Wraithguard |
First off, I couldn't find a thread to post your experiences from Gen Con this year, so I figured I would start it off. If you have something you want to share from Gen Con this year, please do!
I'll spoiler it by sections to reduce the wall of text.
This was my first year seeing it. I only live a few hours north of Indy, so the trip down wasn't too bad, but the highway system leading there was a little, confusing. Thank God for GPS. After a little over 2 hours, more than a few quick lane changes but thankfully no angry drivers, I pulled into the parking lot.
A short walk to the convention hall, some helpful directions to 'Will Call' and a short wait in a very long line and the fun began.
Most of my day was spent wandering around the Exhibition Hall or the Convention Center. After some thought, my friend and I believe we walked around or stood watching games and talking with people for about 8.5 hours. Not enough time.
I don't know if I have ever been around so many people at one time that all acted as courteously, were so polite bumping into and being bumped into, and so nice overall. Never has there been such a wretched hive excellent gathering of scum and villainy respectful and kind people. If you have ever thought about heading to Gen Con, but haven't, I encourage you to do so.
I checked out the Dark Souls board game being showcased at the Steamforged Games booth. I didn't stick around too long because there is so much to see, and it looked like those poor guys were about to bite it against the Dancer. Oh well, it is Dark Souls. Wandered over to the Chaosium booth with my friend and picked up new rule book for a mutual friend of ours that couldn't make it this year. After that we wandered over to Adventure-A-Week/Playground Adventures booth and met Stephen Rowe and Thilo "EZG" Graf. Had a nice long chat with Thilo and then continued the journey through the exhibition hall.
At some point I passed by Paizo's area and I felt drawn to check out whatever they had on display. I had an opportunity to shake hands with Wayne Reynolds and check out some art he had on display. Truly great stuff, only wish I had the cash this year to purchase something. I did get to check out the iconic villain artwork and others, which was really cool. After the artwork we checked out the books on the table and I was amazed at how well done the new Pocket Core Rulebook was done. When it was first announced I couldn't possibly imagine how you could get so much good stuff into a small book, but it is a very manageable size. We then checked out some of the other stuff and we were asked by Jessica Price if we were finding everything alright. This is a moment when my situational awareness lapsed, and I forgot to congratulate Jessica Price for being a featured presenter. That is why the read name seemed so familiar. *sigh* I managed to pick up the Witch and Oracle Class Deck for the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game. I also checked out the Pathfinder Tales novels and with recommendations from the excellently dressed (as Capt. America) Josh Vogt, I picked up some light reading. It wasn't until talking with Josh that I realized it has been over a year since I read anything that wasn't based on politcal philosophy or religion. During check out my wits were with me a little more and I happened to meet Sara Marie. I should have spent some time here to meet anyone else running the booth, but they looked a little busy checking other people out.
At one point we walked by the Loneshark Games booth, which looked rather busy at that moment. Checked out Rio Grande and my friend picked up a box to try out a new Dominion addition. Passed by Phil Foglio's booth and met the man behind the Girl Genius web comic. It wasn't even something I was aware of, but between the setting, art style, and having females in strong character roles, I'm sold on checking it out. Checked out a game of strategic orphan burning, yes, that's right. We also found a table that had an opening to try out a new Ascension box set. The new mechanics seem interesting but we had to cut the session short to go and get some food.
If I remembered that the exhibition hall closed at 7, I would have pushed off grabbing food till after that. Oh well, something to remember for next year. The 2 hour drive back gave me a long time to think and do some introspection about the day I had. Lessons learned from someone else can be valuable, so let me share some of them.
1. Time : You need more than one day at GenCon to really see it all.
2. Badges : You never know who you might bump into. Take a second to read the name on it.
3. Thanks : Take some time to find some of the excellent people that manage this website and forum, produce books and adventures, and thank them for what they do.
4. Stuff : If you spend much time walking the floor you will definitely see stuff you want to get. Fancy dice, art for the game room, a new book, it's here.
That seems like most of the highlights. I eagerly await what others have to share about their Gen Con experience.
Jessica Price Project Manager |
The Usual Suspect |
I had my first Murder of Hobos at one of my tables. Four tengu players. They were hilarious, and the only one of my daytime tables to take longer than 2.5 hours. They were my only high tier table for the weekend.
Wednesday night I ran a game for a group of friends I met last year running True Dragons. I ran Twisted Circle for them. I was originally expecting them to have 6 players. I wound up with 14. I made one of the more experienced players be my co-GM to run combat for one table for me while I literally ran the two tables simultaneously for the narrative. It worked out far better than I could have imagined; and that my friends is an experience.
