Where In Gen Con Is Sniderman Sandiego?

Everybody else seems to be posting his Gen Con schedule, so here's mine in case anyone is curious, wondering, or wants to meet up. And here we go:

Wednesday:
Noon-ish - Check-in at the Canterbury, grab some lunch, and get my bearings. Visit the Convention Center and swing by Will Call for some last-minute tickets I purchased. Do some general recon so I'm not wandering around like a lost chimp for four days.

Thursday:
9-10 a.m. - Jockey for position of entering Gen Con for the first time. I plan to be part of the running of the bulls.
10 a.m. - ??? - Wander the Dealer Hall and buy many monies worth of stuff. Hang out at The Old School Renaissance Group booth and meet other old school fans. Play demos and make note of future purchases.
Evening - Venturing into The Tower of Gygax at JW Marriott

Friday:
10 a.m. - Running Mutant Future game at Crown Plaza - "Gimme Shelter"
4 p.m. - Running Mutant Future game at Crown Plaza - "Dead in the Water"

Saturday:
10 a.m. - Running TOON game at Crown Plaza - "Hassle in the Castle"
2 p.m. - Running Ghostbusters game at Crown Plaza - "How Dry I Am"
8 p.m. - Media Meet & Greet at Union Station

Sunday:
2 p.m. - Depart for home

On My "Unscheduled But Gonna Happen" Agenda:

• Hit the auction and consignment store for a few hours
• Play in any pick-up games that'll have me
• Perhaps run a pick-up Mutant Future Thundarr game if time allows
  
• Regular posts and pix here at Savage AfterWorld
• Catch a few nerdy flix at the Film Fest
• Find a use for the handful of Generic Tix I bought
• Drinkin'

You'll see I deliberately left my playing schedule open for anything that pops up, although I'm running four games, so it's not like I won't be chuckin' dice. Really looking forward to the MutFut games I'm running. Been writing about the game for two years -- now's my chance to run a few for the readers of the blog.

To ID me, you'll want to look for a few identifying icons: glasses; a mustache; and this tag on my ID lanyard:

EDITED TO ADD: And here's what I look like for those of you looking around for Your Friendly Neighborhood Sniderman:In my secret identity as a mild-mannered editor.

Ready to swing into action. Yes, hat and Hawaiian shirts.

In my natural element with a drink in my hand. Cheers!
See you tomorrow!

Reading Through The Books Of The Wastes

I was just informed by Chuck Rice of Vigilance Press that a new Mutant Future sourcebook will be released any day now. The sourcebook, titled Books of the Wastes, allows PCs to acquire new abilities from reading and researching pre-war books and tomes scattered throughout the blasted lands. Imagine the knowledge contained within such arcane volumes such as Alice's Gun Almanac, U.S. Army Robot Combat Manual, and Little Pathfinder's Wilderness Survival Guide. Books of the Wastes is expected to have a 99-cent cover price. We'll have an announcement and review upon its release.

So What Else Happens If I Roll a 27 To Hit?

As a card-carrying member of The Order of the D30, I bring out my golden lump of randomness at each game. The houserule for d30 use as recognized by The Order is as follows:

Once per session, a player may opt to roll the d30 in lieu of whatever die or dice the situation normally calls for. The choice to roll the d30 must be made before the roll, and the d30 cannot be used for generating character statistics or hit points.

So if your character is swinging a dagger for a paltry 1d4 damage, you can instead use the d30 to roll damage upon a successful hit. A dagger stab for 27 hit points of damage? Nice. My players often use the d30 for damage rolls as a potential hit for 30 points of damage to a major villain can be a real game changer. (Allows for those "epic moments" too.)

However, the d30 has been used for those To Hit rolls where the odds are stacked against you. The party is moments away from a TPK, and you need to roll 18 or more to hit the mutant pounding you? Whip out the d30 to increase your odds. However, one player pointed out that I'm usually pretty generous with damage bonuses when a natural 20 is rolled in combat. "But there's never a damage bonus when we roll more than a 20 on the d30," he said. "Shouldn't we get something extra?"

At first I thought it was a bit cheeky to ask as the d30 already increases your odds for a successful combat hit. What more do you want? But then I remembered that those epic moments is precisely why I use the d30 in my games. So here is a new "d30 combat roll" rule I'm mulling over:

If the d30 is used in a To Hit roll, any rolls from 21 through 30 will be considered a critical hit. The amount rolled over 20 (X) will be given as an Xd4 damage bonus, ie, a 21 will grant a +1d4 damage bonus; 22 will grant a +2d4 damage bonus; up to 30 which will grant a +10d4 damage bonus.

Whadya think, sirs?

Remembering Gary Gygax On His 73rd Birthday

Taking a sec to remember Gary Gygax who would have been 73 today. Happy Birthday Gary, and thanks for getting this whole mess started.