Gamicon Omega Day 2: Transporter Malfunctions And A Cranky Toddler Demi-God

Greetings folks and welcome to Day Two of my Gamicon Omega travelogue direct from Iowa. It's nearly midnight and I have a full day tomorrow, so let's get to the recap then get to bed:

• Today is "Steampunk Saturday at the con, so I saw more than my fair share of gears, goggles, and gizmos bolted to Victorian-era costumes throughout the day. Stupidly forgot to grab any photos though. Sorry.
• Someone dressed as the Pope walked through too. That certainly grabbed my attention. (Again, no pics because I suck.)
• While in the booth this morning, Dan Proctor and I gabbed about classic sci-fi novels and movies. Topics included Westworld: The Series and the Dream Park novels. 
• The con has a videogame room where many classic systems are set up for free play. I saw a Sega Saturn and a CDX, as well as Nintendo, 3DO, and other classic systems. When I mentioned that to Dan and his brother Kris (who joined us for the event), I also brought up my nerd cred of having a World's Record in Atari 2600 Halloween on record at Twin Galaxies. That was way less impressive a brag than I had hoped.
• This afternoon, Dan ran a group of us through a Starships and Spacemen adventure (second edition). Our happy band of explorers were sent on the most perilous of missions: Go find out why we lost contact with the prison colony 24 light years away. Upon arriving and taking a shuttle to the surface, we found the place deserted and bodies littered the corridors -- their organs and brains harvested for some nefarious purpose. As we explored, we lost one away team member to ravenous ape-creatures. I then got too close to a black tar that grabbed me and pulled me in ala Tasha Yar. (My panicked emergency beam-out ended badly as I ended up on the transporter pad inside-out.) We eventually found the source of the harvesting -- robotic bio-drones who incorporated organic parts into their own physical structure. A few shots later....and we were being harvested for parts. It was a TPK. I hope the Confederation sends another party out to find out what became of us!
• Finally this evening I ran a game of West End Games' Ghostbusters in "Ragnarok-A-Bye Baby". (And the adventure is now available for download!) Highlights included: one 'Buster got "pantsed" while being filmed by several Smartphones earning him the nickname "Mooner"; when they reach the scene of the disturbance, they found a Nordic guardian in their way who insisted on calling them the "Goose-Boosters"; Mooner discovered that messing around with the toy hammer of a demi-god toddler will earn you a one-way flight through a window and 40 feet into the parking lot; when the World Serpent crashes down on you, holding up that same immortal, impervious demi-god kid is a pretty good way to avoid getting crushed; and although it's still a Very Bad thing, crossing the streams will still work...sometimes. Much high-fiving was had when they saved the world, and little demi-god Trudy Thomson ("No! My name is Thrud Thorson!") was sent to another day care center...with a new toy hammer from her Greek Uncle Hephaestus. Cue up the sequel: "It's All Greek To Me."

Folks, after the con ends tomorrow, I'm hitting the road back to Ohio, so I likely won't post Day Three until I get back on Monday. So I'll sign off from Iowa now, and will post a wrap-up upon my arrival back at Chez Sniderman. Until then, here are some photos to tide you over:

 This computer-run tabletop battlemat was very cool and was in use throughout the convention.

 Items both rare and common started filling the auction shelves. brought a couple of items and made a few bucks.

 The registration booth.

 Spillover and pick-up games were always in action in the lobby.

 Our Starships and Spacemen game is about to end in tears. (Yes, Dan was using my GB screen during the game.)

And here we see the Goose-Boosters as they try to stop a Norseman Armageddon from striking the heart of Iowa City!