# [GenCon] EN World photos and stories - add your own!



## Piratecat (Jul 25, 2003)

We're really, really going to have to photoshop Nemmerle and Darkness into this sucker. We miss you guys!

This is us playing Spycraft in Morrus' hotel room, where his girlfriend Jane (who has never gamed before) had just finished beating some poor mook with a crowbar when he didn't confess fast enough!  Poor guy. The fact that Eridanis was holding him upside down over a cliff in Monaco didn't help...

Back row: Jane, Morrus, Eric Noah, and Eridanis.

Front row: Piratecat, Creamsteak, Henry, and Dinkeldog.


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## Eridanis (Jul 25, 2003)

Hey! Didn't I just see you, in, like, real life?

And don't forget the righteous terror she wrought with  SuperGlue and a motorcycle. She was awesome!


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## Piratecat (Jul 25, 2003)

This is a view from the front door of the dealer's room. Right after it opened, I saw some guy walk past it, stop dead, and freeze. He kept repeating "I can't believe it!" to his friend.

"Isn't it great?" I asked. "And it's even bigger than it looks from here."

The guy turns around with a look of awe still pasted on his face, actually hugs me, and says "I love you, man!"  I had to laugh. Yesterday Alsih2o said "It's so cool; no one here is down on anyone else. We're all here to game, and there's no anger or interpersonal stuff. I've never seen anything like it."


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## Piratecat (Jul 25, 2003)

EDIT - I'll reload these with much smaller photos. Even shrunk, the prior ones were much too large.


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## TalonComics (Jul 25, 2003)

My god... If Morrus dyed his hair blonde he could be a young John Constantine! 

~D


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## Trevalon Moonleirion (Jul 25, 2003)

Looks like you guys are havin a great time--keep it up!


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## Piratecat (Jul 25, 2003)

I just chatted with Ryan Dancy, and got to see the Fiery Dragon guys and Monte Cook yesterday. Hellhound got a haircut and is - sadly - no longer the hairiest man in gaming. 

Story #1: 

My cab driver from the airport was pretty much insane. "It's a war!" he shouted as he swerved around a car at 80 mph. "Whoever goes slowest loses. We are winning! I drive fast, we get to hotel, I kick you out of car, I drive back and get new passenger. Vrroom!" He waved one hand as he swerved again, dancing across three lanes of traffic. "You see dem?" he asked, gesturing at two slower cabs in front of us. "Dey packed in six people, like sardines. I ought to charge you limo prices for dis ride!" Swerve. "And now dey behind us. We winning!"

Best cab ride ever. He got a big tip.


Story #2: 

Yesterday, I was running "Rrakma," a RPGA event where the PCs are githzerai going after mind flayers. I had something I've never seen before in years of judging - a whole family! Two parents, a 15 year old son (or maybe nephew), a 14 year old girl, a 10 year old boy, and an 8 year old girl. And you know what? They did great; it was really fun to watch. Unfortunately, near the end of the round the young girl got _mind blasted_ by mind flayers. I look over, and her face is scrunched up with tears trickling down it.

*sniff*   I made an eight year old girl cry.

I did explain that there was nothing she could do, that she played her character perfectly, and that sometime the dice don't cooperate... and that made a lot of sense, I think. But _damn!_


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## Piratecat (Jul 25, 2003)

With the look on Maldur's face, you've got to wonder where alsih2o's other hand is.


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## Piratecat (Jul 25, 2003)

Morrus and Jane lost their luggage. Here they claim to be showing off their new t-shirts! Frankly, I sort of doubt it, especially when he did this with his trousers a moment later....


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## Piratecat (Jul 25, 2003)

Here is Morrus about to attack his dinner before it attacks him.


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## Piratecat (Jul 25, 2003)

Could someone please fully stat this monster out for us?


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## Wulf Ratbane (Jul 25, 2003)

Piratecat said:
			
		

> *Unfortunately, near the end of the round the young girl got mind blasted by mind flayers. I look over, and her face is scrunched up with tears trickling down it.
> 
> *sniff*   I made an eight year old girl cry. *




Best. Gaming. Story. Evar.

You're my hero. My big fat RBDM hero...


Wulf


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## Enkhidu (Jul 25, 2003)

Piratecat said:
			
		

> *IStory #2:
> 
> Yesterday, I was running "Rrakma," a RPGA event where the PCs are githzerai going after mind flayers. I had something I've never seen before in years of judging - a whole family! Two parents, a 15 year old son (or maybe nephew), a 14 year old girl, a 10 year old boy, and an 8 year old girl. And you know what? They did great; it was really fun to watch. Unfortunately, near the end of the round the young girl got mind blasted by mind flayers. I look over, and her face is scrunched up with tears trickling down it.
> 
> ...




You heartless monster!

So, did the rest of the family loot her body?


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## Mathew_Freeman (Jul 25, 2003)

_SUBSCRIBE SUBSCRIBE SUBSCRIBE_

If I can't be there, at least I can enjoy reading about all the fun you're having!


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## Dave G (Jul 25, 2003)

Enkhidu said:
			
		

> *So, did the rest of the family loot her body? *




Rofl!!!!1!!!


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## armac (Jul 25, 2003)

*Oh, my!*

Thanks for the laughs Piratecat!

The first story was great, and I didn't think there
was any way to top it.  Then the second story did!

And then Wulf's reaction (which I second!)...  Umm,
everyone is wondering why I'm laughing...     

armac


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## JoeBlank (Jul 25, 2003)

*Re: Oh, my!*



			
				armac said:
			
		

> *Thanks for the laughs Piratecat!
> 
> *




armac said it perfectly.

And I really do want to know the answer the Enkhidu's question.

If your players ever thought you pulled punches before, they know now that you let the dice fall where they may.


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## KnowTheToe (Jul 25, 2003)

I like how young the crowd looked in the show room pictures.  I always worry that the average age of the gamer is getting older and older.


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## dave_o (Jul 25, 2003)

Sticky this!!!!1


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## (contact) (Jul 25, 2003)

Piratecat said:
			
		

> *I made an eight year old girl cry.*




Okay, so now you're down to 23 things on that list.


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## Silver Moon (Jul 25, 2003)

> _Originally posted by Piratecat _ I made an eight year old girl cry. [/B]



Kriskrafts says that this will be good practice for you, as you will probably be DMing our entire family in a couple of years or so.  Be afraid, be very afraid.


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## fba827 (Jul 26, 2003)

Just flaunt it in our faces why don't you!  I'm so jealous for so many different reasons right now 

(err... except for that part about making the little girl cry -- that was just cold.  Glad I wasn't around for that!  )

But glad you all had a good time


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## Angcuru (Jul 26, 2003)

Checks out first pic.

I SWEAR I saw Piratecat in a Cologne commercial three days ago.

Checks out story#1

ROFL! * AWESOME!*

Checks out story # 2

Suave AND cruel...  so...are we talking little trickles down the cheek or fire hose tears?


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## Creamsteak (Jul 26, 2003)

Theres never a picture with me in it that I like...

All the moderators are awesome people, and if I had a camera with me, I would have displayed my awesome tracking abilities...

And Living Greyhawk is hard as hell... APL 2 (Characters 1st-2nd level) were supposed to survive a list of encounters that includes, but was not limited to:
*Spoiler, Repeat, Do not read if you are AT GENCON for Saturday or Sunday*[color=222222]
2 Gargoyles hovering over a platform of tiles that cause minor wounds with every 5 foot step if the player hasn't solved a puzzle yet... they had damage reduction 5 I'm guessing, and took half damage from piercing/slashing attacks... hard but not too hard...

1 Creatures that spawned 5 1 hit dice incorporeal (Read: Not harmed by non-magic weapons) with only certain undead traits  every turn. Each creature attacked with a negative energy touch attack. The actual creature was concealed by a thick fog (20% miss chance, visibility of 10 feet... we would have to find it first). If you didn't kill the thing in the first round (which would involve finding it), you were surrounded by 10 wisps, then 15, then 20... and only two members of the whole group had valid attacks they knew about... (My cleric and the 'wizard/sorcerer' guy that liked say 'magic missile'...

And a Fire Giant... enough said... that didn't go too well with 6 characters with no spells or any such thing left.

All without any chance to recuperate or even organize before hand... If that isn't "Death around every corner" I don't know what is. Somehow I survived... but I'm not exactly excited about the Gygaxian feel of my next game. I thought 3E avoided the 'every other step lose a level' thing...[/color]

Also... I had the most fun I can ever remember having... everything was awesome. My friend Phil played in a magic tournament that lasted something like 6 hours! I was able to build a Christmas list longer than most of the threads on these boards.


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## Celtavian (Jul 26, 2003)

*re*



			
				Piratecat said:
			
		

> *
> Story #2:
> 
> Yesterday, I was running "Rrakma," a RPGA event where the PCs are githzerai going after mind flayers. I had something I've never seen before in years of judging - a whole family! Two parents, a 15 year old son (or maybe nephew), a 14 year old girl, a 10 year old boy, and an 8 year old girl. And you know what? They did great; it was really fun to watch. Unfortunately, near the end of the round the young girl got mind blasted by mind flayers. I look over, and her face is scrunched up with tears trickling down it.
> ...




I couldn't have handled a little girl crying. I would have had to use DM intervention or something to make things right. Ouch! You're a sterner man than I am PC. I can't take children crying, unless of course they are annoying bratty children


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## Piratecat (Jul 26, 2003)

Friday, over and done!

I didn't run a game this morning, which really is all for the best; despite being a sleep specialist, I have gotten 5 and then 4 hours in the last two nights. Tonight looks to be about the same. Ahhh, but the secret, you see, is that I know _precisely_ how tired I am on a scale from 1 to 20....  

Real stories and photos later. Particular highlights: running the EN World Spycraft and Paranoia games this afternoon. Watching people I know and respect win all kinds of ENnies! Getting a custom dicebag from Paladin and Paladinwife (of the Gamer's Bag) with a copy of my avatar on it - SO very cool - and getting to thank a lot of the people who got me here in the first place. Lifting a glass (along with 30-40 other EN Worlders in the restaurant) when Buttercup suggested a toast to Angelsboi, who had planned to come but is too ill to make it. Best of all, seeing the people I've known and liked online for years, and watching them have fun.

Heh - you get the idea. It's been a good day.  

A lot of my ENnies photos came out too dark - if you have any, PLEASE email me (address below) so I can fill in the gaps for Morrus - but here's one that's just too special not to share.  Heh heh.


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## Mark (Jul 26, 2003)

Piratecat said:
			
		

> *A lot of my ENnies photos came out too dark *




Don't dump those dark pictures.  They may be able to be salvaged...


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## Creamsteak (Jul 26, 2003)

I'm so sad I missed the ennies...

I hope to see all the photos and the summary of the event very soon... to fill that empty place in my heart...


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## MeepoTheMighty (Jul 26, 2003)

Funniest.  Picture. Ever.


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## Eridanis (Jul 26, 2003)

Hey - to be fair, who _couldn't_ take their eyes off the best-dressed man on stage? Rawr! 

Things went quite well, with a few minor technical glitches. It went at a good pace, and was the best ENnies show yet, IMHO.


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## Piratecat (Jul 26, 2003)

While Quartermoon was out grabbing food, I had Baron Von Starblade take this photo of the Friday Spycraft group. Someone tell me, why is it that every group _always_ immediately tries to blow up the munitions dump?  

From left to right: Kid Charlemagne, EN Publishing artist J. L. Jones, myself, Justinian, and Tewligan.


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## Piratecat (Jul 26, 2003)

And then there was the Paranoia game! 20+ deaths in 2 hours... not too bad, even if they never made past to the actual mission briefing. From left to right:

War Golem, his friend May, coik, Crothian, Storminator, Ashy, and Brannon Hall.  Be careful, guys - those fingers are loaded.


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## Piratecat (Jul 26, 2003)

And finally before I go to bed, a shot of Dire Kobold EN Worlders - EOL, Negative Zero, and Painfully (who isn't with Dire Kobold, but who is damn charming nonetheless.) Damn, they look _suave_.

Negative Zero is selling his new product, Improved Initiative. I put some samples in the RPGA lounge; they were all gone within a few hours. Pretty nifty.

As it turns out, EOL's Dad is one of the forty or so other people in the country who do what I do, and I've known of him professionally for ten years. How cool is that?


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## LGodamus (Jul 26, 2003)

I hate being poor..I should so be at Gencon...I hope you guys have a great time.


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## thatdarncat (Jul 26, 2003)

Hey Pkitty, I'm reserving my spot in the Paranoia game next year right now


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## Black Knight (Jul 26, 2003)

*Anyone Get the DCC #3.5 From Goodman Games Yet?*

I was wondering if anyone had gotten over to the Goodman Games booth yet and picked up one of those signed, limited edition, Dave Arneson modules called _Dungeon Crawl Classics #3.5: The Haunted Lighthouse_ yet? And if one of the ENWorlders there did, could you get a picture of the booth crew?


PS - I can't believe I'm not there this year. Drat the wife having her birthday this weekend!


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## Olgar Shiverstone (Jul 26, 2003)

Damn finals!  Wish I could be there ... make sure you go slap diaglo around for me!


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## Sir Osis of Liver (Jul 26, 2003)

Great pics! Good to see so many fellow EN Worlders having a good time. 


BTW, a month or so ago i think i had a ride with the same cab driver, but in Boston.


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## Breakdaddy (Jul 26, 2003)

I think this has finally convinced me to not be so cheap next year and just go to GenCon. You guys look to be having the time of your lives over there!


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## Darkness (Jul 26, 2003)

Piratecat said:
			
		

> *We're really, really going to have to photoshop Nemmerle and Darkness into this sucker. We miss you guys!*



Oh yeah. 
But at least you all are having fun.


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## Silver Moon (Jul 26, 2003)

This thread alone has convinced Kriskrafts and I have we have to go again.   We already have two other family trips scheduled for next summer, but the summer after we're there!  (My oldest will also be 12 then, and is already starting to game, so she will join us - then again she also joined us for our last GenCon, back when she was 1).


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## EricNoah (Jul 26, 2003)

Wow, what a blast!  

Before I start rambling I wanna once more say THANK YOU to all of you who contributed dollars towards Russ' and Kevin's trips.  Having them here has been so fun.  

Let's see, some highlights ...

The first product I bought on Thursday afternoon when I arrived was Magical Medieval Society -- I bought it sight unseen in print version after reading so many great things about it.  Clearly I was right to do so given how well it and the web enhancement did at the ENnies!  It's a nifty book.

Had to wait until Friday morning to pick up my Arcana Unearthed, got Monte's sig and stuff.  Very cool!  Also picked up the AU counters from Claudio and the gang at Fiery Dragon.  

The ENnies went off almost without a hitch.  Michael Morris did a fantastic job with the video presentation as well as just generally helping coordinate things.  I think it really added to the experience.  I also thought that having the "silver ENnie" added to the show in a good way, it was nice to see more deserving nominees up on stage.  

The guy who kept picking up the awards for Privateer  ... that was definitely the highlight of the show.  The guy was practically getting standing ovations by the end.  

The Ambient girls were flip-flappin' cute and did a great job announcing their category.  

I "helped" Mike Mearls with his presentation by incorrectly cueing him on something.  That was fun!  

After the ENnies I have memories of wandering the streets with a horde of people, some of them got lost, I was told that Monte Cook was maybe kind of looking for us so Russ and I went out looking for him.  We eventually spotted a couple of "famous" folks in a bar so I paid the cover charge, went in, found out it wasn't a group that was "with us" or "looking for us" or really even "interested in us" so we went back to the original bar ... and someone says, "Oh, yeah, Monte and the gang are right over there" -- and they were, just sitting in a booth not 20 feet from us.  And then Jeff Quick (I think?) and I worked to gether to tip over his beer and break his glass.  Neat!  

Had a great time playing Spycraft with Russ and Jane and the moderators.  Jane's character had a predeliction for bashing people in the crotch with her crowbar.  Yeah -- she's a roleplayer waiting to happen!  

I attended the first 30 minutes or so of the Ebberon setting seminar (this was the "setting search" winner by Keith Baker).  The artwork was nifty but I don't think I caught what the "nugget" of the setting was.  I remember one piece of art showed some sort of humanoid on short stilts in some sort of a marsh, he was stabbing at the water with a spear or something.  They're shooting for Summer 2004 for that one.  

I did attend the Malhavoc seminar.  Bruce Cordell confirmed an "expanded psionics" book from WotC in March/april 2004.  

I had a wonderful time, it was great seeing everyone, and if I gain consciousness in the next few hours I might come back here and try to remember more...


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## EricNoah (Jul 26, 2003)

photo -- Kevin attempts to explain to Russ that a coffee maker can also be used to make tea.


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## EricNoah (Jul 26, 2003)

oh, I have one more cool memory...

As we were scoping out the bar after the ENnies, we wandered into a back room where gaming was permitted/encouraged.  And who was there, after a day of grueling GenCon work, but a bunch of WotC guys including James Wyatt and David Noonan ("The Dream Team"(TM)).  David comes up to me with a beer and says, "This is like a dream come true!  There's beer, there's gaming ... I'm living the dream!"  He was very excited.


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## Angelsboi (Jul 26, 2003)

Thank you all for the toast.  I read that and i got teary eyed.  You are all the best people I have ever known.  They say you are born with the family that brought you into this world. 

That may be true but you know what?

Im glad you are the family I chose.


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## jester47 (Jul 26, 2003)

Eric or PC, 

If there are further toast tonight, none should forget the toast to Chairman Kaga and Bjorn!

Aaron.


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## Urbanmech (Jul 26, 2003)

I haven't laughed so hard at a thread in quite a long time.  Thanks for all the great stories and photos everyone.  

Wish I could have been at GenCon this year but my traveling companions bailed on me and going alone didn't seem like much fun.  I hope GenCon SoCal turns out to be as much fun as Indy.

More stories please!


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## Angcuru (Jul 27, 2003)

MORE STORIES!!


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## Buttercup (Jul 27, 2003)

Well, here's my preliminary GenCon Report.  Originally, I was planning to stay until Sunday, and come home after Clay's party, but I wasn't feeling so hot today, so I decided to come home a day early.  I'm glad I did, because I've now got a raging sore throat and a fever.  I hope I didn't infect everybody yesterday and this morning.  If I did, I'm sorry!  One final note.  Because I feel like crap on a stick right now, I'm probably going to forget lots of stuff.  I'll post more as I recall it.

Anyway, this was my first con, and I really didn't know what to expect.  I got into Indy about 10:00 on Friday, and checked into my hotel, which was just across the street from the convention center.  Surprisingly, my room was ready (usually if you show up that early, they'll hold your luggage until afternoon, but make you check in later) so I went on up, tossed my suitcase in a corner and went straight to the convention center.

Oh.  My.  God.  The place was packed.  I felt very sorry for the folks who didn't pre-register, because the line was horribly long.  So I wandered around until I found the will-call desk, and picked up my event tickets.  Next stop, the exhibit hall.  The picture P-Kitty posted upthread doesn't even show a fraction of the place.  It was huge, and filled with all sorts of stuff.  Card games, board games, computer games, war games, role playing games, art, clothing trinkets, total crap, it was all there!  

And the people!  Lordy lordy.  I saw this woman who was dressed as a fairy.  She had a Pepto-bismol pink wig, with matching filmy wings, a wispy, bikini type thing made to look like leaves & flowers, and a pink flashing light in her navel.  Then there was the two guys dressed like Samurai.  An Ewok.  Dozens of Robin-Hood and Marian look alikes.  And some folks that Emergent called, um, Plastic Headed Pod People, I think.  Eh, you had better ask him what he called them.  All I remember is, he was darn funny.

Ok, so I wandered around gawking for a bit, until I found the ENWorld/Twin Rose booth.  Dextra & Crothian were there, so we all introduced ourselves, and then I set out to shop in earnest.  I had only a few hours until the Freeport game I signed up for, and I was determined to make the most of it.  (Don't tell my husband how much I spent!  He'll have a coronary.)  I walked up and down each aisle, stopping at all the D20 booths to check out the wares.  I saw lots of products that I had been wondering about, and many of them were really cool.  So I bought them.  I also met all sorts of folks that I had only known virtually.  

Paladin and Paladinwife of The Gamer's Bag are just as nice in person as they are online.  They seemed to be doing a booming business, so we just chatted for a few minutes, then I got out of the way of the paying customers.  I had the pleasure of chatting with MEG Hal, who is a really charming guy, and the very pleasant Ed Cha, who wrote Hamlet of Thumble.  I bought a copy of it, and Ed autographed it with a really nice note.  Thanks, Ed!  I also chatted with the wonderful Fiery Dragon folks.  I picked up the new counter collection, which is really well done, just like all of Claudio's work.  I stopped at the Green Ronin booth, and picked up a copy of Cartographia.  Didn't have much time to chat with them, because they were pretty busy.  Then I said hi to the fine folks at Bastion Press, including Steve Creech, of D20 Magazine Rack fame.  It was truly a pleasure to meet so many of the folks who make the cool products I love to buy.  

Long story short, I bought so much stuff that I was glad my hotel was close.  I had just time to run back over there and put my booty in my room, then return for my Freeport demo game.

So this Freeport game, it was way cool.  It was the first part of a new Freeport adventure that's coming out in October.  I'm probably going to get the title wrong, but I think it's called Black Sands of Freeport.  Or maybe not.  Anyway, just remember October.  They guy who DMed it was the author, and I had a blast.  I played an evil dwarf cleric named Ham Foulbrew, who was in a party of good folks.  I've never played an evil PC before, but it was fun to quietly backtrack and slit the throats of NPCs the party had just tied up or knocked out.    We met the BBEG, but were not able to kill her.  I sooo want to play in a Freeport game on a regular basis.

Well, that's all for now, I think I'm about typed out for the moment.  I'll report on the Ennies ceremony tomorrow.


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## drnuncheon (Jul 27, 2003)

Buttercup said:
			
		

> * the first part of a new Freeport adventure that's coming out in October.  I'm probably going to get the title wrong, but I think it's called Black Sands of Freeport.
> I sooo want to play in a Freeport game on a regular basis.
> *




Black Sails over Freeport.

*sigh* We were going to to to Gencon this year, but between my wife's grandfatherpassing and my continued lack of employment, it wasn't in the stars.  

Next time, Gadget...next time.

If you're jonesing for a Freeport kick, why not try our Story Hour forums?


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## doctorjeff98 (Jul 27, 2003)

Oops, sorry about having two threads of pics running!  I didn't see this one when I started the other.  I've got about  80 pics    available online divided into: Some Interesting Characters, The Downtown Area, Wandering the Hallways, Inside the Exhibit Hall, and The Costume Contest.

I spent lots of money and got lots of cool stuff.  Unfortunately I don't think I'm going to be able to go back tomorrow.


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## Piratecat (Jul 27, 2003)

Here's a shot of one of my two Saturday Spycraft games! It was a great one; unfortunately, I missed getting a shot of the prior game.  

I'm sitting; from left to right standing, you'll see Pielorinho, Teflon Billy, Emergent, Zarathustran, Spider, and alsih2o. The game was filled with fantastic quotes - I think the team's high-tech intimidation techniques have won a special place in my heart - but they certainly weren't easy on the bad guys. As Clay said while discussing whether or not to eliminate a captive, "Lead is cheaper than people who know secrets."

Thanks to you guys who wanted to risk a game with me!  Also many, many thanks to Fiery Dragon for giving away prizes for these games, and to The Gamers Bag for providing me with the best dice bag ever.


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## Piratecat (Jul 27, 2003)

When we were out at the Ram after the ENnies, Barcode had trouble comprehending exactly how large TheMaxx's caramel chocolate cake was.  I'm pretty sure that this is what a failed Call of Cthulhu sanity check looks like.


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## Piratecat (Jul 27, 2003)

And my personal favorite, yoinked from Clay - the unflappable Teflon Billy demonstrates to Hellhound and JGBrowning *exactly* what he thinks of candid photography.  In the background, Suzi looks on with bemusement.


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## Mathew_Freeman (Jul 27, 2003)

Envy doesn't cover it. Rat Bastards, all of you. 

You wait! I'll see you next year and then they'll be some dancing-on-tables-drunk-on-beer stories for all!


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## Psion (Jul 27, 2003)

*Psion's report!*

Hi all! Just back from my first GenCon evar. It was such a blast meeting people, putting faces to names, and talking gaming with people as passionate as I am, that I really tried to get a later flight out, but it was destined not to be.

Also, I had hoped to post daily updates from the Con, but the room charged for local calls, so it was not to be...

The thing that really impressed me was how cool all the people were, some of which I only talked to a bit online.

Anyway, I'll do a brief con summary day by day, and then follow up with pictures, some with specific stories to go along with some of the pictures.

*Thursday*

I got to the judges room the posh Embassy Suites hotel Thursday night. Crothian and Jeff left a note to come upstairs to Hellhound and Dextra's suite, which they dubbed "Little Canadia" and decorated with little icons of maple leaves for no discernable reason.  At any rate, it became a convenient hub for me, as it was right upstairs from our suite.

Dextra and Hellhound were way cool to chat with and were pretty much the people I hung with the most at the con... when they weren't chained to the booth (and even sometimes when they were!). Their kids are very cute and talented to boot (see the pictures below!). I knew Jason from way back (but only online), but only talked to Denise a few times, so this was a neat 

The twin rose folks were also there, who I didn't know as well as Dextra and Hellhound prior to GenCon, but I soon discovered that they were very cool as well, and I spent a bit of time chatting and hanging out with Chris and Dee.

A few other folks dropped at this ever popular hangout that night, such as the fiery dragon crew. I finally got to meet Mike Johnstone (FDP_Mike). Many of you probably don't him very well, but for a while he used to once-over my reviews for me gratis, which was very cool. And of course, we would chew the fat about industry things via email, so it was cool to meet him in person.

It was interesting to meet Crothian and TeflonBilly as well. Crothian is, catch this, a rather quiet person IRL!  TB caught on to the fact that I was once in the military by the way I folded my shirts. Again, need I add, both were very cool.

I didn't get much done Thursday other than meeting folks at the Canadia suite, as I didn't get in until after the exhibit floor was closed.

*Friday, day*

First day I got my bearings and checked out the exhibitor's floor. The judges got exhibitor badges, so we got to go in early to say hi to some of the all to busy industry luminaries. The first luminary I saw that I recognized was Monte Cook talking to someone in the Green Ronin booth, and I thought to myself "there is a juxtaposition of driving forces in d20"!

