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Well for me, my first GenCon is now over! People are still across the street playing games and having fun, but I am tired, Have to pack and see what I need to ship back to Germany because it won't fit in my luggage.
I had a Great Time!!! So I want to pass along some of that to you guys and here some of your favorite moments at the con.
1st night Wednesday - Arrived in Indianapolis around 8pm from Germany went to the hotel then went straight to Paizo Pre Party! Many of the Paizo crew was there including many Pazio fans. Not knowing anyone I started looking for people from the boards and I ran into Daigle, Yoda8myhead and the Shakelton(sp?) brothers. After the party we went to a bar with some of the fans mentioned above and then went to another and met up with Boomer. I got very drunk! Got back to the hotel around 3 am, I know I walked back but don't remember much of that walk ;-). eek!! I have to wake up at 6am to get ready to run my Game!
2nd Day Thursday - Woke with no hangover, yay!!!, but very dehydrated so picked up a bunch of water and headed to PFS headquarters to run my games. After the first slot ran to the Paizo booth when the dealers room opened to book up another PFRPG, by the time I got to the booth the line was already around the whole booth!!!, From what I hear it just got worse after that! Liza and josh decided to do cash buys on the line so I payed while still on the line and ran back to run my game. Hung out in 101 all day, first day went smooth no deaths!!! ran #29: The Devil We Know—Part I: Shipyard Rats.
3rd Day Friday - Hung out all day in room 101 to run my game, went home went to bed, No Deaths!!!
4th Day Saturday - First 2 slots ran my game, sadly in my first game I had a TPK :-(, I think Shipyard Rats had to most TPKs for the Con. After that I finally got to play for the last Slot!! Yay!!!!
5th Day Sunday - Starting to get worried, brought $2000 to spend and so far only spent about $200 on food and PFRPG, I can;t go back home with out buying stuff!. Played in the first slot, my Rogue is now 3rd level! Afterwards went to the dealers room... wait there is more to the con then the PFS rooms?...Yay, now I can spend money! Spent $350 at Fantasy Flight games for a huge bag of very heavy board games and card games, $200 at White Wolf for a bunch of books, and $250 at Catalyst Game Labs for a bunch of Shadowrun books. Sadly since I already have mostly everything from Paizo already there was not much I could spend there, but I was able to get a bunch of Signatures from the Paizo crew! After that went back to the hotel where I am now to pack and see what I need to mail back to Germany.
Thanks Paizo for some great games and setting up the PFS for us to play them! Thanks to the players who played in my game and enjoyed it! Thanks for the GMS who ran the games I got to play! Thanks Daigle for helping me get very drunk my first night there, something I never fully recovered from the whole con! ;-). Thanks Sean for pointing out that you actually wrote the book ;-).
Anyone else have some great moments?
You're german? Coulda swore that was a jersy accent...lol...shows what I know.
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Fantastic con! It was my first time running a game at GenCon and I had way too much fun. I even had a group of 3.. yes counted them twice.. THREE half-orc BARDS with a human rogue and a gnome barbarian. And they lived. :)
Thanks to all the guys from Paizo and all the other GMs who made the games just so damn much fun. See you next year.
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So.... I have to get all This back to Germany. And still bring back the stuff I brought here from Germany.
Sitting with James Sutter at the Ram late Friday night and chatting it up for about an hour.
Getting Erik, James J, and Jason to sign my copy of Expedition to the Ruins of Castle Greyhawk. Having Erik sign Dungeon #124, James signing #139, and virtually the entire Paizo crew sign my PF Core Rule Book.
Getting to see my wife on the Paizo blog not once, but twice.
Getting my rear end handed to me in a game of Diplomacy for the first time in years.
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The PIT section of the Live Event was very fun. Especially since our Rogue stood up for the Gnome instead of our Paladin stepping in first!
Clerics stealing Relic parts away from a super bad ass NPC in the Live Event had to be the funniest thing ever!
Shipyard rats was really fun! Especially when you get to bull rush people over the side of the boat.
The Paizo party was a lot of fun. I attained my lifelong dream of meeting Cosmo and he did not disappoint. Man's a dude. Met Jeff Alvarez and Chris Self for the first time as well.
The A/C was busted and the room baked a bit, so I walked up to sweating Jason Bulmahn and asked him to turn up the heat because I was chiwwy. His eyes went wide for a second there. Luckily the man has a profound sense of humor.
