heh ... flying in Thursday night means I don't have to get up at 3am on Friday to make my flight and then be conscious the rest of the day to game ... I'm sure my players will thank me ... perhaps not after the first tpk ... but eventually they'll thank me.

UCon-Gaming One Week Away!

Leaving home 6:30 am or so.
Arriving U of M 9:30
U of M tour 10:00 (I've got a senior)
break
U of M Engineering tour 1:30 ... no 2:00 game for me :-(
check in and relax (annoy Dan)
7:00 Ready to Play!!!!!!! (oh, no GM for my game ... Dan!!!!)

Working on final touches for GMing.

-Swiftbrook

32 hours and I'll be winging my way to Michigan for the con

maps are done and packed
bunny bag o holding -- packed and read to go
bunny suitcase... not so much hehe

gooooooooooooooooooo ucon

Have fun guys! I'm sorry to miss ucon this year. Why did it have to be the same weekend as flatcon?

As a new note to my GM's. I will be providing you all with a bottle of water during your sessions.

splashes in the water

now fortified with BUNNY

splashes in the water

now fortified with BUNNY

Looks at the fur and glitter ridden water in disgust

Yea, I will be going out to get a new batch of water after the bunny is chained to her table.

awwwwwwwww

pulls on chain and rips the leg of the table off

muahahahaha

Watches the Bunnies proximity shock collar go off as she gets 3 ft from her table

Hehehehe...Did you think I didn't learn from Doug Doug's mistake last year. That purple styling collar isn't "just" for looks, and that clasp was welded shut after I helped you put it on.

Have fun storming the castle! [waves]

Have fun storming the castle! [waves]

Wish you were here... ;)

Is PFCBG still bouncy this morning, or was she zapped with enough joules to subdue her yesterday?

Funny story. I looked up at the sky Thursday night and saw a trail of sparkles and glitter. I can only assume it was PFCBG flying overhead from Iowa City to Detroit.

Note to U-Con attendees: If you see me wandering around, say hello. I'll give you a card with a magic word on it. After U-Con is over email the address on the card and include the magic word in the subject line and I'll mail you a free Paizo book or other random gift :) Cards are limited (only have 5 with magic words written in ink on them left.)

Note: This may not be coherent. I am operating on 6 hours of sleep over the last 3 days.

The last 72 hours were simply put, "Amazing!" I met and got to know a ton of fabulous GM's whom I won't mention yet due to my sleep deprived state and a high likelihood of unintentionally missing them.

Since I think I can do math (Counts fingers to double check, yep 9 fingers!) we had originally scheduled 61 tables, had 3 fail go off (All first steps), and had 6 extras done.

Even without actual player numbers, we were pushed to our limits on hosting the number of players we projected even for our stretch goals, and the con organizers were simply blown away by what we put out. We were the stars of the convention hands down!

When I've had some sleep. I will come back with real numbers, and start my academy awards style speech on who to thank for this success. As much as I'd like to claim full credit. I could not have done it without the many persons who stepped in at various points to help me make it happen.

Is PFCBG still bouncy this morning, or was she zapped with enough joules to subdue her yesterday?

Doug, you were in HOT demand. I can't count how many times I had to tell people that you were in fact not present, and that you were not expected. You should make an appearance next year, you were dearly missed. If you come out next year. I promise you can play and not have to get behind an organizer's desk or a GM's screen unless YOU actually want to. I'll even buy you your aftermath drinks. I'll go one step further and make my new concoction just for you too!

On the first leg of flight home..... had just an awesome time..... was great to see everyone from previous years and meet new people........ easily some of the best tables of my gming career.

Now..... who can beat me this weekend with 8 out of 7 slots run?

On the first leg of flight home..... had just an awesome time..... was great to see everyone from previous years and meet new people........ easily some of the best tables of my gming career.

Now..... who can beat me this weekend with 8 out of 7 slots run?

