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Now that I've (mostly) recovered from Gen Con, I wanted to share my thoughts from what, to me, was one of the best ever.
The convention officially started off for me at 9 a.m. at Scotty's, sitting on the patio in the shade with a slight breeze. What a perfect day. I got the opportunity to run Rats of Round Mountain Part 1 for some really good players who I all think enjoyed themselves. I apologize to the poor paladin who took 5 attacks in a round.
The next slot was one of the highlights of the event. I had the opportunity to play Red Harvest with Eric Brittain as the GM. It was a tough scenario with plenty of great roleplaying opportunities. This one session helped me be a better GM all weekend. Eric is that great of a GM and has that big of an impact on his players. Thanks Eric!
The evening was capped off by running Rebel's Ransom for another group of good players (except a certain Shackleton). The party did pretty good and eventually solved all the puzzles without any help from me. It was only at the end that they struggled. I had a feeling this might happen with a party including an Oracle of Flame and a Elemental (Fire) sorcerer. The party put up a good fight and this was only the second time I've ever resorted to using Firestorm (Su). Unfortunately, half the party perished while defending their newly found treasure. A high price to pay, as the society only pays the adventurers 5461 gp. I guess walking away with 11 gp is better than nothing, right? ;-)
Epic Story of the Day: Table of 5, a mix of 3's, 4's and a single 1. APL ends up being 3.0. They decide to play up. I inform the level 1 I won't give him his gold for free, so be prepared to get poked. ;)
Party gets into a fight with an alchemist who does 3d6+3 (avg 12.5). Alchemist comes out, most of the party isn't in sight except a halfing and a human (druid 1). So who's more threatening? The human of course! Bombs away! I roll really well and deal 18 damage (ouch!), but I figure, he's level 1, 18 should him down but not out, right? Nope. He's a Druid with 10 con and 8 hit points. crap. So I ask if he already allocated his favored class bonus. He hadn't. Now he's at -9 and dies next round. The halfling is 5 ft away and the druid dropped his wand of CLW. Rogue comes up in initiative, 5-ft's over, and tries to use UMD. She needs to roll a 12. She rolls an 8. crap. She isn't wearing a shirt, so I ask if she's got a boon on a chronicle that will let her reroll. She played Year of the Shadow Lodge and took the skill reroll! She rolls.. an 11. crap. Then I remember I have a pile of Paizo shirts sitting next to me, so I throw her one of those. She rolls again. 12! Thank the gods! The level 1 lived, but he definitely felt like he earned his gold. I gave the rogue my GM boon for kitsune to make up for her using her YotSL boon and ~30+ charges off her CLW wand on the rest of the party. :)
The night ended with a few drinks with some good friends, including a shot of Patron with my co-author and a few thick shots of 130 proof bourbon that burned my nose hairs. Thanks for that, btw.
I was an overflow GM for the afternoon and thankfully I ended up getting used at HQ instead of running King of the Storval Stairs (which I had only moderately prepped). I used a little bit of this time to prepare for later that night.. muhuhahaha. ;)
The evening was Race for the Runecarved Key Part 2. As excited as I was for this, it started off poorly with bad communication with who was mustering it and a few GMs not showing up. I'll leave all the details of this for the "Special" thread, but needless to say I was excited to run this adventure. I got "stuck" with the Diamond Dust Cowboys again. I was very clear with the deadly nature of the scenario and that they had until time was called to get out alive (after Heidmarch tells them this). The party pushed through, managed to kill an ancient dragon (you're a lucky one Kasheed..), and escaped with their lives with about 1 minute before time was called. All of them. Seriously. I know, right? Anyway, they did good, but not good enough to win their subtier. I think they all had fun which is all that really matters.
We left the special and went to the Omni for some drinks. That's about all I remember. My players started buying me drinks left and right. Something called a Bear Fight (because it feels like two bears fighting in your stomach), twice. Several beers. Who knows what else. I have a vague memory of being held in a classic police arm bar and biting people. And then I remember praying to a porcelain god at some point. Whew, that was rough. Fun, but rough.
