Gen Con Day 0: The Ram, The Stink, And Lucy Van Pelt Is EVIL

As I did last year, I'll be posting a daily "Live from Gen Con!" update with what I've seen, what I've done, and what I should have avoided... Because Gen Con doesn't really get started until tomorrow, tonight's update is all about the prelim games and events leading up to tomorrow's Big Show. I started this blog post at 10 a.m. upon arrival, and I'll be adding to it as the day goes on:

• As I traveled down 70 West out of Ohio, I passed a white Ford Focus with four younger-ish guys in it. They were kicking up and joking and laughing as they headed west. Later, this same car passed me. Then I passed them. For 160+ miles up to the Gen Con exit (which they also took). So, although I didn't technically travel with anyone, I had four "friends" with me from Columbus, Ohio, all the way to the ICC. Good to tag along with you, "unnamed dudes in other car"!
• While unpacking, I found a mechanical pencil I had lost. And by that, I mean I "found" it embedded in my hand as I emptied out my messenger bag. I have a huge gouge in my right hand and it hurts like the dickens.
• Zipped over to the ICC around noon to pick up the program guide. Wasn't expecting a lot of activity, but the Will Call lines are already up and running. They were also surprisingly long again this year, but since they're going to run them overnight, I think the backlog of early arrivers will get through pretty fast. But anyone who arrives tomorrow morning and expects to walk right through may be surprised by all of the OTHER folks who expected to do the same. Will report on how it turned out tomorrow.
• Took the camera to grab the usual shots of Big Damn Displays, but nothing is out and on display yet! I'm wondering if there's going to be anything this year, as the full-sized Drizzt, Ogre, Dragon, etc. statues are usually already out and being photographed. Was told at the KFG meet-up (see next post), that they were there, just hadn't been put out yet. Photos to come...
• Stopped by The Ram for my traditional noontime "Just got to Gen Con lunch". Had a Slaughterhouse Cheddar burger (ham, bacon, BBQ sauce on a think juicy cheeseburger) with a side of onion rings and a TALL mug of Indy Blonde Ale. Was feelin' fine, until my Cthulhu game in the backroom.
• At 1 p.m., I played in "It's the Great Cthulhu, Charlie Brown!" hosted by Kentucky Fried Gamers and run by "Rbree". I played Linus -- the philosophical intellectual who taught at Miskotonic. Also in our group was Charlie Brown (a war vet who was suffering from blackouts and was still pining over the Red-Haired Girl), Snoopy (now the nickname of an ace WWI pilot in our group), and Lucy (who was still practicing psychiatry). We had all been called together for a reading of the will of my recently deceased grandfather. To summarize: we all got bizarre inheritances; a mass of burning "darkness" invaded the mansion; we escaped just in time to encounter The Dreaded Kite-Eating Tree; did I mention the Deep Ones?; and we ended up at a lighthouse basement where Sally was about to be sacrificed by Marcie, Woodstock, and the Red-Haired Girl. We stopped the sacrifice and Lucy retrieved the moonstone, giving her dominion over the Deep Ones. And what happened next? Well, guess who the Mastermind was behind it all...
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• Great game. None of us saw it coming. The stunned "You do WHAT now?" moment was priceless. (And the Quote of the Game: "OK, roll against me to see if you're a virgin.")
• The Gen Con Stink was fun and much swag was collected by all. I also hosted the Labyrinth Lord Society Meet-n-Greet which had a handful of folks stopping by to grab some dice, tuck a few LL bookmarks into their tomes, and generally hang out for a bit. Not as many people visited as I had expected, but it was nice to meet the few who did make the effort to drop by.
• I'll be gaming until midnight every night this week, so I'm going to turn in early tonight while I have the chance.