Got to do the extra things to earn that 5th star. :)

Thanks again for the enjoyable time with Rats of Round Mountain Part 1.

Dan, it sounds like you rocked U-Con! Great work!! Outside of the joys of family, there's no feeling like the high you feel after having pulled off a great convention that exceeded expectations. All the stress and preparation done before the con starts is rewarded. Suddenly it all feels worthwhile, all doubt is erased and you start fantasizing about how you can make it even bigger & better next year. Make sure that you write down everything you want to do different/better now while things are fresh. I love that PFS was the largest draw at the convention. That's very gratifying for our hobby.

I'd like to have been there but family obligations come first. It's nice to be missed. I'll aim to attend next year.

Now Marmalade Dog is only 14 weeks away. No rest for the weary!

Now Marmalade Dog is only 14 weeks away. No rest for the weary!

Truth!

I've had this song line "There's no rest for the wicked" running through my head since about 7pm last night. Don't remember the rest of the line, but it's as close as a song can get for how I feel right now with this. :)

I’ve mostly recovered from U-Con sleep deprivation and stress and going through the end session reports. Attempting to analyze what went right and what went wrong to see what to do for next year. Since that’s my current status, I thought I’d take a moment to thank everyone. This would not have been possible if my players didn’t show up to play, and my GM’s didn’t offer to GM. Thank you, all of you. There were a lot of people to thank for different things (random chicken nuggets, running a con survey to the front desk, or even helping new players build characters) so I will stick to the big ones in my eyes.

I wanted to give special thanks to the following!

Wes Nicholson:
Your wellspring of experience, advice, and friendship was a great benefit to everyone you encountered at U-Con. I enjoyed every moment of your company, and I look forward to our next con. Your advice about premastering didn’t click in my head what you were saying until the next day while I was getting ready for work. :P Also, your Tim Tam’s were loved by everyone, and they are great bait for potential new players.

Thea Peters:
You continue to live up to all expectations! You’re fun, bouncy, energetic (except the morning after you’ve had “Dan’s special Juice”), and a great GM. You were able to help me make sure players got where they needed to be, and put on a great show for them all. Thank you for volunteering to run extra tables. It made getting players into seats easier when we had overflow, or extra demand for specific scenarios. I am going to seriously try to make it to Gamicon for you.

Mason & Eric:
You guys helped in so many ways, it would take all day to list them out. You helped provide extra prize support, helped setup, helped with various tasks, helped herd the cats, and so on. I could not have asked for a better VO support team. Oh, and Eric, that Runecarved Key was awesome. There is talk of casting it into actual metal using yours as a mold.

Scott Werner, Tracy Laurie, and Corinne Lenz:
You three, at various times helped with all the organizational tasks that I had the hardest time of getting around to, but were necessary tasks. You were in so many ways were what kept my head from spinning round & round. Thank you so much. I did enjoy staying sane. :)

Steve Witte:
I couldn’t have asked for a better thug to drag me out of the auction or assassin to steal the key during the special. I swear some of the players were seriously about to jump you when you made off with the key. So you’re forgiven for running the Runecarved Key into a door while making your get away. Your life was in danger after all. LOL

Matt Haddix, Jim Tinklenberg, Kelvin Frizzell:
Amongst those above, you guys stepped up to run extra scenarios for others at the expense of your own time as players. I believe I speak for them all when I say thank you for stepping up and above.

John Reyst:
Thank you for the extra prizes to give out to our players and GMs. They were greatly appreciated and I saw many more faces walk away excited to have a new book than we would have had without you. I hope to see you at M-Dog in February.

mmmmm TimTams mmmmmm

eyes her counter with the TimTams on it

Oh, and Eric, that Runecarved Key was awesome. There is talk of casting it into actual metal using yours as a mold.

If Joe can make it work, it'll be awesome!

Thank you all for an enjoyable U-Con!

Daniel Luckett wrote:

Oh, and Eric, that Runecarved Key was awesome. There is talk of casting it into actual metal using yours as a mold.