Of course, during the day I checked out lots of booths and met some more people who I had only known by products or messageboard handles face-to-face. Some of the folks I chatted with (and were very cool) were:

- FDP folks (Mike Johnstone, James Bell, Claudio)
- Green Ronin folks (Nichole Lidross, Chris Pramas, Hal Mangold, Steve Kenson, Aaron Loeb)
- Joe Browning and Suzi Yee (funny stroy, see their pic below...) of Expeditios Retreat press.
- Mystic Eye folks (Hal Greenberg, Doug Henning, Becky Glenn, die Kluge). Hal was quite excited about his upcomng _Fall of Man_ gritty d20 post apoc game, which sounds intriguing.
- Ed Bourelle
- Darkfuries Folks (Brian Mosley, Volorie Grover, Steve Grover). You might know darkfuries for maps, but they have this decent little fantasy space book that includes some slick little templates and counters that use the d20 system movement rules.
- Mark Plemmons of Kenzer & Co.
- John Danovich of Fast Forward. 
- Joe Carricker of Sword & Sorcery studios.
- Alex Fennel of Mongoose, and his two charming sales reps whose names escape me.
- Monte Cook signed my copy of Arcana unearthed.
- Steve Creech, Ashy, Jim Butler at Bastion Press.
- Somebody I've forgotten, I'm sure. 

I met up with Russ, and went with him and Michael Morris to check out the room where the ennies were to be held and chatted out a few preliminaries.

After my feet were sore, I headed back to the hotel, and joined the judges, twin rose folks, Russ and Jane at the hotel for Drinks and Dinner (Drinks for them, Dinner for me...)

Ah, the the highlight of the night: The ennies.

*The ENNIES awards*

From what I understand, this was quite a bit classier setup than last year. The ennies were exhilirating and had some funny moments.

As we were gathering, I met up with many board members and luminaries that I hadn't earlier in the day, including Ryan Dancey, Peter Adkison, Piratecat, Eric Noah, and Mike Mearls. The room wasn't standing room only, but it was more crowded that I expected it to be. And it was a pretty big room.

The judges got to sit on the stage between Peter and Russ, and it was very hot up there.

Michael Morris made a very neat slide show with the nominees that ran during the pre-show, and a similar slide show during the awards displaying the winners.

Privateer was probably the biggest source of amusement during the show. Monsternomicon was sucking down a lot of prizes, but there was only one guy there (whose name I never caught) that submitted ten monsters. He had nothing to do with about half the prizes like art and graphical presentation, but accepted them all with humor with quips like "I had nothing to do with this."

Another funny moment was that Suzi and Joe of XRP. But again, I'll touch on that below.

There's probably not much more I can say that seeing the clip couldn't tell you better, but suffice it to say the presentation ceremony was a lot of fun.

After the ceremony, due to lack of comminication, our group got split up, but I was in the aforementioned group that toasted to Angelsboi

*Saturday*

Saturday saw me on the exhibitors floor again, but this time I hung out in the booth more, having seen most of I wanted to see Friday. I tied up a few loose ends and did some actual purchases.

I was in Piratecat's Spycraft game that afternoon (along with Dinkledog and sotmh.) I played "Bec", the british biker-woman. I don't want to give anything away in case Kevin is running  the game again, but we got in a pretty fun chase scene. I rolled a one on a maneuver, and Kevin mercilessly activated the error and lost control of my bike. I bailed, leaving the poor faceman to take the brunt of the damage. The most humorous moment of the chase scene were the folks in the jeep trying to find a grenade that tumbled under the seat. Suffice it to say, tales of Kevin being a rat bastard have some merit. 

I stopped by the Fiery Dragon booth and got ahold of their latest counter product... the Orc and Pie counter pack! (It's a business card sized sheet with, you guessed it, an orc and a pie!  )

I returned to the convention floor to spend some money, knowing I would not be there today. After much deliberation, I picked up mongoose's Quint Sorcerer (after I found out Patrick Younts wrote it), and their Quint Drow and Drow City book. The ladies at the Mongoose book were not only very pleasant, but -- get this -- they were actually conversant with the material.  I had a bit of a discussion with here about the fact that folks not wanting to convert to 3.5 was a bit of a showstopper for some. Guess I'm not the only disgruntled one.

Last night, I went back to the room and to the permanent party and the Canadia suite. The code monkey folks were there wanting to play a game I said I might play, but after I found out that I wouldn't be staying later today, my heart wasn't in it as I wanted to hang out and chat more with folks before I left, and after the spycraft game, my gaming hunger had subsided. I felt a bit bad, but they took it pretty well.

After the folks at the Canadia suite took off for the WW party, the judges had a bit of a chat (while I was packing to leave this morning) and enjoyed a little card game (also see below) before turning in.

I got up to head to the airport at 5:00, but lost my wallet and was all stressing out and turning the room upside down. TB and Crothian are probably mad at me now. Sorry guys!

All in all, it was a lot of fun and I hope to go again next year and meet more of you.

Pics to follow (not many, but hey).


----------



## Psion (Jul 27, 2003)

Here's the first shot from the EN Publishing / Twin Rose Software booth. From left to right it is Crothian, Buttercup (who skipped out before the Spycraft game), Dextra (in here threatening cloak), and Dee.

Edit: whoops! I thought this one wasn't going to take because of the file size. Guess it did. 

(EDIT - the photo is too large! Sorry, Alan, but I deleted it. If you want me to shrink it for you, please email it to me. - Piratecat)


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## Psion (Jul 27, 2003)

I didn't get busy with the camera until Saturday, when I was mostly at the EN Publishing booth until I went to the Spycraft game, so most of these pictures are from there.

Here's the first shot from the EN Publishing / Twin Rose Software booth. From left to right it is Crothian, Buttercup (who skipped out before the Spycraft game), Dextra (in here threatening cloak), and Dee.


----------



## Psion (Jul 27, 2003)

Here's a snapshot of Jane and Russ from near the booth.


----------



## Psion (Jul 27, 2003)

Edit: Here's Hound and Dextra's cute and talented kids, horking the d20 Kid's Coloring Book: Celebrity Edition.

They won a costume contest later that day!


----------



## Psion (Jul 27, 2003)

Here's a life size (or is that unlife size) mock up of an Iron Lich at the Privateer Booth. Cool!

Privateer was CLUELESS about their strong showing in the ENnies, and most of the folks there early Saturday were warmachine folks who didn't have a clue what the ENnies were.


----------



## Psion (Jul 27, 2003)

Here's Patrick Younts (author of the Quintessential Monk) and Jennifer Younts. After I found out that Patrick was the author of the Quintessential Sorcerer, that sealed a Mongoose sale from me!

Patrick and Jennifer post a bit over on RPGnet. I told them that I had my RPGnet T-shirt at the con, but didn't think I should wear it at the booth.  Someone suggested I might burst into flames (I think it was Maldur...)


----------



## Psion (Jul 27, 2003)

Here's Jeff and Dawn Ibach, in the afterglow of their ENnies win.


----------



## Psion (Jul 27, 2003)

Here's Storminator hamming it up.

Over his Right hand, you can see some of the CodeMonkey folks working the booth across the way. Yup, that's right, Code Monkey and Twin Rose were right across the way from each other. No arcing of sinister lightning bolts was observed, nor were there any duels of honor in the aisle.


----------



## Nightfall (Jul 27, 2003)

Psion, 

So does that mean when you stopped by the S&SS booth, you browsed the Player's Guides? Any thoughts?


----------



## Psion (Jul 27, 2003)

Another ENnie winning couple... Suzi Yee and Joe Browning of XRP.

You may not have heard of Suzi if you haven't picked up their book yet, but she mentioned while imbibing at the Ram that sometimes she posts under Joe's acount. Cue the tune to the "crying game..."

Funny Story (well, I thought): The day before the ENnies, I stopped by their booth (they were in with the Gold Rush Games folks) and they were saying how they brought way too many books and needed an ennies win. Being a judge, I KNEW who the winner was but managed to keep a stright face. Up until the ceremony, they acted all convinced that they weren't going to win. I watched them as the winners were announced. Joe threw his head back in shock.

Later at the Ram, Suzi congratulated/cursed (I'm not sure yet) me on my poker face. She mentioned Crothian had to walk away from their booth earlier because he was afraid he would give it away. Your jedi mind tricks don't work on us! 

By the way way, Joe and Suzi are very cool as well.


----------



## Psion (Jul 27, 2003)

Man, Nightfall, you have a one track mind. 

I looked at them, but not near enough to get a concrete impression. CC revised was actually higher on my to-buy list, but after talking to my wife over the previous purchase, I knew that wasn't going to happen.

Not to mention, the WW booth was not worth going near later that day...


----------



## Psion (Jul 27, 2003)

Capellan is on the left. That's Maldur on the right drinking.


----------



## Nightfall (Jul 27, 2003)

I can't help.  It's nice when someone can appreciate your work. (Even if it was just TWO spells.  ) But sorry about you not getting CC Revised. Hopefully some where along the line you'll get it. (Doubt they'll run out any time soon.)


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## Psion (Jul 27, 2003)

Last pic, the only one I didn't take from the exhibition hall. This is TB and Crothian up in the judges suite last night. We played a game of the fun card game _Samurai Robots on Monster Island_ (a sequel/expansion to _Grave Robbers from outer space_) before we went to bed for the evening.


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## mythusmage (Jul 27, 2003)

Piratecat said:
			
		

> *This is a view from the front door of the dealer's room. Right after it opened, I saw some guy walk past it, stop dead, and freeze. He kept repeating "I can't believe it!" to his friend.
> 
> "Isn't it great?" I asked. "And it's even bigger than it looks from here." *




(snip)

My first thought on seeing the photo was, "God, that's dinky."

I'm going to have to find a good camera somewhere and get some shots of our convention center. Let you small towners know what a big convention center looks like.

Yes, when it comes to conventions size does matter.


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## Justinian (Jul 27, 2003)

Nightfall said:
			
		

> *Psion,
> 
> So does that mean when you stopped by the S&SS booth, you browsed the Player's Guides? Any thoughts? *




I'm not Psion, but I bought both new Player's Guides and chatted with Joe Carriker about them for awhile (while he autographed mine ).

I've had a chance to read through the one for arcane casters, but not the fighters. First impressions: I'm very pleased with all the background organizations and historical tidbits attached. So many books now are simply a stack of prestige classes and spells, and this was a pleasant change. The prestige classes didn't get as much of my reading time, but they looked good on my first glance. The adept of flame (mailed all my purchases home so this might not be the exact name) especially caught my eye. (And no, that's not because it's the first one on the list.) I'm looking forward to using a good deal of the material in the book.

I was unable to do more than glance at the fighters one, and so all I have to say is that I like its cover art. I like both sets of cover art, actually. I consider them well worth the purchase.


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## Psion (Jul 27, 2003)

*Re: Anyone Get the DCC #3.5 From Goodman Games Yet?*



			
				Black Knight said:
			
		

> *I was wondering if anyone had gotten over to the Goodman Games booth yet and picked up one of those signed, limited edition, Dave Arneson modules called Dungeon Crawl Classics #3.5: The Haunted Lighthouse yet? And if one of the ENWorlders there did, could you get a picture of the booth crew?
> *




I missed hitting the goodman games booth, which was only about 3 booths down from the EN Publishing/Twin Rose booth. I was sort of waiting for Mike Mearls to show up there, but I never saw him while passing by.


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## Nightfall (Jul 28, 2003)

Justinian said:
			
		

> *
> 
> I'm not Psion, but I bought both new Player's Guides and chatted with Joe Carriker about them for awhile (while he autographed mine ).
> 
> ...




Very cool Justinan. Just let me know what you think when you get the chance to read through it all. (Adept of the Flame is pretty neat from the preview a couple months ago.)


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## Umbran (Jul 28, 2003)

mythusmage said:
			
		

> *My first thought on seeing the photo was, "God, that's dinky."*




Um, correct me if I'm wrong, but that pic isn't of the convention.  That's merely the dealer's room, which is only one small part of the convention.


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## pogre (Jul 28, 2003)

Just got in - 

Really enjoyed seeing the Ennies - one speaker per award in the future please 

I enjoyed running the RPGA events and met a lot of nice people.

I too DM'ed for an entire family - possibly the same one as P'Cat. Did not kill any of them though...

My favorite group might have been from Manhattan - they cursed like sailors and kicked some booty - my kinda' guys. Example: One player to another _Joe, seriously, if you do not stop f***** around you're payin' for f***** parking._

All of my players were tremendous sportspeople and made the scenario a joy to run. I was most encouraged by the number of women playing games - a great trend.

Hopefully next year it won't conflict with Historican - but there never really was a choice.

Thanks for the great comments on my SH folks - it really meant a lot!


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## KB9JMQ (Jul 28, 2003)

First off I had a GREAT time.

Get to the Marriott about 2 p.m. and checked in and went straight to the dealers room to find Arcana Unearthed, (having previously panicked over reading they were sold out earlier), I was happy to find them in stock. The guy at the booth said Monte would be by at 4:30 to sign them.

Went wandering around with my wife looking at this and that then found the EN/Twin Rose Booth. Met Erandis, Rangerwickett and Hellhound. (Ryan sorry I never met up with you again to meet Jessica I kept missing you   and I still think you should publish the Savannah Knights story as a campaign/module).

Wandered around and found Paladin and Paladinwife at their booth. Got a matching medium bag to go with my Royal one, dropped off a CR bag for the quilt,  and my wife ordered a cool Bag of Dice Holding. I will say these two are some of the nicest people I have ever met. I hope the sales went well. (How many Crown Royal bags did you get?).

Went back and found Monte got my book signed , went to eat dinner and went to the ENnies. They were great and the Privateer Press guy was a riot. It was cool to point out to my wife who all these people I talk about all the time were.

After the awards I finally met Eric Noah, Piratecat (Note new sig), Buttercup, Hand of Evil and several others. Went to the Ram but left early due to a killer headache  

Saturday was spent doing the WOTC demos to win some prizes. Played Magic, Neopets, Starwars and Simpson TCGs. The only ones we liked was Magic and SW. Neopets was for someone much younger and the Simpson was overly complicated. The future RISK game was great. The Warbands Minutares game was cool (Also helps when Jonathan Tweet is the guy explaining it to you)  and we played the dungeon crawl with the MasterMaze set. That was the best. Our DM was cool and I hafta get some of those. Ended up winning a book I already had but my wife won a really nice StarWars backpack for our son Luke.

My wife met and got autographs from Larry Elmore so she thought that was neat. We then shopped some more (for dice mostly) went to dinner with some friends then played thge starwars card game to the wee hours.

Overall we had a great time. Can't wait to do it again next year. My only regret was Piratecat announce he would take five people to play a game the next day at the ENnies while standing in front of me and I didnt take the chance (I am shy sometimes).

Edit: Can't Type


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## EricNoah (Jul 28, 2003)

More memories....

Meeting Buttercup and Cthulhu's Librarian and discussing the library/information professions.  It was like geeking out but in a whole new way!  (And there was one other person there ... who was it??)  Turns out Buttercup and I shared a library school professor!  

I very slyly get out of doing a TV interview by telling them Russ is in charge, so the guy suggests that we both do it, then I find Russ and convince him (telling him I'll be with him, nothing to worry about) and then when I get him over there, I magically disappear so he has to do it alone.  

Sitting in a hallway for about an hour just reading my shiny new Arcana Unearthed book.  

 Feeling really, really sorry for the poor folks stuck in those long lines...


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## Barendd Nobeard (Jul 28, 2003)

EricNoah said:
			
		

> *More memories....
> 
> Meeting Buttercup and Cthulhu's Librarian and discussing the library/information professions.  It was like geeking out but in a whole new way!  (And there was one other person there ... who was it??)  Turns out Buttercup and I shared a library school professor!
> 
> *



Drat, I should have been there--I could have yakked about my days writing card catalog computer code for the University of Texas.....

I had a great time, saw a lot of EN Worlders (including Quickbeam who is too busy to post here recently), and would like to shout out a big public Thanks! to alsih2o for arranging the post-GenCon bar party.  I could only stay for two hours, but had a great time!

I will post more details later, but the drive home took 90 minutes longer than the drive there, so I am dead tired and heading for the sack....


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## Crothian (Jul 28, 2003)

There was an after Gen Con party that Clay arraged at his brother's bar about 15 miles north of downtown.  This is a great bar, lots of room to game and very nice atmosphere.  We mostly hung around and talked, Piratecate reveiled some secrets from his game.  We were really suprised when Monte and his wife showed up, that was really cool of them even though they could only stay a little while.  Then the Twin Rose people (Chris and Dee) came over and Chris had a box of books from the convention that he gathered from many boothes to give away.  

So much happened this weekend that my brain shall explode trying to recall it all.  But it was such a great time!!!!  More to come after I sleep.


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## KingOfChaos (Jul 28, 2003)

I am disturbed by the fact that every picture with alsih2o in it looks like he is either looking at someone else's butt or using them as a human sock puppet -.-


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## Droogie (Jul 28, 2003)

Buttercup said:
			
		

> *So this Freeport game, it was way cool.  It was the first part of a new Freeport adventure that's coming out in October.  I'm probably going to get the title wrong, but I think it's called Black Sands of Freeport.  Or maybe not.  Anyway, just remember October.  They guy who DMed it was the author, and I had a blast.  I played an evil dwarf cleric named Ham Foulbrew, who was in a party of good folks.  I've never played an evil PC before, but it was fun to quietly backtrack and slit the throats of NPCs the party had just tied up or knocked out.    We met the BBEG, but were not able to kill her.  I sooo want to play in a Freeport game on a regular basis.
> 
> *





Don't forget who won the free Character Record Folio.

MEMEMEMEMEMEME! 

I voted for you, BTW, since you were the only one to role-play your alignment correctly.

And I enjoyed the setting too. I felt like I was in a Scorcese flick. 

Edit: Come to think of it, the sorcerer/rogue played well. And the female fighter. And the elf. Oh, and the half-orc was quite entertaining. Aw heck, we're all winners, ain't we?


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## Mathew_Freeman (Jul 28, 2003)

KingOfChaos said:
			
		

> *I am disturbed by the fact that every picture with alsih2o in it looks like he is either looking at someone else's butt or using them as a human sock puppet -.- *




Ah, I see you've reached the third level of understanding about our dear Potter. That's not a coincidence, that's just how he is.


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## mythusmage (Jul 28, 2003)

Umbran said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Um, correct me if I'm wrong, but that pic isn't of the convention.  That's merely the dealer's room, which is only one small part of the convention. *




Ah, 'small part'. That tells me a lot.

I suspect Adkison could run GenCon SoCal concurrently with Comic-con, and use only G and H halls for dealers. With gaming events at the Marriot and the new Hilton going up downtown.

It also means he gets the assist of the Comic-con convention staff and that of the convention center staff.

BTW, ask Chris Pramas and Phil Reed about the convention's dealers room.


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## Buttercup (Jul 28, 2003)

EricNoah said:
			
		

> *More memories....
> 
> Meeting Buttercup and Cthulhu's Librarian and discussing the library/information professions.  It was like geeking out but in a whole new way!  (And there was one other person there ... who was it??)  Turns out Buttercup and I shared a library school professor!
> *






It was Emergent.



> _Originally posted by Droogie_*Don't forget who won the free Character Record Folio.
> 
> MEMEMEMEMEMEME!
> 
> ...




Wow, that was you?  I didn't realize that we knew each other.  I think I was already getting sick at that point, and so was a bit out of it.  Heh.  I voted for you.  I liked your idea of sticking the scroll case down your pants leg.  And I liked when you critted that guard and killed him with one shot.  Yay us!


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## FungiMuncher (Jul 28, 2003)

GenCon was a great time.  I went with three other buddies from my long standing gaming group.  The long lines were a shock.  We had pre-registered for our badges, but didn't sign up for any games.  Those lines convinced my one friend who suggested that we "wing it" to sign up early and often next year.  

I GMed two RPGA events.  I enjoyed running them and meeting the players.  However, it was a lot of effort - not sure if I'll do it next year.  The free WOTC figure and RPGA t-shirt helps, though.

Well, keeping in the tradition of lurking, I didn't meet too many other ENWorlders.  Having three friends not involved in ENworld pulling you in random directions sure makes that hard.  I did discover that I shared a room while DMing with ArthurQ - caught a glimpse of his tag as our games started (** Waves to Arthur **).  His table was the first to finish, while my table took so long we were firmly reminded to wrap up.  

Other than this, I met Monte Cook, Virginia Hey and Sean Astin.

The highlight was competing in the XCrawl tournament.  Our team finished first place in the first round, and we think we did well in the finals.  The Pandahead folks took some pictures, but will have to wait for them, and the final results, to be posted on their web page.  I was always curious about XCrawl, but this has definitely converted me to a fan.  Our GM, Brian, made it a lot of fun!

FM


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## Pielorinho (Jul 28, 2003)

Wow!  That was incredibly fun!

I got to run two games and play in two games.  Near as I know, only BlackOmega played in either of my sessions (I ran the Gray Hunt, a Living campaign of some sort or another), and it was great fun.

I only got to meet Eric very briefly, but I did get to hang out with Alsih2o, Teflon Billy, Emergent, Piratecat, Storminator, and others from the boards.  Great bunch of people!  

Piratecat's game was a blast, of course; afterwards, Spider (my brother) and I sat outside watching the LARPers make funny hand signals and analyzed the elements of the game that made it uniquely fun.  What we came up with:
-Camera angles:  at certain moments of high drama, Kevin would describe the camera cutting to a wide shot, switching to slo-mo, or something like that, in order to give us the best possible view of the results of our actions.  It was pretty funny, so it might not be a technique useful for a serious scene, but it was a great way to convey the cinematic joy of explosions.
-Funny voices:  Kevin's fantastic at adopting accents and funny voices on the fly; his characters were all distinct and memorable, whether it was the naive breathy paramour of the bad guy, the surly brusque (and soon-to-be wounded, thanks to Teflon Billy's itchy trigger finger) fishing boat merchant, or the spineless sincere mercenary who bent over backwards to convince us to leave him alive.
-However, the biggest cool thing about the game:  Kevin's default assumption seems to be that your character's actions succeed.  Faced with a tough call (can X-ray glasses see through the wall of this reinforced vault?), my temptation would be to answer "nope."  Kevin manages to answer "yep" most of the time, which keeps the game moving fast and gives folks the pleasure of getting to use their abilities and show off.  Definitely something I'm gonna work on.

Thanks to everyone I got to hang out with at the Con; I look forward to seeing y'all there next year!
Daniel


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## Ashy (Jul 28, 2003)

Piratecat said:
			
		

> *And then there was the Paranoia game! 20+ deaths in 2 hours... not too bad, even if they never made past to the actual mission briefing. From left to right:
> 
> War Golem, his friend May, coik, Crothian, Storminator, Ashy, and Brannon Hall.  Be careful, guys - those fingers are loaded. *




What an utterly awesome game!  Pkitty was superb (as is to be expected, I guess) and Storminator is my new hero!    We wound up in this and the Fiery Dragon game together and BOTH GAMES WERE A BLAST!  May was really funny - she'd never played a game and before this one was over she was pounding folks in the skull with a truncheon!  AH!  True gamers are not made, folks, they are BORN!  

What an awesome time!    Thanks, Pkitty!!!    (please note new sig, BTW - it came from THIS game!)


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## buzzard (Jul 28, 2003)

The Saturday afternoon Spycraft game offered by the feline buccaneer was quite fun. I was probably most amused by the reactions of people who wandered by when Kevin was doing his rampaging elephant noise. But then, I am a little odd. 

buzzard


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## Psion (Jul 28, 2003)

FungiMuncher said:
			
		

> *Other than this, I met Monte Cook, Virginia Hey and Sean Astin.*




I forgot to mention in my con report that I met (and got the requisite signed picture of) Virginia Hey. She's a very friendly, very chatty lady.


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## Psion (Jul 28, 2003)

buzzard said:
			
		

> *The Saturday afternoon Spycraft game offered by the feline buccaneer was quite fun. I was probably most amused by the reactions of people who wandered by when Kevin was doing his rampaging elephant noise. But then, I am a little odd. *




Refresh me: who were you there?


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## thedangerranger (Jul 28, 2003)

So much fun!
Already planning for next year.

Highlights:

+Meeting people whose posts I read on a daily basis.
+Watching the guy in the food court bistro at the mall serve people food then yell "TRAITOR!!!" and immediately start singing "Purple Rain".
+Getting a "Gamers Bag" from Paladin and Paladin's Wife that just rocks.
+Watching the huge Pikachu "boogey down" on Sunday.
+Watching the Stuffed Sword guys beat the sense out of each other with foam swords in the park from my hotel room.

Lowlights:

-The Indianapolis Illuminati's decision to side with Coke. (Pepsi product availability was scarce at best)
-The lines. (I pre-regged and avoided most of them, but I ache with sympathy)
-Sunday Afternoon. (`nuff said)

Well that's probably enough from me.

edit: spelling


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## NiTessine (Jul 28, 2003)

Glad to hear you people had fun... If all goes well, I'll be there next year, too!

And two weeks from now, you'll be reading my con report of RopeCon, the Finnish equivalent of GenCon... It may not be as large, but it's FUN!


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## buzzard (Jul 28, 2003)

Psion said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Refresh me: who were you there? *




I was the fixer who kept rolling crits during the car chase, and then sneak attacked the main BBEG to death in a round (which elicited a nice expression from Kevin). 

buzzard


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## Dinkeldog (Jul 28, 2003)

EricNoah said:
			
		

> *More memories....
> 
> Feeling really, really sorry for the poor folks stuck in those long lines...
> 
> *




I think this was really the only flaw in the whole GenCon Indy experience so long as you could remain inside, which was fairly easy to do.  Fortunately, I didn't have to deal with that long, long badge line.  It took a friend of mine 3 hours to get his.


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## Psion (Jul 28, 2003)

> * I was the fixer who kept rolling crits during the car chase, and then sneak attacked the main BBEG to death in a round (which elicited a nice expression from Kevin). *




Ah, gotcha. I didn't even get to see the BBEG... ah well.


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## Dinkeldog (Jul 28, 2003)

buzzard said:
			
		

> *The Saturday afternoon Spycraft game offered by the feline buccaneer was quite fun. I was probably most amused by the reactions of people who wandered by when Kevin was doing his rampaging elephant noise. But then, I am a little odd.
> 
> buzzard *




Also, rather than blowing up the munitions dump, we sent a rampaging elephant into the compound.


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## Crothian (Jul 28, 2003)

Okay, this story was not game related at all, it was a Con story. The players are myself and Simson (british guy who hangs out at Randomling's boards, he's Tallarn's roomy), and the gelflings. The gelflings are Hound and Dextra's ultra cute girls, age 7 and 11. On Saturday they dressed up like princess in purple and other colors. There has to be some pictures of them floating around somewhere. 

The girls are going to be part of costume contest and Simson and I have that block of time free so we go watch the show. The real reason was so we could sit down, chairs were gold at the con. So we go sit down and watch as the festifities begin. The judges were Peter Adkison, Jim Ward, and Tracy Lords. Interesting collection. 

