GEN CON 2006 - after action reports

[Barton]

This is not my full report, but I did want to post a photo of the Champions 25th Anniversity cake. It was delivered to the Hero booth on Friday about 12 noon. I do not know how long it lasted, but a large crowd of hungry games appeared as if by magic. It was a very good chocolate cake covered in yummy butter frosting.

[Karmakaze]

My quick report is here: http://sarudy.livejournal.com/258532.html

[Seanaci]

Posted my blog in the GenCon thread...posting it here as well for all to go read and comment on if you wish... Seanaci's GenCon Blog (http://www.hobbitangel-life.blogspot.com)

[rjcurrie]

How I Spent My Gen Con Vacation
By Rod Currie

Wednesday

My flight arrived on time around 4:20 pm and I caught a cab downtown to the Marriott across from the convention center where I would be staying. I checked into my room and then headed across to the convention center to pick up my badge and tickets. There was a slightly long line at the GM HQ where I needed to pick up my GM badge but then I spotted Oddhat and Balabanto in line and asked if I could cut in with them. They graciously agreed and I soon had my GM badge and had an enjoyable conversation while waiting. I still needed to go over to the Will Call section to pick up the generic tickets and 2 event tickets I had ordered, since Gen Con doesn't believe GMs buy event tickets so they don't put them together (I always like to have a few generics on hand to sell to players who show up at my game and may want to play but don't have any generics). Fortunately, the Will Call lines were very short and I quickly got my tickets.

I went back to my room at the Marriott, set up my laptop, and surfed the web for a bit before heading over to the Joe Linehan/Leah Watts/Dave Mattingly party at the Embassy Suite. After a couple of hours conversation with old friends and new ones, several of us headed out with Darren and Steve to grab dinner and attend the Diana Jones award party. After dinner and more conversation, several people headed up to the party while I decided that I was feeling too tired and headed back to the Marriott to get a good night's sleep because I was scheduled to run a game at 8am the next morning.

Thursday

8 am: My first SuperSquad America qualifier went well. I believe I had eight out of a possible nine players in the run and everything went pretty much according to plan. It was a table full of really good players but I can't remember anything that particularly stood out (but that is probably due to my faulty memory not recalling detail rather than a lack of the players being entertaining).

Noon: My first Gen Con run of Remarkable Wrong-Righters. The highlight of this run was the woman playing Charm, the 18 year-old perky former cheerleader. During the main combat, between her actions, she spent her time writing cheers to be delivered at appropriate times.

4 pm: Headed out to the exhibit hall and made a beeline to the Hero booth where I picked up my copy of C25 (#2 of 200) and had Darren and Steve autograph it. I also purchased You Gotta Have Character (and had Jason autograph it) and The Ultimate Skill. After a brief look at a few other booths, I grabbed a quick dinner and headed off to actually play for a change.

5 pm: Played in Talon's PSI Hero game, an ongoing event that I have played in several times. Like my own SuperSquad America event, PSI Hero has a long history with a number of changes in the cast of characters, usually brought about by the actions of the players. I ended up playing a character who actually has three other characters in her head. As a result, I was effectively playing four different characters, each with a different set of skills, abilities and disadvantages. It was one of the greatest role-playing challenges I have ever faced and I had a great time.

9 pm: Ran my first Gen Con run of Friends of Justice for the year. And like every run of this year's adventure, it unfolded differently than all the others. Among the players for this run was Hero author (and fellow Canadian) Scott Bennie who played former boxer Joey Pulzak.

Friday

8 am: My second run of Friends of Justice. Once again it went well and unfolded in a unique way.

Noon: My second run of SuperSquad America. This round featured Michael Surbrook (Susano) as Fast Track and his friend Nestor (a long-time SuperSquad America player known as NestorDRod on these boards) as Challenger among others.

4 pm: Back to the exhibit hall where I picked up Golden Age for MM2e, visited the Hero booth, and looked at a few other booths. I then grabbed a quick dinner before heading back to Room 107, Table 13 where every single one of my games was scheduled to be run.

5 pm: My third run of SuperSquad America. For the first time in the eight times I had run the first round of this year's event, the players actually managed to prevent the round's ending from coming about. Despite the villain's best efforts, I eventually surrended, congratulated them, and outlined the official version of the round's ending. Among the stand-outs in this round were the boardie Talon as the team's mentalist Forethought and several other long-time SuperSquad players.

9 pm: I had a ticket to a game called What About The Children being run by Mike Maloney and Ultimate Speedster author Marc Blumberg. However, I was feeling tired and dropped by just long enough to drop my ticket off so they could give it to someone else who might be in better shape to give them a good game. As it turns out, the game was one I had already played many years ago and had forgotten the title. I believe Teflon Billy from the boards may have ended up using my ticket. I headed off to get food and sleep.

8 am: My final first round run of SuperSquad America. The standout of this run was definitely Scott Bennie playing the team's alien member, The Mysterious Mr. Z., who had learned all about superheroes from the comic books provided to him by former SuperSquad member, Rick Davies the Resilient Rubber-Man. Scott peppered the round with numerous entertaining comic book references, both general and specific.

Noon: My second run of Remarkable Wrong-Righters. There were only four players (out of a possible eight) for this run, but they all played well and had fun. In particular, the guy playing Spook (the former spy who was now essentially undead) did a great job, giving the charcter a morbid sense of humor and even writing him a great little poetic tagline that unfortunately I have forgotten.

4 pm: Back to the exhibit hall where I finally got a chance to do a general sweep through the whole room. I didn't really buy anything but took a peak at a few things that I might pcik up at a later date. When the hall closed at six, I headed off to eat and prepare for the SuperSquad America final.

9 pm: The SuperSquad America final. The goal of a SuperSquad America final is to provide an intense emotional role-playing experience that has the potential to have long-term effects on the SuperSquad universe. Thanks to wonderful players, I think it once again achieved that goal. Thanks to the Hall Captain for the area we were playing in, we were able to move the event from the noisy room in which it was scheduled to a much quieter room with only two other games going on.

1 am: After the SuperSquad America final, Balabanto, NestorDRod, Susano (fresh from Can of Whupass), and I headed over to Claddaugh for a drink to wind down.

Sunday

8 am: My final run of Friends of Justice and yet again, the players managed to find a uniqe approah to the event, including a memorable battle between boxer Joey Pulzak and a shark.

Noon: My final run of The Remarkable Wrong-Righters. Only three players showed up for this run and I was debating whether or not to actually run (my minimum for the event was stated as four) when one of the three players was able to convince a firiend of his to join us. Running 11 gaming sessions in four days with not enough sleep was beginning to take its toll and I kind of zoned out a couple of times, but still everyone had fun.