Got to meet Cpt._Kirstov and Madgael from the paizo boards. 'Twas very cool indeed.
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Hmmm can't wait. Hopefully I will be posting the same stuff in 35 days time, right after Gencon Australia winds up. I know there is a bunch of PFS stuff happening as well as Paizo stuff on sale.
Getting all tingly with excitement. Anybody else going to GenconOz???
There is a few wicked bars just around the corner from the Con centre so if anyone is up for a few drinks on fri night, I'll be there.
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So.... I have to get all This back to Germany. And still bring back the stuff I brought here from Germany.
Only TWO copies of PF RPG? C'mon, Dragnmoon... ;P
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So.... I have to get all This back to Germany. And still bring back the stuff I brought here from Germany.
Even without knowing that beforehand, I could tell that you are from Germany just by looking at that photo. :)
Director of Narrative
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My highlights:
I thoroughly enjoyed meeting all the fine people I encountered, especially the ones that I’ve been exchanging messages with on these boards and chatting with in the chatroom. Thanks for the drinks, the conversation and for being outstanding folks.
I am really stoked that Betrayal worked out and was a blast for people, at least on Saturday night. ;) Thanks to all our volunteer GMs for making it awesome!
I enjoyed seeing all my friends that I sadly only get to see once, maybe twice a year. Hanging out with the crew always gets me fired up, and I miss them already.
Thanks to the Paizo crew for joining us for dinner on Thursday night again this year. It was a blast, as usual, and it was awesome to get to meet Cosmo.
I enjoyed finally getting a chance to meet Todd Stewart and having the chance to talk shop about neutral evil fiends. Good times.
I’m stoked that two of my favorite publishers won some excellent awards at the ENnies.
People asked me to sign books for the first time in my life. I’m still not over that.
It was a great time and I’m sure next year is going to rock even harder. I hope to see more of you there!
RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
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I thoroughly enjoyed meeting all the fine people I encountered, especially the ones that I’ve been exchanging messages with on these boards and chatting with in the chatroom. Thanks for the drinks, the conversation and for being outstanding folks.
Adam,
It was great to meet you, and if you caught me staring at you once or twice, I apologize. I'm probably not the first person to comment on your uncanny resemblance to Wil Wheaton.
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I thoroughly enjoyed meeting all the fine people I encountered, especially the ones that I’ve been exchanging messages with on these boards and chatting with in the chatroom. Thanks for the drinks, the conversation and for being outstanding folks.
My highlights were meeting everyone as well (sorry for kinda butting in on your conversation with Neil, Daigle...
my other highlight was Vic asking how to pronounce my screen name
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So.... I have to get all This back to Germany. And still bring back the stuff I brought here from Germany.
Holy cripes! Looks like UPS is going to love you!
I walked around with the live action banner for like 1 hour after the live action game concluded. I got quite a few people asking about PF. Hopefully, more people will join in the fun next year!!
I believe the 4e comment.
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The part about my son making GMs groan as they realize his armor class and his min damage when he power attacks and cleaves. There is also the picture of him on the blog as well.
My personal best was playing Cassomir Locker and making osha and union jokes. Then again we were a party of a monk, a monk/rogue, a monk/druid arogue a druid and a barbarian.
It was also great to see all the familiar faces from last year and met many new ones as well.
I am already planning for next year.
Thank you Paizo!
People asked me to sign books for the first time in my life. I’m still not over that.
Ditto! :P
Seeing the group of people dressed up as characters was Blazing Saddles was damn awesome, but not to be outdone, seeing Avianna dressed up as the Lady of Pain was great too.
Finding a decent place to eat that was close, fast, and priced well - The Noodle Company! I hear they did quite a brisk business on Saturday. :D
Being able to get people excited about Pathfinder Society, and then being able to direct them to a GM that was more than happy to help make a character with them.
Seeing a fantastic game of Call of Cthulhu (set during the Civil War era) ran by a group of very enthusiastic players. Y'all done good. :P
Tales of the Arabian Nights - This board game is unbelievably cool. Worth hunting up.
Continuing my tradition of being the werewolf. Mwah-hah. >:D
There are more, surely, but the evening stretches on and the early morning have caught up to me.
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Director of Brand Strategy
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Getting Erik, James J, and Jason to sign my copy of Expedition to the Ruins of Castle Greyhawk. Having Erik sign Dungeon #124, James signing #139, and virtually the entire Paizo crew sign my PF Core Rule Book.
