Gen Con
I don’t think I will do too many more big cons, but I’m glad I tried one on for size.
Gen Con is freakin’ huge. I had no idea there was such an industry built up around RPGs. (Yeah, sure, there was computer gaming and CCGs and such, but the lion’s share of the loot was RPG-related.) And even on a Friday, when most civilized people had to take a day off from work to attend, it was packed. To the gills. I don’t even want to think what it’s like today.
We spent the morning getting acclimated (including signing up for a game in the afternoon) and wandering in the vendor cavern, er, room. I was nearly talked into a Piffany pin, in honor of my straitlaced Afletana. Brought some loot back for the unlucky souls amongst our friends who couldn’t make it to Gen Con with us. Played a cutthroat game of Apples to Apples (which is a really terrific game that I highly recommend). Saw unbelievable amounts of really cool stuff.
The afternoon’s game turned out to be an RPGA tournament adventure. We are (obviously) skipping out on the rounds of the tournament yet to come… but that’s all right, as we don’t think we did particularly well anyway. None of us had ever played in a tournament before.
I don’t know if it’s a tournament-play thing or what, but we landed a DM who had serious problems deviating from the module. As in, he wouldn’t. Clearly, the module offered Right Ways to solve the problems presented. Equally clearly, we typically didn’t choose the Right Ways. That doesn’t mean we were dumb or uninventive, I don’t think.
Worse, the DM stomped on or ignored PC interactions with NPCs if he didn’t have a canned answer in the module. My besetting sin as a gamer is interrupting the DM; I know it. Still, my character (who turned out not to be shy about opening her mouth, except of course about the really important stuff) got stomped several times, rather unfairly. So did other players’ PCs. Didn’t feel good.
Nevertheless, we did have a marvelous time. One wouldn’t think my husband capable of a decent Elvis imitation… I thought the module itself was pretty well-constructed, with some genuinely creepy bits. I do think it’s a bad idea to introduce a love story into a tournament module, though. No way to give it the roleplaying attention it deserves. Playing one of the characters involved, I underplayed that aspect of the character history significantly and intentionally.
Then we rustled up some dinner (pizza, what else?) and went home. A good day, even if I had to sleep sixteen hours or so today to make up for it. Again, I think I’m better off at smaller cons. Doesn’t hurt to try a big one once, though.
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