3:50: Made a quick dash to the Hero booth to find out the location of the Hero GMs dinner that evening and then completed and submitted the paperwook and tickets for all my events.

7:30 PM: Dinner with Darren, Steve, Jason, Tina, most of the Hero GMs, and a few friends of Hero at Buca di Beppo, a great family-style Italian restaurant. It's a chain and after eating at both the Columbus and Indy locations, I'd highly recommend it for any large group of people.

10 PM or so: Most of the dinner crowd headed over to Claddaugh for the Hero Board get together, where we stayed until the pub closed at midnight.

Midnight: Zornwill, OddHat, keyes_bill, Enforcer84, and I headed to Steak 'n' Shake for a late night snack and more converstation.

Well, except for my adventure this morning that I outlined in the general Gen Con thread, that was how I spent my Gen Con vacation.

Thanks to the Hero guys for their continued support of Hero convention guys. Thanks to all the players who played in my games. And appologies to all the outstanding players who I didn't mention in this report.

Oh, and one final note. If anyone discusses my events, try to keep them relatively spoiler-free as I am likely to be running SuperSquad America, Friends of Justice, and Remarkable Wrong-Righters agian at Gen Con So Cal.

[Eosin]

I plan on posting something more significant when I have had some time to rest and recoop but in the meantime I thought I would give my general impressions.

I did not meet, talk, nor game with 1/3rd of the people with whom I would have liked. It wasn't for lack of trying so much as busy schedules and NOOB itis. Next time, I will have an idea of what to expect and how to "conduct my assault."

Edsel got in a bit more gaming than me and teased me mercilessly on the ride home. My one Hero Game [Sunday's The Uninvited] was stellar. The GM is a fella by the name of Stiles - play it if you get the chance. Even tired and somewhat impromptu he did an excellent job. I am deeply envious of his ability to do voices and it is creepy to hear Christopher Walken as the GM in a horror game.

The Hero party and Dinner Wednesday night was a blast. Again, my natural introverted nature took over so I was less forthcoming than I should have been. Not to mention gushing over all the cool people I did meet (man, did I have a few dork moments). Still, I never got to sit down with Zornwil, RJ, Susano, Enforcer, Incribl, and about a thousand other Hero gamers which is the truest tragedy of all. On Sunday, I did talk with Leah for a moment to tell her how disgruntled I was that I never managed to get into one of her games (again, Edsel haaaaad to let me know how fun it was).

I went to the ENnies and had a blast. The Last Dominion got honorable mention so I got to see it up on the big screen. That was energizing. The ENnies were packed with insane designers all having a blast; it was a who's-who of geekdom. There was a big party afterward, but there was also a chance for me to hang with friends and drink a few in private (well, as private as someplace can be during Gencon) so I headed out with one of the swellest fellas that I met - Teflon Billy. Thanks to him for making the con an event about making new friends. In the end I can always play games even if that is as simple as a console style machine but you rarely get the opprotunity to meet new folks who just "fit" when you are beating down 40.

Also in the category of great folks who wandered into my vista during Gencon - Tom O' the Golden Buck (Gamerz?). Genuine nice guy who ended up on booth duty during the majority of the Con. We talked a bit and swapped stories. Saturday night before the midnight game we (Edsel, Tom, Teflon, and myself) headed out to get some grub and a few beers. We shot the breeze and swapped war stories (well, I told stories that may make some episodes of Trauma Life in the ER look tame and probably weren't suitable for meal time).

I gotta run but first I must vent about the event that nearly spoiled Saturday for me. I signed up for a Hero game called Dark Reflections at noon. The game started a little late and the first thing the GM says is "Put away your dice. Oh yeah, you won't have a character sheet either." Personally, I cannot fathom a way to play Hero without dice or a character sheet. Well, it seems I wasn't the only one. We didn't play Hero we played theater. During the closing the GM asked for comments about the game. Naturally, I said "Dude, I ordered chocolate and got vanilla. What is up with calling this a Hero game because I would not have willingly come to this session had I known what it was."

The GM launched into what is the most infurating aspect. I was told that if he told Gencon how he ran games they would put him in the Live Action Section and apparently he wanted to be near his friends. Let me translate that into Eosineese.... "What I want is far more important than what you want or any of the people who sign up for a Hero Game might want. My need to be with my friends out weighs the money and time that you spent. I know what kind of fun is best for you so just sit down and play along." I had to shut up after the "why" explaination for fear of "bad things" happening. Needless to say, my pen has many more words that shall be written about this subject but those shall be in private to whatever organizers at Gencon will listen. So, If you want to play in a Hero Game don't play in one run by the same GM who runs Dark Reflections - he does live action but calls it Hero. If I thought I could, I would bill him for my wasted time that he so graciously squandered. Thanks dude.

The last bit is a tad bitter but holy #@$&* the nerve of some people is insane. Thankfully, I did manage to salvage Saturday thanks to Mr Stiles and the Uninvited. My thanks.

So, barring a little blemish the con was a stunning amount of fun. It was staggeringly expensive (Do you know how much the 4*6 Ptolus City map costs!) but I got to let my inner geek run wild for four days. I can always make up the money but the time spent just being a dork away from family and responisibility is something that will stick with me til the old folks home.

Now, I need to start planning for my next Con!!!

[Enforcer84]

Too bad We missed eachother Eosin! Of course, that just means we have to go next year.

[Eosin]

Too bad We missed eachother Eosin! Of course, that just means we have to go next year.


I am sure that we may have seen each other but I never knew who you were or that you were even there. It'd of been nice to say "hi" in person.

[zornwil]

Mine is at http://www.herogames.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1134255&postcount=759

[Edsel]

Too bad We missed eachother Eosin! Of course, that just means we have to go next year.
I am sure that we all met a lot of people very briefly and can't quite remember. Eosin and I were at the party on Wednesday night and met a lot of people and if you were there odds are we met.

I got to play in a couple of Hero games. The Gang War (Dark Champions) game run by Koshka was my favorite.

All in all I had a blast and enjoyed myself throughly. I met pretty much all of the Hero Games employees who were there. I met zornwil, Susano, Storn, rjcurrie, Barton, keyes_bill (with his bunny), GestaltBennie, and lots of others who's names escape me. Eosin and I hung around with Teflon Billy quite a bit.

I visited quite a few of the anime events as well and got to see the first volume of Hellsing Ultimate. I also attended the costume contest and was lucky enought to get a good seat.