I will make a longer post on more specifics tomorrow, since I just got home after over 19 hours of travel broken up over two days on the road. Just thought it was worth mentioning that I tracked down two copies of Dungeon #12 (one for me and one for Wes) so that we could get James to sign his very first published adventure, which he wrote at the age of 14. The look on his face when I showed them to him was priceless.
EDIT: On second thought, why sleep? It's not like I did since this time last week anyway.
Other highlights for me were:
Making an off-color one-liner that dropped the jaws of the likes of Nick Logue, Lou Agresta and Tim Hitchcock.
The mayhem that was Friday night's interactive and the incredible success that Saturday's event brought. Seeing Betrayal of Absalom taking place on the park lawn across the street from the convention center during the fire evacuation and then heading back into the room for the finale was priceless. A true testament to the astronomical level of fun we were all having.
Getting to see the printer proof of the Bestiary while hanging out with the full Paizo staff, more contributors than I can name, and the rest of the PFS volunteer GMs on Wednesday night.
Hearing the retelling of my roommates' story of getting stuck in the hotel elevator with Joseph Goodman for half an hour and being rescued via ladder out the roof hatch by the fire department.
Noel's gimp mask.
Lilith's cookies.
And most of all, being at my first GenCon to witness the release of the PFRPG and the madness the event brought with it. Seeing that line weaving throughout the dealer hall and out the door was surreal.
Getting Erik, James J, and Jason to sign my copy of Expedition to the Ruins of Castle Greyhawk. Having Erik sign Dungeon #124, James signing #139, and virtually the entire Paizo crew sign my PF Core Rule Book.I will make a longer post on more specifics tomorrow, since I just got home after over 19 hours of travel broken up over two days on the road. Just thought it was worth mentioning that I tracked down two copies of Dungeon #12 (one for me and one for Wes) so that we could get James to sign his very first published adventure, which he wrote at the age of 14. The look on his face when I showed them to him was priceless.
~thinks~ Hmmmnnnnnn..... I have a copy of that. I will have to bring it with me if I can make it to PaizoCon 2010.
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Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 6
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Seeing Pathfinder RPG being the release of the show. Getting a free resurrection sticker in my own copy, along with a pile of signatures. Finding a good meatloaf sandwich.
Probably the best thing was talking with people, though. Did my best to be my own little envoy for Paizo's product when I wasn't bothering the staff. I also pushed RPG Superstar, wonder if any of those folks will submit when the contest next roles around.
And yeah, the blazing saddles crew was great. First saw them in my hotel going to my room to check out, and made the comment "even for Gen Con, this is a bit surreal". :)
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Director of Brand Strategy
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Finding a good meatloaf sandwich.
How could I have forgotten the Claddagh?! I ate there three times in three days and could have probably gone back more had I not, you know, had to return to my real life in a city far from Indianapolis. Had a great time with you for two of those three meals, Russ.
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Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 6
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Finding a good meatloaf sandwich.How could I have forgotten the Claddagh?! I ate there three times in three days and could have probably gone back more had I not, you know, had to return to my real life in a city far from Indianapolis. Had a great time with you for two of those three meals, Russ.
Heh. I went back there for a late lunch before I left, so three for me too :) Was a bit embarassed about being so unadventuresome, but it was GOOD and I wanted to end my trip on a high note.
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Getting to see the printer proof of the Bestiary while hanging out with the full Paizo staff, more contributors than I can name, and the rest of the PFS volunteer GMs on Wednesday night.
Hearing the retelling of my roommates' story of getting stuck in the hotel elevator with Joseph Goodman for half an hour and being rescued via ladder out the roof hatch by the fire department.
Noel's gimp mask.
Lilith's cookies.
And most of all, being at my first GenCon to witness the release of the PFRPG and the madness the event brought with it. Seeing that line weaving throughout the dealer hall and out the door was surreal.
I'll add these to my list because:
I need to post my picture of me cuddling with the Bestiary for all to see.
The elevator incident is now Gen Con legend as I was at the booth when the text came in they were trapped.
Noel rocked with his costume; he freaked my table out when he stuck his head in and shouted "Cheliax rules!" or something along that line.
Lilith's cookies were the bomb and two was just not enough.
