Gen Con Wrap-Up: Steampunk Pirates, Useless Shoe Inserts, And Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

I'm home now after "The Best Four Days in Gaming." I'm also popping everything in the medicine cabinet as I try to shake a dreaded case of Con Crud. I'm going over some random thoughts about the event that I jotted down here and there as well as some photos I meant to post earlier. I also took pictures of what I came home with (slightly less of a haul than last year), and I'll close with a personal announcement about next year's Gen Con:

• If I could summarize the overall theme of the costuming this year by what I saw most of, for the men it would be "Steampunk pirate." For the women, it would be "Slutty fill-in-the-blank."
• On the way home, I passed a cargo truck that was COVERED in Radioactive/Biohazard/Poison placards. Whatever he was hauling must've been super-scary. I idly wondered: "If I run him off the road and release those toxins, would I jump-start the Mutant Future apocalypse?" But he took the next exit, so the world is safe.
• I got some of those Dr. Scholl's "gellin'" shoe inserts to prep my feet for 4 days of walkin'. It was like slogging through Jello everyday. My feet were still tired and, as a bonus, I got a blister across the tops of my toes from where they rubbed against the insides of my shoes due to the extra "lift" under my feet.
• I plan to post my three Con-run modules in the next few days (Gimme Shelter 1 and 2, and Weed World). I'll also post the Thundarr the Barbarian script and pre-gens for those who want to run their groups through it. Speaking of which...
• If I can find time, I'm going to write up the Thundarr game as played by the Gen Con players as a fictionalized "lost episode" of the cartoon. They stayed in character so well and played it so straight, it was like watching an episode unfold. I gotta share it with you all, but it's going to require a bit of work on my part. I may run it as a three-part series.

And now for some remaining random pictures taken here and there:

At the Dead Games Society cocktail party, "Vincent" the mascot polishes off a bottle of gin.

That giant dragon balloon sculpture is finished. Wings, fire breath, 7+ feet tall. It was an amazing piece of work that took 3 days to complete.

Let's see, starting from the top left, I brought home Skull Mountain, James Ward's Dark Outpost, a hardback copy of Zak's Vorheim, my own copy of Are You A Werewolf?, the D&D CD from Midnight Syndicate (I have every other CD they've released), Dungeon Run, two "new-old stock" Task Force Games - Intruder and Valkenberg Castle, and Gloom and expansion deck.

My messenger bag wasn't cutting it, so I broke down and purchased a Bag of Holding backpack from Offworld Designs. How big is it? It held everything pictured above PLUS the books I brought with me PLUS my laptop and tablet WITH room to spare. It's a canvas beast. The DCC RPG rulebook was purchased through Goodman Games, but I placed it there so you'd understand why I purchased a set of  DCC-compatible polyhedrals (and skull dice bag). The only one they didn't have on-hand was a d14, but I got a matching one from eBay the second I got home.

OK, wrapping up with that personal announcement: This will probably be my last Gen Con for the foreseeable future. I did enjoy myself and it was great running games, playing games, and meeting pals. However, Gen Con is just too big of an event for my tastes. Every game I played in or ran was held in the hotel furthest from my own, requiring a hike of several blocks for each one. The crowds are overwhelming -- worse so in the Dealer's Hall. My ears are still ringing due to the din. The prices are high and the distance is great to get there. The same experience can be had much cheaper and closer, in my experience. Although I do love Gen Con, I always feel beaten and ill when I get home rather than refreshed, inspired, and rejuvenated.

Therefore, I'm taking my leave of Gen Con next year and rather refocusing on the smaller con circuit in my own backyard (Ohio). Con on the Cob is coming up this fall, and Origins is held less than an hour's drive from here. I could attend U-Con if I wanted to head up north. And, of course, I **WILL** attend Gary Con next March, as it's become my favorite convention to attend by far. If I'm gonna roadtrip next year for only one convention next year, this is the one I'll go to, no doubt about it.

So thanks for the great times and memories, Indy. I'm gonna miss you next year. But we're not breaking up! I'm just suggesting that we see other conventions for a while.

Gen Con Day 3: A Stack Of Pancakes, Con Crud, And A 42-Hit-Point Phlegm Ball

As the sun rises on Day 3 of The Best Four Days in Gaming, Sniderman is feeling what little youth and vitality he had slip away under the relentlessness of the event. (Translation: Sniderman celebrated his 46th birthday last week and he's reeeeeeally feelin' it this morning.) Last night's DGS cocktail party was a blast, but this morning I had to shave my tongue, drink a gallon of water, and pop Tylenol like they were Pez. But after shaking the cobwebs from the ol' braincase, here is today's post:

• To treat myself, rather than munching on the granola bars I brought for breakfast, I went down to the hotel restaurant and had an honest-to-God stack of pancakes, a few strips of bacon, and coffee served in a china cup. The silent morning respite did me some good. Breakfast was $25 (with tip) and worth every penny.
• Mild morning hangover aside, my throat is really feeling it today. I'm hoping my Mutant Future game at 10 a.m. does't suffer. Last year, I had to cancel a game of TOON I was going to run when I came up with laryngitis. I brought a bag of cough drops to try to get me through this, but it's gonna be tough.
• I swear, if another person in the Dealer's Hall stops dead in front of me, I'm gonna wack 'em with my backpack. And if I come across another group of gamers stopped in the dead-center of a crowded Dealer's Hall intersection yakkin' it up, I'm bodychecking them all into the nearest display of minis. Move your collective asses out of traffic before you socialize, folks!
• The 10 a.m. Mutant Future game went well, with the d30 coming into play at the end for awesomeness. Here's are some choice scenes: plant life is growing amok and the players' village is nearly destroyed by giant Mummy vines plants bludgeoning the huts; a trek to visit Zhonie Kharsin; a mutant raccoon spies a blue glow coming from nearby and gets face-to-face with a Taser Thistle (ZAP); the PCs find that Splinterthorn is responsible for the mutant enzyme entering the water table; one acid-spitting mutant rolls the d30 to hit, rolls a  NAT 30 for QUADRUPLE DAMAGE, and an acid loogie-ball he spits goes THROUGH the villain's head. Like I said, awesome.
• Swung by the Dungeon Crawl Classics game at 4 p.m. in hopes of using a few generics to squeeze in. Sadly, 5 other generic-holders had the same idea. Even more sad was all of the original players showed up, so there wasn't even a no-show to replace anyway! The DM graciously offered to run a late-night pick-up game for the generic holders, but that's just not in the cards for me tonight as I have world-conquest plans with an evening Illuminati game. Heading back to the room for lunch and rest.
• .....annnnd I woke from my nap with Con Crud, apparently. Voice is gone, body hurts, I'm sneezing a lot, and generally feel like warmed-over Crap-on-a-Stick (pat. pend.) I'm gonna gargle, pop more aspirin, and go back to bed. Fortunately, I leave in the morning and it's a 3-hour drive home, which is comparatively short. Unfortunately, I'm gonna be a no-show for the one event I've been looking forward to since I signed up in January. Fnord, indeed dammit. Sorry Justin. Give the Gnomes of Zurich Hell for me! And if I shook your hand today, you might want to slather sanitizer on it.
• Back to bed. New post after I'm home, unpacked, and rested. So this is Sniderman, live from Gen Con, and signing off.
• ---couch cough wheeze---

Gen Con Day 2: Mystery Doors, Barrel Beasts, And A Pissed-Off National Monument

Good morning folks. As is The Custom, this daily Gen Con missive is started in the morning and updated throughout the day. so let's get to it:

• Sniderman's Travel Tips: Hey folks. This your first time in a hotel? It is? OK, here's some friendly advice. You see that mysterious Door to Nowhere over against the far wall? The one that's deadbolted for some reason? Did you open it only to find ANOTHER door? Well, that's not a utility closet, nor is it the entrance to a secret underground bunker. That's a door to the other room next to yours. The cleaning staff may use it to move back and forth from room to room while straightening up, or friends rooming next to each other may open it up to allow free access back and forth. If you do not know the person in that next room though, DO NOT TRY TO OPEN THE MYSTERY DOOR AND FOR GOD'S SAKE DO NOT KNOCK. The guy in the next room who's trying to catch a power nap may have a heart attack waking up to "Intruder Noises" occurring within his room. And if it happens again, I'll explain this to you in person at 3 a.m. while I pound on that same door as hard as my fists will allow. Thank you. (Now that I got THAT Public Service Announcement out of the way...)
• Stopped by a Starbucks for a quick pick-me-up and saw a product called Blue Machine. It has pureed berries and other healthy stuff, so I gave it a go. It was like drinking a sweat sock, both in flavor and texture. Nasty.
• A chick in a leotard wearing cat ears and cat tail is sexycute. Conversely, a DUDE wearing a leotard and cat ears and cat tail is creepyweird.
• Am I the only one here NOT wearing a black T-shirt?
• Ok, just finished up my Mutant Future game "Gimme Shelter II: The Rushmore Salvage Job" and, although it seemed to start slowly, it picked up speed until it collided with the mother of all epic endings. Some scenes that occurred: Barter John the mutant bear merchant tasks the team with finding  his scout Joey Gills who hasn't returned from Black Hill where an Ancient monument is located; the team needs to retrieve a large sculptor's model of the Mount Rushmore monument; rock guys exploding up from underground, overturning their truck; Morty the Moose bull-charging a rock-guy, missing, and continuing to run; Burger King the gravity-manipulator dropping a truck on another rock-guy; Apollo the mutant chipmunk missing with FOUR grenades; Morty also drops a grenade, destroying the gift shop the model was housed in; Mount Rushmore comes to life and pulls itself out of the ground to give chase to Our Heroes; "The Brain" creates an illusion that Joey Gills destroyed the model, pissing off the Living Monument and causing the 400-foot-tall granite colossus to smash Joey Gills into a fine red paste. Next year? Barter John has a little mission to the ISS...
• Got a chance to play in a Labyrinth Lord game hosted by none other than Dylan, the Digital Orc. He ran the party through his Blasphemous Brewery of Pilz. I got to play my preferred class of "cleric," and we were sent to the northern hills to investigate why the favored beer brewed by the monks was "off." I'll be vague in this entry as the adventure is available for sale (so no spoilers here for future players!), but I'll just say that, if you decide to stab a Burpee, you should totally rethink that strategy! I had to leave the game at the appointed ending hour as I had other commitments, so I'd love to find out how the rest of the party fared against the "Barrel Beast"!
• I arrived later that evening at the Dead Games Society cocktail party. In fact, as I hammer out this final entry, I've only just gotten back to my room with 2 or 3 or perhaps 7 gin-and-tonics in my system. (I kinda lost count.) It was a great time hanging out with Michael and Colin and the rest of the gang in the hotel's Presidential Suite. Mike makes a mean Tom Collins, even if he has to occasionally make substitutions, like olive juice for the sour mix. I have about 9 hours before I need to run tomorrow's Mutant Future games, so I'm gonna go to bed and try to detox a bit. And here are some random pix taken during the day...