[CpSpalding]

I had a pretty good Gen Con.

Tuesday - Leah arrived and we went out for an Italian dinner. As we got back to my apartment, I reallized that I never gave them my $10 coupon which is why we went to that restaurant in the first place.

Wednesday - We were very nervous transporting the Hero cake, but the little bakery behind me did an awesome job and though it was a bit pricey at $55 it provided us with chocolatey goodness for most of the con. The party was a lot of fun and way bigger than we expected. It was great to be able to see my home gaming group (The Evil Fleet), Ed, and a few players from my on-line games (JP and Susan) as well as meeting a lot of new people from the Hero boards and saying "Hi" to old friends.

Thursday - My first game was JSA vs King Kong--It was a lot of fun. I got to see an old friend (Ed May) and got to GM Michael Surbrook. The game was semi-serious despite the presence of a 42 foot ape, but we had some great comic relief as a great player named Jerry grabbed Flash and Ed decided on Johnny Quick--talk about an inferiority complex. Thursday night I GMed a great group in All-Thrills Comics #2. Several players swore they'd do the game next year as well despite James Forestal plunging to his death.

Friday - I ran Auditioners I and it went really well. I was a bit worried that having Glamour Guy played by a girl would make him less creepy, but if anything she increased the creepiness factor. Poor Red Shirt came so close to getting his character killed so many times, but couldn't pull it off. I ran Masks which went pretty well except for 2 players who had to leave almost before the game started. Michael Satran GMed the Haymaker Jam this year pinch-hitting for Dave Mattingly. The game was quite surreal, but very good.

Saturday - I did one of the dumbest things I ever did. For my Auditioners VI game I showed up with the wrong game. I made my poor players wait til 20 minutes after the hour while I ran back to Embassy Suites to get the game. Wow! It went very well. We were by far the loudest table in the room with all the laughing. The heroes were very proud of themselves for giving Ted McGinley the last 20 minutes of the Dr. Phil show they guested on. For LXC: The League of Xmas characters we only had 4 and they had never played Hero, but it went fantastic. They had a lot of fun and kept me entertained. They retrieved Santa's Naughty and Nice list from Viktor Von Meisterburger who was going to use it for telemarketing purposes. I played Doctor Phil Octopus in Whupass. I did it because I may crossover to helping to run it with the rest of the Evil Fleet next year and if I do I wanted to retire with Dr. Phil. The guy who played Stephen J. Hawkman was outstanding and other than one particular 11 year old who was much too young for that game, it went really well as usual.

Sunday - I ran Masks. It had sold out rather quickly, but one ticket was returned. I assumed this is because he had a final during the slot. However, the other 5 people with tickets never showed. It was a sad ending to a fun convention of GMing. I then got to play in Matt Phillips' version of Alpine Plague. It was a lot of fun and a great end to the con. Sunday night was the biggest Hero dinner yet. We all ate quite well (Thanks Hero Games) and the chatting continued until close to 2 AM.

Monday - I made it home. The most eventful part was getting clocked in the head with a ceiling fan while packing.

[SaintHax]

Thanks Eosin for mentioning The Uninvited; I was really amazed by the feed back I got from both the tables I ran it at. I didn't think a super hero-horror would be that well received, but it seems like the unusual goes over well at Cons.

I took it easy and only ran a mere 4 tables this year! Wow... it was sorta nice, but I think I'm going to bump it up to 6 next time. I had great tables, and all most all the players were everything a GM could ask for. Notabley (I'm not spell checking here), I had some new players that really took to the game. One was a girl playing in Ill Rendezvous as Defender, and I was impressed at how quickly she took to the game and stayed in character.

Unrelated, I got to meet so many GM's this year; I normally only spend time talking to players, so that was nice. It was also my first time meeting Jason, and really speaking to his wife Tina-- they are great people, and I hope to see them working the Hero booth in the future. All in all... can't wait till next year.

-Nathan Stiles

[CpSpalding]

I have talked to Tina many times, but this was my first time getting to meet Jason. They're both outstanding people. As far as meeting GMs, I got stuck up in 205 where there were no other Hero Games :(. I'm really going to yell at them about this next year.

[gamerz123]

Howdy,

I'd like to extend a Special Thanks to everyone who picked up a copy of my company's products at the GPA booth this year! :)

It was a pleasure meeting Leah and Bill and Susano and numerous others on the board whose tag names I don't know. It was great to see Zorn and Rod and, again, a number of other people I recognize from the boards but don't remember their tag. (My head is still a little fuzzy from lack of proper diet and sleep.)

Eosin, Edsel, and Teflon Billy, thanks again for letting me hang out with you guys at Alcatraz. Living in CA but having spent a lot of my youth in NC, felt good to kick back and have a beer with some genuine "good old boys" with most of the conversation not being about the industry and such :D

In addition to myself, the booth was manned by Ann (from THWAPRS), Darren, Dave, Jason, and 2 of the 3 Sages dudes (Dave and Steve.) Another Special Thanks to everyone for their support of this complete newb in such an insane business.

I did manage to see Bill's miniature set-up. That stuff still amazes me.

Had a very busy time at the convention and learned a lot about working the booth and conventions in general.

The most important of which would be:

A. Flying an over-night to an earlier time zone is not worth saving a night at the hotel, no matter how small your budget :) I was zapped before the show started and was able to stand at all from Vitamin-C energy boost mix and caffiene.

B. Professional Artwork isn't as expensive as I feared (my interior points of comparison were in other markets where artwork costs a lot more.) And the interior artwork I can do myself for what I couldn't budget to be done by someone else would be better than at least 50% of other small presses.

C. The people working at the airline desks can do great things for you if your flight gets cancelled due to the plane breaking (Thankfully, it was on the ground at the time.) I arrived only 1.5 hours after I was scheduled to :thumbup: At the same time, those who designed and built the 'automatic' luggage systems will hopefully find any afterlife a rather uncomfortable and warm place :thumbdown I normally avoid checking in luggage, but with the paranoia level up, I did on the return flight. Worst advice I've followed in at least 5-10 years.

D. Stop feeing guilty about letting others work the GPA booth and take enough time for myself both personally and professionally. (Yes, Steve and Darren both warned me about not letting that happen, but I'm too nice a guy and feel too responsible...)

E. Stop being so self-effacing and modest and push my companies' products the way I sell what others make.

F. Find out the easiest, non-traceable method of removing the head of a manequin. Anyone who spent some time at the GPA booth can tell you why.