The contest started with sci fi, which was a less then great showing. I was reallly thinking this was going to suck after that. Then came the kids category. Lots of cute kids, but no gelflings. This had me worried. The rest of the contest went on. The costumes went on in other categories, with a little too much sexual undertones for me. I'm a prude, I admit it. Then we get to last category, the talent category. The last people to come out were the gelflings and they did a great old styled dance. These girls are good, damn good. The crowd went wild for them. After that we had an intermission with some songs by a filker called Luke Ski. You know I love filks and comedy songs so of course I bought his albums afterwards. 

So, the judges make there descion and the Gelflings won the talent portion. The best of show was choosen by the audience from all the winners. They clapped for the one they liked, loudest clapping won. So, clapping happens and Simson and I go wild for the girls, I think we even got the people around us to scream a little louder. Well, the judges couldn't decide so they called out the top three. It included a costume that looked like a treant but was called fey something. Pretty good costume, and he was on stilts and that's something. Next was a little girl dressed up as some episode one bounty hunter, last was the Gelflings. So, we clap again, Simson and I go wild for the Gelflings even more. After that the judges still couldn't figure out who was getting more claps. At this point it was between the Treant and the Gelflings, but the little girl bounty hunter was still in the running. After a third round of clapping, they awarding best of show to the treant. But the girls really deserved to win.


----------



## Negative Zero (Jul 28, 2003)

Buttercup said:
			
		

> *... I wasn't feeling so hot today, so I decided to come home a day early.  I'm glad I did, because I've now got a raging sore throat and a fever.  I hope I didn't infect everybody yesterday and this morning.  If I did, I'm sorry! ...*




ahhh. so you're the one who passed it on to me!  i just assumed that it was a combination of talking non-stop for four days (trying to hawk my product) and rooming with friends who like to keep the a/c at 40 frikkin degrees!!! *ahem* *regains composure*

was great meeting you tho and all the other EN Worlders at the Con. Piratecat is my hero! he took it on himself to help me do some last minute advertising in the RPGA GMs lounge, which actually got quite a few people to come by the booth! you rock!

i had a blast. didn't get to run around a whole lot, as i was chained to the booth for most of the Con, but i did manage to steal a random hour here and there. GenCon is so cool. just being around all that gaming goodness is infectious. there's no way you can't have fun.

it was great hanging out with EOL from direkobold.com and his buddies Joshua and Glenn (that guy is bent man! he's funny as hell!) also Chris and Dee from Twin Rose they are such cool people, and were really nice to me, thank again guys. the whole E.N. Publishing crew are super cool (no, not just regular cool )

and to echo what several people have already said Paladin and wife are two of the nicest people you will ever meet!

the highlight of my GenCon experience, once again, was deffinitely Leopold's G2 game! 16 or so players! SSSSSSSSSSSSO much fun!

~NegZ


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## Piratecat (Jul 28, 2003)

I JUST got home... 17.5 hours after I left. Bad weather stranded me in Pittsburgh.  Mmmm, floor sleeping...

More later. Must nap.


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## Ashy (Jul 28, 2003)

Very glad you made it home safe, PC.  I'm already looking forward to next year....


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## BOZ (Jul 28, 2003)

*(reposting from the other thread)*

Best GenCon evar!  

I first got to meet Scott Greene (aka Keeper of the Dark Realms) on Friday, and got him to sign my copy of the Tome of Horrors.    I wandered around the dealer hall for a bit, but didn’t run into anyone I knew.  The ENnies were pretty interesting to watch, even though I hadn’t even heard of most of the books up for nomination (hey, you learn something new every day!)  After the awards, there was a gathering of ENWorld members, and I met a number of ENWorld members, including Barendd Nobeard, kkoie, Henry, Ashy, Eridanis, Dinkeldog (Yes, Yes fellas... I will do my level best to make the next Chicago gameday!), Psion/Sangrolu, jgbrowning and his wife, Piratecat, Buttercup, Morrus, and even Eric Noah himself (please forgive me if I forgot to mention you!).  A lot of us went out to a local bar for drinks, and I saw Scott there again with most of the Necromancer Games crew.  Erica (DnDChick) was wedged into the back of their booth, so all I could do was wave to her.  

Saturday was fun again, as I tried out Silver Age Sentinels, and a board game called Zombies.  Wandering the dealer floor again, I found Hellhound by the ENWorld booth, and met Leopold and Limper just outside of it, and RangerWickett while signing up for the events I played in.  After all of that, I met up with some fellas from Nutkinland to play Call of Cthulhu  (yet another game I was trying for the first time!), GMed by Keeper of Secrets, and fellow players including Leopold, Limper, Coik, sotmh, and Carrot.

Sunday, unfortunately, was uneventful.  The CoC game ran until about 4AM, so I didn’t wake up until after noon.  We left the house I was staying at very late, went looking for Clay’s (aka alsih2o or Muddauber) party, and couldn’t find the bar so we just went on home to Chicago.  

And I dragged my poor fiancée with me through all of that.  But bless her heart, she had a good time!

Next year we really need to coordinate some more gatherings of people, as well as some game sessions, because that was really fun!


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## Psion (Jul 28, 2003)

Negative Zero said:
			
		

> *ahhh. so you're the one who passed it on to me!*




I think I may have caught this thing too. Were the symptoms achy body and very sore throat? (Nobody ever accused me of talking too much, so I knew something was up.)

Wish I would have remembered when I talked to you at the show, NegativeZero. I had a ton of business cards in my pouch. But I was so not into begging for swag that day that it skipped my mind.


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## Buttercup (Jul 28, 2003)

Pielorinho said:
			
		

> *I only got to meet Eric very briefly, but I did get to hang out with Alsih2o, Teflon Billy, Emergent, Piratecat, Storminator, and others from the boards.  Great bunch of people!
> *




And don't forget that you had the biggest order of onion rings in the entire world!  Each ring was about the size of a rib-eye steak.  There were, what?  8 people at our table in the Ram, and we still couldn't eat them all.  

It was great fun.  I'm just sorry I had to leave early, but I'm already looking forward to next year.


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## BOZ (Jul 28, 2003)

Psion said:
			
		

> *Edit: Here's Hound and Dextra's cute and talented kids, horking the d20 Kid's Coloring Book: Celebrity Edition.
> 
> They won a costume contest later that day! *




those girls were so cute at the ennies!    i also bought that coloring book for my future stepdaughter.


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## Buttercup (Jul 28, 2003)

*Re: (reposting from the other thread)*



			
				BOZ said:
			
		

> *Next year we really need to coordinate some more gatherings of people, as well as some game sessions, because that was really fun!   *




Absolutely!  Gaming with friends, what could be better?


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## BOZ (Jul 28, 2003)

Dinkeldog said:
			
		

> *It took a friend of mine 3 hours to get his.   *




despite people telling me it would take twice as long, we got ours in just over 2 hours on friday afternoon.  of course, saturday i saw that line was at least 1/3 longer...


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## francisca (Jul 28, 2003)

Negative Zero said:
			
		

> *
> 
> the highlight of my GenCon experience, once again, was deffinitely Leopold's G2 game! 16 or so players! SSSSSSSSSSSSO much fun!
> 
> ~NegZ *




Yep, who can forget War Golem's, ummm, "innovative" technique for fighting Dire Bears?   I have pictures from thursday night and will post them soon, how did it go saturday night? 

And it was great to meet all of you: War Golem and May, Negative Zero, EOL, Ashy, Leopold, Simmo, Teflon Billy, Hand of Evil, and others I am sure I am forgetting.  And again, as I told Morrus and Eric Noah personally, thanks for all of the hard work you guys put into this place.


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## Marion Poliquin (Jul 28, 2003)

Piratecat said:
			
		

> *And my personal favorite, yoinked from Clay - the unflappable Teflon Billy demonstrates to Hellhound and JGBrowning exactly what he thinks of candid photography.  In the background, Suzi looks on with bemusement. *



I just showed JGBrowning's picture around the office and my co-workers agree that we look eerily alike.


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## Hand of Evil (Jul 28, 2003)

Off to get my pics, hopefully they came out!  Next year a digital camera.

Gencon was a fantastic time and very pleased with Indy.  Will do some form of write up later but wanted to say how much I enjoyed seeing all of you.


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## Psion (Jul 28, 2003)

> *I just showed JGBrowning's picture around the office and my co-workers agree that we look eerily alike.*




Y'know, I met lots of people there that look eerily like people I know IRL.

Michael Morris looks (and sounds) like an engineer that used to work with me.
Dextra looks like an old friend of mine in Bremerton.
Crothian reminds me of a guy I went to college with.
TRS Dee looks like a government engineer I work with.
TB would be a dead ringer for a guy I went to high school with if he gained a few pounds.
And so on...


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## Pielorinho (Jul 28, 2003)

Strangely, nobody I saw there looked much like me -- although Piratecat swore he knew my brother (Spider) from somewhere.

Buttercup is right about the onion rings:  that restaurant served good food, but they served it in ridiculous sizes.  Near as I can tell, they used jumbo onions, cut one belt-wide ring from each onion, and used the rest of the onion in another dish.  I got a tower of these rings about a foot high.  Silliness, I tell you!

Probably my favorite parts of the con (and I enjoyed it all) were hanging out with folks Friday night and Sunday afternoon.  Y'all are pretty great people!

Daniel


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## Kid Charlemagne (Jul 28, 2003)

Dinkeldog said:
			
		

> *
> Also, rather than blowing up the munitions dump, we sent a rampaging elephant into the compound. *




We used a camel for cover.   And we blew up the munitions dump.


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## Pielorinho (Jul 28, 2003)

> We used a camel for cover. And we blew up the munitions dump.




I get to tell about my character a little now -- but just a little.  I was playing the sour-faced French Sherlock Holmes in Piratecat's Spycraft game, who had special shoes (their bottoms vibrated when they contacted gunpowder residue or dried blood), a portable Cray computer with a satellite linkup, and special contact lenses that could give me readouts of anything from my computer.

My greatest disappointment in the game was that we didn't actually investigate any scenes of old carnage.  I was prepared to walk into the room, look around, and say, "Zere has been great violence in zis place -- I can feel eet in my soul."  When people looked at me funny, I'd scowl at them, lift up my foot, and point at it.  "My sole, my sole!  It buzzes!  Zere iss blood on ze floor!"

'Tis a terrible thing to waste a pun.  I did, fortunately, get to call my incredibly good computer (useful for taking over the navigation systems of enemy cars) a +4 Hackmaster, so not all was lost.

Daniel


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## FungiMuncher (Jul 28, 2003)

Hey, I'm curious.  Did anyone else try the rotating restaurant on the top floor of the Hyatt?  I think it was called "The Eagle's Nest."    They had a dress code, but kindly let us grab a table while we were in our gamer garb.  Certainly, one of the best meals I've ever had: Cajun swordfish with a citrus tart for dessert.


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## der_kluge (Jul 28, 2003)

I don't know many gamers that can afford to eat in revolving restaurants.  


I had a great time, met lots of great folks.  Let's see, met PirateCat, Eric, Morrus, Alsih2o, Crothian, ButterCup, Dextra, Hellhound, Cthulhu's Librarian, Napftor, Psion, Sniktch... Geez, I'm sure there are others, but I'm forgetting them now.

It would be an honor to have any of you guys (and gals!) in my regular group.

Need to d/l all my pictures from my camera.  I only took a handful Wednesday afternoon (got some pics of the floor before it opened Thursday).

Sunday I ran around and got pictures of all the D20 booths I could find.

Had a great time.  I managed to stave off impulse purchases, and only picked up two modules by Monkeygod (I got to be the person to buy the absolute very first copy of Hellstone Deep, so that was cool), and I picked up two things of really cool dice.

I also worked at the Bastion Booth, and got two free books for doing that.  Their Critical Hits book is totally cool (I should know, I demo'd it for 4 hours!) - it's totally worth it for the Dung Golem, and the "Called shot on the groin" rules.  Awesome work, Bastion Press!

My book (Artificer's Handbook) did quite well, so I was very pleased with its success (too bad I don't get royalties for that!), and I got some great swag from MEG (hey, being a freelancer does have its perks after all).

Lessons learned: If there is something, I should purchase it when I see it, and not dwell on it.  Malhavoc ended up selling out of Requiem of a God, so I could not get that.
Also, Birkenstocks are ill-suited for GenCon - next year - Tennis shoes every day.
Next year - work my schedule around to accomodate even more gaming.  Also, I intend to game with some ENWorld folks.


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## EricNoah (Jul 28, 2003)

Pielorinho said:
			
		

> *
> Buttercup is right about the onion rings:  that restaurant served good food, but they served it in ridiculous sizes.  Near as I can tell, they used jumbo onions, cut one belt-wide ring from each onion, and used the rest of the onion in another dish.  I got a tower of these rings about a foot high.  Silliness, I tell you!
> *




The silliness continued after you left -- Jane used what was left to play some sort of a ring toss game after we moved into your booth!


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## Negative Zero (Jul 28, 2003)

Psion said:
			
		

> *I think I may have caught this thing too. Were the symptoms achy body and very sore throat? (Nobody ever accused me of talking too much, so I knew something was up.) ... *




yep, that's the one. since i was talking all day everyday, i assumed that was the cause. *sigh* oh well. at least now i can "talk" all day here without doing further damage  i really hope you don't have this coz it sucks! i'm such a wreck now. but it sure was worth it. 




> _Originally posted by francisca_
> Yep, who can forget War Golem's, ummm, "innovative" technique for fighting Dire Bears?



now that's the deffinition of memorable! not sure if we can post the details here tho ... unless you think Gra'ma will make an excpetion?  

~NegZ


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## Teflon Billy (Jul 28, 2003)

Hey all, just got in after about 20 hours in transit (God the flights were srrewed leaving Indy on Sunday).

I had a wicked time. Best Gen Con experience I've ever had (of four.

I will take the oppotuinity to give props to Piratecat, though in all honesty it will be little more than a restating of what others have already said: As a DM, the guy is the Real Deal. 

I thought the ENnies ("The Ennis Awards" according to my badge), went off as just about as well as they could have. Most awards ceremonies are incrdeibly tiresome in my opinion, but the ENnies rolled along pretty well based on the sheer entertainment value of the Presenters, the Winners and the the crowd itself.

*Privateer Press Guy* has got to be given some recognition for being such a humble good sport about picking up "his" companies 312 seperate awards despite having virtually no hand in any of them 

Following the awards I had some conversation with some folks who shall remain nameless, claiming that the ENnie awards voters were "Monte Cook's Bitches" and that he had won (well, won best publisher anyways) based on the fact that he had name recognition and was ex-WotC 

The Smiley above comes from the fact that this _very_ closely mirrors Momte's complaints concerning last year's ENnies results 

To quote Kurt Vonnegut: "...and so it goes" 

Anyway, the dealer's floor was really impressive this year, and I had many items I was planning to pick up on Sunday before I got on the plane, The Armageddon 2089 Setting Supplement, a nice dagger with a jewel (?) in the hilt, Negative Zero's initiative thingy, Arcana Unearthed, and Grave Robbers from Outer Space...then on Sunday I was told that I didn't have a credit card.

Not that my card was declined, not that I was over my limit, not that it had been reported stolen....I was told, by my institution, that I had _never_ been issued a VISA card by them (despite having it in my hand).

So I came home with nothing but Giant Monster Rampage 2: World War (which is awesome). 

At the Mongoose Booth I played an Armageddon 2089 demo with one of the designers (August Hahn?) and it was a ton of fun. Before I left for Gen Con, I was itching to run a game of Armageddon 2089, now I am veritably chomping at the bit to do so. This guy really understood how the product needed to be showcased and did so brilliantly. 

To whoever recommended The Red Garter as _the_ strip club in Indianapolis; I  give you my thanks. I had a terrific time there with Twin Rose Chris, the gentlemen from Troll Lords and my new friend Aldo Ghiozzi (with whom I sat at the airport for close to six hours). Aldo produces *Battle Cattle* and *Stuporheroes*, if you were wondering. He is also some kind of distributor.

it was great touching base with so many of you...


*Alsih20* (who is apparently going to change his screen handle here to "Clay") is an _awesome_ cat. 

I Finally met *Quickbeam* and we hit it off as well as I thought we would. It was a shame that fate conspired to keep us from playing Giant Monster Rampage together.

*Hound, Dextra and the Gelflings* were my upstairs neighbours. They amazed me, managed to work all day, entertain to kids and _still_ get out and party at night. You guys are a frickin' inspiration 

*Joe Browning and Suzi Yee* are _terrific_ drinking companions (and it seems that Joe and I used to breath the same muggy Louisiana air). Their next project sounds (to my ears) like another blast out of the park. 

I won't say what it is, because I have no idea if there was an implied NDA when we were discussing it, but I will say this: Had you asked me last year what type pf product I thought D&D needed, I would've said something akin to *Magical Medieval Society-Western Europe*. If you asked me last month what prodcut I thought _gaming in general_ needed; I would have described *XRP's upcoming relase*.

It was nice to finally meet *Sniktch*, the only person I'm certain was reading my story hour religiously 

*Pielorhino and Spider* were smart guys. And by smart I mean clever, cunning, devious and quick. These are the guys I _never_ get on my team in tournament play (and still don't...the Spycraft game wasn't a tournament). I assumed that Daniel's last name was Pielorhino--it's not. Apparently "Pielorhino" as a title has something to do with Pelor and being small. I was told to pronounce it as if it was written in Portugese. I am, if anyhting, more in the dark than ever.

My roommates *Crothian* and *Psion* were both good guys. It was nice to finally get a chance to pick Psion's brain about a few games and our impromptu game of "Zombie Robot Fighter of the Island of Whatever" was really a blast 

Psion, you snore man  


I'm going to log off for a bit and try and catch some sleep. I'll post more later as I think of it.

Thanks to everyone who made this such a blast.


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## BiggusGeekus (Jul 28, 2003)

Teflon Billy said:
			
		

> *Alsih20* (who is apparently going to change his screen handle here to "Clay")




Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!  Don't do it, Clay! 



> *Joe Browning and Suzi Yee* are _terrific_ drinking companions (and it seems that Joe and I used to breath the same muggy Louisiana air). Their next project sounds (to my ears) like another blast out of the park.




I am Jack's complete lack of surprise.

EXPress should be on every gamer's "publishers to watch" list.


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## Negative Zero (Jul 28, 2003)

Teflon Billy said:
			
		

> *... the flights were srrewed leaving Indy on Sunday...*



it's funny but i seem to be in the process of forming a horrible GenCon return flight tradition. i got delayed last year for 6 hours, this year, it was only an hour, but when we got here, my fiancee lost her parking ticket and happened to be driving her sister's car instead of hers and didn't have the registration. was an awful night. cops got called, plates were run, and parking attendants spoke (what i assume was) english but still couldn't be understood.



			
				Teflon Billy said:
			
		

> *... Not that my card was declined, not that I was over my limit, not that it had been reported stolen....I was told, by my institution, that I had never been issued a VISA card by them (despite having it in my hand). ...*




didn't this happen to Sandra Bullock too?  maybe you're stuck in The Net too 

if anyone took pics of the fountain in the park next to the Westin, i'd be eternally gratefull if you'd post them. didn't have a camera this year, and i've got a thing for fountains. this one was just beautiful.

~NegZ


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## Negative Zero (Jul 28, 2003)

Teflon Billy said:
			
		

> *... Alsih20 (who is apparently going to change his screen handle here to "Clay") is an awesome cat. ... *



at least we should be able to pronounce it now! 

~NegZ


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## Silver Moon (Jul 29, 2003)

Pielorinho said:
			
		

> *However, the biggest cool thing about the game:  Kevin's default assumption seems to be that your character's actions succeed.  Faced with a tough call my temptation would be to answer "nope."  Kevin manages to answer "yep" most of the time, which keeps the game moving fast and gives folks the pleasure of getting to use their abilities and show off. *



I observed the same thing last month in a Mutants and Masterminds game that he ran - it most certainly added to the fun as the heroes managed to destroy both Boston's Fenway Park and the New England Aquarium.


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## Ankh-Morpork Guard (Jul 29, 2003)

Great stories! Keep talking about it for those of us who couldn't go! And more pictures!  

*sigh* Looks like the soonest I'll be able to make it to a GenCon is 2005....


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## Psion (Jul 29, 2003)

Teflon Billy said:
			
		

> *Psion, you snore man  *




Hate to break it, I ain't the only one.


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## Teflon Billy (Jul 29, 2003)

Psion said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Hate to break it, I ain't the only one.  *




LOL


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## Psion (Jul 29, 2003)

Negative Zero said:
			
		

> *
> it's funny but i seem to be in the process of forming a horrible GenCon return flight tradition. i got delayed last year for 6 hours, this year, it was only an hour, but when we got here, my fiancee lost her parking ticket and happened to be driving her sister's car instead of hers and didn't have the registration. was an awful night. cops got called, plates were run, and parking attendants spoke (what i assume was) english but still couldn't be understood.*




Well, Sunday morning my flight was at 6:45. It's only like 10 minutes to the airport and I packed the night before, so I got up at 5:00 figuring I had plenty of time, so I took a shower.

As I got ready to go, I could not find my wallet anywhere. Having tried to weasel my way into a later flight the night before, I knew all of the other flights out sunday were booked, so I had to leave or I would have to get a new room for another night. I am in a sheer panic and had to rifle through my luggage to find my wallet in an obscure pocket of one of my bags. I'm sure the other folks in the room didn't appreciate it.

I got to the terminal as the plane was boarding.


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## Buttercup (Jul 29, 2003)

Psion and Neg Zero, it definately sounds like you caught the bug I have.  Very sorry.

Anyway, here are some more things that keep making me smile.

*That Privateer Press guy at the Ennies.  I was sitting between Emergent and Cthulu's Librarian, and we were all cracking up.

*Talking Shop with Eric & Cthulu's Librarian.  As Eric said, we were geeking out.  

*Boz looks just like I pictured him!

*Crothian being such a good sport.  I ribbed him a bit about his post count after the Ennies, and he took it all in stride.  He's a peach.

*Negative Zero is a charming guy, who could sell refrigerators to the Eskimos, I think.  But hey, it's ok.  I'll be using his initiative chart next Sunday.  

*Paladin & Paladinwife, two of the nicest people anyone could ever hope to meet.

*MEG Hal, another one of the nicest people anyone could ever hope to meet.

*Just generally, that I really liked every one of the EN Worlders I met.  I had wondered if it would be awkward to meet in real life,  but it wasn't.  It was just like hanging out with old friends.  Comfortable like a favorite pair of shoes.  You guys are the best.

Next year, I want to plan ahead for lots more gaming with all of you fine folks.


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## Teflon Billy (Jul 29, 2003)

Buttercup said:
			
		

> *...MEG Hal, another one of the nicest people anyone could ever hope to meet...*




What's with the guy? Every year it seems that Gen Con becomes this much ----><---- more the "Hal Greenberg Appreciation Society".

Hal's got the Mojo. I'm as affected as anyone


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## DonAdam (Jul 29, 2003)

FYI, the "Privateer Press Guy" is Joseph Miller (also wrote "Illusionism" and "Familiars" for Mongoose).

He posts (infrequently) on the boards as Jaldaen. He won't be around for a few weeks while he's on vacation, which means he's also holding up our Tuesday night Mutants and Masterminds game  

I'll have my pictures and stories up later this week after they get developed and scanned.


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## Archade (Jul 29, 2003)

*The Con*

My highlights.

* Meeting some of the guys who run these businesses.  Nice, down to earth, friendly people.  Thanks for chatting!

* Leopold's game.  Especially Storminator eating his own right arm, the Dire Fiendish Ass-Bear, and the Jello Cube that ate my Azer Paladin.  Dude, you are one killer DM ;>  But I did buy an angry-face dice to take home to my group.

* Spending too much money.

* Going to PS O'Rourke's after.  Sorry I couldn't stay longer.  Next time, take monday off, and bring more Canadian beer with me!

See you guys next year,
Archade


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## The Pope (Jul 29, 2003)

I don't post often, but I have to post about this. I had a blast at GenCon this year. It was my third time going, and I loved it. Except that my hotel was 80 blocks from the convention center. Highlights were thus:

*Free Stuff! I swear I reacouped the $200 the trip cost in free things. From my White Wolf Time of Judgement T-Shirt, all the free cards, to the Free Limited Edition Exalted Core Rules, I made out like a bandit.

*Anime Room: The Anime Room was GREAT this year. I want to send out a thanks to all the dealers who sent stuff up to the room to give away. Everyone had a blast.

There was other stuff too, but I'm tired and don't remember. The registration line was long, in previous years I hadn't pre-reged and had gotten through the line in 5 minutes. 2 hours was unacceptable, but after that, I forgot about it and had a wonderful time. Next year I will make it to the ENW gathering. Definately.


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## Teflon Billy (Jul 29, 2003)

DonAdam said:
			
		

> *FYI, the "Privateer Press Guy" is Joseph Miller (also wrote "Illusionism" and "Familiars" for Mongoose).
> 
> He posts (infrequently) on the boards as Jaldaen...*




Sorry, but from now on he's *Privateer Press Guy* in my mind


----------



## HellHound (Jul 29, 2003)

No pics. Just Stories.

Crothian is -amazing-. Don't be fooled by his post-count, he is quiet and unassuming, but I'm sure he will back you up to the wall if push came to shove. He takes a ribbing and looks slightly embarrassed for a few seconds and then slides right back into conversation. He's my star of GenCon. At the ENnies, just before the show started, a voice rang out "Everyone stare and point at Crothian!" and everyone did. He looked like he was going to melt. "Look what postcount gets you!" (referring to being stared at, not to his position as an ENnie judge), and he grinned and tried to prevent himself from turning too red.
Oh yeah, his new name is either Naomi (the name he was registered at the hotel under) or Garth Vader (the name on his official GenCon badge).

Tefflon Billy. We spent a lot of GenCon last year hanging out with him, and this year we spent only a bit of time chillin' (and one good night of drinkin' and eatin', as shown in the photo where he is giving PKitty the "number 1" sign!). Billy is a class act and a lot of fun. "And a damn handsome man". Ahem.  Great spending time together. As for his admiration of our mad party skillz, even I was impressed with our endurance on Saturday night as we were heading out to the VALAR BOEF Promotional party Saturday night at midnight and ran into him coming home.

Psion. About darn time we got to meet. We've been chatting (mostly via the private messaging of various forums) since my introduction to 3e, long before I started publishing. Some great conversations, and it felt really 'cool' to have him ditch his game to come back upstairs to hang out with us. 

Buttercup. An absolute sweetheart. No good stories (this year), I'm afraid...

Hal. What can I say? He kept his pants on to the best of my knowledge. Our hotel became a focal point because of the excellent free breakfasts, so I got to see Hal in the morning even though he didn't stay in our hotel. Mooch 

Negative Zero. A cool man. We were chatting about racial stereotypes in games because he played in a pirates-based d20 game at a con where he played a very stereotyped "islander". The man SCREAMS Carribean to me. Cool yet excited at the same time. He also brought the ENWorld name tags for everyone which was awesome (and finally turned Garth Vader into Crothian).

