Gen Con Sunday in Pictures

Sunday was a whirlwind, our last day at the Con.

We arose early, hurriedly packed, and raced over to the Convention Center. Our first stop was the Miniatures Room. Many folks had departed. but there were still plenty of gamers left and lots of awesome dioramas.

We hit the dealer room yet again, picking up the creepy art collage we had purchased earlier and checking out a few of the newer boardgames. I also dove headfirst into boxes of obscure game supplements, while a stood patiently by. Some many bargains, so little time!

There was definite “Sunday atmosphere” on the floor, and most of the dealers seemed low-key, somehow chatty yet tired and looking forward to the chaotic roll-up that was to come later that day.

I stopped by to take a good look at the awesome (and awesomely expensive) Ptolus book. It was beautiful and had the highest production values of any gaming book I’ve ever seen. Sue & Monte Cook were there, so we chatted with them for a few minutes. Monte is evidently a Spock’s Beard fan, and my ‘Beard t-shirt was a big hit. A meanwhile chatted with Sue about editing. (It seems most “designer wives” end up handling some editing duties one way or the other.) Both Monte and Sue were great to meet.

Our next stop was Atlas Games, so I could pick up my copy of Gloom. We bent Michelle Nephew’s ear for a moment and she was very nice and willing to chat. At one point she was demonstrating Gloom for a would-be customer, and every several minutes this guy would swoop past the booth and grab one of the Gloom demo cards sitting out on the table. I watched amazed as this goon zipped by at least three times, picking off a card (they were there some people could see what the game looked like, not to be taken) each time. Dude—just buy the game, for crying out loud!

Ratatosk’s Final Booty List
• Battlebox accessory (Fiery Dragon)
• Dungeon Crawl Classics #31:The Transmuter’s Last Touch (Goodman Games)
• Dungeon Crawl Classics #35: Gazetteer of the Known Realms (Goodman Games)
• Gamemastery Item Pack cards (Paizo)
• Gary Gygax’s Hall of Many Panes (grabbed for $10) (Troll Lord)
• Gloom game (Atlas Games)
• 1 size 2XL “Roll the Dice … It Builds Character” T-shirt (a present for Markus)
• Larry Fine sticker (Stylin)
• Some cool Q-Workshop dice (half presents for the Willster)

And some used items (basically all in new condition except I4):
• Ravenloft, Silver Anniversary edition (TSR)
• Module I4 Oasis of the White Palm (TSR)
• Dragon magazines # 297, 310, 326
• Living Greyhawk Gazetteer (a snap at $18) (Wizards)

Soon it was near time for my signing, so I hustled over to my booth and sat behind the draped table for about 45 minutes, talking to customers. It was very cool being on the other side of things for a change and talking to people about my adventure was great.

Dice city!


Soon after we both beat a hasty exit and fled for the airport. (There I grabbed a bright red “INDIANA” t-shirt as final memento.) I spotted a group of people near our designated gate, sitting on the floor and playing Shadows Over Camelot in a last ditch effort to squeeze yet one more game in. Sitting a few rows ahead of us on the return flight was Chris Doyle (author of Goodman’s DCC #7: Secret of Smugglers Cove and ENnie-nominated DCC #11: The Dragonfiend Pact)—little did the passengers know they were surrounded by adventure authors! Less than two hours later—our flight was early this time—we were back safely in New Jersey; it was over.

Gen Con Saturday in Pictures

Saturday morning we were knackered and we overslept somewhat, and then got to a late start because, idiot that I am, I misplaced the seminar tickets I had picked up the day before. (It turned out I needn't have worried, as reported online the seminars are basically walk-in affairs and even the popular Paizo seminars could be entered with nary a glance at a ticket. Much ado about nothing.)

After a quick bite we headed off to our first seminar, Paizo's "Writing for Dungeon Magazine" seminar. RPG companies take note, this is how it should be done. Erik Mona, Publisher of Dragon and Dungeon magazines, ran a tight, well-orchestrated event. Moments into the seminar he laid out the plan, telling the attendees exactly what to expect, and then he and his staff went by the numbers, beginning with explanatory stuff for the newbies, giving advice, running through a collaborative workshop exercise, and finally answering questions. It was informative, professsional, and fun.

The next seminar was hit and miss, the subject being tie-in writing. There were some good, experienced writers at the table, but between the tired between-author quips and ego-stroking the point sometimes got lost. These authors were giving their time to teach others, and I really appreciate that, and it shouldn't all be deadly serious, but people are there to learn first and foremost... not be entertained (which most of us were not) by endless joshing among the participants. 'Nuff said.

At this point, after a good 3 hours of seminars, A and I exited the Hyatt and walked down to the Indiana State Museum. It was already hot, and my ever-heavy backpack was thumping against my back in a steady rhythm. We checked out a few sculptures outside the nearby Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art and then walked into the museum proper, following a state-by-state walkway that lead finally to Indiana as you reached the door. The welcome cool air washed across us as we stepped inside. The museum was small by our jaded New York City standards, but it contained a lot of cool items and was heavy with Indian artifacts and Hoosier lore. A history timeline of Indiana started literally with the forming of the Earth and fossil records, so these Indiana folks are thorough, I'll give them that! I marveled at the ancient arrowheads and we got a kick out of a 1980s memorabilia section that included a Mac Plus computer in with the Pop culture tidbits.





After we ducked back into the convention center for another run-through. As we exited the Dealer Room, we stopped by a large display of card houses. A young gal, barely visible behind the towers of cards, invited me in to aid the construction but I declined, fearing that one poorly timed sneeze on my part would cause a disaster.

I discovered later that at a certain time that evening a mob armed with coins would gather, pelt the card constructions until all were flat, and the coins are gathered for a local childrens' charity.

We finally staggered over to The Ram for dinner. The place was mobbed but the atmosphere was there—Return of the King was blasting at full volume from the large sports screens, to the delight of most of the diners. The place was draped with banners from Wizards and Privateer Presss and they even feature a fantasy-themed appetizer menu during the weekend. Props to The Ram for rolling out the red carpet for Gen Con attendees.