Still recovering from fatigue,

CT

[Susano]

I'll post my report once I can get it cleaned up.

[Secret Master]

Man, Tom I came THIS close to putting a lucha mask on that damn thing. Only I wasn't sure it would be any less creepy.

[gamerz123]

Man, Tom I came THIS close to putting a lucha mask on that damn thing. Only I wasn't sure it would be any less creepy.

I don't know, Jason. If it were an El Santo mask, I am not sure if even the incredible goodness of El Santo could have 'masked' that much evil. And a ruedos, I don't know if you can get more evil than that maniquin was to begin with.... ;)

The idea of putting a copy of "Dread" in it's hand was genius. (I am eternally jealous of the anonymous person who did that :).)

[Susano]

BTW -- nothing is more intimidating than being in your first SuperSquad America run.

[Susano]

Oh, and all my NASA pins vanished in about 30 minutes.... and I was very happy to see the ISS on many a badge holder for the rest of the Con!

[CpSpalding]

The pins were great. I wish I had thought to put mine on my badge holder. I blame it on sleep deprivation.

[Susano]

The pins were great. I wish I had thought to put mine on my badge holder. I blame it on sleep deprivation.

Yeah, and I just realized I wasn't smart enough to bring one of my own....

[teh bunneh]

F. Find out the easiest, non-traceable method of removing the head of a manequin. Anyone who spent some time at the GPA booth can tell you why.

I've got a picture of that mannequin... :eg:

[Susano]

I've got a picture of that mannequin... :eg:

I kept thinking it was Joker cosplay....

[Seanaci]

I have my pin...somewhere...suppose I need to go home and put it on my badge holder now. :p

[rjcurrie]

BTW -- nothing is more intimidating than being in your first SuperSquad America run.

Is there anything I could have done to make it less intimidating?

[Enforcer84]

F. Find out the easiest, non-traceable method of removing the head of a manequin. Anyone who spent some time at the GPA booth can tell you why.

Still recovering from fatigue,

CT

It was tough to make the Blowup doll head look respectable but the man-equin did it. You probably will see that in your dreams for decades to come!

BTW, I saw you but failed my "Indroducemyself" Roll (it's only 8-)
:)

Maybe next time.

[teh bunneh]

The Bunny in Indianapolis
A Tale in 5 Acts

Wednesday: Got into Indy after driving from Chicago (long story there). Wandered down to the convention center and met up with Zornwil, Enforcer84, Karmakaze, SatinKitty, and Oddhat. We all went to dinner at Bucca di Beppo (or however its spelled), then headed over to the Embassy for the Party at Dave/Leah/Joe's Luvnest of Hero Goodness (tm). Had cake, took lots of pictures, mingled, met people.

New folks met: Teflon Billy, Dr. Otaku and the lovely Seanasy (or however it's spelled; forgive me I'm still hideously tired), Eosin, Edsel, Balabanto, Hooligan X, and others whose names are escaping me.

Friendships renewed: Susano, Nestor (who didn't remember me but I remembered him from somewhere or other), Rod Currie, Bryce Nakigawa, Joe Linnehan, Dave Mattingly, Koshka, Barton, Steve, Darren, Tina, Jason the Secret Master, and others who I'm probably forgetting.

Finally got to bed at about 2:30am.

Thursday: 10am "Painting for Competition" class. Interesting class, but it was mainly geared towards Games Workshop-style competition, where flash and style are king and subtlety is something you don't strive for. Interesting, but I'm not sure how useful it will be for me (since I don't paint a lot of GW stuff these days, and never enter the Golden Demons).

At high noon, I played in Karmakaze's University of Hellenback game. Satinkitty was also there (Hi SK!). It was great -- we screwed up Karma's plot completely by ignoring all her other clues and setting about to mug one of the other supers on campus. Of course, in so doing we inadvertantly saved the world from a demon... but mostly we just wanted a free cup of coffee. :lol: I have to say, Karmakaze rolled with it pretty well.

5:00pm brought us to the Rackham Speed Painting Contest, in which you have 45 minutes to paint a figure using the paints and brushes they supply you with. One word: Sucked. The paints were horrible (thick like mustard, hard to work with, impossible to water down effectively). The primer was sub-par (it kept rubbing off every time you touched the figure). The lighting was terrible (not the fault of the organizers -- there was a thunderstorm at the time so we didn't have any sunlight). Anyway, it all added up to a terrible miniature -- I didn't even finish before they called time. But the one good thing was I got to sit next to an absolute hottie! :love: (Which was also somewhat distracting...) I have a piccie of her I'll post later.

Had dinner and then went to Karaoke night! We were the first to show up at the bar, and were afraid no one else was coming -- but eventually others started trickling in. Enforcer showed up, along with Satinkitty, Hooligan X, Susano, and Zornwil. As others have noted, we all sang our hearts out (except Chad -- shame on you!) ;) Next year, someone please remind me not to choose a song sung in the key of "stratospheric #".

Also, our waitress was superfine. Enforcer caught me checking out her trunk and scolded me for it. What can I say? I'm a bunny, fer cryin' out loud! This night, my head didn't hit the pillow until well after 2:30am. Unfortunately, the waitress did not join me.

Friday: Didn't have anything scheduled for the morning, so I spent most of the day in the Dealer's Room. I forgot my camera in the morning, so I missed some excellent shots. :( I met Tina and Barton and helped them with the cake, then enjoyed a slice while talking to the Hero Krew. I spent far too much money at various booths. I'm not normally such an impulse buyer, but something about Gencon makes me lose all control.

I finally went back to my room to get my camera and took many many piccies... but halfway through the day my SANdisk started acting funky. I fear I may have lost all the pictures taken up to this point. :cry:

Participated in another speed painting contest at 3 -- this one hosted by Reaper. It was so much nicer than the previous contest -- better paints, better light, better figure... so much so that I came in second place and was invited to come back to the Championship Round! w00txx0rz!

At 6pm, I had another painting class -- this one focussed on point lighting (if anyone saw the Crocodile miniatures diorama in the display case -- the one that one first prize -- that is point lighting). It's a complicated procedure, but I can see myself making good use out of it. Problem was, I was having serious sleep dep issues at this point so I had trouble staying awake.

I wanted to go to the ENnies and see Hero carry off a bunch of prizes, but I had another class at 8pm -- "Painting with Metallics." It was an interesting process, but far too complicated to use every day. It was one of those "Put 800% more effort into it, and get a 15% better result" procedures.