I want to thank everyone I ran into. There were so many people I wish I could have hung out with longer. So many new faces I met for the first time. If I ever felt like I was short with you, I'm sorry, we'll get more time next year!
Unfortunately, I didn't see you at all the entire weekend, which makes it much harder to buy you and Mark a round of drinks. Otherwise, yes, I did have quite a time thid year!
One of my highlights is playing Cyphermage with Russel Akred and some folks I know who were having their first Gen Con experience. I was able to play my "bard-barian" Ulfen Guard fighter bard as his last level 5 tier scenario, making a high Acrobatics DC to leap to the rigging of a ship, and an Expeditious Retreat-enhanced climb check to land on the deck and tell the enemy to "Get off my ship!!" AND he finally got to get off not one, but TWO Cleaves (after never being able to use that feat for 6 levels and 2 1/2 years of play).
I didn't get a single turkey DM, and most of the pick-up people I played with were great players and "mostly harmless". A good time was had by all!
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Kyle, I was one of the players at Rats I and it was truly a pleasure. Some Con higlights for me (please note this was my first Gencon):
1. Scotty's - This place was great. Good service, good food, good PFS game-age and great meeting people. It was rough coming straight to gaming after a 9 hour drive, but worth it. Even learned some stuff about GMing from Kyle, Bob and the other GMs there. Special shoutout to the midnight game of Immortal Connundrum I was in for plowing through like champs and relocating to the hyatt lobby to finish!
2. Special 1 - I had been reading this all weekend. I prepped and prepped, and I was still not prepared enough for when the actual time came. Thankfully, my party was an excellent group of guys and gals, and everything went wonderfully. Kudos to all. Props were great and so were the NPC actors.
3. Meeting Mike Brock - We barely had time to shake hands, and he probably only remembers me for calling him Mark by accident... oops. I'm probably in his **** list forever now.
4. Running #4-01 (a lot) - Love GMing this scenario. The voices, the possibility of hilarity, and the excellent writing. This one is one where the quality of RP possible is up the roof. I even had fun playing it on Sunday after running it 5 times!
5. The dealer room - I have been to Dragon Con's hall a lot of times, still doesn't compare. I still think I missed booths in there. Had a mad rush on Saturday morning to the FFG booth to secure a copy of a board game I was looking for, and getting it! Adrenaline rush, geeze.
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3. Meeting Mike Brock - We barely had time to shake hands, and he probably only remembers me for calling him Mark by accident... oops. I'm probably in his **** list forever now.
Heck, that's nothing. I got Lisa Stevens' last name wrong when introducing her to the entire PFS room. I still haven't gotten a pink slip from Mike, so either they're kind and understanding folks about these things or he just hasn't worked down the priority list to my name yet.
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This was the best GenCon I've been to. I last went in the RPGA (LG) days and did as much as I could to earn my way into the convention (one year I judged 10 slots). This year I was able to go and be on the other side of the table. Overall I think it went well, but there are always going to be some problems (mustering, printers dying, etc.) and as long as the players were informed, it was fine.
Now I started off Thursday morning at Kyle's table of The Cyphermage Dilemma and had a blast. I learned a few things while playing and will try to make the handouts for scenarios from now on. (Best idea ever!)
The rest of the weekend, I didn't have a bad table/judge, just a lot of things that didn't go our way. I had 2 characters almost die (and not the character who participated in the special) and were saved by party members finding a way out.
Again, I had a blast with everyone and plan on going again next year assuming I can get the time off from work.
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3. Meeting Mike Brock - We barely had time to shake hands, and he probably only remembers me for calling him Mark by accident... oops. I'm probably in his **** list forever now.Heck, that's nothing. I got Lisa Stevens' last name wrong when introducing her to the entire PFS room. I still haven't gotten a pink slip from Mike, so either they're kind and understanding folks about these things or he just hasn't worked down the priority list to my name yet.