Clay (AlSiH20). How wired can a guy be? All my mental images of him are as a hippy of course, so I think of him in terms of my father, the quintessential hippy. This involves being a LITTLE less hyper! Hyper hippies are a strange juxtaposition in my mind. Clay is awesome. The ENnie awards he made are awesome. And while my own haircut has made it so I am no longer the 'hairiest man in gaming', his certianly counters the old images of the Hairy Potter.

Joe Browning and Suzi Yee. What a blast. These two rock in a big way, and their releases are doing something to e-publishing that the industry needs. Rock on! And they TOTALLY buttered up my kids. That rules.

Maldur. I love this man. Maldur is the FIRST person I have ever met who stepped forward to declare his love of my cyberpunk website. I maintained The Blackhammer CyberPunk Project for 4 or 5 years before turning to d20 publishing, and Maldur is one of my old readers. Maldur, if and when I get around to publishing Cyberpunk stuff, you are scoring comps. Maldur also traded Euro coins for Canadian coins with our portable baby-sitter, Half-Mad.

Sniktch. The rat bastard. Cheerful as hell. I think between Sniktch and Maldur, there were ALWAYS big grins going on 24/7. But with Maldur, the grin is going on seriously above yoru head (Maldur is TALL), whereas with Sniktch, you can see the grin in your face. Sniktch got to regale us with his status as one of the very first of the second-generation role-players, having been introduced to RPGs by his father long long ago in a galaxy far, far away.

Peter Adkinson. Who else shows up at the 'top secret' promo party for the BOEF in a lizard-man (ahem... 'Deep One') costume? The gaming mogul himself!

Mark Rein-Hagen. I'm an old Vampire fan, so meeting Mark was a thrill. Mark won't remember me. Right after we shook hands, he fell over backwards. It was a GOOD night.

So many more people... Will post more personal recollections later in this thread.

Events.

Turns out this year I was eligible to be a GenCon VIP as I had won an ENnie last year, but I only clued into this as we were leaving the Con and I was reading the VIP material. 

You see, we get to be VIPs next year.

Not for an ENnie (don't qualify for those anymore), but because my lovely daughters (the gelflings) won the Talent category of the costume contest. THEY are the VIPs, not me. They were the stars of GenCon. We had a half-dozen people come up to get them to autograph the Kid's Colouring Book o Critters before the ENnies show. They won the Talent contest, and second place in the 'Best of Show' category. Rock On.

Risk 2210.

Our friend Half-Mad came along to GenCon to help us drive (16 hours) and to babysit the gelflings while Denise and I were at the Valar BOEF party on Saturday night. On Thursday, he signed up for a game of Risk 2210. He loves Risk. He loves Risk 2210 even more. We play it at my place about once every 3-4 weeks. He has never won. He rarely even manages to eke out anything above the lowest score each game. Good thing he LOVES Risk, or he would have given up in frustration years ago.

He got his butt kicked at the competition.

But he comes to the hotel room and describes the prizes. If you win a preliminary round, you qualify for the semi-finals. The winner of each of the 5 semi-final rounds goes on to the finals AND wins a $400-$500 plexi-glass version of the game board. He asks me to try to win also, as he only wants to win it to give it to me so we can play on it (he doesn't own the actual game).

So I go with him to the Friday game at 9am. We sign in and play at the same table. Not only does he win for the first time ever, but with the highest score we've seen at one of our games. I came in second with a score of 40 points, which is DARN respectable, and higher than many 1st place scores I have seen.

I tried again on Saturday morning and also lost.

But the organizer pulled me aside to say that the second place winners with high scores should show up, as they will sub in if any of the first-place players don't show.

So I show up Sunday morning, get to one of the tables, and manage to pull off a solid, quick win. Half-Mad was eliminated completely on the 4th turn on his table. So, I won the plexi version of the board, and progressed to the finals. 

The finals were run at the WotC booth from noon - 4pm. It was great because TONS of people were watching, the game was REALLY tight, exciting and nail-bitting. I had both gelflings cheering me on, Dextra dropping by occasionally...

And I came in second.

Pretty darn respectable.

I'll post links to the pictures on http://www.avalonhill.com/default.asp?x=welcome/op when they post them. I won a cool "Nuclear Commander" patch too. What made me REALLY happy was that the game remained friendly at heart. All five of us were there gunning for the board, not the bomber jacket (the prize for the champion), so we had already won what we had come for, the championship game was really just 'gravy'. Thus the game ran well and smoothly and no one got too antsy about it, even the gentleman jammed into last place for most of the game always smiled.


----------



## alsih2o (Jul 29, 2003)

just back, wanna write a note saying thank you so much to eeryone who showed up sunday for the party at my brother units bar. his staff raved about all of you, saying they wish all their customers were so friendly and polite. you guys made me sooo proud. i have a huge list of thank you notes to send and post, and literally 155 pictures.

 loved meeting everyone, details when i feel less like a zombie.

 if you got an ennie, i have a pic of you, email me if you want it.....

 i LOVED meeting all the enworlders, best part of the con for me.


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## ColonelHardisson (Jul 29, 2003)

After reading all this, it stings even more that the great god Money conspired to keep me from GenCon this year.  Ah well, there's always next year...


----------



## Storminator (Jul 29, 2003)

Ashy said:
			
		

> *
> 
> What an utterly awesome game!  Pkitty was superb (as is to be expected, I guess) and Storminator is my new hero!
> <SNIP>
> *




Aw, shucks...thanks. 

 Those games were an absolute blast. Everyone's tired of hearing my "Great Cleaving Ogre Story." If you can't have fun as a great cleaving ogre, you just can't have fun!



PS


----------



## Storminator (Jul 29, 2003)

*Re: The Con*



			
				Archade said:
			
		

> *
> <SNIP>
> 
> * Leopold's game.  Especially Storminator eating his own right arm, the Dire Fiendish Ass-Bear, and the Jello Cube that ate my Azer Paladin.  Dude, you are one killer DM ;>  But I did buy an angry-face dice to take home to my group.
> ...




Yes, I played both an ogre AND a troll over the weekend...



You know, the simple description of DFAB doesn't do justice to the absolutely horrible puns and infantile jokes we told. Especially the second round. Turns out you never do run out of of horrible ass puns and infantile jokes...

PS


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## Seule (Jul 29, 2003)

HellHound said:
			
		

> *Maldur. I love this man. Maldur is the FIRST person I have ever met who stepped forward to declare his love of my cyberpunk website. I maintained The Blackhammer CyberPunk Project for 4 or 5 years before turning to d20 publishing, and Maldur is one of my old readers. Maldur, if and when I get around to publishing Cyberpunk stuff, you are scoring comps. Maldur also traded Euro coins for Canadian coins with our portable baby-sitter, Half-Mad.*




You ran Blackhammer?  Cool!  That was (and maybe still is, I dunno) a great site!

I have to get there next year.  I went to Origins this year, but it sounds like a lot more people that I'd want to meet were there.

  --Seule


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## Storminator (Jul 29, 2003)

francisca said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Yep, who can forget War Golem's, ummm, "innovative" technique for fighting Dire Bears?   I have pictures from thursday night and will post them soon, how did it go saturday night?
> 
> And it was great to meet all of you: War Golem and May, Negative Zero, EOL, Ashy, Leopold, Simmo, Teflon Billy, Hand of Evil, and others I am sure I am forgetting.  And again, as I told Morrus and Eric Noah personally, thanks for all of the hard work you guys put into this place. *




Hey francisca, which one were you?

Does it sound weird to anyone else to say "War Golem and May?" 

PS


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## mearls (Jul 29, 2003)

EricNoah said:
			
		

> *After the ENnies I have memories of wandering the streets with a horde of people, some of them got lost, I was told that Monte Cook was maybe kind of looking for us so Russ and I went out looking for him.  We eventually spotted a couple of "famous" folks in a bar so I paid the cover charge, went in, found out it wasn't a group that was "with us" or "looking for us" or really even "interested in us" so we went back to the original bar ... *




Oh man, I feel like crap about this. I thought you guys were looking for Monte, not necessarily looking to hang out. For some reason, I didn't even think you had paid the cover. If I was giving off anti-social vibes, I'm really sorry. I'll gladly make up for any cover charges in drinks (or dice, or whatever) at GenCon next year.

Man, I feel like a jerk.


----------



## Storminator (Jul 29, 2003)

Teflon Billy said:
			
		

> *
> 
> <SNIP>
> 
> ...




Yup.  Unfortunately most of his clever plans were wasted on us ogres. "Arldag plan to long. Cromlok not remember beginning... Cromlok got new plan! Cromlok smash!" 

I did love the holding the knights down at the bottom of the river, tho, absolutely priceless!

PS


----------



## Dextra (Jul 29, 2003)

*addendum*

I already posted some comments in the publishers' forum, so I'll repost them here and elaborate.

WHAT A WEEKEND!

First of all, it was fantastic to meet so many ENWorlders... Of course, it's always great to see old friends, and professional contacts, especially helpful ones like Crothian (who helped man the booth while I chased around the Con) and Mr Billy (he really IS a handsome rascal!)... But meeting so many of the online faces was great! People travelled near and afar, braving bad in-flight movies and missing luggage, and I thank you for your effort!

Our booth was so far away from the entrances that by the time people reached us, they were so tired that they needed to sit down for a demo of Campaign Suite, and so few made it tour end of the world that we were able to invest in quality time with each and every person who walked by. And saying good morning to Kenny Baker as he walked by wasn't too hard on the spirit either.  Chris and Dee from Twin Rose- you guys are fantastic for letting us horn in on your booth space.  Just so all y'all know, they paid for the lion's share of the booth, and yet took up only a tiny corner of it, leaving the rest for us to pimp our books and for us to have somewhere to meet up.  Poor Dee is recovering from a twisted knee, so was backed into a corner in her wheelchair, so space was at a premium!  Michael Morris has a brain the size of a planet.  He brought and stocked a mini-fridge at the booth.  THANK YOU!  

The lil' Canadia Suite ROCKED. Udon Studios donated some special Street Fighter previews (available exclusively at the Canadiana Suite and at last week's ComicCon) and some Exalted books that they illustrated and some other comics. Fiery Dragon provided a case of MooseHead beer and some Canadian flags and stuff, Red Shirt Games brought cheese curds for our poutine and some Canadian Club rye... And we had about fifty people pop by throughout the week. Thanks for dropping by everyone!  Honestly, our suite wasn't a constant party palace- it was once the dealer room was closed Thursday (until we kicked everyone out around midnight, I think?), Friday (until we kicked everyone out just after eight so the girls and I could get dressed and practice their speeches for the ENnies), and Satyrday (until Jake and I had to leave for a party- not the White Wolf one, the Valar after-hours one).  I'm already looking into what we can pull off for next year!

We sold lots of books, particularly ENPJ #2 and the Kids' Colouring Book. Thanks everyone for being so supportive.  BIG thank you's to those who asked the girls for their autographs.  And thanks to those who contributed art and content and who autographed the girls' copies.  

On the subject of being supportive and hearkening back to great publishers, there were a whole whack of publishers who donated product to the ENWorld party, so thank you everyone! We couldn't make it- didn't feel like bringing the kids to a bar for some reason, and we really needed to get home soon. I hope the party went well!

On Sunday Hound placed second in the finals in DCI's Risk 2210 Tournament, bringing home a GORGEOUS plexiglass board to taunt our friends with.  So if you missed saying hi to him on Sunday, it wasn't because he was avoiding you, twas because he was out conquering the world.  

The kids placed second in the Best in Show for the Costume contest (JUST missing winning an XBox with the new D&D game), but DID win first place in their category for their dancing. Yes, this is a proud momma whose daughters won for their talent, not their looks. AND they got the signatures of the celebrity judges on their papers including Tracy Lords'. Coolio.

Gen paid the $5 that made the record for the longest time an individual spent in jail, and impressed the Code Monkey types with her oh-so kind Pointing and Laughing and Taunting the prisoner.  Gen and Chrys are currently wearing their Monkey T-shirts to bed.

The Gelflings were interviewed by GamerTV (from the UK, apparently- I don't get cable, so never heard of them) and filmed by TechTV (yet another obscure channel of which I'd never heard), and were on the local news when their father was put in Klingon Jail.

Dave Arneson came by the booth and picking up a copy of the Kids Colouring Book- his granddaughter loved the GenCon 2002 edition, so hopefully she'll like the Celebrity Edition!

Overall comments:
I was impressed by the quality of people and conversations we had with all of our new/old friends.   I just loved the community, and the ability to recognize names and put faces to them.  One night we were sitting around in Lil' Canadia discussing game design, 3.5 opinions, etc. and it suddenly dawned on me that here we were talking about total gaming geek stuff, and everyone was participating, had an opinion, and it was all good.  GREAT feeling.  GenCon is the Cheers of geekdom.  During the Risk game, Jake would exclaim "Australia Australia Australia we love ya" whenever someone would take over a territory therein, and other players would respond with "G'day Bruce".  Before the costume contest, the really big Martian costumed guy was taking a picture of a great DareDevil costumed guy, and said "well, I don't have to worry about warning you about the flash, being blind and all".  Obscure comic references, no problem.  Monty Python quotes, sure.  Chucking dice, card floppin, twas all good.

Gamer/Geekdom celebrities were approachable and amenable, and human as ever, which was great.  I'm working on negotiating my daughters' dowry for her betrothal to Brom's eldest.  I got great big warm hugs from Big Name White Wolf Peeps, from Frank Krug (who did some great art for the Carrion Huntress download webhancement for Necromancer's Legacy), from Peter the CodeMonkey from Paradigm...  The Gelflings were instantly adopted by ArthurQ... It was an immense pleasure to meet everyone, or to be able to spend more time with people we'd spent time with before.

Hal really is just a big ball of sociable.  It's amazing.

I constantly washed my hands, and yet I caught The Bug.  It may have something to do with not getting more than three hours of sleep in any night since Monday.  That and our booth being right underneath the Con's most powerful vent running full blast.  I had to go buy that lovely shiny cloak just to keep warm (well, and to wear to the Valar party)  

Other purchases/Swag besides the cloak: 
_Cannibal Pygmies in the Jungle of Doom_ and _Kung Fu Samurai on Giant Robot Island_.  I swear, between Jim Zubkavich (artist for QuickShots/Udon Studios- the guy who turned us on to the game at Origins), Crothian and myself, we must have been directly responsible for the purchase or referrals of a thousand dollar's worth of games from Z-man!  Thanks for the discount guys!
Two beautiful masks from the artist room.  I've been eyeing them since last year, and finally splurged on the expense, and don't regret a penny.  Wearable art?  Yes please!
Apples to Apples from OUT of the BOX.  Fun, educational games.  And apparently they have a French version available from their Europpean site.  Fantastic chance to help improve the family's vocabulary.
The Gelflings bought one of those fuzzy, moveable dragon creatures you'd see on peoples' shoulders, a solid hematite skull for their dad, some t-shirts for themselves, and won some great free stuff from the Wizard's Quest setup.  The first time they tried, Chrystine got herself a NeoPet, and Gen wanted to win something for her dad and got him the Star Wars Hero's Guide.  The next day, they each got NeoPets.  So now we have three NeoPets all talking to each other, rolling around on the floor.  Oh yeah, and the girls got a silver BobaFett figurine from Paizo (thanks Erik!)

Disappointments:
Not enough time to search for swag.  Jake was in the tournament so I felt bad every time I had to leave the booth.  
Not enough time to hang out with everyone with whom I would've liked. 
I pity the people who didn't get their passes mailed to them in advance who ended up spending four hours in line.
Missing the White Wolf announcement so I could've seen the WoD fanboy faces drop.   
Not getting Gen into a Living Arcanis game all weekend.  She's got the judge's card, so in theory could've run a game, but we wanted to have her play in a Con game to get a taste.  Next year, I guess.
Jake didn't get to go shopping.  Well, that's not MUCH of a disappointment, but it does mean that we don't have a copy of Arcana Unearthed yet as well as a couple of other pieces we were looking for (so we'll just pick them up at our FLGS instead).

All in all, a GREAT time.  Great parties, great people... Peter should be proud of another great Con.  I loved Indy- it's bigger, cleaner, and great hotels too.

So- who's coming to GenCon SoCal?  Should we try and score a booth, maybe with a table where we can play some games?


----------



## Napftor (Jul 29, 2003)

Well, I can say that my first GenCon was a great, and eye-opening, experience.  The ENnies were good fun but could we not clap after every friggin word?  My palms were starting to hurt.  

Let's see...who did I meet...

Wednesday: Arrived in the evening and met Hal and Doug at the MEG booth.  We eventually headed over to Champions at the Marriott to have dinner.  I ate with Hal, Jim Butler, Steve Creech, Kevin Ruesch, and even Denise and her gelflings joined us later on.

Thursday: I think the first celebrity I met was Ed Greenwood.  While manning the MEG booth he came over and I got a picture of him for a friend that couldn't make it to the Con.  Ed's one great guy.  During the day I ran into (in no particular order): D. Chenault (Troll Lord), Joe Goodman (Goodman Games), Brannon "Ashy" Hollingsworth (Bastion/Enkwell), Brannon Hall (cool Bastion art dude), Larry Elmore (grabbed a bookmark and his "Twenty Years.." book), Margaret Weis & Jamie Chambers (Sov Stone--picked up the DL campaign setting and had it auto'd), Patrick Lawinger (a cool Necromancer Games writer), Monte Cook (picked up AU and got it signed), Eric L. Boyd (shook hands and told him he had a good last name), Ed Bourelle (cartography man extraordinaire), and I saw but didn't get to speak with Sam Witt at the booth.  Also the great MEG crew: Doug, Hal, Stefon & fiance, Charles, Curtis, Ken, Wade, Tammy, Becky, and Susannah!

Friday: While touring I spoke with Rob Vaughn (FFG booth), James Bell (Fiery Dragon), saw Troy Denning but had nothing for him to autograph!, and Joe Carriker (SSS).  And I believe I bumped into Buttercup (nice young lady!) and Clay (enthusiastic Con-goer if ever there was one) today as well.  Saw Morrus and Eric Noah at the MEG booth but was not able to speak with them.  
ENNie: Sat with Brannon Hall, Ashy, and a bloody nice lurker from England whose name escapes me at the moment (sorry!).

Saturday: Spoke with Greg Banage (FFG), Richard Knaaak (autographed his new DL minotaur novel), Chris Perkins (sold him a "Siege of Ebonring Keep" at the MEG booth--nice guy!), Matt Forbeck (a pleasure to encounter this great writer), Nicole Lindroos (a nicer woman you simply cannot find in publishing...aside from Sue Cook of course), James Lowder (saw at the booth but did not speak to), Chris Trossen (FFE editor/writer), and ENWorlders creamsteak, Teflon Billy, Quickbeam, and Henry!

Sunday: Enjoyed a seminar with the Game Mechanics (Stan!, JD Wiker and a Matt XX (cannot remember last name--good men all), Joseph Miller (the now-very-famous Privateer/Mongoose freelancer from the ENnies), Chris Pramas (Green Ronin guru), Ken Marable (Bastion), Steve Kenson (autogrpahed my M&M, which can you believe I didn't own yet?!), Frank Parkinson, Frank Melka (Bastion), Thomas Reid (signed my "Forged" novel), smaugdragon (co-host of Mortality radio), Skip "Sage" Williams (spoke to him about his Annotated PH from FFE), Tim Brown (FFE editor), Jim Ward (FFE top-dog), Dave Arneson (D&D co-founder who signed my Goodman Games Dungeon Crawl Classics #3.5), and last but not least Mike Mearls (the seemingly omnipresent d20 scribe-extraordinaire).

Whew!  I think that's everyone.  These great folks along with the massive amounts of swag/purchases I brought home made the Con a memory that will always be cherished.

EDIT: Knew I'd forget someone...Robert Williams (a great guy, master of Gaming Frontiers), Jeff and Dawn Ibach (classy ENNie winners), Wil Upchurch, and Sue Cook (first-class in all respects)!


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## Harlock (Jul 29, 2003)

thedangerranger said:
			
		

> *Highlights:
> +Watching the guy in the food court bistro at the mall serve people food then yell "TRAITOR!!!" and immediately start singing "Purple Rain".*




This would have been my GenCon highlight as well, had I been able to go.  I am jealous.  I hate you all.  Pity me.


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## MEG Hal (Jul 29, 2003)

Teflon Billy said:
			
		

> *
> 
> What's with the guy? Every year it seems that Gen Con becomes this much ----><---- more the "Hal Greenberg Appreciation Society".
> 
> Hal's got the Mojo. I'm as affected as anyone  *




Ahhh yes the H.G.A.S   

TB is quite the charmer as well. and Buttercup, I think you win the award of "first person being recognized by an ENWorld pic", I hope you feel better and it was a pleasure.

From a vendor:
It was busy, nice and busy.
Those I had time to meet and see, everyone was great and upbeat.
We were busy (thanks Monte!).
Sat lines were sad, we only heard about it around 4pm on that day (was at panels or at my booth all day)
The team at Gamer's Bag rocked!!!!!!!!!!! I had the pleasure of hanging out with them a lot, it was a real treat!
Also on my night tours: Monoogse (Mongoose Paul is a great guy), Bastion, CMP, Peter and the GenCon guys, Gamingreport.com, and my killer team!


Thanks all who stopped by and talked to me (us) Crothian, HoE etc...I love meeting you guys!


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## Negative Zero (Jul 29, 2003)

Buttercup said:
			
		

> *Psion and Neg Zero, it definately sounds like you caught the bug I have.  Very sorry. ... Negative Zero is a charming guy, who could sell refrigerators to the Eskimos, I think. But hey, it's ok. I'll be using his initiative chart next Sunday. ...*



oh you, hush now. surely you can't be responsible ... altho ... i don't remember anyone else who was sick ...  just kidding, it was a pleasure to meet you, i'll accept a lil bit of sick in exchange. besides, i'm still convinced it was those incosiderate cretins i call friends who had my room temp set to 60 degrees! not to mention that that exhibit floor was like a refrigerator! hmm maybe i should have tried to sell off their a/c unit 



> _Originally posted by HellHound_
> Negative Zero. A cool man. We were chatting about racial stereotypes in games because he played in a pirates-based d20 game at a con where he played a very stereotyped "islander". The man SCREAMS Carribean to me. Cool yet excited at the same time. He also brought the ENWorld name tags for everyone which was awesome (and finally turned Garth Vader into Crothian).



LOL that 7th Sea game was silly. wasn't aware that i carried the Caribbean banner that well. and very glad for it! you just made my night!

(still no pics of the Westin fountain?)

~NegZ


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## Queenie (Jul 29, 2003)

Well, we just got back.

Took us 15 hours to drive (again) and the butt is numb.

Will post some pics as soon as I get some feeling back..

Quickly, I do have to say that the BEST part of the con was meeting everyone at O'Rourke's.

Thanks Clay for putting it together!

Queenie


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## Teflon Billy (Jul 29, 2003)

Ok, refreshing nap is over, and I am back.

I tried to go to the *Traci Lords* Q/A, but was told that Traci would not answer questions about her career in pornography.

???

I was like "what the hell?" It reminded me of years back when select members of the *Gilligans Island* cast were in town for a boat show or some damned thing, and I contacted *Tina 'Ginger Grant" Louise*'s agent to see about getting her on my radio show.

I was told that she would love to do it, so long as *Gilligans Island* was not discussed. Baffling. 

I was like "What the hell am I supposed to ask *Tina Louise* that doesn't have anything to do with *Gilligan's Island*?? I mean honestly, Traci, Tina...understand why your famous for God's sake!

I gave that one a miss, as I wasn't sure if I remembered *Cry Baby* with Johnny Depp well enough to hear Miss Lords rememisce about her role as "Non-Speaking Pretty Girl".

On a completely unrelated note, I _finally_ got a chance to meet *Mike Mearls* and tell him that his are the few published adventures I find useful. Apparently my favorite (*Swords of Deception*) gets mentioned often by folks he speaks to.  He was friendly, affable guy who didn't insist I not discuss Published Adventures. good on ya Mike!

Dissing Traci Lords, and Praising Mike Mearls. christ I'm a geek  

(No offense Mike)


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## Buttercup (Jul 29, 2003)

Teflon Billy said:
			
		

> *Dissing Tracy Lords, and Praising Mike Mearls. christ I'm a geek  *




But you're *our* geek, Billy.


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## Piratecat (Jul 29, 2003)

TB, but did you ask Mearls about _his_ career in porn? I play Spycraft with the guy, and for crying out loud, you can never even get him to shut up about it.


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## Teflon Billy (Jul 29, 2003)

Piratecat said:
			
		

> *TB, but did you ask Mearls about his career in porn? I play Spycraft with the guy, and for crying out loud, you can never even get him to shut up about it.   *




I don't swing that way


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## DonAdam (Jul 29, 2003)

And a special thanks to Queenie and her husband for giving a few of us at O'Rourke's rides back downtown. Them cabs was expensive!


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## EricNoah (Jul 29, 2003)

mearls said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Oh man, I feel like crap about this. I thought you guys were looking for Monte, not necessarily looking to hang out. For some reason, I didn't even think you had paid the cover. If I was giving off anti-social vibes, I'm really sorry. I'll gladly make up for any cover charges in drinks (or dice, or whatever) at GenCon next year.
> 
> Man, I feel like a jerk. *




LOL -- no way man, it was just after going up three flights of stairs heading to a bar we weren't even sure existed I spot one familiar face and figure other familiar faces must be around.  Turned out I was wrong.  It was funny though!  I got a lot of milage out of it, it was totally worth $4.


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## Teflon Billy (Jul 29, 2003)

Are you saying you actualy _found_ the mythical "Four bars in one place"?

Hound, Clay and I looked all through that mall and came up empty.


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## francisca (Jul 29, 2003)

Storminator said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Hey francisca, which one were you?
> 
> ...




I was the the first "f***ing ninja" who jumped on the back of the dire bear.  I was sitting between War Golem and Archade.   I have a great picture of you guys on your side of the table.  It was taken right after Leopold announced that War Golem's feet were hanging out.  

Look for the post tomorrow.


----------



## francisca (Jul 29, 2003)

Negative Zero said:
			
		

> *
> 
> (still no pics of the Westin fountain?)
> 
> ~NegZ *




I'll get some shots when I head down to Indy to game in a couple of weeks and e-mail them to you.


----------



## Henry (Jul 29, 2003)

Teflon Billy said:
			
		

> *Are you saying you actualy found the mythical "Four bars in one place"?
> 
> Hound, Clay and I looked all through that mall and came up empty. *




Billy, I know it does you little good now, but:

1. Go to the Food Court in the Circle Center.

2. Look Up.


----------



## Taloras (Jul 29, 2003)

Damn.  Next year, I WILL be there. Might even try out for the costume contest.....as an SCA member, i have garb that would work perfectly...might even have armor by then   Unfortunately, when your working on weekends mostly, and dont have your own car (not to mention, making very little money), you cant afford to go to conventions.


