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Since Painlord hasn't kicked this off (not sure if he is coming this year) I figured somebody should kick this off, and in these uncertain times a gugs gotta do what a gugs gotta do.
I'm writing this from the hotel room at the Westin right now. My day started at 6pm on Tuesday and I'm looking forward to some sleep and seeing familiar faces tomorrow. The drive in from Omaha was pretty painless and received some big news from my best friends as we arrived in Indy and had breakfast at Cafe Patachou. It was good, both the news and the breakfast. I then wandered around Indy with Will, the VA in Lincoln, NE and fourth member of the car ride from NE. Had lunch at Scotty's afterwards after meeting back up with my car mates. Had the pizza it was good, but the leftovers I had not too long ago are making me nervous.
After lunch we all headed back to the ICC and the Sagamore. After helping Walt Sheppard sort out a giant vox of boons I saw Todd "the Red Menace" Morgan and collected my GM packet and book and checked in at the Westin and met my two roommates (the final roommate is currently a no-show).
All-in-all, a really good day.
Venture-Captain, Michigan—Mt. Pleasant
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My day seemed to be all about being late... I started 30 minutes later than I planned and construction slowed things down so we ended up several hours later than I had planned on arriving. But I got to finally meet TOZ as a surprise he and his wife are our roommates. He's one of the many posters I've wanted to meet someday so it's a treat.
The VC dinner was fantastic as usual. Heard some great news like 《redacted》and 《redacted》and how the end of the season will be 《redacted》. But I probably shouldn't post much more about that... ;)
I'm excited that my wife got to volunteer again this year. It's been a fee years since she came to gencon and it's nice to have her here. She'll be helping GM the new Pathfinder Society Academy and seems very excited about it.
I should be hitting the hay since I run first slot. I'll try to post more later.
Pathfinder Society Lead Developer
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After three days of setting up, the Paizo booth is positively immense and loaded with neat products. The doors open bright and early tomorrow, and I can't wait to start some carnival barking and sales-pitching.
The VC dinner was good fun, and I had a brief chance to touch base with several freelancer yahoos like Jenny Jarzabski, Andrew Hoskins, and Thurston Hilllman. I later stuck around the Sagamore Ballroom for a bit, where Linda and I brainstormed some more crazy ideas we could include in Season 8 and beyond, after which the youngest of the Woldridges narrowly beat me at a word search after I gave her two points for finding "Aspis."
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Blogging from the Will Call line. Have to get my singular ticket for Serpent's Rise in the morning. Next time I'll be having tickets mailed, but the line does seem to move pretty smoothly.
Arrived yesterday after a pretty nice pair of flights. The shuttle ride was nice and long before we got to the Marriott to crash with Wei Ji. Great to see him again after PaizoCon. It was also nice being able to arrive so early and have plenty of time to relax and make last minute preparations. (Not being able to print the new guide until today was just a hassle to bear.)
Slept in today rather than running down to Scotty's. Pretty good recharge before wandering around looking at all the yahoos. The Sagamore is way bigger than the pictures show. GM loot has been acquired, including my new shirts so I actually have things to wear. Many thanks to Eric and Mike for the printed maps and plastic protective sheets!
The VC dinner was a nice calm affair except for Thursty. Do not taunt the Canadian. After wolfing down tasty hotel fare, I had to run to my precon table of Ageless Ambitions, where Team Diplomancer ruled the day and my mighty sorcerer alternated between dropping people in pits and incinerating earth elementals. Then it was off to a late night snack at Champions before coming over the walkway to find the lines reasonable.
Now I must cut things short as we are nearly to the kiosks. See everyone in the morning, as Serpents must Rise!
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Super pumped for my first Gen Con! I landed at around midnight, and it was a smooth flight from San Francisco. Heeding advice from the boards, I went straight for the convention center. The Will Call line wasn't out the door, but it was surprisingly long! I was glad it moved quickly, took around 30 minutes to have everything setup.
I'm boldly waiting for some grub at Steak N' Shake. It looks pretty epic- going to scarf down some grub then get checked into the Marriot and hit the hay. Got some early morning GM checkin and ACG to play!
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We started our drive around 4:20 AM Wednesday Morning. But that isn't how my Gen Con started. Oh no. See my wife and I are champion procrastinators, and I had expertly planned a running of 7-29: All For Immortality, Part 3: Serpents Fall, Tuesday night. So we were up to 1:30 AM pulling minis and finishing packing. So we decided sleep was pointless and just stayed up.
So I missed hanging with the rest of the Minnesota crew and myriads of others, as they drank copious amounts of beer and hard liquor.
But dang I slept well and for over 7 hours! Now it's time to rise and start my con with the most impressively complex array of scenarios to date!
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Pathfinder Society Lead Developer
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Random thought while setting up, why isn't the Red Raven the iconic for the red section in the Sagamore?
Because Galt already runs red with the blood of the unjust, so he has set out to deliver justice unto the blue tables (or wherever he is now).
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It begins.
My first table didn't fire, but there's still a pretty good crowd considering plenty of people had long drives/flights/waits in the Will Call line to get tickets.