I got stuck in the line for what seemed like half the day. Different members of Paizo kept traveling around asking how everyone was doing and signing books. I asked one of them what the in-flight movie was and how long before we landed. Just really glad I had the second slot off from judging, not that it mattered as the pile of books was freaking huge!! Seriously, I'm trying to figure out how they expected to sell out when they brought half their inventory with them. :-P
And it was definitely a pleasure meeting all the other judges at the party and hob knobbing with Paizo. I'm really looking forward to next year.
I attained my lifelong dream of meeting Cosmo and he did not disappoint.Er... meeting Cosmo? A lifelong dream? Now, Vic or the infamous SKR... those two I can understand, but Cosmo?!? ;P
Dear Sir,
Cosmo is very cool-GRU
Really enjoyed standing huddled together awaiting the opening of the Great Hall on Thursday morning with new companions from the boards - thanks McCall for everything! Another moment was scoping out Elena and grabbing McCall to get him to look...only to discover they were good friends! LOL! Then I got to meet Elena so it was all good. :)
Watching so many kids playing games! From board games to card games to Lego Pirates! It was awesome to see so many youngsters at the show.
Playing face-to-face games...again! It had been waaaay too long.
And Noel...I owe you, brother. Although I will probably have nightmares for the rest of my life because of the gimp mask.
The Ram - best damn sports bar, best damn beer, best freakin' huge Reuben sandwich, and the hottest waitresses in Indy! Can't wait to go back...daily!
Lucas Oil Stadium - the Colts pre-season game was great, even though we got canned (nothing unusual for a us in pre-season) - the stadium was phenomenal and the fans were just so cool. I really want to live in a "football town" (sigh).
This was my first Gen Con since '97 - so I was thrilled to be surrounded by gamers, to talk with them, to watch and play demos, to eat, drink, and be merry, and to meet old friends and make new ones. It was a great experience and I hope to get to go back next year.
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The Ram - best damn sports bar, best damn beer, best freakin' huge Reuben sandwich, and the hottest waitresses in Indy!
That's just a side-effect of the state of the economy
Played #29 and #30, and lived! Hand of the Apprentice will never be used by any of the folks at the table without smirks. I'll never live those words down, but it's fun to see us grown ups cry.
First Gen Con, so we saved hotel $ by staying out of downtown. But, paid up the chute for parking and missed out on the parties. Need to save $ so we can stay closer next year.
Thought - any way to print up ribbons/stickers with aliases so we can match them up with our RL names? It might be an easy ice breaker.
Side note, my 1st Con was Origins this year. Gen Con blew it away! A lot! A bit overwhelming for a newb.
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RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
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First Gen Con, so we saved hotel $ by staying out of downtown. But, paid up the chute for parking and missed out on the parties. Need to save $ so we can stay closer next year.
You won't save much. Parking at the Hyatt --for guests-- was $28 per night. It'd be cheaper to fly in and take a cab.
Thought - any way to print up ribbons/stickers with aliases so we can match them up with our RL names? It might be an easy ice breaker.
That would have been a smart move. I attended the Wednesday night social for contributors and GMs, and the one person I could persuade to talk to me was Owen Stephens' wife. Everyone else was involved in closed conversations, and they didn't know who I was, or what business I had at the party. An ice-breaker would have been a good idea.
That would have been a smart move. I attended the Wednesday night social for contributors and GMs, and the one person I could persuade to talk to me was Owen Stephens' wife. Everyone else was involved in closed conversations, and they didn't know who I was, or what business I had at the party. An ice-breaker would have been a good idea.
I wore a slapped-together Angry Jack Cult t-shirt on Thursday, but the graphic was too small to catch the eye. Hopefully next year I can have a 'real' one, and maybe throw my Jack alias on the back. Of course I might get attacked by other OTD posters. ;)
Or we can stand in long lines for other Paizo releases and say, "Hi, my name's Joe and my messageboard aliases are...<insert aliases> I like long walks amongst Paizo goodness, card stock DM guides, and pdf back ups of all my books."
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Many, many great moments... The one that comes to mind is during the Iron Player PFRPG tourney...
Bad guy reveals himself (He had been masquerading as an old professor, although our party had been hinting to the DM that we were suspicious that he might be a Vampire, a Lich,etc... based on his mannerisms and the creepy player handout of his picture). Anyways, he reveals his dire and evil plan... and I hit him with a Phantasmal Killer (I was a Gnome Illusionist) in the Surprise round, killing him...