Hooked up with Zornwil and Lamrock and E84 and wandered down to the Champions bar and resturant. Chatted gaming philosophy until the wee hours, then went to pick up my lovely wife BunnySue at her LARP. Bedtime: somewhere around 3:00.

Saturday: Yet another class -- this time one on sculpting with green stuff. Educational and fun. I figured out what I've been doing wrong up until now.

Played in Hooligan X's Cartoon Hero game at 12noon. Man, that game was the best of the whole show. I played "Meep," the sidekick to Magical Space Bunny Princess Kun, and had a real blast. Thanks, Hooligan!

Ended up in a game of "Four Colors al Fresco" with my lovely wife. It was a good game, but the GM didn't really showcase the system like I wish he had. It's a real innovative way of doing things (brought to you by the same people who created Dread).

Caught the final round of Can of Whoopass, then went to bed. It was an early night -- fell asleep around 1:30am!

Sunday: I got to sleep in today, a little bit. Dragged about 50 pounds of swag back to the convention center, boxed it up, and mailed it home. Advantage: I don't have to carry 50 pounds of stuff on the plane. Disadvantage: I have to wait until Thursday to play with all my stuff! :weep:

I did some last minute shopping. I got my picture taken with Rich Burlew of Order of the Stick fame. He was very, very impressed with the diorama, and even gave me a free t-shirt he liked it so much! Then I wandered over to Larry Elmore's booth and showed him a different figure -- an interpretation of one of his paintings called "Early Frost." He loved it so much that he signed it, and then gave me a free sketchbook. Swag-tastic! :rockon:

2:00 rolled around and I went to the Reaper Speed Painting Championship. They gave us one hour to paint a Werner Klock figure (if you don't know who he is... think 28mm tall and covered head-to-toe in buckles and bling -- very complicated and hard to paint). I had a great time, though, and best of all... I won!

(Technically, I came in second. I would have won but I f'd up the figure's hand and the judges caught it. But the first place winner was an industry professional so she declined the prize. I got a humungous Reaper dragon for my efforts.) :celebrate The guys back at the Hero booth were impressed, and I offered to paint a Dr. Silverback for Darren sometime if I can find a good figure for it.

I met Aaron Alston there (pity I didn't have my Champs book on me), along with Mike Stackpole. :king:

When the Con ended, my wife and I helped break down the Hero booth (along with Susano, Koshka, and the Hero Krew). Mike and I went looking for more bubblewrap at one point and he found a katana in a trash can. He quickly learned that it was impossible to draw from its scabbard, so he was going to throw it away again. I said I'd take it home and try to fix it (I've got a pretty good workshop at home)... I showed it to Tina, and together the two of use managed to draw the sword. Mike was unhappy, but I promised I'd send him something nice for his birthday. :)

Once the booth was torn down, we went to dinner with the Hero Krew and some GMs. Susano, Bryce, Rod, Hooligan X, Oddhat and Satinkitty, Joe, Koshka, and several others were present. Then we all went to Claddagh's and shut the place down. The waitress was nice, and when I asked her to give me the bum's rush she very politely did so.

Finally, Zorn, E84, Rod, Bryce, and I went to Snake and Shake and drank milkshakes and discussed gaming philosophy until the wee hours. Bedtime? Oh, something like 2 or 2:30. I was so bleary-eyed I couldn't even read the clock.

Monday: Hit the airport at 9am and who should we meet but Hooligan X! Chatted with him until he boarded. Shortly thereafter, who should we meet but Nestor and Susano! Shortly after that, we saw Dr. Otaku and Seanasi (who were on our flight -- right in front of us, in fact). There was a cute Asian stewardess, but for some strange reason I fell asleep shortly after takeoff.

And that's my story.

[CpSpalding]

Congrats on the painting prize Bill :). It is great renewing old acquaintances. We'll definitely have to do something fun on Wednesday next year too.

[Susano]

Is there anything I could have done to make it less intimidating?

Hmm... not sure. Part of the intimidation factor is the history, and having guys like Nestor and Ross Watson talk it up. That and have characters snatched up by players who talk about playing such-and-such before -- several years in a row.... So there's the whole "hope I live up and don't screw up" vibe.

[mattingly]

The idea of putting a copy of "Dread" in it's hand was genius. (I am eternally jealous of the anonymous person who did that :).)I don't know who did it or how it ended up on my camera...

http://www.blackwyrm.com/images/dave/dread.jpg

[HeroTina]

AHHHH I thought I'd never have to see this creapy thing again ;)


I don't know who did it or how it ended up on my camera...

http://www.blackwyrm.com/images/dave/dread.jpg

[HeroTina]

BTW: Somebody left a bag o stuff at our booth (Friday, I think). If you guys know anything...

[rjcurrie]

Hmm... not sure. Part of the intimidation factor is the history, and having guys like Nestor and Ross Watson talk it up. That and have characters snatched up by players who talk about playing such-and-such before -- several years in a row.... So there's the whole "hope I live up and don't screw up" vibe.

I can understand that. Believe me, having players talk up my events scares the heck out of me. I often get the "I hope I live up and don't screw up" feeling. The history is what it is, while there it can be intimidating, I have also had new players to the game tell me how great it is to have a history to draw upon when playing a character. The World History doesn't really need to be read -- most stuff that is important to an individual character is covered on that character's sheet. The World History sheet just serves as additional information. But I'll try to make sure I let players know that they can speak up for a character they want even if someone else also wants it. Should I give less information about the characters in the intro? Would that make things less intimidating? I try to convey part of the history of the event through those intros but maybe I go too far?

[mattingly]

Having different players play the same character in subsequent years follows on a long-going Hollywood tradition. We've had, what, ten different James Bonds by now? Take over the character and make him your own.

[Susano]

I can understand that. Believe me, having players talk up my events scares the heck out of me. I often get the "I hope I live up and don't screw up" feeling. The history is what it is, while there it can be intimidating, I have also had new players to the game tell me how great it is to have a history to draw upon when playing a character. The World History doesn't really need to be read -- most stuff that is important to an individual character is covered on that character's sheet. The World History sheet just serves as additional information. But I'll try to make sure I let players know that they can speak up for a character they want even if someone else also wants it. Should I give less information about the characters in the intro? Would that make things less intimidating? I try to convey part of the history of the event through those intros but maybe I go too far?

One thing might be to let total newbies pick first. That way, they don't know that the guy next to them has played Silverbow for the last 3 GenCons, and thus feel sort of, well... out of their league.

And the history didn't do it to me, other than make me say "wow" that's cool. I think it was just the rep.

Oh, and once I return to GenCon, I want to try the Wrong-Righters, sounds like way more fun!