One of the best parts of having a slot off is time to talk to other GMs and put faces to avatars. Got to meet the eponymous gug (it helped that I rode to GenCon with him) but also James McTeague (thanks again for making my prep work significantly easier), a handful of other people named Jeff (will likely remember their names), and a few others not named Jeff (I will likely guess Jeff to play the probability).
All of the locals who made it got seated quick and painlessly, so it seems the operation of everything is smooth.
...
And, now, time for a well-deserved nap. See you all for slot 3.
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Also currently writing from the will call line, trying to get tickets for 7-11 next slot.
Left around 4 in the morning with some other guys from Minnesota, after not sleeping the night before, and sleeping a tiny bit in the car, we arrived. Pro Tip: Don't run a complicated scenario semi-cold, if you haven't yet packed for a trip leaving early the next morning.
Fortunately had enough time to catch a few minutes of sleep before my slot 0 of Ageless Ambitions. Table went off mostly without a hitch, and I had a good time teleporting our tiny fox-adin up next to enemies.
Hunting down an assassin in a crowded market square was an excellent way to retire that Inquisitor.
The majority of Slot 1 scenarios didn't fire, so I, along with many other GMs wandered off to do other things. For me, that included catching up on some sleep, browsing Horror Adventures, checking Additional Resources, and cursing Paizo for not allowing the Mad Scientist Alchemist. They're clearly frightened of my genius.
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Since Painlord hasn't kicked this off (not sure if he is coming this year) I figured somebody should kick this off, and in these uncertain times a gugs gotta do what a gugs gotta do.
Totally not jealous about any of this. Totally.
Enjoy your con you magnificent piddlespotters.
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Worked the ACG area as a roving GM. Didn't get a chance to play a round, but it was a good morning of organization and setup! Kevin Hanley is a master of organizing the ACG, and I'm very glad to have met him! Thanks to Bob + Jon Cary for their printing skills, and if you haven't seen Bobby Harring's epic kilt- you must do so!
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Thirty-five minutes in, almost to the head.
Edit: Forty-five minutes to get through the line. Grabbed my PFS pawns as well as the Bestiary 2 box for other needed monsters. Completed my faction pin collection, as well as grabbed the new season t-shirt for me and two Phoenix players. Order number 298 came to $120. May the raptors accept my tribute!
Snacked on some convention cart food, cheesesteak and chips with a pretzel and water. Better go find caffeine for a reasonable price somewhere after offloading all this dead weight.
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Slots off mean Scotty's Brewhouse chicken sandwiches and a chance to scour the dealer's room. Souvenirs for friends that didn't make it, and a brief chat with Neil Spicer (who was pretty tight lipped about the future), and a chance to get some more prep for Serpent's Ire.
One of the best things about GenCon is the sheer number of other GMs you can bounce ideas off of. Can't wait to spring Iaovin Ratarion on some lucky players.
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The Adventure Thus Far:
Having attained the services of curious parents for some unknown and mysterious reason, Wei Ji made his way to the polis of Indiana.
Arriving in an exceptionally timely fashion, he was able to ensure his lodging was secured with expediency. Then TOZ and Mrs. TOZ did inquire as to the possibility of lodging, which Wei was more than willing to assist with, as TOZ and Mrs. TOZ had done favors for him in the past and the karma was good as well.
Moving forwards, past the dinner at the Steak an' Shake, there was light rambling discussion over many topics before rest overtook the trio.
The morning saw the momentary dissolution of the fellowship, as TOZ and Mrs. TOZ went to handle things mundane and bureaucratic, whilst Wei went to the Scotty's Brewhouse 'afternoon slot'.
Not only were there hungry patrons at the location, there were also hungry ghosts, though with due dispatch they were dealt with...
Then Wei's room-mate had a crisis of being removed from the room list, and Wei was forced to hustle back to the hotel lest said room-mate have no place to stay for the convention.
This, in turn led Wei to the table of ambition ageless, wherein there were many things set aright, and other things just wrong performed. Verily, Wei's character should not have been taunting things well above Wei's character's 'weight limit' but... all was well that ended well.
Also of import was the acquisition of several printed maps for an upcoming special.
A brief sojourn to the Champions for feasting then transpired, and then Wei returned to his room.
Being an exceptionally busy day, Wei then retired for the evening... only to be awoken as room-mate arrived with bustle and clatter and then the dreaded *snoring of DOOM*
On this morn, then, Wei awoke fatigued, yet nearly rested enough to clear that condition. He made his way to a table of anguishing ancients, and the blessed provision of a kind fellow who acquired coffee turned the tide of that battle.
Of particular note is The Fromper, who didst provide Wei with important charts and maps for an upcoming special in exchange for thankful consideration.
Wei then returned to his room, to remove from his bags all the things he would not need on his 'supply run' to the Exhibitor's Hall, wherein he would acquire the Legacy of Dragons, the Book of Weapon Masters, and the Corebook Pocket, along with some faction pins for good measure.
Now, now Wei hungers... and must search for sustenance...