This amazing dragon balloon sculpture was about 7 feet tall. The photo really doesn't do it justice.

Cardhalla is yet again in full swing. Card houses (towers and villages actually) are built and, on the final day, loose change is thrown to bring it all down. All change is then donated to charity.

Gen Con Day 1 Addendum: My Visit With Wil

So, as I mentioned in my earlier day's post, Wil Wheaton was the Guest of Honor when I stopped by the Dealer's Hall this afternoon. I'll keep the slathering fanboy praise to a minimum, but suffice to say that I really like Wil's professional work, and his embrace of gaming culture is damn cool. So I was really looking forward to meeting him and letting him know I was a fan. He engaged each person in turn; talking, joking, and genuinely giving everyone his undivided attention. Very cool of him to make that connection with each well-wisher.

It's funny, but while I stood in line and worked my way up to the front, I found myself getting a bit lightheaded and short of breath. No, not in a "OMG I'MMA GONNA FAINT"-type swoon. That'd be weak. No, this was the same feeling you get when you're 5 years old and waiting to meet Santa at the Mall (to stretch an analogy). The months of anticipation have built up to this one short "dear God, don't let me do or say anything stupid" moment. And then I was next.

"Wil, it's a genuine pleasure to meet you," I said. Wil smiled and said thanks. I slid my copy of Mutant Future over to him.

"I'd appreciate it if you could inscribe Wheaton's Law on the title page. Having it in your hand would be very cool. And take your time. I'm trying to absorb some of your residual awesome." Wil laughed at this and graciously inscribed Wheaton's Law on the title page, followed with his signature.

I reached into my pocket and handed him one of my Savage AfterWorld dice as well as a Thundarr the Barbarian button I had given out at my game earlier. Wil's face lit up.

"Aw, no way! I loved Thundarr the Barbarian!" Wil said, turning the button over in his hand. "The other cartoons of the 80s were all trying to sell you something: GI Joe, Transformers, He-Man... But Thundarr was just awesome. The way it mixed up genres and settings. Thundarr was a gateway to heavy metal to me."

Taken aback that I had apparently hit a "nerd nerve," I told him that my blog hosts Thundarr Thursday, and that I've actually created a Mutant Future supplement based on the Thundarr the Barbarian universe. He looked at the dice.

"Is this your blog? The Savage AfterWorld?" When I said yup, Wil took out his Smartphone and said "savage afterworld" into it. My blog popped up.

"You're in my browser history now," Wil said. "When I get a chance, I'm totally downloading that Thundarr supplement. And Mutant Future, did you say? Too cool."

As one final request, I asked Wil if he could pop that ever-famous eyebrow arch of his while I did the same with my own bemused eyebrow arch. Pictures were snapped, thanks and goodbyes shared, and I wandered off, totally elated by the encounter. Thanks Wil. Your appreciation for All Things Thundarr and seeing you check out this lil' piece of the Internet did me a world of good. Appreciated, man! Hope you enjoy thumbing through the supplement. And I'll be happy to set aside a seat at next year's Thundarr game for you if you feel like swinging a Sun Sword.

Wil and I engage in an "Eyebrow Arch-off." Wil won handily with the Ming the Merciless scowl, whereas I can only muster a bemused smirk.

 And Wheaton's Law in the author's own hand now graces my Mutant Future rulebook. Awesome-sauce.