And hey, I did get to be a speedster for the 1st time and do cool speed stuff. And my favorite moment has to be getting to run across the battlefield and simply scoop and and rescue two citizens just by declaring it.

[Susano]

I have the reverse fear as well. If/when I try my hand at a Con run, will people expect too much? Will I make it worth their time and money?

[teh bunneh]

I'm starting to go through them and it looks like I've got about 130 or so. If I can recover the pics I seem to have lost, I estimate another 40-50 or so there. I won't be posting them all obviously, just the best ones...

So, should I post pics here or make a new thread in the NGD? Whaddyathink?

[map_fl]

Hello All!

This was definitely one of my favorite cons in a while. I finally got to meet many of the people who post here and a bunch of HERO GMs other than Dave, Joe, Leah, Rod and Barton. Not that there is anything wrong with them ;) As normal with GenCon I wished I would have been able to talk with people more. Some of my show highlights were playing Dogs in the Vineyard and of course running my HERO events…

Dark Champions – Extreme Justice: This event was scheduled twice and was a blast. It is an adaptation of an old Dark Champions adventure – Dark Knights. My players were great and really got into the Dark Champions A-Team spirit I encourage.

Champions 25th Anniversary Adventure: Wow, this was a great run. I will be honest, I was looking least forward to this adventure because it is a lot more combat heavy than I prefer. However, my players really got into it and that makes a table. The best quote was when the players told Crusader “Go scout ahead, we are only dealing with Mechanon 1st edition in this universe”. That was great, as even though he is first edition – he kicks but! Of course when they fought Mechanon 5th edition he had half of the party out of combat. I also enjoyed playing Captain Chronos with a Ross Perot twist (with an easel and pointer to boot!)

Alpine Plague – I rewrote this adventure to fit a smaller time slot. I had a great table and they definitely enjoyed playing Unity. I forgot how powerful Unity is. My favorite moment was when Unity, impersonating a captured Eurostar agent, told Eurostar that their secret position was compromised. They told Eurostar that Until was on to them and was heading to the Eurostar location at the very moment. Eurostar replied by thanking them for the warning and that they would stand ready to attack Until when they arrived. That was some funny stuff.

~Matt
map

[map_fl]

I forgot to mention the 25th anniversary part Wednesday night. Something I found humorous happened at the party. I was first introduced to everyone at the party by their names, but that was a blur. Then when someone mentioned everyone’s HERO board Icon I recognized who everyone was. Very Scary!

Like – oh… Bill, the bunny Rabbit and Wilson – oh the Lizard guy icon! LOL

[SatinKitty]

Mine is at http://www.herogames.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1134255&postcount=759

:nonp:

Do you type 150 WPM or what ?????

[OddHat]

I have the reverse fear as well. If/when I try my hand at a Con run, will people expect too much? Will I make it worth their time and money?

That's why, for the New Circle 2007 game, the Wenches booth babe will be co-GMing.




OK, not really.

;)

[OddHat]

I'm starting to go through them and it looks like I've got about 130 or so. If I can recover the pics I seem to have lost, I estimate another 40-50 or so there. I won't be posting them all obviously, just the best ones...

So, should I post pics here or make a new thread in the NGD? Whaddyathink?

New thread in NGD. Let your bunny flag fly.

[zornwil]

New thread in NGD. Let your bunny flag fly.
But please link it here.

[dai-kami]

Great time at GenCon-
I ran two Discworld Hero: CSI scenarios, both with good attendence and fun players. Seems that the setting draws in a lot of people unfamiliar with Hero, and introduces them to the system. Pulp Hero: The Lost Island ran pretty well for a mix of some two-fisted action dovetailing into a lost world.

Enjoyed Matt's Champions 25th run a lot, fighting multiple Mechanons was a hoot. And Seeker's little-bitty 1d6 of Luck kicked in at just right time...

Thanks a lot to the Hero crew for the great time at Buca's. Enjoyed the stories and the food (thanks for the leftovers!) and just hanging out.

[Barton]

BTW: Somebody left a bag o stuff at our booth (Friday, I think). If you guys know anything...
It has been identified as Barton's bag of stuff. Thanks Tina!!!

[CpSpalding]

It has been identified as Barton's bag of stuff. Thanks Tina!!!

Why am I not surprised? :)

[teh bunneh]

New GenCon thread in NGD ... with pictures! (http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1135081#post1135081)

[prodigyduck]

This was my first Gen Con, ever. I went with Input Jack and got to meet a lot of new and fun people as well.

I have to say I had a LOT of fun. I may have spent more money than I had intended, but it was still fun (the $100 tag for the 25th edition Champions book didn't help, but i wanted it).

I look forward to going again next year. Hopefully, I will get to see some more of all of you next time.

[Edsel]

I went with Eosin so we split the cost of Car rental (1400+ miles there and back), gasoline and our hotel room. He paid for it all on his credit card, kept the reciepts and will present me with a bill for my half at this Saturday's game. Between those costs and what I spent on my badge, tickets, eating out and in the dealer's room I figure I spent somewhere in the neighborhood of $1500 for the con. But it was worth it. :)

[Susano]

I went with Eosin so we split the cost of Car rental (1400+ miles there and back), gasoline and our hotel room. He paid for it all on his credit card, kept the reciepts and will present me with a bill for my half at this Saturday's game. Between those costs and what I spent on my badge, tickets, eating out and in the dealer's room I figure I spent somewhere in the neighborhood of $1500 for the con. But it was worth it. :)

I spent around $1000 in plane tickets, hotel, con, and so on, but I saved up for a year and had a yard sale to boot.

[OddHat]

I spent around $1000 in plane tickets, hotel, con, and so on, but I saved up for a year and had a yard sale to boot.

SatinKitty and I sold off all of my redundant internal organs. The surgeries will be painful, but it will have been worth it.

[BlackSword]

I posted my game summary in the other GenCon thread:

http://www.herogames.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1133643&postcount=740

Did want to add a big THANKS to all the great GMs and players. I didn't have a single bad game (unique for this year). Part of that is due to the GMs who worked hard and make a great game and characters for the con, and other part is due to the players at the table to who do their best to make it a fun game and play well with others.

Going into GenCon I was a bit ambivalent, my friend and I were talking about trying another con next year, but on the drive home we were both geeking out about what a great time we had and how we will be back next year.

[Susano]

I will be skipping GenCon 2007 for Australia, but fully intend to be back to stay for 2008+. And I even hope to GM in 2008 and onwards.