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I would like to respectfully remind Wei that I bring the DOOM around here!
Hmm
When should I expect the 'package', then?
Room-mate's 'FitBit' showed that that room-mate's 'quality sleep' was likewise 'not of good length'.
So there was that.
'Sustenance' obtained.
Subway place in Mall.
Tried one of their 'new sandwiches'.
Mediocre. Dreading the worst.
Person of less than likely means was asking for 'donations'.
Donated uneaten foot-long tuna salad.
Person shocked, but grateful.
Now comes the tedious task of finding all the pawns in box that was picked up shortly before Exhibit Hall close to find out what pictures need to be printed for things that didn't have tokens.
Operation Mini-Get was not successful.
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Had an amazing game, finally had a chance to play The Confirmation. Three brand new players gave us all a chance to look at the rules again, and the new portable Core Rulebook was very handy. I didn't realize how much I just keep Hero Lab on my tablet (time to bump the "split screen" feature request!) and may not take the time to correct my hunches for flow's sake. Our GM was a VC named Michael I believe, but the jet lag may have caught up with me since I don't recall where he was from! Totally played up the excellent NPC in the scenario, and it was a blast!
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Just finished 7-98 an hour ago. People had a good time. The player that found the thing had a good time with it. Checked out the wicked sweet charity auction boons, placed some bids. Money raised goes to a really good cause, the PourHouse in Indianapolis.
What is PourHouse? Excellent question! From pourhouse.org : The PourHouse assists individuals experiencing homelessness in overcoming barriers to housing, treatment and healthcare. Through community-style street outreach and a unique peer advocacy approach, we help people define and achieve their goals and reestablish vision for their lives.
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Checked out the wicked sweet charity auction boons, placed some bids. Money raised goes to a really good cause, the PourHouse in Indianapolis.
What is PourHouse? Excellent question! From pourhouse.org : The PourHouse assists individuals experiencing homelessness in overcoming barriers to housing, treatment and healthcare. Through community-style street outreach and a unique peer advocacy approach, we help people define and achieve their goals and reestablish vision for their lives.
+1 to this, yo. As a professional fundraiser and yahoo who wants to actively make the world a better place, this is pretty piddlespotting cool. I wish I was there to see this.
Just like in PFS where our characters have the choice to add to the suffering/pain of the world or fight against it, I choose to try to make the world a better place. It's nice that this Con is offering that option to everyone by pairing with a nonprofit that seeks to try to help others. All it takes is the bravery to care about something that matters to you and try to make it better.
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The Continuing nonAdventures of Wei...
Wei was initially going to get up this morning and make the mad rush to get into a morning slot of *generic random table he could play* until the innards had a minor revolution, demanding representation and rights of their own after the Subway consumption.
Lesson learned.
Having somewhat recovered, he's currently debating lunch before the mad rush of getting to Portent's Peril and then the Special...
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Went to Pathfinder RPG design siminar. Ended up playtesting Starfinder. First official death when my starfighter disintegrated after a partical cannon hit. Fun times...
CLEARLY I chose the wrong GenCon to not attend...
The Continuing
Wei was initially going to get up this morning and make the mad rush to get into a morning slot of *generic random table he could play* until the innards had a minor revolution, demanding representation and rights of their own after the Subway consumption.nonAdventures of Wei...
Lesson learned.
Having somewhat recovered, he's currently debating lunch before the mad rush of getting to Portent's Peril and then the Special...
Funny, similar thing happened to me as well last year. I think on the same day even! Mrs. TOZ can corroborate my story :-P
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...And 'lo, the Special hath been completed...
So it was that Wei made his way to a late, late breakfast with The Fromper, wherein many fine foodstuffs were consumed at Watch of Firsts. Verily, then, did Wei burn shoe leather to get to the Fedex Kinkos to print pictures for the Special, and then to the Perilous Portent.
It was quite perilous indeed, as many tears were jerked and heart-strings pulled, and no ending quite what was expected entering the scenario.
This was followed by another mad dash by Wei to his room, that he could retrieve the materials remaining to run his table of the Captive Cosmic.
Nearly without incident that dash was... until the base of the stairs leading to the Sagamore, when DISASTER struck!!
The neatly-ordered and organized scenario, divided by section, and player aids, and creature pictures and more came hurtling out of his bag, creating a temporary blizzard upon the floor of the Center of Conventions.
Thankfully, there were MANY kind bystanders that were willing to aid Wei in recovering the material, but the damage was done.
Suddenly everything blurred, and Wei was handing out chronicle sheets, as well as boons for thanks for participating in his first Special table.
Now he hungers once more... and prospects are unclear...
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HMM: Oh, I made a place for myself (thanks Walt!)...
After the special, I tried to help pressure Thursty & Co. pressure my VC into drinking at Scotty's instead of prepping Twisted Circle, to no avail. After meeting Thursty (while forgetting to actually introduce myself) and undoubtedly earning the dark fury of my VC, I have to say it was worth it.
Very glad I decided to skulk around instead of going back to my room and sleeping.