(Everything below regarding Mike is a joke between Mike and myself)
He's still mad at me for missing Connooga 2011 because my Car broke down, my Rent and child care went up so I couldn't afford to get it fixed, and my personal relationship was going down the toilet so I wasn't getting support from her at that time to get there.
Truly a memorable Gencon. I took some time off between slots to really enjoy exhibit hall this year, and enjoy time with new friends that I met through the con.
I'm still teasing Jeff about dying in rats part I.
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I had a great GenCon with many memorable moments.
Bob J. GMed Rats part 2 for our group. Same group, better results. We ran from one room, but we all survived. I don’t remember much about the role-playing but the last hour was brutal – for the players. The sun was beating down on us and a band started playing 20 feet away from us on the patio. I think it was harder to hear at times then in the PFS room.
Wednesday night I found my campground and set up camp.
Just enough time after the game for a quick dash into the dealer hall and the Paizo booth to pick up some goodies and back up to the PFS hall.
In the afternoon I played 3-18: The God’s Market Gamble. I liked this sand-box adventure. It was also the first time I have used the chase card rules, and it wouldn’t be the last.
Thursday night I didn’t get into my game of King of Storval Stairs, instead I played in Portal of the Sacred Rune. I had a blast! Our party was an extremely rare make-up of Pathfinders including two trap-finding rogues. It was the only scenario that I failed my faction mission but I didn’t care, we had a blast!
Back to the tent (slightly wet due to rain) and six hours sleep.
The day was a blur. I started the day by running Golemworks again, this time at the higher tier. Here I had my first PC death as a PFS GM. Followed by another quick dash into the Dealer Hall to pick up a set of dice – I get one new set each year I attend.
Friday afternoon I played Rise of the Goblin Guild. Guess what, another chase. This chase was run differently than the chase in God’s Market, similar format but different rules. The most memorable part was talking with another player, Wesley Brock (Mike Brock’s son). The rest of the game is a little fuzzy but we all had a good time. (in fact, I hope I got his name right!)
Friday nights special. I failed at all my attempts to pre-muster a table. I played at the 10-11 tier and overall had a good time. It had my third chase of the con, and the third, completely different running using the chase cards. By 12:30 our table was tired out and I headed back to the campground. Had to get some sleep before putting on my teacher hat Saturday morning.
Saturday afternoon I ran The Haunting of Hinojai. The group called it one of the best mystery (or spooky) adventures they’d played. One of the most memorable parts was the look on one of the players when the artifact he needed for his faction mission was destroyed, or so he thought. At the end of the adventure, he found the actual artifact and he was over joyed.
Saturday night I was scheduled to play Red Harvest. I heard rumors that it was a tough scenario. I was exhausted and wanted to play something ‘low maintenance’. I got in line for The Cyphermage Dilemma, high tier. Every table that mustered was low tier. I saw Dan, who had been running many tables of Beginner Box, working with a father and his five year-old daughter. I offered to run an impromptu table of Kid’s Track and they all agreed. When I finished, I helped out HQ which was understaffed due to the special part 2 being short GMs.
I ended the evening with a couple wonderful extra hours of sleep.
My second Kid’s Track table did much better. Several PC when down, one twice, but the cleric brought them back and they defeated the Mimic.
I managed to win a copy of Ultimate Magic at the treasure chest. I sat down and talked with Mike B. and some other GMs for a while. Mike even asked if I wanted to join them for lunch. Since I hadn’t really seen the dealer hall yet and I had a six hour drive home, I reluctantly had to decline.
All in all I had a great GenCon. I look forward to next year.
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Kyle, crud, if I had known you guys were drinking at the Omni it would have been fun to say "hi"... I was also doing that Saturday night. I regret not getting to meet more forum members during my GenCon. I did swing by Scotty's Wednesday evening but everyone was so busy gaming I didn't want to interrupt.
RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32
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This was my first time at GenCon, and the only person I knew walking into it was Azmyth, and I only just barely knew him.
