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teh bunneh
Feb 19th, '08, 12:47 PM
Genghis Con After-Action Report

Thursday
Coming straight off of our vacation in Florida, my lovely bunny wife and I went and had a late lunch and then headed for the hotel. We picked up our tickets, then wandered around for a while. Once gaming began, I played a superhero game called With Great Power. I was pretty "meh" about it. It's a pure narrativist game. The charsheets have no numbers on them, just "complications" that are supposed to add drama to your character. Your powers are listed as another complication, and they are about as generic as you can get -- Spider-Man's powers are listed simply as "Spider Powers." As far as I could tell, your actual powers have no effect on the game, and truthfully you don't really need them even in the heat of combat (you can do things like insult your opponent, which is just as effective (or ineffective) as throwing a fireball at them).

So I was pretty "meh" about it. It's a pity -- the GM seemed greatly excited about the system, but it just wasn't working for me.

Friday
First thing Friday morning, I played in BigDamnHero's Post Apocalypse Hero game. It was a lot of fun. I played a creepy lizard-woman mutant who could spit venom. We managed to stop the evil warlord's plan to dominate/kill all the non-humans in the area, and forge a tentative peace between the various groups.

In the afternoon, I had nothing scheduled, so I hit the dealer's room. One thing I love about the dealer's room is finding all the bargains. I'm not generally looking for a new book or game; I want to find the old stuff that they've discounted the hell out of just to get rid of it. I found a whole bunchload of minis -- some Celtos stuff, some Superfigs, some Confrontation, and even some discontinued Reaper figs! I also hunted around for game supplements (I was hoping to find some Van Richten's Guides), but the only thing I found was a copy of Champions of the North that some foolish retailer had in his 25%-off bin. :thumbup:

I also bought my wife a sexy red velvet and black leather bodice for her birthday. I told her it was a present for her but mostly it's a present for me (if you know what I mean)... :love:

In the evening, I ran Steampunk Hero. I had a full table of seven players. We had an absolute blast! The heroes managed to blow up the Moon-Men's fuel depot and set back their invasion of Earth by at least 40 years. Everyone said they had a great time, and several of them ended up signing up for my other games. :D

Saturday
Bright and early, I got up to run Teen Titans Hero. I had a very, very full table -- nine players. Probably too many, thinking about it in hindsight. Next year I'll have to cut back to 7-8, tops. Still, it went very well, and everyone had fun. One of the players (who played Robin) said he really thought the system kicked ass -- "It's cool that a dude with no powers, like Robin, can compete on equal grounds with guys like Cyborg and Beastboy."

In the afternoon, I took a couple of painting classes. In my own evolution as a painter, I've finally gotten to the point where I'm happy with my faces (especially eyes, which are hard!). So my next goal is to start doing perfect metallics. So I took a couple of classes on painting metals, and I think I took some good ideas from them. We'll see how much my painting improves in the next year.

In the evening, I ran Arabian Knights Hero. For the first time, I didn't have such a full table -- at the beginning I only had 3 players (two of which had played in both of my previous games!). But we managed to find two other people who were looking for an open game. The heroes rescued the princess and got her back to the palace in time for her wedding, and a great time was had by all. One player told me it was the "Best four hours of the whole con." :bounce:

Sunday
I was pretty wiped out by Sunday, but I managed to drag my tired bunnybooty out of bed and got to the con in time for a Serenity game. I'd never played Serenity before, but it sounded interesting (and the GM has a good rep for running solid games). It was fun -- we had a fair amount of good character interaction. I played the grizzled old veteran Browncoat (and ship's mechanic), and I was the only one to get out of the adventure without adding a new scar. ;)

Afterwards, I went to pick up the minis I had entered in the painting contest. I haven't had much time to do a lot of painting in the past year (since we moved to our new house), but I still somehow managed to win 2nd and 3rd prizes in the Fantasy Units category. Apparently, my Single Fantasy figs both made it to the second cut, but competition was fierce! Something to aspire to next year. :)

After both my and Tammy's games were over, we were hanging out in the hall. One of the Con people came by and asked if we would help pack up (apparently, all their other volunteers had gone home early). We were happy to help out, and they told us we could have free con entry next year.

We decided to stick around for the ending/awards ceremony 'cause there were people we wanted to see. Despite being exhausted, I'm glad we did. I ended up winning a copy of GURPS 4th Edition (both the Character and the Campaign book). Very happy with that -- I've been wanting to take a look at the system but I haven't been able to convince myself to shell out the shekels.

After the ceremony, we were invited by the Con Committee to go out to dinner with them. We ate Mexican food and chatted about all sorts of things for a couple of hours, but all good things must come to an end and eventually we had to bid our adieus.