[OddHat]

I will be skipping GenCon 2007 for Australia, but fully intend to be back to stay for 2008+. And I even hope to GM in 2008 and onwards.

Sorry we won't be seeing you at GenCon in 2007, but well understood.

About half of our American and English friends who've been to Australia want to move there, and our Australian friends wouldn't live anyplace else. ;)

[Seanaci]

I will be skipping GenCon 2007 for Australia, but fully intend to be back to stay for 2008+. And I even hope to GM in 2008 and onwards.

Doc and I are going to start saving for GenCon 'o7 and a trip to DisneyLand or DisneyWorld with my folks next Christmas. If we can't afford both, we'll skip GenCon 'o7...but will def be at GenCon 'o8. We're crossing our fingers that we can afford both. But, we'll see.

Also, Bill, you were uber close on my name. I'll give ya rep (if I can) for the effort. :D Besides, I don't hold it against anyone who can't spell my name. My parents spelled it weird. :P

[Susano]

Sorry we won't be seeing you at GenCon in 2007, but well understood.

About half of our American and English friends who've been to Australia want to move there, and our Australian friends wouldn't live anyplace else. ;)

My "best friend I have never met" lives there, with his brother. All three of us have been email friends for years now.

[Woo-dig-it]

2006 was my first Gen Con and my friends and I really enjoyed it. I was able to attend Chaos Rumblings (Hero) which was very good and Bring Your Own Brick (Hero) by Dave Mattingly which was Fantastic! I gott alot of laughs seeing peoples face melt when they had to give up one of there heroes to be turned to a villain. That was priceless. A great mix of roleplaying, story, and combat. Excellent job Dave! It was nice to meet the players of that game, we had some really good players. I also observed the 25th Anniversary game by Leah Watts and it looked very interesting as well. It was also nice meeting Steve, Darren, and Tina at the Hero Booth. I had a lot of fun and alot of laughs! Be a hero!
-Marty / Brainstorm (Guardians)

[Enforcer84]

SatinKitty and I sold off all of my redundant internal organs. The surgeries will be painful, but it will have been worth it.
Oh, you said redundant internal organs...darn. I wish I'd read the whole deal before....ohwell..

[Enforcer84]

I'm still on the 'contact high' of GenCon 2006. My plan is to skip 07 to raise money for 08...but we'll see. If life treats me kindly I might simply have to show regardless. :)

[Enforcer84]

Hmm. I just got my pictures from my camera. Apparently, I brought the camera for moral support. I have a pcture of Bill Keyes, Karmakazi, my first game (the New Circle) and some girl in a rainbow bright costume.


I, in the local vernacular, suck.

[gamerz123]

I decided to look at the cost and time of going by train next year.

If the prices are simliar to what it would cost this September and I have the time as I do this year, I'm going to do it.

CT

[red_eagle123]

Well I made it back from GenCon mostly intact. Of course no sooner did I get back then I had to start making preparations to sell my house, hence the lateness of this post.

I was there for Leah's 8am Champions 25th Anniversary Game on Thursday. The scenario was really cool, bringing together all the various generations of Heroes, and the various iterations of Mechanon. I was pleased to hear that the father setting to my right was really enthused with the Hero System, having become a convert at a game run by Leah the previous year at GenCon. His youngest daughter, playing Witchcraft really seemed to get into the game as well. In all, much kudos to Leah for running an excellent game. And through it all I got to watch part of RJCurrie's SuperSquad game.

Friday had me attending Auditioners I. A funnier champions game I've never been in. The woman playing Glamour Guy truly did add a comedic creepiness to the character. And the player for Red Shirt was truly awesome. I felt less than worthy to be among such comedic geniuses. CSPaulding ran such a great game, that I had to come back for his Saturday game.... I had planned on trying to join the Sidekicks Save Us game, but by 8am the GM hadn't shown up, and there were already 8 players with tickets, for an advertised 6 player game. As I only had Generic Tickets, I gladly went to join Auditioners... and boy am I glad I did.

I just wish I had gotten that coupon for the Hero Booth prior to buying Ultimate Skill, You gotta have Character, and Everyman. Ah well, I did get a cool Hero shirt, which I'll be able to wear next time I run my local game.

As for other Boardites I met, I met and spoke with Steve Long, Darren Watts, Susano, CSPaulding, Leah Watts and watched part of Zornwil's game. I would have introduced myself but he was pretty busy with his Sitcom Heroes game.

I'm not sure, but I think the person playing Rubber-band Man in the first Auditioners game was Mattingly from the boards.....

I also managed to snap a picture of Bill Keyes painting away on Friday... I just hope I didn't distract him too much.

[CpSpalding]

[QUOTE=red_eagle123;1136748]Well I made it back from GenCon mostly intact. Of course no sooner did I get back then I had to start making preparations to sell my house, hence the lateness of this post.

Friday had me attending Auditioners I. A funnier champions game I've never been in. The woman playing Glamour Guy truly did add a comedic creepiness to the character. And the player for Red Shirt was truly awesome. I felt less than worthy to be among such comedic geniuses. CSPaulding ran such a great game, that I had to come back for his Saturday game.... I had planned on trying to join the Sidekicks Save Us game, but by 8am the GM hadn't shown up, and there were already 8 players with tickets, for an advertised 6 player game. As I only had Generic Tickets, I gladly went to join Auditioners... and boy am I glad I did.

I just wish I had gotten that coupon for the Hero Booth prior to buying Ultimate Skill, You gotta have Character, and Everyman. Ah well, I did get a cool Hero shirt, which I'll be able to wear next time I run my local game.

As for other Boardites I met, I met and spoke with Steve Long, Darren Watts, Susano, CSPaulding, Leah Watts and watched part of Zornwil's game. I would have introduced myself but he was pretty busy with his Sitcom Heroes game.

I'm not sure, but I think the person playing Rubber-band Man in the first Auditioners game was Mattingly from the boards.....
QUOTE]

Hey, it was great meeting you and I was thrilled to see you back for the Saturday game. I guess for you it was a good thing we had to start late because I grabbed the wrong adventure that morning. The Rubberband Man I believe was Ed May who is a great player. I really enjoy running the Auditioners and to think I was worried that having a girl playing Glamour Guy would make it lose some creepiness. There will be another Auditioners next year. I hope to see you there.

[zornwil]

Well I made it back from GenCon mostly intact. Of course no sooner did I get back then I had to start making preparations to sell my house, hence the lateness of this post.