If Joe can make it work, it'll be awesome!

It's cool enough to bring next year and sit around as a nostalgia piece. At the least I'm going to reinforce it, and put some actual runes into it. Do a bit of clean up on it since I'm a perfectionist, but to be honest you got it 99% of the way to perfect. I was seriously impressed.

I can easily say that I had two of my best and favorite tables this weekend of my GMing career. They are my best and favorite and incredibly memorable for entirely different reasons and one of them seriously cannot be discussed in an open forum *blush*.

I'll certainly be doing anything and everything I can to make it again next year... perhaps w/out Dan's special juice concoction because zomg that next morning sucked... but I'll be there with glittery wings and lots more <redacted> and <redacted> and oooohhhhh yeahhhhh LOTS of <redacted>

I can easily say that I had two of my best and favorite tables this weekend of my GMing career. They are my best and favorite and incredibly memorable for entirely different reasons and one of them seriously cannot be discussed in an open forum *blush*.

I'll certainly be doing anything and everything I can to make it again next year... perhaps w/out Dan's special juice concoction because zomg that next morning sucked... but I'll be there with glittery wings and lots more <redacted> and <redacted> and oooohhhhh yeahhhhh LOTS of <redacted>

I was catching snippets of what you guys were saying, and yea.... <17 years of age should not have been near that table. Thank god there weren't. :P

Purple Fluffy CatBunnyGnome wrote:

I can easily say that I had two of my best and favorite tables this weekend of my GMing career. They are my best and favorite and incredibly memorable for entirely different reasons and one of them seriously cannot be discussed in an open forum *blush*.

I'll certainly be doing anything and everything I can to make it again next year... perhaps w/out Dan's special juice concoction because zomg that next morning sucked... but I'll be there with glittery wings and lots more <redacted> and <redacted> and oooohhhhh yeahhhhh LOTS of <redacted>

I was catching snippets of what you guys were saying, and yea.... <17 years of age should not have been near that table. Thank god there weren't. :P

muahahahahahahahaha it was good tho .. you know it's an awesome table if one if the players is laughing to hard he's crying and clutching his chest (yes I checked to make sure that he wasn't having an MI while simultaneously trying to remember my cpr training from 17 years ago)

And the ones that had been trying to be at my table last year and alll this year finally got on a table ... despite it being a cold scenario and my 8th slot woot

Thank you for the extra prizes to give out to our players and GMs. They were greatly appreciated and I saw many more faces walk away excited to have a new book than we would have had without you. I hope to see you at M-Dog in February.

No problem Dan! Glad to be able to help contribute to a fun experience for everyone!

I also wanted to note that, while they weren't prizes for PFS, Frog God Games (specifically Blonde Frog) was way cool and contributed a pile of sweet Slumbering Tsar coloring books & stickers. I know several people in the Swords & Wizardry and Castles & Crusades games I played in got some, and then the rest went into the general prize pile at registration so not sure who all else got the rest.

Anyway, thanks to Dan for a stellar job running PFS and to Frog God Games for helping add some spiffy prizes to the con.

Eric Clingenpeel wrote:

Daniel Luckett wrote:

Oh, and Eric, that Runecarved Key was awesome. There is talk of casting it into actual metal using yours as a mold.

If Joe can make it work, it'll be awesome!

It's cool enough to bring next year and sit around as a nostalgia piece. At the least I'm going to reinforce it, and put some actual runes into it. Do a bit of clean up on it since I'm a perfectionist, but to be honest you got it 99% of the way to perfect. I was seriously impressed.

It wasn't even close to being perfect... So many things I would have prefered to have been different. The plastering was definitely flawed. I would have done the runes, but I just ran out of time. Though, if I ever do anything like it again, my wife picked up some tips from the costuming seminars she went to this weekend that would have worked much better than plaster of paris. Ah well, live and learn. :)

Slot 1 Reported.