----------



## Henry (Jul 29, 2003)

Good Lord, was I tired today.

This Gencon was in my opinion the best one I have ever attended. Folks, there were some new legends made this week, and many more to be made in upcoming years. Indianapolis wants us, and then some. 

The people I met were fantastic, most of them ENWorlders, but everyone I met was friendly, and ready to game at the drop of a hat. Some of the highlights I can recall:

--The Hall. That exhibit hall was huge, no doubts in my mind. I really proved this when walking from the east side to the west side to find the ENWorld booth, and took about two minutes of brisk walking to make it. It was easily over a football field wide.

--Gaming with PCat, Eric, Morrus, Creamsteak, Eridanis, and Jane. Russ, both my friend Mark and I want to thank you and Jane for the hospitality you showed all of us. Incidentally, it was my character, the ex-STASI agent, holding the Mercenary over the cliff face as Jane's character tortured him -- and he was taking notes. 

--Meeting Neg Zero, who was IMHO the hardest-working man at the 'con.  I will defintely be looking at Improved Initiative soon.

--Hellhound, who scored me a free print copy of Arcane Strife, which is ten times better than the loose-kleaf copy I was working from. Jason, I'm sorry I never got a chance to stop by "Little Canada," or to meet Dextra, but I'm hoping at a future con we'll get to.

--About a half-dozen new games I got to play: Savage Worlds, the D&D Mini's game, the Riddle of Steel, Spycraft, Arcana Unearthed, and a couple of really cool board games whose names I can't remember. If anyone EVER gets to go to Gencon for the first time, play as many games as you can that you've never played. It is to me the most worthwhile feature of the whole convention.

--Ed Greenwood. The man is fun in a can. I try to set in on either his Elminster seminar or his spin a yarn every year I go.

--Actually meeting Hand of Evil at the ENnies, totally by chance. Not only was a great person, It was nice to see someone "local." 

--Alsih2o, or "Clay," and the P.S. O'Rourke's gathering. We had to leave when it was just getting geared up, unfortunately, but I got to meet a LOT of ENWorlders. Crothian, DonAdam, and Maldur intorduced me to _Kung Fu Samurai on Giant Robot Island_, and I loved it - in fact, when I get a chance, I am buying that and some other Z-man Games for our group! I played Clay in a game of pool, actually beat him, and proceeded to get my butt handed to me twice by my gaming buddy, Mark.  That gathering was a blast, and I hope they keep on happening.

I had a great time, met some wonderful people, and have to quit gushing now, or I'll keep doing it all night.


----------



## haiiro (Jul 29, 2003)

As always, I had a blast at GenCon. 

One of the big highlights for me was finally heading up to the front of the White Ballroom after the ENnies (I can be pretty shy) and getting to meet a few of you. Buttercup introduced herself, as did Cthulhu's Librarian -- both just as cool in real life as they are here -- and I got to chat with Piratecat and tell him how much I like his story hour. I also got to thank Morrus for keeping EN World going for this long, which was important for me to do.

At other points in the con, I got to meet Dextra, Paladin and Paladinwife, all of whom were every bit as nice as I expected. Maybe I'll be a bit less shy next year, but it meant a lot to me to be able to meet those that I did. You guys rock.


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## dogoftheunderworld (Jul 29, 2003)

My first Con, and I only made it for part of the day Saturday.

- Spot Pirate Cat & Morrus from a distance - check. (Those EN World shirts really work!)
- EN World shirt of my own - check.
- Lil' Gamer bags for kids & and a custom dice bag for me from Paladin & Wife - check.
- Traverse entire vendor hall - check.
- DireKobolds.com subscription - check.
- Swag - check.
- Negative Zero selling from *two* boths - check.
- Missing all the games, events, get-togethers - check.  D'oh!
- Planning for the full con experience next year - double check.

Peace,

Brian
<><


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## BrooklynKnight (Jul 29, 2003)

nobody mentioned me *cries*


----------



## kkoie (Jul 29, 2003)

I had a great time at my first Gen Con, but MAN is it exhausting... granted I followed PCats advice and got needed sleep each night... but every day when afternoon rolled around, I was tired.  I would've tried to meet many of the Enworlder's after the Ennies or at the Post Con party... but I was exhausted.  I guess I just wasn't expecting so much walking around.   I'll definately have to de-wimpify myself for next years convention.


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## delost23 (Jul 29, 2003)

This was my first gencon every but I think I scored big time. I have one of the coolest pieces of swag ever. 
As my friend and I were walking through one of the hotels on the last day of the con they were getting rid of some poster boards for various events. One of the ones they were getting rid of was a big board that had all the seminar events for that part of the con. Kinda nifty but not all that great. So we took the board and headed to the exhibition hall for some last minute purchases. Then he (my friend) had the great idea of getting it signed. And not just by famous people. Anybody. So we started asking everyone who passed by to sign our sign. We got a couple of hundred people to sign it. Even Peter Adkinson himself stopped by and asked us if he could sign it. Then he shook our hands and thanked us for doing it. We might even be able to get a picture of it posted on the gencon site. As soon as i get pictures developed I'll try to post them there as well as several other places. If anyone signed the board and wants me to add them to a list I am compiling email me (chaoticevildwarf@yahoo.com) or post it here. All I can say is woot.


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## FungiMuncher (Jul 29, 2003)

delost23,

That IS cool!  I'd love to see pictures of it.

FM


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## Welverin (Jul 29, 2003)

Teflon Billy said:
			
		

> *
> Alsih20 (who is apparently going to change his screen handle here to "Clay")
> *




But it already *is* clay!



			
				Negative Zero said:
			
		

> *
> at least we should be able to pronounce it now! *




I'll give you a hint on how to pronounce Alsih20, it rhymes with play.



			
				The Pope said:
			
		

> *to the Free Limited Edition Exalted Core Rules*




How did you manage that?


----------



## MEG Hal (Jul 29, 2003)

delost23 said:
			
		

> *This was my first gencon every but I think I scored big time. I have one of the coolest pieces of swag ever.
> As my friend and I were walking through one of the hotels on the last day of the con they were getting rid of some poster boards for various events. One of the ones they were getting rid of was a big board that had all the seminar events for that part of the con. Kinda nifty but not all that great. So we took the board and headed to the exhibition hall for some last minute purchases. Then he (my friend) had the great idea of getting it signed. And not just by famous people. Anybody. So we started asking everyone who passed by to sign our sign. We got a couple of hundred people to sign it. Even Peter Adkinson himself stopped by and asked us if he could sign it. Then he shook our hands and thanked us for doing it. We might even be able to get a picture of it posted on the gencon site. As soon as i get pictures developed I'll try to post them there as well as several other places. If anyone signed the board and wants me to add them to a list I am compiling email me (chaoticevildwarf@yahoo.com) or post it here. All I can say is woot. *




You caught me and my business partner leaving so we signed it as well.


----------



## Henry (Jul 29, 2003)

ArthurQ said:
			
		

> *nobody mentioned me *cries* *




If it helps, Chris Perkins (I believe) mentioned you quite notably in the Star Wars Seminar! I can't remember what the suggestion was, but two people made a suggestion for a product improvement, and he responded with, "You haven't been by chance talking with ArthurQ, have you?"


----------



## Pielorinho (Jul 29, 2003)

Storminator said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Yup.  Unfortunately most of his clever plans were wasted on us ogres. "Arldag plan to long. Cromlok not remember beginning... Cromlok got new plan! Cromlok smash!" *




You were an awesome ogre, quite possibly the highlight of that game.  Only as I was driving home did I get a handle on how I should've played my 18 Int ogre mage when leading a group of boneheaded ogres -- for the whole game, I was torn between talking ogre-ese and talking 18-int-ese.  

I should've been yelling at you guys: "No!  Cromlok NOT smash now!  Cromlok wait for signal!  Wait!  For!  Signallll!" and then rolling my eyes and saying prissily to myself, "Honestly, sometimes I don't know why I bother explaining things to these nincompoops!" etc.

Ah well.  Sucks to get a handle on a character a day late.  The game was still great fun .

Daniel


----------



## Wulf Ratbane (Jul 29, 2003)

francisca said:
			
		

> *I'll get some shots when I head down to Indy to game in a couple of weeks and e-mail them to you. *




I passed on a whole lot of these excellent goings-on because I had the (non-gamer) girlfriend with me and I was being sensitive to her "exposure level."

But I *DID* get some pics of the fountain. 

In fact, I got some pics of some kids standing directly underneath the pounding cascade in the middle. For reasons of propriety, I didn't get a pic of one kid straddling the spout and getting what I have to imagine was the world's most powerful enema-- but it did make me yearn for my own dumbass youth. 

By the way, if you have the means-- as I do, since I am a highly paid game industry professional (cough)-- I highly recommend the Westin for the Heavenly Beds (tm) and Heavenly Shower (tm). The only thing that will entice you out of those beds is that shower.


Wulf


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## EricNoah (Jul 29, 2003)

ArthurQ said:
			
		

> *nobody mentioned me *cries* *




Ooh, ooh -- I sat right next to ArthurQ during the ENnies!


----------



## Michael Morris (Jul 29, 2003)

*Re: addendum*



			
				Dextra said:
			
		

> * Michael Morris has a brain the size of a planet.  He brought and stocked a mini-fridge at the booth.  THANK YOU!   *




Your too kind 

Dee and I discussed bringing a cooler or fridge to the con in the chatroom on Sunday (I think it was Sunday).  Anyway, I'm glad you guys liked it.


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## Mathew_Freeman (Jul 29, 2003)

I wasn't even at the Con, and I've still managed to get a copy of the ENWorld Players Journal signed by HellHound! Thanks, mate!


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## mythusmage (Jul 29, 2003)

Pielorinho said:
			
		

> *
> 
> You were an awesome ogre, quite possibly the highlight of that game.  Only as I was driving home did I get a handle on how I should've played my 18 Int ogre mage when leading a group of boneheaded ogres -- for the whole game, I was torn between talking ogre-ese and talking 18-int-ese.
> 
> ...




If you get the channel, catch _The Gummi Bears_ on *Toon Disney*. Watch it for a little fellow by the name of, Toadwort (Toady to his 'friends').

Toadwort is an ogre. Toadwort is a shrimp. Toadwort (in the tradition of cartoon sidekicks) has more on the ball than his putative superior (fellow by the name of Duke Igthorn, or Iggy as Toadwort calls him.)

Toadwort is a cheerful little fellow who's main goal in life is to help Iggy become king of a little postage stamp kingdom. Whenever Iggy is stymied in his plans, it is Toadwort who finds the bright spots in the situation. Which ticks Igthorn off. Which amuses Toadwort no end.

Toadwort is also an arrogant little snot who finds his fellow ogres dim enough to make a pitch black space even darker. (Think 10' tall four year olds after a breakfast of sugar coated sugar crunchies made with real sugar. Each of whom thinks of Igthorn as 'daddy'. Which last Iggy hates.)

In any case, see if you can catch a few episodes featuring Toadwort, or even the ones with Toadwort in a leading role. It should give you some idea of how an ogre brainiac deals with the typical ogre dimbulb.


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## Dire Wolf (Jul 29, 2003)

Just woke up after spending Monday in the car... 

My first Gencon and in a word "overwhelming".  My head was spinning the entire con.  I remember walking through the dealer hall on Sunday one last time and saying over and over "Wait, I didn't even see that yet, or that..."

Highlights of the con for me included but where not limited to:

True Dungeon: A cool concept and very well done for being the first time.  I will look for this event again.

Meeting all the celebs: You just don't get tired of meeting people like Ed Greenwood, R.A. Salvatore, Margaret Weis, Monte and Sue Cook, etc.  

Playing Magic in a full TCG hall at 5:00 AM:  This was my first Magic tourney of any kind, my wife had to basically push me into the hall as I was nervous.  I had a lot of fun and managed to hold my own till the last round.  The shiny promo card is nice too!

KODT live reading:  I can't get enough of this comic and to see it brought to life was precious.  Hopefully it will get a bigger room next year!

The gathering at Alsih2o's brother's bar on Sunday was so much fun.  It was great to meet all of you and I hope next year I can get in a game with all of you.  

Lowlights:  There weren't many but I have to say waiting from 7:30 AM - 10:30 AM to buy generic tickets on Thursday morning was one of them... I didn't think gamers got up at 7AM!

 I spent a lot of money on parking, about twice what I estimated, but when I compare it to what it would have cost me in NY so I can't really complain.

Funniest moments:  Both center around the gathering at PS O'Rourkes on Sunday. 

#1: Somebody said "That looks like Monte and Sue outside" and before I can turn around Alsih2o has vaulted himself from the seat over the table where we were playing Munchkin, tripped, recovered and ran down the stairs.  He then proceeded to introdue Monte as his "Close and personal friend", a funny scene all around.

#2: We gave a few people a ride back to their hotels after the gathering at PS O'Rourkes and failing my Intuit Direction check I managed to get us lost.  The funny part was the three guys in the back telling gaming stories don't pause for a second as I pull the car over on the highway and have to navigate by atlas after going about 5 miles out of the way.  It was all about the gaming.

Well, I think that is it for now.  Gencon was a blast and I can't wait to go again!


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## HellHound (Jul 29, 2003)

ArthurQ said:
			
		

> *nobody mentioned me *cries* *




I *told* you I would get my revenge.



So, Art was a great help setting up the booth on Wednesday, and then proceeded to purchase a... Batleth? (I have no clue, that kinglon weapon that we hassled him mercilessly about).

I guess I gave him a little TOO much of a ribbing.

Next thing I knew, Friday afternoon, a camera crew arrives behind me as the gelflings are getting their chance at the Wizard's Lair at WotC to win a neopet and a copy of the Star Wars Hero's Guide.

And they proceed to film me being arrested by the Klingons for the Klingon jail and bail.

I have promised Art that he shall suffer my revenge.


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## BrooklynKnight (Jul 29, 2003)

Henry said:
			
		

> *
> 
> If it helps, Chris Perkins (I believe) mentioned you quite notably in the Star Wars Seminar! I can't remember what the suggestion was, but two people made a suggestion for a product improvement, and he responded with, "You haven't been by chance talking with ArthurQ, have you?"  *




LOL! I was talking about here. but thats kool!

what were the suggestions they made?


----------



## BrooklynKnight (Jul 29, 2003)

EricNoah said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Ooh, ooh -- I sat right next to ArthurQ during the ENnies! *




actually I should be saying

Ooh, Ooh I sat next to Eric Noah at the Ennies!.
It was great sitting next to a bigwig. 
And Eric you did a GREAT  job presenting.


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## EricNoah (Jul 29, 2003)

ArthurQ said:
			
		

> *
> 
> It was great sitting next to a bigwig.
> *




Shhhh!!! No one must know about the toupee!!!


----------



## BrooklynKnight (Jul 29, 2003)

HellHound said:
			
		

> *
> 
> I *told* you I would get my revenge.
> 
> ...




Bat'leth!
jeez.
Oh hound, next year (or at So Cal) i'll start a collection to break Leo's record in the Jail and Bail. And we'll toss the Gelflings in there too to keep you company!! bwahah!




> Just woke up after spending Monday in the car...
> 
> My first Gencon and in a word "overwhelming". My head was spinning the entire con. I remember walking through the dealer hall on Sunday one last time and saying over and over "Wait, I didn't even see that yet, or that..."
> 
> ...




hey RJ since you're a fellow NY'er maybe next time we can travel together or room, and save some $$ It was kool meeting you.


----------



## BrooklynKnight (Jul 29, 2003)

EricNoah said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Shhhh!!! No one must know about the toupee!!! *



har har.


----------



## Dextra (Jul 29, 2003)

ArthurQ said:
			
		

> *nobody mentioned me *cries* *




*I* mentionned you.  pttttttthbt!
BTW, we were thinking about trying to pull off some Pre-ENnies for next year- sortov an all-ages cocktail reception with munchies... that way those ENWorlders who hadn't had a chance to meet yet could do so, we could all score a little nibble and drink before the show, etc.


----------



## BrooklynKnight (Jul 29, 2003)

Dextra said:
			
		

> *
> 
> I mentionned you.  pttttttthbt!
> BTW, we were thinking about trying to pull off some Pre-ENnies for next year- sortov an all-ages cocktail reception with munchies... that way those ENWorlders who hadn't had a chance to meet yet could do so, we could all score a little nibble and drink before the show, etc. *




Ah well that works with what I'm planning or would like to do. 
I posted my idea in the Post Production Thread.

We should just Cater the Ennies. In fact here is a better idea.


Instead of doing a Reception AFTER the show, We can do one BEFORE the show. Not just that but We'll have the pre-show slide show playing in the backround too.

It would be perfect. The Ballroom really was big enough to have a buffet table. We can contact someone in Indy to Cater or work through Peter for that.  But a larger more organized gathering with food is definatly a good idea.


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## EricNoah (Jul 29, 2003)

I was only half-joking when I said next year we need a Recreation Director for pre and post show fun.  It was tricky this year because no one knew where any of the bars/restaurants were or how big they were and how many wandering EN Worlders they might accommodate.


----------



## BrooklynKnight (Jul 29, 2003)

Actually, having someone help in the above ways was great. But the thing is if we have a reception its ok for people to split up after words.


----------



## Ashy (Jul 29, 2003)

Pielorinho said:
			
		

> *
> 
> You were an awesome ogre, quite possibly the highlight of that game.  Only as I was driving home did I get a handle on how I should've played my 18 Int ogre mage when leading a group of boneheaded ogres -- for the whole game, I was torn between talking ogre-ese and talking 18-int-ese.
> 
> ...




"See Cromlok?  Arldag talk talk talk - always talk.  Him like short plan.   Open-open-open-open-open-open---is it open yet????"

That game rocked!    And the best part IMHO, was not even in the module - the theft of the floaty boots!    Scott - ya did a fine, fine job my friend! 

Storminator is STILL my new hero tho!


----------



## Ashy (Jul 29, 2003)

Wulf Ratbane said:
			
		

> *
> By the way, if you have the means-- as I do, since I am a highly paid game industry professional (cough)-- I highly recommend the Westin for the Heavenly Beds (tm) and Heavenly Shower (tm). The only thing that will entice you out of those beds is that shower.
> 
> 
> Wulf *




I agree, Wulf.  Oddly, however, big-wig Mr. Bourelle complained about the beds at the Westin....  

I loved 'em, but then again, I was IN them very little...


----------



## Fiery James (Jul 29, 2003)

*Reflections*

I absolutely love all the ogre stories from the Giant's Skull session.  Scott had a blast, and talked about the 3 hours of fun that ended at "Encounter Area 1!"  You guys rock!

Don't feel too bad for that 8-year old girl that PC made cry.  When he told me the story, I fired off a quick shot that blew a hole through his chest.  Sorry man! 

All of the Fiery folk had a great time.  It was cool meeting you all, and I hope you all received the exclusive Orc & Pie Counter Collection.

Whoot!  

- James


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## simmo (Jul 29, 2003)

It was my first GenCon in the US this year and I had a thoroughly good time, despite the fact that my body refused to adjust to its new time-zone. I kept a fairly detailed diary of my time at GenCon, photos may be added later.

Thursday: 
- pick up EN World T-Shirts for Randomling and Tallarn, as well as EN World Player Journals (signed by HellHound)
- pick up 7th Sea / Swashbuckling Adventure supplement "Swashbuckling Arcana" for DM in the UK who writes for AEG (signed by Product Manager)
- DM a pickup game in room #140, module: "The Love of Art: Drawn to Gehenna" from EnkWell Press (available at DireKobold.com). PCs included: Brannon Hollingsworth, Brannon Hall, Rich Franks (Francisca), Nathan Letsinger, Joshua Knipp and Frederick York. Fun session, hope you all enjoyed it too.

Friday:
- hang out at Bastion booth for awhile, eventually buy 3 Oathbound book deal and ask Jim Butler and Ashy to sign them
- sit through demo of Twin Rose software, wanted to buy it right there but decided sleep on it
- WotC seminar "WotC New Campaign Seminar", missed the beginning of the seminar but it was interesting listening to how and why the setting was selected from 11000 entries
- another seminar "Art of Tony DiTerlizzi", first came across him in Planescape art and have been in love with his work ever since. Decided not to visit the art gallery until end of the Con as I would probably spend all my money on buying some original artwork
- finish the day off with another seminar "Write for Dungeon Magazine", interesting to see what goes in to making a good adventure: 1) villian 2) agenda 3) lair 4) lackeys 5) dungeon logic. Oops, I hope that was not a secret formula 
- Ennies! I have to agree with everyone that "That Guy" was hilarious, he deserved an award for his acceptance speeches.


> _originally posted by Napftor_
> ENNie: Sat with Brannon Hall, Ashy, and a bloody nice lurker from England whose name escapes me at the moment (sorry!).



- that was me! Don't worry though, I forgot your name as well 

Saturday:
- DM a registered game (Planescape), gave PCs choice of adventures and characters; either "The Love of Art: Drawn to Gehenna" by EnkWell Press or "Returning to the Planes" by Ken Marable. They chose the former. Had lots of fun at the end of the adventure when the NPC tried kill off the party with the help of one of the PCs.
- went to costume competition with Corthian, had lots of fun cheering for the incredible dancing gelflings! I would have cheered louder, but being british - it's just not the done thing  I'm still trying to figure out why the 'dark fey' won, gelflings were much better
- seminar time again: "Planescape" hosted by Ken Marable. Interesting discussion on the state of Planewalker.com and the future of the PS fan community
- hang out briefly in Canadia before sleep-walking to room and crashing

Sunday:
- finally buy Twin Rose software
- spend remainder of Con money on 2 peices of Planescape art by Tony DiTerlizzi
- final seminar of the Con: "Are Fairies Real?" by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black. Amusing stories about encounters with fairies.
- drop off art at hotel room, get distracted by reading Oathbound for a few hours and forgot where Clay's party was at, sorry 

Monday:
- fly back to the UK, where it is Tuesday already.
- start saving up for next year's GenCon as well as writing Planescape adventure for Dragonmeet (1-day Con on 1st December in London).

Enworlders were very friendly and next time I plan to get really drunnk on my first night to get over the jetlag. Until next year,

Simson


----------



## Negative Zero (Jul 29, 2003)

francisca said:
			
		

> *I'll get some shots when I head down to Indy to game in a couple of weeks and e-mail them to you. *



awesome! use this email address: don@improvedinitiative.com (my hotmail addy get full way too quickly, and the junk mail filter is merciless )



			
				Wulf Ratbane said:
			
		

> *... But I *DID* get some pics of the fountain.
> 
> 
> In fact, I got some pics of some kids standing directly underneath the pounding cascade in the middle. For reasons of propriety, I didn't get a pic of one kid straddling the spout and getting what I have to imagine was the world's most powerful enema-- but it did make me yearn for my own dumbass youth. ...*



awww c'mon, everyone loves a good enema picture!  (see above for address ... if you don't post them here that is.)

~NegZ


----------



## alsih2o (Jul 29, 2003)

for those of you who weren't there- negzero has one of those "i could listen all day" voices/accents. beautiful stuff


----------



## der_kluge (Jul 29, 2003)

Every year, I find that I could go through the entire dealer floor, and still miss half of it.  I perused it several times, and I went through it again Sunday afternoon, and realized I'd missed large chunks of it still.  Impossible.  Someone needs to formulate some kind of exhaustive route that goes through all the booths so that I can cover everything.

One of the coolest things was those plastic molds that you pour plaster-of-paris into, and make your own Dwarvenforge stuff.  I'm sure the Dwarvenforge guys didn't appreciate their booth very much!  

It's interesting to see how some of the big D20 publishers have their d20 books displayed like an afterthought.  Like, Privateer Press.  That's interesting, since I only really think of them as a d20 publisher.  It's also to see that there were some other d20 publishers there that I'd never heard of.  Like Dark Furies.  I'll be posting my pics of all the d20 publishers' booths soon.

I saw lots of EnWorld folks.  Talked with, and met several.  I definitely intend to run and play in more games next year.  Most definitely a priority.


----------



## Cog (Jul 29, 2003)

Henry said:
			
		

> *
> 
> If it helps, Chris Perkins (I believe) mentioned you quite notably in the Star Wars Seminar! I can't remember what the suggestion was, but two people made a suggestion for a product improvement, and he responded with, "You haven't been by chance talking with ArthurQ, have you?"  *




There was a mention by someone else in another seminar, but I cannot remember who, where or what about....

(edit: It was the "What's new in the Realms" seminar)


----------



## Brian K. Moseley (Jul 29, 2003)

Back from Gen Con, and what a time it was!  This was Darkfuries’ first Gen Con (and though I’ve gamed for over 20 years, it was my first as well).  I can’t wait for SoCal!  I know I’m forgetting to mention a bunch of things, but here are some of our highlights:

HIGHS
Seeing friends and meeting SO MANY great folks!
The enthusiasm and praise for Inns & Taverns, Aether & Flux, and the Color Companion floor plans.
White Wolf using our Canyon Road Tavern Color Companion floor plan in their booth demo.
The Exhibitor Reception on Friday night.
Plenty of space in the exhibit hall, and excellent air conditioning.

A side note for folks who asked: We’ll have limited quantities of the Color Companion floor plans available from our online store – once my work computer functioning properly again and I can update the website.

LOWS
Forgetting our camera - Again!
Being unable to attend the ENNIES Awards.
Not getting our demos of Aether & Flux into the events.
The 3+ hour lines of folks waiting to get inside when the computers went down.
Passing up my window of opportunity: a 12-person line for John Rhys-Davies’ autograph.


----------



## Rugger (Jul 29, 2003)

rjmc64 said:
			
		

> *
> Funniest moments:  Both center around the gathering at PS O'Rourkes on Sunday.
> 
> #2: We gave a few people a ride back to their hotels after the gathering at PS O'Rourkes and failing my Intuit Direction check I managed to get us lost.  The funny part was the three guys in the back telling gaming stories don't pause for a second as I pull the car over on the highway and have to navigate by atlas after going about 5 miles out of the way.  It was all about the gaming.
> ...




Heheh! If it makes you feel any better, Kugar and DonAdam never skipped a beat...but I did worry for a second.  Then the Heineken reminded me that women are excellent navigators and Queenie made her Intuit Direction check! Shame on you for stealing her credit!  Thanks to both of you for the ride!!

Highlights:
- Being in the first wave to grab AU...and getting Monte to do a "Vanna White" pose with it....I'll have to post that later...
- Playing a ton of Living Greyhawk (my fate is tied to it due to being on a Triad) and Green Regeant.
- Getting a sneak-peek at the what's coming up in Piratecat's Story Hour... MUHAHAHAHAH!
- Running into Piratecat randomly a number of times...made me feel right at home, as this is what happens at New England cons...
- The Hyatt. Damn. The Air Conditioning went down to 55-60 degrees...it was clean...people were SUPER nice...great place. Oh yeah, and it had a Subway and McDonalds in the lobby. Didn't have to buy a single $12 breakfast buffet...
- Mini painting classes with Jen Haley. She can do incredible things with a mini, and just WATCHING her made me feel like there is hope for me!
- Hmmmm.....more to come....