:D
Take that, bad Guys...and for those who hate Gnomes, he missed the save by 1 point. That's right, me being a Gnome won us the day...
Gnomes rock (And no, I don't play WoW).
Oh, for those who care...the baddie was a 'Sand Mage', a creation of the Dm. His worst nightmare was drowning, says the DM, so my PK is a gargantuan Sea Turtle that ripped it's way up through the sands (Desert adventure), snatched him into it's mouth and dragged him down, down, down into the watery deeps...
We had named our group the Terrapins of Doom, since one player loves turtles... although somehow 'Wolf Nipple Chips' got through as the name, due to one other players spouting MP Life of Brian quotes...
Uriel
PS: No, we didn't win the Iron Player tourney, but it was a blast
I attained my lifelong dream of meeting Cosmo and he did not disappoint.Er... meeting Cosmo? A lifelong dream? Now, Vic or the infamous SKR... those two I can understand, but Cosmo?!? ;PDear Sir,
Cosmo is very cool-GRU
Yes, you can't know the full pleasure of his company until you stand before the man and through ozmosis just suck up da coolness.
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I wore a slapped-together Angry Jack Cult t-shirt on Thursday, but the graphic was too small to catch the eye. Hopefully next year I can have a 'real' one, and maybe throw my Jack alias on the back. Of course I might get attacked by other OTD posters. ;)That's such a great idea!
You mean attacking him?
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You mean attacking him?I wore a slapped-together Angry Jack Cult t-shirt on Thursday, but the graphic was too small to catch the eye. Hopefully next year I can have a 'real' one, and maybe throw my Jack alias on the back. Of course I might get attacked by other OTD posters. ;)That's such a great idea!
Sure, why not!
Sure, why not!You mean attacking him?I wore a slapped-together Angry Jack Cult t-shirt on Thursday, but the graphic was too small to catch the eye. Hopefully next year I can have a 'real' one, and maybe throw my Jack alias on the back. Of course I might get attacked by other OTD posters. ;)That's such a great idea!
If I get attacked it would be for line-jumping. Thx to Kyle B I was able to bypass the 2-hour line Thurs morn. (Luv'd that VIG Companion badge.) Some serious diehard fans this company has.
First Gen Con, so we saved hotel $ by staying out of downtown. But, paid up the chute for parking and missed out on the parties. Need to save $ so we can stay closer next year.
Thought - any way to print up ribbons/stickers with aliases so we can match them up with our RL names? It might be an easy ice breaker.
That's why I missed out on the Wednesday night meet and greet at Jillian's. I wasn't about to pay 30 bucks to get there and another 30 to get back to my hotel out near the airport.
Now, on Thursday, I took a cab to the Omni where I stayed the rest of the show with a good friend who arrived later in the day - splitting the cost of the room was the only way I could afford to stay in the city.I'd recommend getting 3-4 folks to a room - at 160 bucks a night, you need 3-4 to split the cost. Sheesh.
As for name tags, I wrote my board name on my tag underneath my real name. Had a handful of folks recognize my board name that way.
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Cool moments:
1) Getting the Campaign Setting signed by most of the Paizo crew, plus Ed Greenwood, Keith Baker and Wayne Reynolds.
2) Showing up at 8:00 am Sunday to run my Paizo Society event, only to have Josh point out that I wasn't running til noon. "Go back to bed," he said. Off to the Battletech Pods I went...
3) Seminars where I learned stuff!
4) Catalyst game demo for Eclipse Phase, sharing my Shadowrun love with my friends and them enjoying it too, and learning about Cthulhutech from Matthew Grau himself.
5) Crystal Caste D'oh dice. And the lusting after the bone dice, the megalodon dice, the bermuda coral dic, the ... you get the picture.
The Lady of PainSeeing the group of people dressed up as characters was Blazing Saddles was damn awesome, but not to be outdone, seeing Avianna dressed up as the Lady of Pain was great too.Pics for us poor deployed soldiers or it didn't happen! XD
I'd have to say my favorite moments were getting 2nd Place in my Category at the Costume contest.
Playing TerrorWerks with a number of different awesome Paizonians.
The 9 hour game of Call of Cthulhu with Lou Agresta, Eric and Greg.
And, of course, my Cthulhu Larp where I played a vampire. Man, was that a fun game.