Got home late, crawled into bed, still recovering.

ghost-angel
Feb 19th, '08, 03:52 PM
I, unlike the Bunneh, worked all weekend in the Dealer's Room (well, I stood around and watched a large number of people get very interested in the Saganami Island Tactical Simulator boxset until I told them how much it was and then I watched them run away).

For those interested, the guy who sold CotN to the Bunneh at a discount also had a copy of Fantasy Hero, which is a scarce book these days. Kirin Games here in Denver. (http://www.kiringames.com/) He's a nice guy too.

I also got a good look at the new Rolemaster and HARP stuff (mostly because we were essentially the official Iron Crown presence) - they really cleaned up the presentation of the books.

lemming
Feb 19th, '08, 04:40 PM
I, unlike the Bunneh, worked all weekend in the Dealer's Room (well, I stood around and watched a large number of people get very interested in the Saganami Island Tactical Simulator boxset until I told them how much it was and then I watched them run away).

I also got a good look at the new Rolemaster and HARP stuff (mostly because we were essentially the official Iron Crown presence) - they really cleaned up the presentation of the books.

Hmm, Interesting stuff. Doubt I'd shell out the $200 bucks for the boxset either, but I'll look at the Rolemaster stuff later on.

ghost-angel
Feb 19th, '08, 06:49 PM
Hmm, Interesting stuff. Doubt I'd shell out the $200 bucks for the boxset either, but I'll look at the Rolemaster stuff later on.

Er, dunno what Box Set you were looking at but it goes for 75$

But, it includes all the Honor Harrington books on a CDROM. So, if you need e-books of the HH stuff it's an awesome deal. If you just want the game... it's expensive.

Supreme Serpent
Feb 21st, '08, 08:13 AM
In the afternoon, I took a couple of painting classes. In my own evolution as a painter, I've finally gotten to the point where I'm happy with my faces (especially eyes, which are hard!). So my next goal is to start doing perfect metallics. So I took a couple of classes on painting metals, and I think I took some good ideas from them. We'll see how much my painting improves in the next year.


Are you trying to get into 'non-metallic metallics (NMM)'?

teh bunneh
Feb 21st, '08, 12:34 PM
Are you trying to get into 'non-metallic metallics (NMM)'?

Sort of. My goal is to use the NMM style, but with metallic paints. NMM has a lot of limitations that I don't like much, but metallics aren't perfect either. I figure if I can combine them, I'll get the best of both worlds, as it were. :)

bigdamnhero
Feb 21st, '08, 03:52 PM
I skipped out on Thursday night to take non-gamer wife out for Valentine's Day dinner. ;)

Friday am: ran the Post-Apoc game Bill played in. Good fun.
Friday pm: ran one table of Champions. Total Blast.
Friday eve: played in Bill's Steampunk Hero game. My sides still hurt from laughing so hard.

Sat am: Was signed up for Bill's Teen Titans game, but there were a ton of people who wanted in, so I gave my ticket away. Instead I played Serenity, which was okay but not great; good GM, but a fairly passive group of players.
Sat pm: ran second slot of Post-Apoc. Not as much fun as Friday's game, but still a good time.
Sat eve: second slot of Champions game - again, a total blast.

Sun am: I helped out with the Team Tournament. (My d20 judging skillz be weak, so instead I played hall monitor, chief time-keeper, and dice caddy.)
Sun pm: exhausted, I snuck home and took a break.
Sun eve: was able to join Bill, g-a and others for the post-con dinner.

Overall a great con. I didn't get to play as many games as I would've liked, but enjoyed the ones I did play. Only had one empty seat at four tables, so that's nice. Seemed like attendance was up, with a lot of young blood in particular.

Quotes coming soon to a forum near you...

Fedifensor
Feb 21st, '08, 04:54 PM
In the evening, I ran Arabian Knights Hero. For the first time, I didn't have such a full table -- at the beginning I only had 3 players (two of which had played in both of my previous games!). But we managed to find two other people who were looking for an open game. The heroes rescued the princess and got her back to the palace in time for her wedding, and a great time was had by all. One player told me it was the "Best four hours of the whole con." :bounce:

That was me. :) The reason Bunny only had 3 players was that the con messed up the registration. Honestly, I didn't even check, figuring it would be full. I was really glad when one of the other players (who is in my Champions home game) let me know there was an opening.

Granted, it was the only HERO game I played at the con, but with the Bunny GMing, the rules were secondary to the fun. My only regret was not having a tape recorder for the metric ton of quotable quotes. Going to have to see about signing up for more Bunny games next year...