Downsides:
- Not being able to see the Ennies...schedule was too full! 
- Introducing myself to, and chatting a bit with Hellhound...commenting on how dang nice the Print on Demand stuff looked...and then proceeding to forget to go back with money to BUY some!!
- The flight back...on Monday! I heard about lotsa hangups on Sunday, but even on Monday morning there was an hour wait to get through the security checkpoint...on top of the 40 minute wait to get to the ticket counter!
- Seeing the wandering Ennies "after party crew" at Ram's (instantly identifiable by the "damn handsome" Teflon Billy), and not stopping by to say hi...but at that point I wasn't sure I could even walk...goooood Brown Ale they got there....

And the Bestest Part: PJ O'Rourkes.

Clay is the man, as is his brother and the staff that came in on their DAY OFF to serve us geeks. HUGE kudos for all involved!! Memorable moments:
- Stepping out of the cab with Kugar to find this guy grinning from ear to welcoming us...and I just happened to see some of the picks the other night to know that it was Clay (it was good to not have to wonder where his hand was...Maldur was inside already )
- Clay's recital of EVERYONE's names every time someone new walked in....
- Hanging out in deep "geekversation" with Barennd Nobeard
- Discussing Croathian's many, many, many posts....
- Monte and Sue stopping by...very cool. Can't wait for the Pics!
- Playing Munchkin (for the first time) and repeatedly noting that the "experienced" Munchkiners were always winning. After which Maldur would politely note that he was still level one. 

So many great things happened at GenCon...can't wait for next year so I can meet more folks!!!

-Rugger
"I Ramble!"


----------



## Storminator (Jul 29, 2003)

Pielorinho said:
			
		

> *
> 
> You were an awesome ogre, quite possibly the highlight of that game.  Only as I was driving home did I get a handle on how I should've played my 18 Int ogre mage when leading a group of boneheaded ogres -- for the whole game, I was torn between talking ogre-ese and talking 18-int-ese.
> 
> ...




I'm just glad you weren't mad cuz I was trashing all your plans! 

It wasn't me! It was Cromlok! He has a life of his own!

PS


----------



## Ed Cha (Jul 29, 2003)

Buttercup said:
			
		

> Well, here's my preliminary GenCon Report.  Originally, I was planning to stay until Sunday, and come home after Clay's party, but I wasn't feeling so hot today, so I decided to come home a day early.  I'm glad I did, because I've now got a raging sore throat and a fever.  I hope I didn't infect everybody yesterday and this morning.  If I did, I'm sorry!  One final note.  Because I feel like crap on a stick right now, I'm probably going to forget lots of stuff.  I'll post more as I recall it.




I'm sorry to hear that, Buttercup.  That's the hardest part about conventions-- staying healthy. With so much exposure to so many people (all the handshaking, close quarters, etc), irregular (and often unhealthy) meals, and lack of sleep, it's easy to get sick. I hope you feel better soon though!



> _Originally posted by Buttercup _Anyway, this was my first con, and I really didn't know what to expect.




I didn't know it was your first convention! You seemed like an old pro when I met you. 



> _Originally posted by Buttercup _I had the pleasure of chatting with MEG Hal, who is a really charming guy, and the very pleasant Ed Cha, who wrote Hamlet of Thumble.  I bought a copy of it, and Ed autographed it with a really nice note.  Thanks, Ed!




Hey, you're welcome! Everybody loved you at the MEG booth.  They all said you seemed to have great energy and a wonderful smile. And yes, Hal is a super guy. Are you planning on coming out next year?


----------



## Buttercup (Jul 29, 2003)

alsih2o said:
			
		

> *for those of you who weren't there- negzero has one of those "i could listen all day" voices/accents. beautiful stuff  *




I'll second that.  Neg, you could get work doing voice-overs, I'm sure.

And Ed, you bet I'll be there next year.  And I'll stay longer too.


----------



## BOZ (Jul 29, 2003)

Buttercup said:
			
		

> **Boz looks just like I pictured him!*




you mean like that guy under my screen name?  

you look just like your avatar too, only... not as tall as i'd imagined.


----------



## BOZ (Jul 29, 2003)

The Pope said:
			
		

> **Anime Room: The Anime Room was GREAT this year. I want to send out a thanks to all the dealers who sent stuff up to the room to give away. Everyone had a blast.*




where was it?    oh, who am i kidding, i was plenty busy with other stuff!  maybe next year!


----------



## Ed Cha (Jul 29, 2003)

Buttercup said:
			
		

> *
> And Ed, you bet I'll be there next year.  And I'll stay longer too. *




Are you feeling better though?  

Glad to hear you'll be back next year and staying longer. In fact, I might stay an extra day, too. I really liked Indianapolis!


----------



## BrooklynKnight (Jul 29, 2003)

Cog said:
			
		

> *
> 
> There was a mention by someone else in another seminar, but I cannot remember who, where or what about....
> 
> (edit: It was the "What's new in the Realms" seminar) *




heh, i'm not suprised i was mentioned. lots of the realms staff knows me cause of my webchats.

though i was prolly mentioned due to my half-drow question.

i cant belive I overslept and missed that seminar.


----------



## RodneyThompson (Jul 29, 2003)

Well, I'm going to write up a big GenCon article, but I'll share some ENWorld-relevant highlights.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to attend the ENnies because another member of the Spycraft design team needed help running the first-ever Spycraft LARP. I must admit I was completely shocked when the rest of my crew called me and told me that we'd won! I was just thunderstruck. Two ENnie Awards in a row, and I'm just so honored. I wish I could have been there.

And that's when disaster struck.

I arrived back at my hotel room at 3 AM that night after dinner with Patrick Kapera, Scott "*Morgenstern*" Gearin, B.D. Flory, Alex Flagg (all of whom are on the Spycraft Design Team with me) and a few other guests at Ram. (Sidenote: I had seen some people wearing ENWorld shirts, but I was so exhausted from the LARP and didn't want to be rude to my party that I just sat down and had large quantities of beer). Anyways, back at the hotel, my friends hand me a paper bag with much trepidation and tell me that they have my ENnie. It was shattered into thousands of ceramic pieces, and only the plaque itself survived intact. Well, I was disappointed but it wasn't the end of the world. However, over the course of the next two days no less than three dozen people, from fans to game designers, came up and said "Hey, heard your ENnie broke!" I didn't tell a soul, but everywhere I went someone knew. Rich Baker, whom I'd never met before, commented on it to me randomly when I walked up to the Paizo booth. Every booth I went to had a different game designer talking about the broken ENnie. It was amazing how fast the story had spread among the exhibitors and game designers. We felt a little famous.

The Star Wars Seminar on Saturday was a blast too. The SWRPGNetwork crew arrived en masse and we were all sitting in the audience when it began. Bill Slavicsek and Chris Perkins introduced themselves and then pointed me out in the audience and brought me up on stage. I actually got to sit on the panel and give the presentation, field questions, etc. It was definitely a highlight of the trip.







(From left to right: Bill Slavicsek, Chris Perkins, and me) 



> If it helps, Chris Perkins (I believe) mentioned you quite notably in the Star Wars Seminar! I can't remember what the suggestion was, but two people made a suggestion for a product improvement, and he responded with, "You haven't been by chance talking with ArthurQ, have you?"




I don't remember that, but I'm sure it happened. Chris doesn't spend much time on these boards as far as I know, but he's a really witty guy.

Anyways, I didn't meet many people from ENWorld thanks to my idiotic decision to run four 4-hour adventures over the course of the convention. I did meet *RangerWickett*, which was cool. I also got to talk to *HellHound* quite a bit, which was really cool. He actually recognized/stopped me as I walked by, which was a bit strange. Everyone at the EN Publishing booth had a good laugh as he retold the story of me giving everyone the bird last year at the ENnies. I wish I'd been able to go out to the bar with everyone, but sadly I just didn't have the time on Sunday.

It was nice to be recognized. In fact, that happened to me a lot over the course of the convention. Dozens of people had me sign copies of the _Hero's Guide_, and it was very flattering.



> Next thing I knew, Friday afternoon, a camera crew arrives behind me as the gelflings are getting their chance at the Wizard's Lair at WotC to win a neopet and a copy of the Star Wars Hero's Guide.




Hope you enjoy the book, man!


----------



## Piratecat (Jul 29, 2003)

Rodney, I was really sorry I didn't cross paths with you or Morganstern; I ended up running four EN World Spycraft games.


----------



## bolen (Jul 29, 2003)

Boy do I have a story

I was leaving from Memphis.  (for those who don't know Memphis had a wind storm which left almost the entire city without power.)

I went to McDonalds to meet my friends who I was traveling up with.  (I am from a nearby town in Mississippi.)  My wallet fell out of my paints (so I lost my ID credit cards ect.)  This teenager picked it up and ran off.

I was sure I could not go.  I had no ID, no credit cards, ect.

The police showed up and took my statement.  I had found some other other teenagers who knew the girl.  They gave the police her boyfriends address (who the cop knew,  I guess he had been a real trouble maker of some sort because the officer called for backup.)  About an hour latter they show up with  all my cards plus my cash  (actually I think I came out about 5 dollars ahead).  

I found out latter that day the girl (or her boyfriend) had run up my card for $700.

But I went to Gen Con anyway and met some of you guys.  sorry I did not make it to the bar.  

If you in Memphis let me know.  I am moving there on the 14th of august to teach at Rhodes College


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## BrooklynKnight (Jul 29, 2003)

I dont even know chris perkins.....i wanna know what he was talking bout!


----------



## RodneyThompson (Jul 29, 2003)

Yeah, Kevin, I keep wandering by the EN Publishing booth looking for you and *alish20* but never could find you. Ask *Hellhound*, I came by like half a dozen times.


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## BrooklynKnight (Jul 29, 2003)

bolen said:
			
		

> *Boy do I have a story
> 
> I was leaving from Memphis.  (for those who don't know Memphis had a wind storm which left almost the entire city without power.)
> 
> ...




At least the airport didnt lose your luggage.


----------



## Ashy (Jul 29, 2003)

*Re: Reflections*



			
				Fiery James said:
			
		

> *I absolutely love all the ogre stories from the Giant's Skull session.  Scott had a blast, and talked about the 3 hours of fun that ended at "Encounter Area 1!"  You guys rock!
> 
> All of the Fiery folk had a great time.  It was cool meeting you all, and I hope you all received the exclusive Orc & Pie Counter Collection.
> 
> ...




LOL!  Yea, we had a blast and Scott just rolled with the insane punches, like the pro that he is!  

It was great meeting all of you - sorry I missed you guys at the WW Partay - I was not there long myself.  Hopefully we'll have more time to hang next year....

Orc & Pie Collection?    Sniff-sniff.... no......


----------



## Fiery James (Jul 29, 2003)

*Chris Perkins*

Yeah, it was the first time we met Chris Perkins as well.  Didn't know before that he was from Canada.  Turns out he grew up about 5 minutes from where I live now and went to school with Fiery Todd's cousin and others that introduced the young FDPer to the world of D&D.

Small world, indeed!

(Of course, I balance this by saying "Huge World" whenever I meet someone I have no connection to, so you see what that's worth. 

 James


----------



## Ashy (Jul 29, 2003)

Storminator said:
			
		

> *
> 
> I'm just glad you weren't mad cuz I was trashing all your plans!
> 
> ...




LONG LIVE CROMLOK!


----------



## Ashy (Jul 29, 2003)

*Re: Chris Perkins*



			
				Fiery James said:
			
		

> *Yeah, it was the first time we met Chris Perkins as well.  Didn't know before that he was from Canada.  Turns out he grew up about 5 minutes from where I live now and went to school with Fiery Todd's cousin and others that introduced the young FDPer to the world of D&D.
> 
> Small world, indeed!
> 
> ...




UNREAL!


----------



## Piratecat (Jul 29, 2003)

Friday night at the Ram!

Here's Emergent, Buttercup, Cthulhu's Librarian, myself, and Hand of Eeevil.  Sadly, Buttercup was hit on the head and thought she was Richard Nixon, but she got over it soon enough.


----------



## Piratecat (Jul 29, 2003)

Here's the left hand side of the ENnies lineup - so nice and organized!


----------



## Ashy (Jul 29, 2003)

Wharg!  What time were you guys there, Pkitty?  I lost ya after the Ennies!


----------



## Hand of Evil (Jul 29, 2003)

Piratecat said:
			
		

> *Saturday night at the Ram!
> 
> Here's Emergent, Buttercup, Cthulhu's Librarian, myself, and Hand of Eeevil.  Sadly, Buttercup was hit on the head and thought she was Richard Nixon, but she got over it soon enough.   *




  I look like...I need to stop be in pics!


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## Piratecat (Jul 29, 2003)

And the chaotic, disorganized right side!


----------



## Tabarnak Smokeblower (Jul 29, 2003)

Piratecat said:
			
		

> *Saturday night at the Ram!
> 
> Here's Emergent, Buttercup, Cthulhu's Librarian, myself, and Hand of Eeevil.  Sadly, Buttercup was hit on the head and thought she was Richard Nixon, but she got over it soon enough.   *




Are those the famous Onion Rings that we see on the table, just left and behind the small pile of money? Those things a frickin' huge!

TS


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## RodneyThompson (Jul 29, 2003)

*Piratecat*, I'm going to post that picture of our boys in the ENnie Winner group shot on SWRPGNetwork if you don't mind.


----------



## Piratecat (Jul 29, 2003)

TS, they sure are - and Moridin, feel free!


----------



## Ankh-Morpork Guard (Jul 29, 2003)

Tabarnak Smokeblower said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Are those the famous Onion Rings that we see on the table, just left and behind the small pile of money? Those things a frickin' huge!
> 
> TS *





...by the gods those are huge!!!


----------



## Pielorinho (Jul 29, 2003)

Tabarnak Smokeblower said:
			
		

> *Are those the famous Onion Rings that we see on the table, just left and behind the small pile of money? Those things a frickin' huge!*




Yep -- and you see that metal rod in the middle?  The rings were stacked to the top of the rod.

To be fair, they were the best onion rings I've ever eaten.  They were just too many for a single person to eat.

Was this picture taken Saturday night, Kevin, or was it taken Friday night after Luke & I left? 

Daniel

PS Storminator, no worries at all on Kromlok messing up the plans -- and I likewise hope I wasn't too bossy and snarly and arrogant as the party wizard (especially to the player of the simpering ogress, who did a great job with a creepy character).  A wonderfully fun game.

Daniel


----------



## Henry (Jul 29, 2003)

ArthurQ said:
			
		

> *I dont even know chris perkins.....i wanna know what he was talking bout! *




My fuzzy memory is showing. 

Upon hearing some of the other posters' stories, It most likely wasn't the Star Wars seminar, but the Forgotten Realms seminar (I attended both). And it was either Chris, or it was whoever was sitting next to him at the panel table (possibly Peter Butler?) 

Someone made a game improvement suggestion, and the panelist point blank said "You don't happen to have talked to someone named ArthurQ, did you?" and he said that you had mentioned the same point in great detail.

Someone asked the same thing about 10 minutes later, and the panelist said, "You've definitely been talking to ArthurQ!" and smiled.

The suggestion obviously didn't make a big impression on me, but the fact that he mentioned it so off-handedly did.  

Was there any WotC personnel that you by chance cornered inadvertantly? I don't think the odds were high there was a second "ArthurQ" running around Gencon 

I'm sorry I can't recall more right now.


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## BOZ (Jul 29, 2003)

Ashy said:
			
		

> *Wharg!  What time were you guys there, Pkitty?  I lost ya after the Ennies!   *




right after i met you, i went and met the mods (henry, eridanis, and dinkeldog).  then we all more or less got into groups, and most of us went to the bar.


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## gfunk (Jul 29, 2003)

*My GenCon Report*

GenCon Report 

Day 1 -- Thursday, July 24th 

*Games People Play* 

Description from program:  The Dungeon is a popular sporting club for the very wealthy of the capital city.  Patrons pay for the training of a monster who joins with other monsters and navigates a dungeon full of challenges.  The patron whose monster emerges first wins the weekly prize.  You have come tonight to watch your monster compete.  Players play both the patrons and the monsters in this event.  FOr aptrons of 5th character level, and monster of ECL 9.  Characters and monster provided:

Sponsor: RPGA

My experiences:  This was my first GenCon event and a tremendously fun one!  The monsters from Savage Species competing were a two-headed minotaur (mine), a feral medusa, a ghoul rogue, an ogre mage, and a drider.  It was actually very fun to role-play a dumb as nails monster as well as their sophisticated patrons.  Two interesting factors set this game apart: (1) the patrons could influence their monsters in some ways like by casting spells on them or sending them messages and (2) if your monster died the patron took its place!  When the ghoul rogue ate it in our group, the noble was always hiding in the back!  BTW, my patron won!

*Anime Dungeon* 

Description from program:  D&D Anime style?!?  Test the mettle of your character whether samurai, magical girl, or mecha pilot, in this introductory game of BESM d20.  Pork buns, cursed springs, and anime goblins await.

Sponsor:  Guardians of Order

My experiences:  I was the first to arrive at the table so I got my choice of characters among the following:  Giant robot (mecha), Hot Rod, Gun Bunny, Magical Girl, Ninja, Samurai, and Tech Genius.  Of course I took the mecha named L.O.G.R.U.S. 2.  Naturally, the first monster I ran into was a Rust Monster (can you say, "LOGRUS 2 nees food badly!").  Thankfully, after some jury rigging by the Tech Genius I was up and going.  This was not so much of an adventure as GoO showing off their new system.  Frankly, I was quite impressed but the price of the book turned out to be prohibitive.  I like how they tweaked the system for anime.

*Rapture: d20 Modern - The Second Coming Introductory Adventure* 

Description from program:  Get an introduction to the end of days.  Fight to make it to the light as others work to bring on the apocalypse of darkness.  Prizes for best player voted on by their fellow participants.  Mature themes.

Sponsor:  Holisitic Design, Inc.

My experiences:  Honestly, I had originally pre-registered for this as a lark, just for the heck of it.  Ironically, it turned out to be the most immersive role-playing expereince I had at the Con.  In an nutshell, the campaign setting is in an alternative world where the Rapture has happened and the anti-christ has taken over and is attempting to conquer the world.  In these times, all types of radical religious types have united to fight the forces of Satan.  I played a member of Hezbellah (actually a PrC! in the Rapture sourcebook) and had a great old time.  When I wasn't blowing up stuff I was randomly gunning down the forces of the anti-christ.  The highlight came at the end when I attempted a suicide bombing against a demonic entitiy -- unfortuantely I rolled crap for damage and not only did I not kill my target but I was merely maimed myself .


Day 2 -- Friday, July 25th 

*The Sword of Cuthbert (D&D Open Rd 1)* 

Description from program:  Round 1 of the D&D Open, the premier competitive D&D event.  You must play this round to be eliglbe for other rounds:

Sponsor:  RPGA

My experiences:  Joachim, JollyDoc, and myself all entered this event.  It was a classic hack and slash with pre-generated characters of 9th level being provided.  Actually we trid our best to speed through the adventure and completed it, but we were only alternates in the 2nd round.  It turned out that we didn't "role-play" sufficiently!  Imagine that 

*Dragonlance 3rd Edition Preview* 

Description from program:  Experience the world of Krynn as brought to life in the new game products by Wizards of the Coast and Sovereign Press.  Play a short adventure and see th new material first-hand.

Sponsor:  Sovereign Press

My experiences:  Oh boy . . . my first negative experience in the Con.  First off, let me say that I love Dragonlance -- read all the novels, played all the computer games, and virtually memorize the first rule book that was realeased in the 80s.  With that said our DM was, shall we say, not particularly familiar with the rules.  A typical quote: "How does charging work again?"  This was a real shame as the adventure was a solid one and I was really looking forward to role-playing my Knight of the Crown and exploring Krynn int he Age of Mortals.  JollyDoc and I had to get Joachim to call us with an "emergency" so we could bail out.   

*Rakmha* 

Description from program:  Couldn't find it, but it involved a group of powerful Githzerai sent by the monk Belthonias to slay a group of illithids in Pandemonium before they used a device to enslave the Gith race once again.

Sponsor:  RPGA

My experiences:  This adventure rocked and our DM was especially cool!  With a group of Githzerai including a fighter, monk, rogue, psychcic warrior, and psion (savant) we travelled through Limbo to reach a portal to Panedmonium.  To reach the portal we had to battle a group of slaadi while dealing with the ever-changing elements of Limbo.  Through the gate, we ran into a powerful group of Githyanki who we tried to ally with temporarily if not for the timely diplomacy of JollyDoc ("We're here to kill Githyanki!")  The funny thing is that we totally went to town on the Githyanki leader!  The rogue sneak attacked him and critted with his shortbow, the psychic warrior pounded him with archery as well, my monk ran off with his silver sword after a disarm attempt, and Jollydoc's fighter finished the job.  Unfortunately, the leader managed to plane-shift JollyDoc out with him!  At this point the adventure was basically over b/c we got toasted by the Githyanki.  But it was a very fun adventure.



Day 3 -- July 25th 

*The Exhibit Hall* 


Ahh . . . the jewel of GenCon, all those exhibitors.  Some highlights:

1.  Played Marvel Hero Clix game -- difficult to explain but pretty interesting.  It involved using plastic figs with attack/defense values and every time you got hit you "clicked down" your figure.

2.  Wizards booth -- this one kicked ass!  Went to it multiple times to digest all that was there.  In addition to the signings by numerous DND authors there was info about the new Eberron setting, and plenty of new and old sourcebooks.

3.  Sword and Sorcery booth -- got a sneak peak at Arcana Unearthed (not really my cup of tea) as well as Warcraft d20.

4.  Atari booth -- loved playing the games in this one.  Particularly enjoyed "Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil" which I think is coming out on PC later this year.  It will be the first PC game to include 3.5 rules.


*D&D Toughman Contest* 

Description from program:  An open tournament.  Bring your own PC of 12th to 25th level and pit yourself against other PCs or teams of players.  All characters must abide by the Core ruels of WotC published materials only!  All characters are subject to approval by the DM, net # of rounds depends on # registered players.  Make sure you have your own dice and books needed for your character.  Ladder determined at event start.

Sponsor:  Independent

My experiences:

Round 1 -- Nixor (25th ECL; see below) vs. Monk (19th level) and Joachim (Sorcerer/Incantrix/Archmage 20)

After going first, I put the monk in an Ecto Cocoon, no save, no SR.  While Joachim began to power up in his Prismatic Sphere, I activated an anti-magic field (Psi and Magic was different in this tourney, which I took FULL advantage of), dismissed the ectoplasm, and manifested Recall Death.  Monk died.

Joachim was a tough nut to crack.  He had Dust of Disappearance on, so I couldn't see him.  He kept emerging from his Prismatic Sphere and pelting me with Disjunctions in the attempt to take out my anti-magic field.  He failed three times and we were at an impasse.  Eventually, I used wishes in my ring to bring temporarily suppress the invisibility and sphere.  Then I used the old Recall Death.

Round 2 -- Nixor vs. Barbarian 1/Fighter 24

I was playing around with this guy and he even got a couple of licks on me.  AMF + Recall Death

Round 3 -- Nixor vs. Jolly Doc (Barbarian/Holy Liberator/Frenzied Beserker 20) and Rogue/Shadow Dancer 20

JollyDoc was taken out relativley quickly by tried and true strategy.  The Shadow Dancer did a bit better, even energy draining me 6 levels.  However he went down like all the rest.

Round 4 -- Nixor vs. Maug Fighter/Barbarian 20 and Barbarian 20

The Barbarian 20 went down in record time, but the Maug was immune to death effects.  Eventually, he even "vorpalized" my Fission clone.  In the end, I Balefully Telported him to death.

So I won the competition and the coveted Toughman T-Shirt!!

A brief note, JollyDoc breezed through all the rounds that he played in and so would have Joachim -- HAD HE NOT FACED ME!!

*************************

*Nixor, Female Anthropomorphic (Huge Viper) Nixe Psion (Nomad) 18* 

Alignment:  True Netural
Size: Large
Level Breakdown:  Nixie (1 HD + 3 ECL), Viper (3 HD), Psion (18 HD) = 22 HD + 3 ECL = 25 Levels

Abilities

Str (Base 14 – 4 racial [Nixie] – 8 racial [Viper] + 5 [inherent] + 6 [enhancement]
Total = 13 (+1)

Dex (Base 18 + 6 racial [Nixie] + 10 racial [Viper] + 5 [inherent] + 6 [enhancement] + 5 [level increases]
Total = 50 (+20)

Con (Base 10 – 2 racial [Viper] + 5 [inherent] + 6 [enhancement])
Total = 19 (+4)

Int (Base 8 + 2 racial [Nixie] + 5 [inherent] + 6 [enhancement])
Total = 21 (+5)

Wis (Base 10 + 2 racial [Nixie] + 4 racial [Viper] + 5 [inherent] +6 [enhancement])
Total = 27 (+8)

Cha (Base 14 +6 racial [Nixie] – 4 racial [Viper] +5 [inherent] +6 [enhancement])
Total = 27 (+8)

HP (1d6 [Nixie]  + 3d8 [Viper] + 18d4 [Psion] + 88)
Total = 152

Other Relevant Stats

Fort (+4 Con, +6 class, +5 resistance, +3 luck)
Total = +18

Reflex (+20 Dex, + 6 class, +2 Nixie, +3 Viper, +5 resistance, +3 luck)
Total = +39

Will (+8 Wis, +12 class, +2 Nixie, +3 Viper, +5 resistance, +2 luck, +2 psicrystal)
Total = +34

Initiative (+20 Dex, + 4 Improved Initiative, +4 Superior Initiative, +2 Thug feat +2 Blooded feat)
Total = 32

Armor Class (+20 Dex, +2 armor, +3 luck, +3 natural, -1 size)
Total = 37 (FF 17, Touch 32)

Melee to Hit (+9 class, +2 Viper, +1 Str, +3 luck, -1 size)
Total = +14/+9

Ranged to Hit (+9 Class, +2 Viper, +20 Dex, +3 luck, -1 size)
Total = +33/+28

Feats (7 normal, 1 epic)
Improved Initiative, Superior Initiative, Thug, Blooded, Quicken Power, Empower Power, Psi Power (Clarisentience), Greater Psi Power (Clarisentience), Psi Power (Telepathy) 

Skills
Total SP = 44 (Class/Racial levels) + 110 (Int) = 154

Psicraft (25 ranks, +5 Int) = +30
Spellcraft (12.5 ranks, +5 Int) = +17

These are the relevant ones anyway . . . 

