.  It was Rivercon down in Kentucky, a small convention that we decided to drive down to at the last moment.  I didn't register to play in any organized games, but did get in on a few pickups.  We also got in on a test game.  It turned out to be what might have eventually become the Vampire: The Masquerade LARP.  I had a blast.

I don't get a lot of days off.  I work 7 days a week, with some time to do my own thing once every 4 weekends.  This is because I cover weekend support for my weekday job once a month, but they almost never need anything.  As it turned out, Who's Yer Con fell on one of these weekends this year.  Who's Yer Con is an annual free convention put on by Who's Yer Gamers in Indianapolis.  The location was about 35 minutes from my house, so free + short drive made this a fairly easy decision for me.

As things go, it turned out the there would be a group working on Saturday at my weekday job, so I could not go to Friday or Saturday events.  I was still determined to press on, and signed up for a Gamma World game on Sunday because @serok42 was one of the GMs.  This was a good excuse to meet someone I follow on Twitter, and I was comfortable because he assured me if I knew D&D 4E, I would be OK for GW even though I had never played.  I also wanted to try some Pathfinder Society play, and there were a lot of these games at Who's Yer Con.  The final batch of adventures started just as the GW game was scheduled to end, so I tried to sign up for this too, but missed the online deadline.  No worries, I figured I'd show up and see if I could play, since registration was technically open until the game started.

At some ungodly hour Sunday morning (because we lost an hour sleep thanks to the "spring forward" portion of daylight saving time) I dragged my carcass out of bed and headed out.  Checking the registrations when I got there, there was one person signed up to play Gamma World at 8 am Sunday morning: me.  This did not look good, but I stuck around to see what would happen.  The event was a GMing competition, and there were suppose to be 3 GMs each with a full adventure of several encounters based on their home towns in the future of Gamma World.  Clearly, there were not near enough players to do this, so it was decided that we would each play one encounter from each GM, then have them describe the remainder of their adventure and vote based on the info and ideas.  With the GMs playing each other's adventures, and the help of one of the GM's kids we had a full party and had a good 4 hours of fun hopping from adventure to adventure.  I really felt like I got a good feel for Gamma World playing this way, and got to see some really creative work.  The prize went to a GM who had modeled an encounter on the Indianapolis 500 ala multiple person crewed pod racing.  It was a little too complex to run easily in my opinion, but everyone had fun and it was certainly very creative.  If there was another event like this at a different Con, I'd play it again.  Seeing how people took very familiar settings to them, and twisted them to fit into Gamma World was a real treat on top of just playing the encounters.  I played a sentient female parasitic mold controlling a male zombie body, an old, grumpy man turned into a cyborg, and a swarm character.

After this was over (and kept on time by the judges I might add), I stopped by the Pathfinder room to see if I could get in on a game there.  I let them know that I'd never played PF before, but was familiar with the rules and had played a lot of D&D.  There was no problem at all getting into a game with the PF Society character I had registered earlier in the week, and I was soon playing at a table of other new players with a very patient DM.  While this wasn't the adventure I really wanted to play, I still had a great time, and got a good look at how Society play works.  I have to say, Paizo has a really nice system for organized Pathfinder games.  It's well thought out, and makes for great Con play.  I suppose it helped that by pure chance, I had the character that eliminated 80% of our foes.  Sleep is a very powerful tool for the first level Sorcerer when used right.  Daze makes a wonderful cantrip too.  Had this been 4E, I would say I played a very successful controller.

One of the really neat things for me was the fact that hopping into 2 games, picked from descriptions, I had females playing with me or GMing each time.  I grew up when gaming was an almost exclusively male hobby, and was too geeky for girls to consider.  Thankfully the times have changed in many ways.  The women I played with at this con were not treated any differently because they were women. Guys played female characters and the women played male characters and no one blinked twice.  It was great to see real gender equity at the table...so much so that I didn't even think about how nice it was to play in mixed games until I left the con.  I'm really glad this hobby has come that far, even if it doesn't always make it to the level of integration I experienced.

I had a great time at Who's Yer Con, and I'd recommend it for those in the Midwest who would like to attend a con without breaking the bank.  Everyone was really nice, and the game play was awesome.  In reality, this is the first time I've really experienced convention games, and now I'm counting the days to Gen Con again.  I also have added things to my "To Do At Gen Con" list, based on my single day experience at Who's Yer Con.  Thanks to all the players and organizers of this wonderful event.  I'll be back next year for sure.