Sorry for the delay but here is the breakdown of my week in Seattle.
PreCon activities:
I arrived the Monday before the Con and was met by Steven Coling and Shelly Hudson at the airport. Steven was the spearhead of the Aussie Invasion and later that morning I joined their invasion force for a tour of the Paizo offices led by Tonya.
After eating lunch in Redmond at the Tipsy Cow(great burgers) we got down to business and started our four days of Seeker activities to get ourselves ready for Gallowspire. We had two tables running consistently and completed Tomb of the Iron Medusa, Unleashing the Untouchable, two full runs of All for Immortality, Academy of Secrets, Betrayal in the Bones, and Rasping Rebirth. My fellow players were Steven Coling, Chris Senz, Daniel Baker, Lachlan Jones, Tim Schneider, Preston Hudson, Shelly Hudson, Nate Hudson, Jared Thaler, Dustin Knight, Chris Danahy, Jonathan Choy, and Angie Powers. Alex Augunas joined in for two of the tables on Thursday.
PaizoCon activities
Friday I ran Debt to the Quah in both the morning and evening slots. I got to chat with Majuba in line for my badge when he made his way down the line handing out Goblin Brains. If you ever have the chance you have to try Goblin Brains. They are delicious and I make sure to reserve some each year. In between my GM duties I got to play Return to Sender run by the author Natalie Kertzner. It was a lot of fun and I met Amber Hipsher who simply referred to my Technomancer as "Mechanic Friend." I got to chat with Amber again while waiting in line for the banquet the next day.
Saturday started with running another group through Debt to the Quah. In the afternoon I played Data Breach. I had a great GM whose name I failed to catch but I got to meet Derek Larsen aka Tyranius and his wheelchair-bound cat lady. I would also get to chat with Derek more in line for the banquet which came directly after.
In line for the banquet, in addition to Amber and Derek, I got to chat with Hilary Moon Murphy(always a pleasure), and Dennis Muldoon(briefly as he stopped to say hi).
At the banquet, I sat with Thursty, Amanda Hamon, Chris Danahy, Will Johnson, and Nils Janson. I got to catch up with Will who is an old friend that I always enjoy chatting with. I didn't get to talk to Nils much at dinner but got the chance to game with him the next day.
Sunday morning I played on Hmm's table of Many Minds of Historia which I really enjoyed. Afterward, I spent the afternoon making sure I was prepped for Gallowspire and chatting with another old friend, Loren Schmidt, whom I hadn't even known was at the Con.
Then came the special. Siege of Gallowspire was epic! Nils Janson was the GM who tried to murder our party in the 15-16 Champion tier. He was a fantastic GM but the only player to die quickly recovered. It was cool to have the chance to game with Nils after meeting him at the banquet.
Monday morning I played on Gary Norton's 5 Nova evaluation table with Hilary, John Dehning, Kate Baker, Dennis Muldoon, and B.B. Wolfe(who I had the pleasure of meeting for the first time.) Gary did a great job guiding us through a really cool adventure. Kate and I were Team Dwarf, Dennis and Hilary were Team Skitter, and B.B. and Jon were Team Science. There was a lot of hilarious competition between the members of Team Science.
Monday afternoon I just decompressed in the hotel lobby before heading to the airport. Thanks to Adam Daigle for pointing us towards a stash of free gaming paper someone had left in one of the elevators. B.B. Wolfe claimed a clipboard from the stash and practiced looking official as she strode about confidently consulting non-existent documents on her new acquisition. I also got to meet Wei Ji the Learner for the first time! We had recently traded boons via mail and it was cool to meet him in person. I also ran into Graypark in the lobby. I played Unleashing the Untouchable with him in the pre-con games last year and it was great to see him again even if it was brief.
During the convention, I also had the pleasure of meeting Jon Dehning's wife Nicole and catching up with old friend Brian Darnell and meeting his wife Heather.
I also got to chat with Wayne Reynolds at his table in the store and he drew a really cool goblin sketch in the front of the artbook I purchased!
Now I am home and the whirlwind week of Paizo has subsided. I am grateful to be getting a bit more sleep once again but can't wait to see everyone again next year! Maybe next time I'll get to meet Painlord and buy him a drink to thank him for starting this Bloggery.