Items of Worth
Total money available to 25th level PC = 2,100,000 gp

Manual of bodily health +5 (137,500)
Manual of gainful exercise +5 (137,500)
Manual of quickness in action +5 (137,500)
Tome of clear thought +5 (137,500)
Tome of leadership and influence +5 (137,500)
Tome of understanding +5 (137,500)
Belt of giant strength +6 (36,000)
Gloves of Dexterity +6 (36,000)
Bracers of health +6 (36,000)
Headband of intellect +6 (36,000)
Periapt of Wisdom +6 (36,000)
Cloak of Charisma +6 (36,000)
Rod of Absorption (50,000)
Ring of Nine Lives [x2] (140,000)
Ring of Spell Battle [x5] (337,500)
Stone of Good Luck (10,000)
Vibrant Purple Ioun Stone [x6] (72,000)
Anti-Magic Field (11th CL) in Ioun Stones [x6] (9,900)
Skin of the Hero (68,000)
+1 Mithral Buckler of Heavy Reinforcement (37,015)
Robe of Eyes (90,000)
Vest of Resistance +5 (25,000)
Ring of Three wishes (97,950)
Crystal Capacitor [17 PP] (81,000)
Ring of Growth (18,000)

Psi Powers
Psionic Powers (7/4+d/4+d/4+d/3+d/3+d/2+d/2+d/1+d/d)
Power Points: 170 (147 base + 23 for high Dex)
Saves for: Pscyhoportation (1d20+20), Clarisentience (1d20+12), Telepathy (1d20+10)

9th – Temporal Velocity (Dex)
8th – Recall Death (Wis), Improved Etherealness (Dex)
7th – Teleport without Error (Dex), Mass Cocoon (Int), Fission (Str)
6th – Improved Fly (Dex), Banishment (Dex), Shield of Prudence (Wis)
5th – Baleful Telport (Dex), True Seeing (Wis), Greater Domination (Cha), Energy Barrier (Str)
4th – Dimensional Anchor (Dex), Dismiss Ectoplasm (Int), Fate of One (Wis), Inertial Barrier (Con)
3rd – Time Hop (Dex), Invisibility Purge (Wis), Ubiquitous Vision (Wis), Negate Psionics (Con), Schism (Cha)
2nd – Knock (Dex), Brain Lock (Cha), Body Adjustment (Str), Ectoplasmic Cocoon (Int), See Invisibility (Wis)
1st – Call Weaponry (Dex), Lesser Body Adjustment (Str), Hear Light (Wis), Steadfast Gaze (Wis), See Sound (Wis)


----------



## Sniktch (Jul 29, 2003)

Teflon Billy said:
			
		

> *Are you saying you actualy found the mythical "Four bars in one place"?
> 
> Hound, Clay and I looked all through that mall and came up empty. *




HAHAHA!  Getting in late on this, but honestly, the only time I slept the whole convention was when Dextra threw us out of Little Canadia the first night and I'm still recovering from the 54 hour straight gaming binge I went on after that.

Ashy, Brannon Hall, and I went to a fantastic Irish Pub Friday night and then we located the 'mythical four bars' also.  Problem was, my driver's license is expired and they wouldn't let me in  Ran back to the RAM where I was welcome, of course, and missed Clay and everyone else by about 10 minutes  Man, Friday night was a little bit of a mess.

Ah-haha, but what a great time.  Spent Thursday scouting out the dealer's room, looking for ENWorlders, hanging out at Hellhound's room, and getting my last sleep of the convention.

Friday: Started with a great little event called *Weird Wars: The Crusades* and played an exiled Arabic magician named 'Ali Ibn Mustafa, the Corpulent'.  It was great fun to see the look on the Teutonic Knight's face when my short fat man went charging past his horse at full gallop (as none of the other players knew that I was a magician yet).  Back to the dealer room, worked at the Bastion booth for a couple of hours and sold many copies of *Torn Asunder* - played in many demos, met more people than I could possibly list in the five minutes I have before I leave work, then went off to the ENnies when my late night game session was cancelled.  The rest of Friday I've already gone through.

Ashy and Brannon let me down though, around 3 AM, when they went from "Let's party all night!" to "Man, I'm goin' to bed."  I still had plenty of energy, so headed back to the hall and got involved in a wonderful little game called *Are You a Werewolf?* by *LooneyLabs*.  Played until 7 AM when I had to get ready to run my Oathbound event.  The highlight of the Con came a bit later, but I've run out of time for now and will have to pick up with my recount a little later.  Let's just say everyone I've spoken to says its the most creative use of starting equipment they've ever heard of, and earned me the best player vote at the table 

Be back with more soon.  My friends are even twisting my arm to write some GC SH's, so might have some much more detailed stories for you in the next week or two


----------



## BrooklynKnight (Jul 29, 2003)

Henry said:
			
		

> *
> 
> My fuzzy memory is showing.
> 
> ...




LOL!
I spoke to quite a number of WOTC Personell at the WOTC area on the first day. I dont remember talking to chris, or what I suggested. Obviously someone liked the idea.

Dammit i wish i knew what it was now!


----------



## Angcuru (Jul 29, 2003)

Tabarnak Smokeblower said:
			
		

> *Are those the famous Onion Rings that we see on the table, just left and behind the small pile of money? Those things a frickin' huge!*



Reading this line, I could not help but smile.  I never thought that I would read the words 'onion rings' and 'small pile of money' in the same tale, let alone the same sentence. 

Ah...I wish I could have been there, to meet all you guys if nothing else.


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## Buttercup (Jul 29, 2003)

Come to think of it, the onion rings weren't the only oversized helping.  That chocolate cake was bigger than a person's head, and P-Kitty had a mammoth sandwich & fries platter too.  I guess the Ram just offers Ram-sized portions.


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## Ashy (Jul 29, 2003)

Sniktch said:
			
		

> *Ashy and Brannon let me down though, around 3 AM, when they went from "Let's party all night!" to "Man, I'm goin' to bed."  *




The *ONE* person that slept LESS than me at the Con, and I get this crap and AFTER I bought him a fine dinner indeed!   - honestly, Sniktch, if there would have been ANY clubs open after 3 AM, you know I would have been there wit cha, my friend - Hall was the droopy-eyed one...  

Besides, I could not find ANYONE that wanted to go dancin'!  So I went by meself!    (and had a GREAT time as well!)

But more on that later....


----------



## Skadi (Jul 30, 2003)

Since y'all are talking about the Con and cool stuff that happened someone needs to ask Croathian about his "damn badge."

(FYI... I have been gaming with him for 10 years and I was Hellhound and Dextra's  third stalker  (with Croathian and Lord Apoch) at Origins)


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## Crothian (Jul 30, 2003)

HellHound said:
			
		

> * At the ENnies, just before the show started, a voice rang out "Everyone stare and point at Crothian!" and everyone did. He looked like he was going to melt. "Look what postcount gets you!" (referring to being stared at, not to his position as an ENnie judge), and he grinned and tried to prevent himself from turning too red.
> *




I really want to know who said those things.  I couldn't see much of the crowd with those big, bright lights on.


----------



## Angcuru (Jul 30, 2003)

I think it was most likely the guy who said "Postcount means nothing!"


----------



## Cthulhu's Librarian (Jul 30, 2003)

I'm getting in on this a bit late, but here's my rundown of GenCon highlights that are currently running around my brain. I'm sure I'll come up with more later, and I'll have pictures back in a day or 2 to post as well. 

Day 1-Wednesday
Emergent & I got into town around 5:30pm, no problems, staying at the Best Western, a block (1 LONG block) from the convention center. I have to give 4 stars to the hotel, it was brand new (like 1-2 months new) and had friendly staff, and a good free breakfast. Quiet, too.  
After checking in, we went over to the center to pick up our event tickets, and marveled at the registration line. Went inside, and wandered around, looking for locations and the like. 
Went back and got to sleep early, in order to prepare for...

Day 2-Thursday
Got up early, went inside, and had an hour to kill before the dealers room opened. Went to the miniatures/boardgames hall, and found the lego fanatics setting up for Evil Stevie's Pirate Game. I never did get to play, but next year, AAARRRRRR!!!!
Just after 10am, we went back to the hall, and found a HUGE mass of people all trying to get in through the main doors. I suggested we go around to the side doors to see if the line was any smaller, and found 4 sets of open doors and not a person in sight! So in we went, found ourselves close to the White Wolf booth, and hopped in line and were among the first to pick up Arcana Unearthed. Books in hand, we went and had Monte sign them. He apologized to me for the scrawling signature, and we both laughed about the fact that the convention had just started and already his hand was getting tired. 
Next stop was to pick up my new dice bag from Paladin & Paladinwife, and its great! I'll post pics of it later. 
After talking for a few minutes with them, we headed over to ENPublishing, where we met Hellhound & Dextra, Ashy, Hand of Evil, and a few others I'm blanking on right now. Got our Little Canadia stickers, and we hit the floor once more to see what we had to buy over the next few days. Making periodic stops back an ENPublishing, we met lots of folks over the next couple days-Piratecat, Morrus, Jane, alsih2o, Maldur, Hanry, Creamsteak, Crothian, Negative Zero, Teflon Billy, Ghostwind at Bastion Press, EOL at DireKobold, and many more. 
Thurday night we headed over to Little Canadia to have beer, fries, and to hang out for a few hours. For dinner that night, we decided to go to the Ram based on the menu we picked up inside the con, with the great item names like "Orc" "Kobold pie" and "Minotaur Meatloaf". More food than you can imagine. Those onion rings and cake in the picture earlier? The same with the meatloaf. Lots of food. 

Day 3-Friday
Played in my first Buffy: TVS game, and had a blast! Immediatly went and picked the book up after the game, and had it signed for my fiance (who is hooked on Buffy, along with me). I'll get her to rpg with me yet.  Don't really remember what else happened on Thurday before the Ennies. At 7pm, emergent, Maldur, Mythusmage (I think), and I helped alsih2o carry the awards in, taking extreme care not to jiggle boxes, lest we break any of them. At the Ennies, we talked before the show with Paladin and Buttercup for a while, then went in and found seats with them. The show was great fun, especially the afformentioned "That Guy" picking up all of Privateers awards. After the show, I talked for a while about the pains and perils of working in a library with Eric Noah & Buttercup. Between the two of them, they soundly beat it into my head that I really NEED to go get my Masters of Library Science. Consider it done, now I just need to decide where to go and start applying. Amazing, I come to a gaming convention, and I figure out what to do with my life.  
A large group of us decided to head out and find a bar that could hold the whole mess of ENworlders, and we ended up at Ram. I played "Catch the bartender" with Buttercup, then we played "Catch the bartender again and get Buttercups change back." We found a table, squeezed in, and I met even more people-Pielorinho, Spider, Dinkledog, Boz, Boz's fiance, Buzzard, and more I don't remember. Went back to the hotel around 2am, I think. Anyway, it was later than I've been up in a long time. I guess I'm getting old...

Day 4-Saturday
The masses have arrived. The con was packed. Ran my demo of Torn Asunder for Bastion for a few hours, met Die_ Kluge and we talked for an hour while trading off running the demo and passing out catalogs. emergent & I then had a Call of Cthulhu game in the afternoon, which was alot of fun, as CoC ahould be. Lots of running scared and getting frightened.   In the afternoon, I ran into Crothian, who proceeded to show me enlightenment-ie. the wonders of the half price used game booth. Definitly one of the highlights of the con for me. I picked up a bunch of oop CoC books, some new 3e adventures I've wanted, and the FUDGE rules, and spent under $20! Any one of these books would have cost that much alone, if I could get my FLGS to order them. So a big thanks to Crothian! Not only can he post like mad, but he knows where to shop!  

Day 5-Sunday
Going home. Sunday morning, we stopped by the EN Publishing booth again, and said our goodbyes to those who were there. Hellhound was excited about his achevements in the Risk 2210 game (he had just made it into the finals). We grabbed Maldur, and headed to my car to head on over to P.S. O'Rourke's for the after con gathering. I hope the directions I left at the EN Publishing booth helped someone get there. I know Crothian used them, so they were acurate. Maybe Piratecat should have given them to his cabdriver... 
alsih2o, I have to thank you and your brother for a great way to relax before heading out on the road home. The bar was great, and we had a wonderful time. The staff was friendly (and attractive, too  ), and everyone was having a great time. Met even more people (Barendd Nobeard, StoneAngel, Justinian). Stories, games, prizes, gnomes, and good people, what a way to wrap things up. I tip my hat to you, my friend. We had to leave a bit earlier than most people in order to get on the road, and weren't there when the second wave hit. Sorry we missed those who showed up later, we'll see you next year...

So, for my wrap up, I've only got a few things to say:
1. Piratecat, sign me up now for a makeup game of Paranoia next year!
2. alsih2o, thanks for making introductions everytime 2 ENWorlders met and you were around (where do you get the energy? you never slowed down!)
3. Russ, thanks for providing us a home here online where we could meet all these great people, and then meet them again in person.
4. Thanks to everyone I meet, those I named and those whose names I forgot, for making my first GenCon a great experience. Hope to see you all again next year!


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## Pramas (Jul 30, 2003)

So last year I ended up running all the Freeport events at Origins and GenCon, the result being that many folks who came by our booth missed me. I said at the time that I wouldn't do that again. Well, that worked out for Origins, but just a week before GenCon I found out we had no one to run our Freeport events. Brian Kirby agreed to run a teaser section of Black Sails for one of them, but I had to run the other two myself. Thus I missed four hours of booth time on Thursday and Saturday afternoon. The games went well, but I have a feeling I once again missed seeing many of the folks that stopped by the booth. 

I am glad I got to meet some of the regulars, like Buttercup and Psion. Unfortunately, the only time I saw Teflon Billy was onstage at the ENnies! Speaking of which, they were the highlight of the show for me. We were very honored by the awards. The fact that a great group of people like the EN Worlders think so highly of what we do is quite gratifying. Thanks, everyone. 

Those of you in Atlanta for DragonCon do stop by. I am 100% certain that I'm not running any games there.


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## Ankh-Morpork Guard (Jul 30, 2003)

Pramas said:
			
		

> *Those of you in Atlanta for DragonCon do stop by. I am 100% certain that I'm not running any games there.  *




I think you may have just given me a very good reason to try to get to DragonCon this year.


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## francisca (Jul 30, 2003)

Here's a shot of simmo's Love of Art: Drawn to Gehenna game:







Back row: Simmo, and a cool guy named Natebot, though I don't think he posts here, holding my Crown Royal dice bag  .
Second row: 1st 3 on the left are guys from the planewalker board, I believe, then me, then Ashy.
The guy in the toy story shirt is named Brannon, and I didn't catch his ENWorld handle.

Funny.  I've never met anyone named Brannon in my life.  At GenCon, I meet two, and I never saw them apart.


----------



## francisca (Jul 30, 2003)

Here's a shot from Leopold's thursday night game.  So bummed I couldn't make it saturday.  In this picture, Storminator can't believe what War Golem is doing...





Seated at the table, on the left with the sunglasses is Storminator, the next guy I don't know, and then Neg Zero looks like he's trying to hide behind his character sheet.


----------



## Storminator (Jul 30, 2003)

francisca said:
			
		

> *Here's a shot from Leopold's thursday night game.  So bummed I couldn't make it saturday.  In this picture, Storminator can't believe what War Golem is doing...
> 
> 
> Seated at the table, on the left with the sunglasses is Storminator, the next guy I don't know, and then Neg Zero looks like he's trying to hide behind his character sheet. *




I still think you should have gotten the flanking bonus...

Also, the second Brannon is B. Hall, and he's with Ashy. I think he does illos for Bastion. He had some really awesome pic he was working on in the two games we played together.

PS


----------



## Hand of Evil (Jul 30, 2003)

GENCON 2003 

Made good time on the drive up and stayed in a hotel outside of Indy on Tuesday and drove in on Wednesday with enough time to see the sights, Indy is a very nice town (at least around the convention center).  Picked up packet (felt sorry for those that did not pre-register, that was madness) also stopped by the GENCON gift shop which I was surprised to see opened, purchased a few items, and walked about to learn where everything was (after 18 years at Milwaukee I was so turned around and lost).  

Went to dinner at an Italian restaurant (forget the name) that served family size meals, should have looked for others to share the meal with because it was more than two hungry guys could handle!  Then off to the IMAX to see the Matrix: Reloaded.

Thursday broke and off to the dealer room, I never schedule things too early the first day.  Picked up AU and saw Monte in the isle and asked if he would sign (price of fame is being recognized), Thank you Monte!  Around 12 or so stopped to grab a bit to eat before seminar at 2 and who passes me, Morrus (price of fame is being recognized), who looked like a gamer on the 23rd hour of a convention, he told me his story of lost luggage, glad it finally turned up.  After a few seminars it was time for the AD&D Open and who do I see in the hall, Piratecat (price of fame is being recognized) J, by this time I was feeling like the EN World Stalker!

Gamed to around midnight!

Friday up early for seminar, games, dealer room (again), Art Show, Auction, and the Ennies!  Great program this year and very professional and well done.  “That Chap” that may or may not have been part of Privateer Press stole the show and Morrus and Eric are quite the host.  If you missed them, I hope you catch them next year as they did not disappoint.  Congratulations to all the nominees and winners.  The gathering at the RAM was fun, interesting and a great time!  Beer good.

Saturday was not up early, who needed to catch a seminar on the Demonwars anyway.  This was a lite day, did the Auction, Costume Contest, dealer room (again), seminars and checked out some games as an observer.  To those that have never done the Auction you should, the deals are fantastic and you can’t believe the items that come up, I saw Mutants and Masterminds go for $5.00, Bluffside $3.00! 

Sunday was check out and last time through the dealer room.

Overall it was a very good vacation and Gencon for me and I thank all at Gencon for helping to make the memories.

Pics to come (if they come out).


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## jgbrowning (Jul 30, 2003)

Just dragged our butts in safely back to dallas.

Thanks to everyone and sorry we couldn't make it sunday to the bar, we were held up till 9:00 eating dinner with Kathrine Kurtz (a wonderful lady, witty as all get out) and the rest of our kind convention table associates.

I'll respond more later, when my head is less sludgy.

thanks everyone 

joe b.


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## mythusmage (Jul 30, 2003)

Cthulhu's Librarian said:
			
		

> * Mythusmage (I think)*




I what? Good Lord, I can bilocate and I don't even know it.


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## CanadienneBacon (Jul 30, 2003)

jgbrowning, I'm a little bashful about bugging you, but I'd like to know whether you attended Texas Tech University or University of New Orleans.  I saw one of PirateCat's GenCon pictures of you and you look supremely familiar to me, as is your name.   I'm pretty sure you and I used to hang out with the same crowd in Lubbock in the mid-90's, but that was a while back and I can't be certain.  If anonymity is a concern, you can e-mail me at celeneofforrin@excite.com to confirm.  I'm really curious about this; I long ago left Lubbock for greener grass. That whole era of my life is a black pit, so it would be really neat to find out that some of my old crowd made it out alive and well.  If I'm totally mistaken about my suspicion, please accept an apology for wasting your time.


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## EOL (Jul 30, 2003)

I just posted my Gencon report in my blog so feel free to check it out.  My friend assembled probably the largest collection of costume photes at the con.  These should be available sometime tommorrow.  Once again I'd like to tay thanks to all the ENWorlders who stopped by my booth (especially those who bought a subscription  ) it was great to meet you and I'm looking forward to next year.


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## haiiro (Jul 30, 2003)

die_kluge said:
			
		

> *Every year, I find that I could go through the entire dealer floor, and still miss half of it.  I perused it several times, and I went through it again Sunday afternoon, and realized I'd missed large chunks of it still.  Impossible.  Someone needs to formulate some kind of exhaustive route that goes through all the booths so that I can cover everything.*




That's the best part.  I spent 8 hours in the exhibit hall on Thursday, about 4 on Friday, another 3 on Saturday and 1 on Sunday -- and I was still finding nooks and crannies I hadn't thoroughly explored on Sunday. I love the exhibit hall.


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## DonAdam (Jul 30, 2003)

Posted on Monte's website...







Adam Martin, the first AU customer. I need to get that tattoo'd somewhere...


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## Ralts Bloodthorne (Jul 30, 2003)

I didn't get to go to GenCon due to financial problems and the worst part, medical problems.
TRS Chris, Hellhound, and Dextra knew I was very disappionted in not getting to go and meet all of them.

So, right after getting out of the hospital (again) I got a phone call from TRS Chris, and got to talk to Dextra.

All of it made me want to make it to next year in Indy.

I will be at SoCal.

To answer Denise's question, I'll move hell and high water to get to SoCal.

Thanks, Denise, Hellhound and Chris, for remembering me.


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## BrooklynKnight (Jul 30, 2003)

hey I didnt know your phone number
but ask Denise and Hound, i was harrasing everyone to buy Quickshots!


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## simmo (Jul 30, 2003)

francisca said:
			
		

> *Here's a shot of simmo's Love of Art: Drawn to Gehenna game:
> 
> 
> 
> ...




Thanks Francisca for posting the photo.

(From left to right)
Back row: Me (Simson) and Nathan Letsinger - long time planescape fan, met on PS mailing list 
Front row: Rudey, Joshua and Patrick - I shared a taxi with Josh and Patrick from the airport and when I ran in to them again the next day, I invited them to the game. Brannon Hall, Rich Franks (Francisca) and Brannon Hollingsworth (Ashy)

In order of characters played:
(From left to right)
Back row: DM, female gnome barbarian (
Front row: male human rogue, male leven cleric, male halfling bard, female half-orc fighter, male gnome barbarian, male dwarven wizard


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## Cthulhu's Librarian (Jul 30, 2003)

mythusmage said:
			
		

> *I what? Good Lord, I can bilocate and I don't even know it. *




Hmm. I guess it wasn't you then. All these names, and new faces to go with them. Someone out there is reading, saying "No, no you fool! It was me!" Sorry...


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## alsih2o (Jul 30, 2003)

KingOfChaos said:
			
		

> *I am disturbed by the fact that every picture with alsih2o in it looks like he is either looking at someone else's butt or using them as a human sock puppet -.- *




 speaking of sock puppets-


----------



## alsih2o (Jul 30, 2003)

me and maldur, notice you can see both my hands


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## alsih2o (Jul 30, 2003)

sunday party, getting into the 3rd shift here, shift number 4 arrived soon after 

 attempting the names from the left- kugar, monte@home(my close personal friend monte), tarchon is below him(my man tarchon), donadam, moi, crothian, with queenie 122 and rjmc64 down in the middle, maldur, rugger, larry fitz.

 the other 2 guys were very nice, and polite and friendly, but not nearly boisterous to sink names into me that late in the day and after a few shots  i think the first is howwhy something, the other i am lost on, tho he sat by me for a while and was nice


----------



## alsih2o (Jul 30, 2003)

not pictured in the previous is sue cook, who was taking pics with everyones camera


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## NarlethDrider (Jul 30, 2003)

alsih2o said:
			
		

> *me and maldur, notice you can see both my hands  *




Ahhh, but , certainly a skilled artist like yourself could craft something as simple as a realistic arm & hand


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## alsih2o (Jul 30, 2003)

NarlethDrider said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Ahhh, but , certainly a skilled artist like yourself could craft something as simple as a realistic arm & hand *




 shhhhhhh!


----------



## emergent (Jul 30, 2003)

I am just now getting around to posting.  After getting back on Monday afternoon, crashing hard, and working all day Tuesday, my wife gets us free Lyle Lovett tickets, so we drive to DC and get back at 2 AM.

I had lots of fun at my first real Con.  

Highlights:  
Piratecat's SpyCraft game.  I knew it it was going to be a riot when Teflon Billy's first combat action was "I jump off of the back of our jeep onto the hood of the car chasing us and shoot the driver through the windshield."  Cinematic, indeed.

The ENnines.  I made a big list of stuff I now need to buy.  Namely, anything by that Privateer guy.  

Meeting people:  I had lots of fun hanging out and talking to Buttercup, Pielorinho, Spider, alsih2o, Piratecat, Dextra, Eric Noah (I was the other guy in the librarian conversation, Eric, but didn't have much to add, since, well, I am not a librarian), Teflon Billy, Paladin, Maldur, and all the rest of you  Also, big thanks to Dextra and Hellhound for hosting those little Canadia gatherings.

PS O"Rourkes:  Not only was it super cool of Clay's brother to host us, and very nice to hang out with EN Worlders, but the space itself was just great.  One of the better bars I have been to.  If I lived in Indy I would totally hang out there.

Again, I had a wonderful time and can't wait until next year.


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## Rugger (Jul 30, 2003)

DonAdam said:
			
		

> *Posted on Monte's website...
> 
> 
> 
> ...




Woot! Go Don!

And is that woman in the back checking out Monte's ass? Hmmm....

-Rugger
"I Was10thOrSoInLineForAUAndAllIGotWasThisAmazingBook!"


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## Sniktch (Jul 30, 2003)

Ashy said:
			
		

> *The *ONE* person that slept LESS than me at the Con, and I get this crap and AFTER I bought him a fine dinner indeed!   - honestly, Sniktch, if there would have been ANY clubs open after 3 AM, you know I would have been there wit cha, my friend - Hall was the droopy-eyed one...  *




Bah, I went to the best club of all - the convention center!  It was open 24 hours a day, after all.  And, as already mentioned, I was blocked from entering the dance club.  Dinner _was_ fantastic, though - much thanks for helping me find that place, I'll be back there next year for sure.  And I'll even eat the cole slaw 

I'm paying for that stunt now, though.  I haven't gone so many days without sleep since exam week my first semester of college.  I'm still nodding in and out at odd times - think I'll take a nice nap at work before finishing my Saturday and Sunday report...


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## Ashy (Jul 30, 2003)

francisca said:
			
		

> *
> Funny.  I've never met anyone named Brannon in my life.  At GenCon, I meet two, and I never saw them apart. *




Yea, Hall (as I am fond of calling him) and I are old friends from way back, one-time roommates, and we share a brain - literally.    He's also a D20 freelance artist who does a ton of work for MEG, Bastion, and Bottled Imp Games...


----------



## Ashy (Jul 30, 2003)

EOL said:
			
		

> *I just posted my Gencon report in my blog so feel free to check it out.  My friend assembled probably the largest collection of costume photes at the con.  These should be available sometime tommorrow.  Once again I'd like to tay thanks to all the ENWorlders who stopped by my booth (especially those who bought a subscription  ) it was great to meet you and I'm looking forward to next year. *




SIGH...no mention of an dashingly handsome and brilliant tiefer I see - nor of his tireless self promotion of DireKobold.com.....  


"DireKobold.com ROCKS!"
- me, at the top of my voice, everytime I saw Ross......