Proved that you can in fact train cheep office furniture with a leash. All in all, a very enjoyable Gen Con.
Irontruth |
I had a wonderful time.
I spent most of my time at Games on Demand, which is just a stellar room. GM's volunteer to run games in either 2 or 4 hour slots. Every even numbered hour, there's a lottery for players who want to play games and they get to pick from those available in that slot. It's such a wonderful environment.
For one, the organizers do a great job of being inclusive and making sure the atmosphere and environment is inclusive as well. I've never had to kick someone out of one of my games, but as a GM I feel empowered to do it if that person is being disruptive.
There's a great selection of indie games. Each GM brings with them the games that they love (or are excited about at that time). Fiasco, Apocalypse World (and many, many, many games based on it), Mythender, various LARPS, a few game playtests, Fall of Magic and dozens more were all played. Even some Feng Shui 2, AD&D and D&D 5E (though these are definitely not focuses of the room).
I got to run 4 games and play in 3 more, plus the evening of games with other volunteers was tons of fun. We played Ghost Court, a LARP that's basically People's Court... but with the addition of ghosts.
I went to eat at St. Elmo's. I love St. Elmo's. I set aside a large portion of money so I can eat there and have whatever I want. Their shrimp cocktail is so wonderful, I had to go back and get another one on a different day. My steak was one of the 5 best steaks I've ever had. The level of service and the mood there is something I love and it's a near holy experience for me.
I had a bevy of wonderful interactions with people I had never met before. It wasn't 100% positive like last year, but my % of positive to negative was still exceptionally high. I also had some lull's in action that I couldn't find something to do, but otherwise it was excellent.
baron arem heshvaun |
I went to eat at St. Elmo's. I love St. Elmo's. I set aside a large portion of money so I can eat there and have whatever I want. Their shrimp cocktail is so wonderful, I had to go back and get another one on a different day. My steak was one of the 5 best steaks I've ever had. The level of service and the mood there is something I love and it's a near holy experience for me.
That shrimp cocktail is a prestige class unto itself. I have been going back to St. Elmo's for 13 years now. While I get different cuts of meat, that's the one item that is a must have.
Easily in the top five steak houses in the US I have been to.
Wei Ji the Learner |
Irontruth wrote:I went to eat at St. Elmo's. I love St. Elmo's. I set aside a large portion of money so I can eat there and have whatever I want. Their shrimp cocktail is so wonderful, I had to go back and get another one on a different day. My steak was one of the 5 best steaks I've ever had. The level of service and the mood there is something I love and it's a near holy experience for me.That shrimp cocktail is a prestige class unto itself. I have been going back to St. Elmo's for 13 years now. While I get different cuts of meat, that's the one item that is a must have.
Easily in the top five steak houses in the US I have been to.
For those of us that would be an *unholy* experience for, what other charming delicacies does this eatery have?
Irontruth |
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baron arem heshvaun wrote:For those of us that would be an *unholy* experience for, what other charming delicacies does this eatery have?Irontruth wrote:I went to eat at St. Elmo's. I love St. Elmo's. I set aside a large portion of money so I can eat there and have whatever I want. Their shrimp cocktail is so wonderful, I had to go back and get another one on a different day. My steak was one of the 5 best steaks I've ever had. The level of service and the mood there is something I love and it's a near holy experience for me.That shrimp cocktail is a prestige class unto itself. I have been going back to St. Elmo's for 13 years now. While I get different cuts of meat, that's the one item that is a must have.
Easily in the top five steak houses in the US I have been to.
Well, if you're vegetarian, I'd probably just skip the place. Their sides are delicious, but a lot of them have animal products as well.
If you're allergic to shellfish, they make very good steaks.
Be prepared to spend a lot of money though. I haven't gotten out of there with a bill under $100 for just myself. It's possible to spend less than that, but even on the cheap side, you're going to spend $25 on an entree.
I always get my badge for free for volunteering for stuff. I take that money and spend it on dinner at St. Elmo's (plus some extra I set aside).
Oh, something new this year, they started carrying select bottles of Four Roses and Woodford Reserve. The Four Roses are the fairly standard single barrel selections you find lots of places, but they're the ones that their staff likes. The Woodford are ones I've only seen specifically at St. Elmo's (though I expect some other restaurants/liquor stores carry these as well). The Woodford I had was very good, #7 I think.