Analysis:
Level(L) = # of Players = Ratio Player to GM(R)
L1 = 3 = R3:1
L1-5 = 13 = R4.3:1
L3-7 = 7 = R3.5:1
L5-9 = 6 = R6:1
L7-11 = 6 = R6:1
Total: 35 = R4.4:1

Only conclusion I'm making so far is that I don't think First steps should be run at the "very" beginning of a con, and should hit more peak times. Since only the most hardcore make it to the first and last slots in my experience. I make this conclusion because First Steps didn't go off in Slot 6 or 7, and the players in Slot 4 only played it because I didn't have anything else for them to play. :-/

The total Ratio of 4.4 to every GM tells me I probably hit it spot on since we didn't turn any players away.

I can easily say that I had two of my best and favorite tables this weekend of my GMing career. They are my best and favorite and incredibly memorable for entirely different reasons and one of them seriously cannot be discussed in an open forum *blush*.

I'll certainly be doing anything and everything I can to make it again next year... perhaps w/out Dan's special juice concoction because zomg that next morning sucked... but I'll be there with glittery wings and lots more <redacted> and <redacted> and oooohhhhh yeahhhhh LOTS of <redacted>

Did I have anything to do with either of those two tables this weekend?

Hehe :)

Final table count in. 65 tables in total. Player count to follow tomorrow when I've gone through them. :)

The 2011 Table Count was 52.

I'm very proud of this number but once again I cannot take full credit for it. There are lots and lots of very dedicated players in Michigan whom made this con what it was.

For example I got a glowing email from a player today. I've taken the liberty to post it below.

Mr. Luckett,

I wanted to formally thank you for your invaluable assistance at U-Con this past Saturday. This convention was my first involvement with the Pathfinder gaming system, and it was an overwhelmingly positive experience. I am the one you helped make a male version of Kyra the Cleric, with the same stats, but with better armor. I am grateful for your patience, professionalism and excellent advice.

I also wanted to recognize the GM's from the two scenarios I played: Tim (46083) and Jim (45919). Both were great storytellers, and had an abundance of patience and humor to make both scenarios a great deal of fun.

I would consider myself an avid boardgamer, as I have made board games a serious hobby for the last 30 years, but have not played any RPG's in over 20 years. My experience with Pathfinder this past weekend is causing me to reconsider. I am looking forward to the opportunity to participate in future Pathfinder gaming sessions at other conventions and in my local gaming community.

Thanks again for your timely and considerate assistance. You are a credit to the Pathfinder Society, and you have earned my gratitude and respect.

I'm seriously thinking of printing out that email, and putting it in a frame on my wall. That's how proud I am to get feedback like that. :D

I’ve mostly recovered from U-Con sleep deprivation and stress and going through the end session reports. Attempting to analyze what went right and what went wrong to see what to do for next year. Since that’s my current status, I thought I’d take a moment to thank everyone. This would not have been possible if my players didn’t show up to play, and my GM’s didn’t offer to GM. Thank you, all of you. There were a lot of people to thank for different things (random chicken nuggets, running a con survey to the front desk, or even helping new players build characters) so I will stick to the big ones in my eyes.

I had a blast.

I learned a few thing too.
1. It's OK to play sometimes (Doug, Kyle, take note)
2. Hard lemonade is even better with vodka
3. Until you wake up next morning. Luckily, not having to GM in the morning makes this OK
4. Apple pie tastes better with cheese (how come i never learned this before)
5. start work now on figuring how to get to UCon next year. And maybe bring one or two offspring.

Thanks Dan for running an excellent event
Thanks Matt and Thea for being my GMs and putting up with my characters.

I dont think it's fair to Thea, when she had to put up with you, and me Wes, at the same time.

I dont think it's fair to Thea, when she had to put up with you, and me Wes, at the same time.

Lol ... eet's all good .. just know that if you're ever my GM, I'll pull out my broken characters muahahahahaha

my broken characters

pfft