I was there for Leah's 8am Champions 25th Anniversary Game on Thursday. The scenario was really cool, bringing together all the various generations of Heroes, and the various iterations of Mechanon. I was pleased to hear that the father setting to my right was really enthused with the Hero System, having become a convert at a game run by Leah the previous year at GenCon. His youngest daughter, playing Witchcraft really seemed to get into the game as well. In all, much kudos to Leah for running an excellent game. And through it all I got to watch part of RJCurrie's SuperSquad game.

Friday had me attending Auditioners I. A funnier champions game I've never been in. The woman playing Glamour Guy truly did add a comedic creepiness to the character. And the player for Red Shirt was truly awesome. I felt less than worthy to be among such comedic geniuses. CSPaulding ran such a great game, that I had to come back for his Saturday game.... I had planned on trying to join the Sidekicks Save Us game, but by 8am the GM hadn't shown up, and there were already 8 players with tickets, for an advertised 6 player game. As I only had Generic Tickets, I gladly went to join Auditioners... and boy am I glad I did.

I just wish I had gotten that coupon for the Hero Booth prior to buying Ultimate Skill, You gotta have Character, and Everyman. Ah well, I did get a cool Hero shirt, which I'll be able to wear next time I run my local game.

As for other Boardites I met, I met and spoke with Steve Long, Darren Watts, Susano, CSPaulding, Leah Watts and watched part of Zornwil's game. I would have introduced myself but he was pretty busy with his Sitcom Heroes game.

I'm not sure, but I think the person playing Rubber-band Man in the first Auditioners game was Mattingly from the boards.....

I also managed to snap a picture of Bill Keyes painting away on Friday... I just hope I didn't distract him too much.
Sorry I missed you!

[bcaplan]

I had a fantastic time, too - and congratulations to Steve for winning a Silver ENnie for Pulp Hero. Here's my write-up (http://www.gmu.edu/departments/economics/bcaplan/gencon06.htm), with pics. At the risk of heresy, though, my favorite game by far was not Hero, but an awe-inspiring private game of Pandemonium (the tabloid journalism RPG) involving the disappearance of Dave Chappelle. Possibly the best six hours of gaming in my life. Perhaps this pic of legendary GM Fab Rojas can give you a taste of the joy:

http://www.gmu.edu/departments/economics/bcaplan/gencon608.jpg

[SatinKitty]

Hey Zorn-

Chad is threatening not to come next year. Better send The Boys over....:sneaky:

[Susano]

GM for Hero System based Toon Hero game. I got to play American Spider, spray webs on Fab's Shaolin Shark, and defenestrate a Program Director. Sweet.


That would be our own Hooligan X, found here on the boards.

[Barton]

Finally the guy who started this is posting his GENCON experience.

Wednesday
Arrived in Indianapolis, but had little sleep due to last minute prep for GENCON. I WILL NEVER DO THAT AGAIN. I tried to catch up on sleep.

Thursday
8am GM'ed Foxbat the Wildcard. Had 4 players out of 6 slots. The players were playing characters from my home Champions game. They liked the offbeat characters and played them well. My players at home were very interested in how others played their creations. They solved the puzzle faster than my players did and had a great time interacting with the loony Foxbat.

noon Shopped at convention hall.

4PM Played in the Wings of War card game. A WWI aviation card based game from Italy. Fun, playable, but not detailed enough for me.

7PM GM'ed Allies of the Golden Age. Had 7 players out of 6 slots (I had an extra character just in case). The players loved beating up on the Nazi uber-baddies and had a wonderful bar fight as part of their investigation. Churchill made a cameo appearance with his foul-mouthed parrot. It was a lot of fun and I will run it again.

Friday
8am Got up early to play in Leah's The Crystal Centurions game. I was the only player to show up for the sold out game. Bummer, I wanted to play, but without players it was cancelled. I went to the Hero booth and Tina needed a lift to pick up the Champion's 25th Anniversary cake at a local baker. We arrived at the booth and were mobbed by hungry gamers.

noon I played in Leah's Gang War game. It was the Libra team in a Hudson City Dark Champions event. I had fun being the sniper of the group. We broke up a gang fight and took some of the knocked out gangbangers and dumped them into a dumpster with a cell phone dialed to 9-1-1. The dumpster of course was in the rival gang's territory. I quipped "they have a sporting chance; either the police arrive or the rival gang gets them".

4pm Shopped some more and visited the art area. Bought some original art from Storn!!! These pictures have appeared in several Hero publications.

7pm GM'ed Pulp Heroes of the Air. Had 6 players out of six slots. Scheduled to end at 1AM we played till 3:30AM! The group had fun with airships, investigating a mystery, planes, rocketpacks, and mean villains. The players had a good time. My friend Rick helped me a lot by playing the villains and did a great job. This allowed me to concentrate solely on GM'ing and I had more fun because if this. My recommendation is that if you can get someone to play the bad guys, do it.

Saturday
10am Played in Mutant & Masterminds Freedom City Fracas with the designer of the game. He is an excellent GM for he can describe things very well. The M&M system is somewhat fun, playable, d20 (yuk; I love my six siders), and it is not my cup of tea. This was my first and only exposure to M&M.

noon GM'ed Training Session - Teen Champions. Had 5 players, 3 of them kids, out of six slots. This slot was pitched as a training session for newbies/kids. I HAD A GREAT TIME. The players had a good time also; one player posted a nice note in the GenCon forum (see
http://community.gencon.com/forums/thread/45727.aspx ). The players played teenagers at a private high school. They got the chance to irritate the teachers. The mom of one of the players (she was not playing) had a good time also. She had been as a little girl a troublemaker in Catholic grade school. She said "I would have liked to have superpowers to torment the nuns", I quipped back "you are living vicariously through a role-playing game". The whole table, especially the kids, broke up laughing.

5pm Played in Justice Inc. for the 90's. A very heavy role-playing event and the players did a great job. The GM had great handouts (jealous of the quality) and had a customized handbag as a prize. Very cool. Had fun, good event.


Sunday
8AM Played in Dawn Patrol WWI aviation board game event.
Shopped until the end of the convention.


I was bummed out that GENCON spread the Hero System events around in many rooms. It was more fun at Origins to have all of the Hero GM's in the same room. Being in the same room allowed us to socialize between games and if needed it allowed us to redirect extra players to other Hero system games with ease. Next year I will request that our events have a dedicated room.

All of my games were sold out but I only two were everyone showed up. I asked and many other Hero System GM's reported the same, events sold out in pre-reg but people not showing up.

I LOVED GENCON. HAD a lot of fun. I can not wait until next year. I will run more games, more of them Teen Champions and Pulp Hero events.