New Convention Rule: When the party doesn't know what to do, taunt a shark and run back to them. :D

bigdamnhero
Feb 21st, '08, 06:01 PM
PS - I'm still bummed that I missed Arabian Adventures this year. Next year, we coordinate our schedules better!

teh bunneh
Feb 21st, '08, 07:07 PM
That was me. :) The reason Bunny only had 3 players was that the con messed up the registration. Honestly, I didn't even check, figuring it would be full. I was really glad when one of the other players (who is in my Champions home game) let me know there was an opening.

Yeah, that was weird. I still can't figure out WTF.


New Convention Rule: When the party doesn't know what to do, taunt a shark and run back to them. :D

Yeah...

Jamil: I turn invisible.
GM: OK.
Jamil: Then I sneak into the room where the giant shark is guarding the eggs.
GM: OK, no problem; it doesn't see you.
Jamil: When the shark is on the other side of the room, I carefully, stealthily, pick up one of the eggs.
GM: Lucky you, the shark still doesn't notice you.
Jamil: Then I turn visible again and shout, "Ha! Stupid shark! Can't catch me!"
GM: Sure, you can... wait, what??? :confused:
Other Players: Say what??? :jawdrop:
Jamil: As soon as it sees me, I swim back down the hall as fast as I can, towards the others.
Other players: Say WHAT??? :nonp:

:rofl:

teh bunneh
Feb 21st, '08, 07:11 PM
Friday eve: played in Bill's Steampunk Hero game. My sides still hurt from laughing so hard.

I'm so glad Alyson decided to play. Her Lady December was perfect. :rofl:

But the Quote of the Night, I think, goes to young Lex: "Eight months! EIGHT! MONTHS!" :lol:

bigdamnhero
Feb 25th, '08, 05:37 PM
I'm so glad Alyson decided to play. Her Lady December was perfect. :rofl:

But the Quote of the Night, I think, goes to young Lex: "Eight months! EIGHT! MONTHS!" :lol:
:lol: And speaking of quotes (http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1550980#post1550980)...

incrdbil
Feb 25th, '08, 06:48 PM
Once gaming began, I played a superhero game called With Great Power. I was pretty "meh" about it. It's a pure narrativist game. The charsheets have no numbers on them, just "complications" that are supposed to add drama to your character. Your powers are listed as another complication, and they are about as generic as you can get -- Spider-Man's powers are listed simply as "Spider Powers." As far as I could tell, your actual powers have no effect on the game, and truthfully you don't really need them even in the heat of combat (you can do things like insult your opponent, which is just as effective (or ineffective) as throwing a fireball at them). [/QUOTE]

Is this what passes for games these days I mean..why, why would anyone buy that?

bigdamnhero
Feb 25th, '08, 06:55 PM
Is this what passes for games these days I mean..why, why would anyone buy that?
They're called "story games." Some people love them, and say that the ultra-light mechanics make for a better and more collaborative role-playing experience. Personally? I'd say "meh" covers it pretty well.

teh bunneh
Feb 25th, '08, 07:07 PM
Is this what passes for games these days I mean..why, why would anyone buy that?

Truthfully, I found the concept interesting as an intellectual exercise. If someone said, "Design a game where conflict is resolved by piling complications onto your character, rather than rolling dice," then this game would be perfect example. It's a really good thought-challenge on a different way to look at RPGs. As an actual, playable, tabletop game? Meh.

incrdbil
Feb 25th, '08, 07:16 PM
Truthfully, I found the concept interesting as an intellectual exercise. If someone said, "Design a game where conflict is resolved by piling complications onto your character, rather than rolling dice," then this game would be perfect example. It's a really good thought-challenge on a different way to look at RPGs. As an actual, playable, tabletop game? Meh.

This sounds like a game Dr. Phil would love. First character to an emotional breakdown wins.

Nolgroth
Feb 27th, '08, 12:31 AM
This sounds like a game Dr. Phil would love. First character to an emotional breakdown wins.And the reward is a guest slot on the Dr. Phil Show where they can be ridiculed in front of a national TV audience. ;)

archermoo
Feb 27th, '08, 01:57 PM
For those interested, the guy who sold CotN to the Bunneh at a discount also had a copy of Fantasy Hero, which is a scarce book these days. Kirin Games here in Denver. (http://www.kiringames.com/) He's a nice guy too.


He is indeed. :) Chris is one of my best friends, and probably one of the coolest people I know. He and his wife (who was my best man at my wedding) are the main thing I miss about Denver.

bigdamnhero
Feb 27th, '08, 08:48 PM
He is indeed. :) Chris is one of my best friends, and probably one of the coolest people I know. He and his wife (who was my best man at my wedding) are the main thing I miss about Denver.
[nod] I pretty much only see the guy at cons, but I always enjoy talking to him. (And giving him my money.)

Embarrassingly, I totally spaced his name the first day of the con and introduced him to someone as "Kirin"...:doi: