It’s only the end of Day 1 of Gen Con Indy, and already I’m feeling like I should’ve run a 5k to prepare myself.
My poor badge had difficulty keeping up with all the running around:
Since I slept rather soundly after all the awesomeness of Day 1, and because I’m on my way back again, and because I’m writing from my phone, the update will be short & sweet. Relatively speaking.
Exhibit Hall
The doors to the Exhibit Hall were thrown open for the first time today, and there was one thing I learned early: The line at the Paizo Publishing area will be ridiculous. There’s an employee whose responsibility is to hold a sign that reads “Paizo line ends here.”
As expected, there was a sea of humanity throughout the Hall, though not bad as most cons I’ve attended. Then again, it was Thursday. We’ll see what the crunch is like Saturday.
It was a great day to pick up games & books that are new or generally unavailable, if you’re okay with a few lines.
More Meetups
While checking out the Arc Dream and Pagan Publishing booth, I ran into a woman from Chicago. As in, we recognized each other from the fact we take the same Brown Line train during our morning commute.
Later that evening, it turned out that a player I gamed with is also a Chicago citizen. In fact, he lives near/in my neighborhood. We traveled over 180 miles to meet up.
TableTop
Winding my way from the Exhibit Hall, I found Hall D — the Hall of Board Games. Rows upon rows of tables, board games on each. Plus there were oversized games being played on the hall floor:
Over along one wall was the Geek & Sundry HQ. They brought the table from their award-winning web series, TableTop, and were playing many a game on its soft, crimson surface. They also brought a Wil Wheaton, showed up occasionally to make sure folks had a good chance to win.
I played a couple games of Get Bit! with the game’s creator and other fellow gamers. I had a lot of fun, even though I ended up as shark fodder in both games.
Night’s Black Agents
This is where I could ramble on about how much fun Gen Con events can be. Because, great balls of unholy fire, this was fun.
I was one of five players in a game of Night’s Black Agents, a role-playing game that was described to us as ‘Jason Bourne, vampire hunter.’
The enjoyment of any RPG session pivots on the way players interact with each other, and with the person running the game (the ‘GM’). Since it’s interactive storytelling, everybody involved needs to be invested. And in this game, we all were.
I don’t want to give any spoilers, since this was a published campaign, but it was enervating, and a perfect end to the day.
Well, okay: first a pint of Flagon Slayer, then the night was over. Until tomorrow!
-J.
The entity known as -J. would be at home in a place like Carcosa or Night Vale, but instead lives near a far more dreary place -- Wrigley Field. He is the patron Addisonian of whisk(e)y and tabletop games, and is often adorned with a waistcoat & his ridiculous mustache.
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