It was fortunate for me that he is such an amazing dude and let me follow him around like a lost puppy. I would have been really lonely and the weekend would have been pretty rough on me. Through him I met many great and amazing people and had a great experience.
The highlights are many. I won't bother posting them all, but there are a few that stick out.
- My first wizard sighting.
- Realizing that I had walked into a world I wasn't prepared for and becoming lost in it for hours.
- Making many new friends.
- Seeing Kyle taken down not once but twice. I won't give more details than that, you just had to be there.
- Finding out how cool and awesome Mike Brock is.
- Having the best Ruben sandwich I have ever had.
- Having a Dalek yell at me.
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I think my favorite moment was meeting Kyle Baird (thanks Nani for introducing us!) for about the fifteenth time.
Besides that, I had a great time running GM 101 on Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. GMing both parts of the Special was made all the more amazing for the great mix of players that gave their all during each game. I will forever remember the cabinet delivered the VC Heidmarch, the extraordinarily clever titan mauler, the screams of a wizard who heard too much, and the excellent roleplaying of a ranger who was afraid to read anything that appeared in the scenario.
Venture-Lieutenant, South Dakota—Rapid City
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3. Meeting Mike Brock - We barely had time to shake hands, and he probably only remembers me for calling him Mark by accident... oops. I'm probably in his **** list forever now.
It's ok, I called him Mr. Brock. Don't call him Mr. Brock >_<
It was my first GenCon and despite the exhaustion (and the fact my voice hasn't recovered yet), I had a blast. It was great seeing other GM's and learning from them and meeting new players. Seeing some of the faces of people on the boards was a nice treat, too.
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It was good to meet many people for the first time.
Thanks to Dan Luckett, Martin Shelby, and Josh Shrader for sharing a room.
Met Kyle Baird twice (he didn't remember me after the first time *sniff* :P). Met the new DC VC, seems like a great guy. Jonathan Cary looks NOTHING like his avatar. Had a few good converations with Brett Jans, Michael Van Hasselin, Tracy Windeknecht and Andrew Christian. Spoke briefly with Kristie Schweyer about our surprise that after 3 days of GenCon people still needed Cyphermage.
I can pick many of the other VOs out of a crowd now.
I ran an excellent table of the special. I loved the look on thier faces when I pulled a handout out of thier hands as they were going over it. You could tell they all knew that IT was ON at that point.
My biggest lesson is that running 10 slots at GenCon is just not for me. I ran 8 for PFS and 2 for another campaign. By mid-Saturday I was done and grumpy and probably getting a little mean. Luckily I get sat with a few great tables that really improved my mood.
I ran an excellent table of the special. I loved the look on thier faces when I pulled a handout out of thier hands as they were going over it. You could tell they all knew that IT was ON at that point.
I played the barbarian/fighter at your table, and I think my eyes did pop out a little when you pulled that handout from Steven's/Sabion's hands. Great game by the way, easily one of the highlights of any con for me.
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The last game on Thursday was a lot of fun! Thanks for going the extra mile to keep the druid alive - You had all of us holding our breaths for rolls several times through the adventure.
I was the fighter who kept tripping everything. It was nice to meet you and I will definitely use some of your GMing organization tricks in the future.
Thanks for the kind words! It's always great to hear how the tables go from a player's perspective, but do me a favor and don't go telling everyone how I went out of my way to keep you guys alive. I've a got a reputation to keep! ;-)
Contributor
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Kyle!!!!!!
I love you. You are correct. Best Gen Con Ever!
Tim,
I will never forget being randomly dragged into a hotel room, having Tequila (Good tequila mind you), placed into my hand, and getting to have a brief conversation with you regarding marriage. :P
Well, there's no reason to drink bad tequila. :)
Venture-Captain, California—San Francisco Bay Area South & West
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The only lesson I learned was to NOT accept free drinks from players whose characters I've recently killed!
If you accepted free drinks from all the players whose characters you've recently killed you'd soon be dead of alcohol poisoning.