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## Ashy (Jul 30, 2003)

Sniktch said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Bah, I went to the best club of all - the convention center!  It was open 24 hours a day, after all.  And, as already mentioned, I was blocked from entering the dance club.  Dinner was fantastic, though - much thanks for helping me find that place, I'll be back there next year for sure.  And I'll even eat the cole slaw
> 
> I'm paying for that stunt now, though.  I haven't gone so many days without sleep since exam week my first semester of college.  I'm still nodding in and out at odd times - think I'll take a nice nap at work before finishing my Saturday and Sunday report... *




Yea, and we had the best waiter ever!    I think next year I'll need to leave my dancin' shoes at home - seems that most gamers don't dance....


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## EOL (Jul 30, 2003)

Ashy said:
			
		

> *
> 
> SIGH...no mention of an dashingly handsome and brilliant tiefer I see - nor of his tireless self promotion of DireKobold.com.....
> 
> ...




You know how you get the friendly little announcements in the mail that someone has posted a reply to one of your subscribed threads?  The minute I saw that Ashy had responded I thought, "Oh he probably read my blog, that's cool."  And then I thought, "Oh crap I totally forgot to mention the dashingly handsome and brilliant tiefer and his tireless promotion of my website."  (It's amazing how prescient I was  )

Yes indeed this GenCon I finally got to meet the legendary Brannon Hollingsworth.  But as much as has been written in song and lore about this mythic figure, scant attention has been paid to his hat, and let me tell you what a hat it is.  If I had to put it in game terms I would say it would be the equivelant of a +6 cloak of charisma, that's how attractive it was.

Also I would have to agree with francisca.  To have never met a single Brannon in your life and then to meet two...  Let's just say it could only happen in the south...


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## Ashy (Jul 30, 2003)

ROTFL!!!!!

Yea, I have to wear the hat in public because of my horns!    I *am* a tiefer, after all!  Speakin' of which - did you ever get yourself one?  If not, let me know what size, I'll be happy to whip my gnomish mage into submission and have him craft one for you!  

Yea, only in the south.......hey - waitaminute!


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## Sniktch (Jul 30, 2003)

a +6 Hat of Charisma and Fishhook Holding, although he forgot the fishhooks...

I have the same hat, but I only wear it when I want to pass out by a stream at the end of a pole


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## Dextra (Jul 30, 2003)

Skadi said:
			
		

> *(FYI... I have been gaming with him for 10 years and I was Hellhound and Dextra's  third stalker  (with Croathian and Lord Apoch) at Origins) *




Just thought you'd like to know... We picked up Buffy from Eden Studios (Angel was stuck at the printers <pout>) and we're going to start playing it next week after we have a DVDBuffy-thon.  We'll be thinking of you- can't wait to play Buffy next year!


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## Dextra (Jul 30, 2003)

duplicate post


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## Ashy (Jul 30, 2003)

Sniktch said:
			
		

> *I have the same hat, but I only wear it when I want to pass out by a stream at the end of a pole  *




Boy - talk about your quotes you can have lots of fun with......


----------



## wolff96 (Jul 30, 2003)

alsih2o said:
			
		

> *the other 2 guys were very nice, and polite and friendly, but not nearly boisterous to sink names into me that late in the day and after a few shots  i think the first is howwhy something, the other i am lost on, tho he sat by me for a while and was nice  *




It's actually kind of funny.

Clay must have asked five or six times what my posting name was, but time, distance, and alcohol were all working against him. You need to lay off the premium booze!  

The other two members of the picture were me (with the glow on my shiny head) and my friend... whose screen name escapes me at the moment. I think he posts here as Gronkzilla.

We had a hell of a time for our first GenCon.

We only made it out on Saturday, but we live close enough to Indy to scoot back down on Sunday for alsih2o's bar gathering (which was a blast).

I got to meet a lot of the people who write the books I love so much, a bunch of the cool ENWorld folks that I only knew online before, and even got a chance to talk briefly to Monte Cook.

NEXT year, I'm going to pre-register ($#&*-ing LINES) and get in on a bunch of the games...


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## Sialia (Jul 30, 2003)

Ashy said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Yea, and we had the best waiter ever!    I think next year I'll need to leave my dancin' shoes at home - seems that most gamers don't dance....   *




Nah--it's just that this dancin' gamer can't ever seem to get herself to GenCon.

Sigh.

But I would, you know, I would.

Bring the shoes and save a dance for me next year . . there's always hope.


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## jgbrowning (Jul 30, 2003)

Well, after a long nights rest, I'm up and ready to post.

Wow, where should I start?    Guess I'll do the daily run down for us and then on into more business related stuff.

Tues.  We show up, get badges, gawk at how huge the retailer room is.
Wed. We set up, meet our table mates, Ann from Grey Ghost Press, Mark from Gold Rush Publishing, and Tika and Bynw from psionics.net (they host the chat here and with Kathrine Kurtz of Dyrini novel fame)
Thurs. The maddness sets in. We met droves and droves of people. All but a few, very friendly and socially skilled...   We don't make it to little canadia because we're tired and plan on socializing on friday.
Friday: Keep working the booth and try to contain the nerves about the ENnies.

Thanks so much to everyone for voting for us. Its funny that we win an award for being good writers and I can't quite find the words to adequately describe the joy of sweeping 3 gold ennies.  I don't know, its simply breathtaking. It let us know that all the effort and sweat we put into the product paid off. I thought there were people out there who would appreciate MMS:WE, but I didn't expect to win over the likes of the Book of the Righteous and Requiem for a God.  Simply astounding.  Thanks again! 

Sat: more working the booth.  I don't remember sat.  hrm..... aha!  I was hung over because I can't hold my beer anymore.  My liver hurt.
Sun: break down the booth and have dinner with our booth mates. We both really wanted to see everyone at o'roukes but we got out to late to make it.


General people notes:

Russ: Tall, breezy, looked like he lost his luggage.... oh wait.. he did!
Hellhound: Friendly and jovial. Not at all the toughguy I was expecting.... hehe course buttering up the kids tends to do that with papa bear.
Dextra: (from suzi..) "We now know who wears the pants." 
Psion: ******* pokerfaced **********!!!!   Nice to meet you even if you're utterly inscrutable.
Crothian: Gregarious and polite. Then again, I didn't have to share a suite with him....  Nice to meet you face to face after so much correspondance via post.
alsih20: beautiful work on the awards. They're resting on our desk right now until we can figure out where to prominately display them. Sorry we couldn't make it to your house, I'd love to have a beer or two with you and learn about Kilns.
Hal and Doug: Peanut butter and Jelly. "The butter and jam of my toast" (from suzi)
Teflon Billy: Is one handsome man. Looks like Mike Madson in Resiviour Dogs. However, TB didn't cut off Hal's ear so that's where the comparason ends. Nice to drink and exchange big easy stories.
James: Nice to meet the guy who runs rpgnow.com. Even if you did mess up the ennie awards...   Hope everything worked out for you at the booth this con.

We're sorry we didn't have more time for this GenCon, but it was our first and we were working a lot of hours at the booth. in 2004, we'll be better prepared and should have more time for socializing than we did this time around. I didn't get to speak as much as I would have like to with a lot of you out there, but just breifly meeting you all is helpful. Always like faces to go with names.

General con notes:
Big, busy, concrete.  The floor killed my feet, and may have actually damaged my achillies heel. Going to give it a few days to see if it works itself out or of to the doctor. I'm having to limp heavily and can barely walk.
Long lines. Hopefully this will get fixed next year. Cost us in sales on Saturday.

Business related stuff:
Hellhound, we get to be GenCon VIPS in 2004!  Whoot, glad you mentioned it, I would have missed it completely.
TeflonBilly, there's no NDA at all about our next product so talk about it all you want.   (please... )

We sold pretty good, and a lot of people were excited to finally get the book, but we could have done better had we our name on the list of exhibitors (as opposed to just being part of the GPA) and had saturday not been so bad. That aside, it was very nice of Ann to let us share her booth and at the end of the day we pretty much broke even. That made us very happy and we came home with a bag of traded swag.

Distribution: Everybody seemed to want to help us get distribution and introduced us to several distributors. It looks like we have a pretty good chance of signing on with 3 or 4 large(er) distributors. This is probably to prelimanary to be saying, but it looks like MMS:WE will finally be hitting the bookshelves of FLGS across the US (and maybe elsewhere)!  

Well that's our GenCon experience.  I want to thank everyone who's reviewed MMS:WE. We also want to again thank Monte for his surprise review. You probably aren't aware of the effect that had for us, but it was an amazing benefit to get Expeditious Retreat Press and MMS:WE out in the open.  I also want to thank Morrus and the guys who run ENworld. Without you all, none of this would have been possible.

Next year, if we're nominated and manage to win, Suzi's promised to let me speak.  


joe b.


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## Ashy (Jul 30, 2003)

Sialia said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Nah--it's just that this dancin' gamer can't ever seem to get herself to GenCon.
> 
> ...




DONE!  

Ok gang - we sent Morrus and PCat last year - 04 is the year to send Sialia!  WOO HOO!!!


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## Hand of Evil (Jul 30, 2003)

Pic from Gencon


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## Hand of Evil (Jul 30, 2003)

skyline from the river


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## Hand of Evil (Jul 30, 2003)

arrrrrr


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## Hand of Evil (Jul 30, 2003)

try again


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## Hand of Evil (Jul 30, 2003)

The river walk area by the IMAX


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## Hand of Evil (Jul 30, 2003)

From the seat of one of those strange bikes  Bike trail near the river.


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## alsih2o (Jul 30, 2003)

the people review(my apologies if i miss you)

 p-kitty- cha 18, maxed diplo ranks. i was actually quite nervous to meet the cat. we have gone at it so long and so well that i was afraid an in person meeting might spoil it. but no. this man rocks even on low sleep. 

 teflon billy- what a man, what man, what a man, what a mighty good man. tb is so fun i wanted to take him home. a near perfect combination of friendly openness and smart ass cynicism. one of my new favorite people.

 hellhound and dextra- 2 smiles that can knock you back from 10 yards. not only are they great and easy to get along with, their concern for their children and focus on the gelflings welfare reassures me that some people should indeed be allowed to breed. great great great folks!

 maldur- i picked on this guy for 10 days straight and he just smiles and smiles. harmless meets friendly in a body made for wearing a rubber suit in a japanese monster film.

 spider and pielorhino- great times at the spycraft game, and genuinely nice guys. almost so quiet one could forget they were there if they weren't so groovy and open t discussing whatever comes next. i was genuinely impresssed and hope i get the chance to chat and game with them again. they made me feel very old, but i will forgive them 

 zarathustran- bud, you can throw grenades off the back of my motorcycle any day 

 dinkledog- i met dink for maybe 3 minutes, but he was glowing type happy. i try not to judge people physically, but i gotta say dinkledog reminds me of a russian soccer superstar. i wish i could explain this. he has a very rough edge and a great smile. very sculptable 

 rjmc64 and queenie122- these folks seem like great dinner companions. rj was patient in explaining rules (and good at it) and queenie has a smile and laugh that make you enjoy whatever she is enjoying. raw quality.

  nakia(emergent?)- smart as a tack and in no hirry to prove it. easy conversationalist and a genuine personality.

 meg hal- der hall was freidnly and generous in our too short meeting, seems like quality humanity all around 

 jgbrowning and suzi yee- i showed up after months of singing their praises, and after meeting them i am singing louder. funny, fun and inspired. 

  russ- i had met russ before, but he remains high in my eyes for hs solid personality, seemingly unflappable demeanor (misdemeanor?) and patience. i woulda been smacking people a long time ago in his shoes, we are all in very good hands with the russman.

 eric noah- again, i didn't get to spend a lot of time with eric, but his popularity is warranted, very genuine and with a greta smile.

 ashy- so many phone calls and emails tryign to get together and it finally happened, good man, great spirit and loves his kids enough to leave the con early for his sons 4th b-day, god for oyu ash 

 fractalwave- what a great lady!!!  wonderful laugh and a biting sense of humor. smart and capable, easy to talk to and rational as the day is long. i hope i get to spend time with her again.

 henry- 2nd place to eric noah for "most resembles his avatar" great human being, we hung out at the bar and he brought a nonenworld friend (hi mark). good man, i would proudly save him a seat at my gaming table.

 trschris- brought swag swag and more swag, and tipped so well it made the barwenches blush. saw him flirting with some girl who was not a gamer and i snuck in close- he was walking her through character creation without books! that is what i call dedication. if i wasn't already a fan of CS i would buy it because the company reps are so sweet and friendly.

 sam witt- i unfortunately didn't realize how col and social he was till the end of the sunday party, i look forward to our next meeting, and to seeing his wife again, good, good folks.

 will upchurch- stayed here precon in my filthy studio and remained friendly even when my cats were choking the life out of him wiht their fur. turned me on to a new game (kingdoms) and i loved it. he then made a point to stop me at the con and ntroduce me to the designer. an excellent housegeust if it ever comes up, come back anytime old man.

 sniktch- what a pain! i had to go on a nightmare run to get hoim gaming materials left in my truck very late, he was fortunately worth it. 

 rugger- dude, right up my alley. i only regret we do not live closer. i think rugger and i are on our way to a beautiful relationship

 kugar- nice, nice and game ready. good folks with a good attitude.

 monte cook- wow, can oyu be that talented and friendly? multiple "my close personal friend monte cook" jokes and he rolled with them all. i understand now why he is so popular(besides the genius writer part) and sue too, it can be difficult runnig around with a big personality, but you would never knwo it to see her operate. what a genuine lady. i tip my hat that direction, humbly.

 cthulus librarian- easily as cool as his supercool avatar. easy to talk to and easy to lauch with. a sea of calm in the maelstrom that was gencon. 

 barrend nobeard- i have been waiting since last con to emet this gentleman and the wait was worht it, after missing him for 3 days ont he floor i caught him at the bar party, quality fun folk, no two ways.

 i know i am forgetting so many, but this is whatcrept into my head this time, amybe more later 

 p.s.- did i mention that piratecat is a cool butterlucker? what a guy


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## Sniktch (Jul 30, 2003)

Ashy said:
			
		

> *DONE!
> 
> Ok gang - we sent Morrus and PCat last year - 04 is the year to send Sialia!  WOO HOO!!!   *




As long as we send Morrus and PCat again, too   I've been promised a spot in one of PCat's games next year, and I can't imagine the Ennies without Russ there.  

OK, on with my report - now on Saturday morning and 24 hours without sleep:  in the morning I went back to the hotel and rinsed off, plus woke up Maldur, my friend Jesse (Artemis for any readers of my SH), and ApeBoy (his real name, honest - he's Stumpwater Jack on the boards).  Grabbed my stuff for the Oathbound event I was running and headed back to the hall.

Oathbound went well; everyone enjoyed the session and hopefully I sold some more books for Bastion.  The BBEG had some crazy luck (I rolled 3 20's in a row at one point) but they still managed to defeat him with only a third of the party lost.  From there it was off to hook up with my friends at an All Flesh Must Be Eaten game, a really fun session where I was voted best player (toot, toot!)  Apparently no one had seen an escape from an island using a box of condoms before 

From there it was back to the dealer room for another tour.  Missed my chance to get an autographed copy of AU from Monte (Darn you Jesse for talking me out of waiting in line!), lost Michael Morris somehow in the confusion (I really wanted to play in that game, Michael.  I searched from the EN/TRS booth to the WotC booth to RAM's but didn't see you anywhere ), went back to the hotel and rested my legs for a little bit while we watched the Animatrix, then it was back to the RAM for a couple of Butt Faced Lagers before immersing myself in another all night spree of Settlers of Catan, Are You a Werewolf?, Axis & Allies, and anything else I could get into.

Finally dragged myself back to the hotel at 7 again, woke everyone up and took care of checking out of the hotel, then took Maldur back to the center with me for my second Oathbound event.  Unfortunately, Maldur was the only player who showed up this time around so we sat outside talking, smoking, and drinking coffee instead   Went to the dealer room as soon as it opened, managed to sell my entire collection of Magic cards, and promptly spent it all on a last minute shopping spree.  Sunday I really got to talk to a lot of the industry veterans and get a lot of signatures, like Chris Pramas, Gwendolyn Kestrel and Anthony Valterra at the Valar booth, Steve Kenson, all of the Bastion Press guys (thanks for everything, guys!) and would probably be wandering around still if my friends hadn't found me, thrown me in the car, and started the drive back home.

It took us 8 hours to get back and I slept the whole way


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## Sniktch (Jul 30, 2003)

Oh, and Clay:  Thank you so much for the afforementioned nightmare run.  I know it was my fault that my stuff was left in your truck, but I really appreciate you coming back to town in the middle of the night to give it back.

Next time we meet, I definitely owe you one


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## alsih2o (Jul 30, 2003)

Sniktch said:
			
		

> *Oh, and Clay:  Thank you so much for the afforementioned nightmare run.  *




 it's all about community old man, al about the love 

 but paybacks are a girl your mom told oyu to stay away from


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## BrooklynKnight (Jul 30, 2003)

let me tell you! that girl really knows how to lick her lollypops!


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## alsih2o (Jul 30, 2003)

ArthurQ said:
			
		

> *let me tell you! that girl really knows how to lick her lollypops! *




 enough about jamie! avert your eyes or i will turn oyu in to the liquor control board!


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## alsih2o (Jul 30, 2003)

i have now had will upchurch(d20dwarf) maldur, tarchon and jester to the house for stayovers. i invite the rest of you to join this trendy group and stop by the studio or the house for a quick break or a rampaging game tour. 

 will maldur and me with the yard and the back of the studio-


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## alsih2o (Jul 30, 2003)

oh! and many of the costumes were impressive-


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## Sialia (Jul 30, 2003)

Ashy said:
			
		

> *
> 
> DONE!
> 
> Ok gang - we sent Morrus and PCat last year - 04 is the year to send Sialia!  WOO HOO!!!   *




You are too sweet, but it's not the cash so much as the logistics for me . . . really intimidating logistics . . . but after reading everybody's reviews here, they are starting to look less daunting.

It's all a matter of letting desire overcome fear . . .

Keep telling me how great it was.

For the next several months.

Oh, and Ashy, sweetie--why don't you have an avatar?


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## alsih2o (Jul 30, 2003)

some more than others-


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## alsih2o (Jul 30, 2003)

and if you were wanting to stalk chris pramas- he d.m.ed a freepart game i was in with tarchon, this is what he looks like


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## Ashy (Jul 30, 2003)

Sniktch said:
			
		

> *
> SNIP ON SNIKTCH'S POST*




And who does he owe it to?  Ol' Ashy!  

Just joshin', my friend - I was overjoyed that you could make it - I will see you there again next year, ya???  

Oh, and Mark - THANKS so much for dropping those boks off at the Bastion booth - they were a surprise for my 13 year old (who was published in them) and he was SSSOOOOO stoked!!    I owe you a drink at the Ram next year!  (Ask Sniktch - I'm good for it!)


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## alsih2o (Jul 30, 2003)

Ashy said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Oh, and Mark - THANKS so much for dropping those boks off at the Bastion booth - they were a surprise for my 13 year old (who was published in them) and he was SSSOOOOO stoked!!    I owe you a drink at the Ram next year!  (Ask Sniktch - I'm good for it!)   *




 not a problem, same answer as to sniktch above, all about the community. i jusat wish the truck storage had led to more friday night fun


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## Ashy (Jul 30, 2003)

alsih2o said:
			
		

> *i have now had will upchurch(d20dwarf) maldur, tarchon and jester to the house for stayovers. i invite the rest of you to join this trendy group and stop by the studio or the house for a quick break or a rampaging game tour. *




Sign me up!


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## Ashy (Jul 30, 2003)

Sialia said:
			
		

> *
> 
> You are too sweet, but it's not the cash so much as the logistics for me . . . really intimidating logistics . . . but after reading everybody's reviews here, they are starting to look less daunting.
> 
> ...




Ooooo!  I am good at destroying logic and logistics!    You send me an email with the problems and we'll overcome 'em!  

I will - just wait til you read my Gen Con adventure (being composed now)....  

Hurm - I haven't found the right pic yet - maybe you'll draw me one?    Or.....I might have to use this:






Whaddya think?


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## Ashy (Jul 30, 2003)

alsih2o said:
			
		

> *
> 
> not a problem, same answer as to sniktch above, all about the community. i jusat wish the truck storage had led to more friday night fun  *




Me too!!!  I wish I could have found you guys after the Ennies.....    oh well - next year I'll be there with bells on!    I have to remember to schedule time to EAT next year - I was running all over the place!!!


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## alsih2o (Jul 30, 2003)

here is another bar pic (62 enworlders made it in iver 12 hours  )

 from left to right- tarchon, tewligan, someone behind emergent, spider, cthulhus librarian, donadam, pielorhino, can't tell from the pic the next guy, barrend nobeard seated, henry leaning(he didn't drink THAT much), crothian(friendly as his postcount is high), rugger, me, p-kitty, kugar and maldur.


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## Pramas (Jul 30, 2003)

alsih2o said:
			
		

> *and if you were wanting to stalk chris pramas- he d.m.ed a freepart game i was in with tarchon, this is what he looks like  *




If you would like to stalk me, please find a more flattering picture.


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## Ashy (Jul 30, 2003)

*Gen Con 2003 – The Enkventure! (Part One)*

Wednesday, 4:00 PM CST
An event rarely seen or heard of occurred approximately one hour north of Birmingham, Alabama: I, Brannon “Ashy” Hollingsworth, shut down my email and quickly powered down my laptop. With a barely contained fit of enthusiasm and excitement, I began making the final preparations for what I had little doubt would be three of the most exhilarating days in my recent memory. Those three days would comprise none other than my first exposure to any gaming convention, and this was the mother of them all – Gen Con! I knew that my traveling companion and dear friend, Brannon Hall (a.k.a. – Hall) should be leaving work at that moment and heading to pick up the rental car; in one short hour, I surmised, Hall and I would be headed north, every nerve ending in our bodies firing in adrenaline and anticipation for our arrival in Indianapolis.

Alas, as with all things that involve Hall, this was not quite as it would turn out to be…

For those of you that don’t know Hall well, he seems to attract random chaotic occurrences like three day old chili-cheese burgers attract flies. Generally, these occurrences can be accounted for, even planned upon and around, but rarely they catch *everyone* by surprise – this happened to be one of those exceptional times and suffice it to say, after numerous humorous twists and turns (which I will leave to Master Hall to tell) he finally arrived at my house a little after 9 PM.  After being promptly strangled, recovering slightly and wolfing down a hot dog or three, Hall told me briefly of his tale and then we loaded my gear in the car and were off.

We rocketed through the cool, breezy night, rocking to the kickin’ tunes which I had packed – between those tunes and Hall’s mysterious (but deadly accurate) “fuzz sense”* – we made it to Indy in record time. Only stopping once for gas and grub at a gas station near a 24 Hour Adult Book Store (which we regarded as a promising omen for a good weekend), we were able to zip trough towns and road construction at 3 in the morning that would have normally confounded us for hours if we had traveled during the daylight hours.

We finally made it to downtown Indy a little after 4 AM – and promptly got lost in the maze of one-way and diagonally adjacent streets (sounds confusin’ – and it is). Being the boy scouts that we are, we were able to discern our location from the stars and finally made our way to the parking deck right next to the Westin. Of course, once we were within the parking deck, we could no longer see the stars and quickly became lost again.  We staggered into our room at the Westin around a half past four and found that Wil Upchurch was asleep in our bed. Never the ones to wake slumbering (designer) giants, Hall and I hit the floor, after briefly meeting Ed Bourelle’s silhouette (which was far taller and more imposing than I had ever though it would be)!

Ed Bourelle’s silhouette and Hall went to sleep almost immediately, but I simply could not force my body, still raging with excitement and palpable expectancy, into slumber. For those that know me well, there are few things that can make me as giddy as the possibility of gaming – just regular, everyday, sitting around the table gaming; yet here I was at the center of the gaming universe and no sleep would come to me. Soon, however, I had another problem to deal with – Hall, who was at my feet (we were lying on sleeping bags in a 20 ft. hallway which led past the bathroom and into the bulk of our room) began snoring…

Now folks, let me be the first to tell you that *I* am a confirmed snorer – a really bad one in fact; so bad that I brought earplugs with me and gave them to my roomies. However, this snore which Hall began to emit impressed even *me*. To make matters even worse, the aforementioned hallway that we within made Hall’s sonic emissions grow exponentially in volume, sound quality and timbre; I was afraid that he was going to wake up everyone in the room, so I did what any good friend would do in the same situation-

I repeatedly kicked Hall in the head until he stopped snoring – which he soon did.  I guess the physical exertion was the last straw my body needed, because the next thing I know, I was awaking to the only marginally increased pre-dawn light (as it was pre-dawn when I went to sleep) of my first day ever at Gen Con. It would be a day to remember…

**Fuzz Sense (Ex):* This extraordinary ability allows Hall to sense whenever any type of law enforcement official is anywhere within a five mile radius of his location. This ability can only be used when in a motor vehicle, but Hall need not be the operator of said vehicle. This ability remains in effect at all times and is not confounded (as you will see) by police who are either ff duty or in unmarked cars.


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## HellHound (Jul 31, 2003)

Crothian said:
			
		

> *
> 
> I really want to know who said those things.  I couldn't see much of the crowd with those big, bright lights on. *




(ahem)

That would be me.


----------



## Crothian (Jul 31, 2003)

HellHound said:
			
		

> *
> 
> (ahem)
> 
> ...




Thanks Hound, that was so kind of you.  I hope to one day return the favor


----------



## Breakdaddy (Jul 31, 2003)

Sooooo, now Im convinced I need to go next year. But damn, is it going to be in the same place at the same time or what? Ive not been to a gencon in all my 16 years of gaming (or any of the rest of the years of my life for that matter) and know precious little about it. Any insight?


----------



## BrooklynKnight (Jul 31, 2003)

alsih2o said:
			
		

> *the people review(my apologies if i miss you)
> 
> [snip]
> 
> ...




Everyone always forgets the Q *sniff*
So here is a reminder! What about me!


----------



## Piratecat (Jul 31, 2003)

Hey ArthurQ - please don't quote a long post if you only want to reference a little bit. It's much, much better to delete out the extraneous section of the quoted material.

Thanks!

I'll edit the above post, but I thought it was worth mentioning, because other folks occasionally do this too.


----------



## BrooklynKnight (Jul 31, 2003)

alsih2o said:
			
		

> *
> 
> enough about jamie! avert your eyes or i will turn oyu in to the liquor control board!  *




damn you i cant help it, she made me all melty and i was STILL able to talk to her!


----------



## BrooklynKnight (Jul 31, 2003)

Piratecat said:
			
		

> *Hey ArthurQ - please don't quote a long post if you only want to reference a little bit. It's much, much better to delete out the extraneous section of the quoted material.
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> I'll edit the above post, but I thought it was worth mentioning, because other folks occasionally do this too.   *





ah, exuse my ignorance  hehe.


----------



## BrooklynKnight (Jul 31, 2003)

Breakdaddy said:
			
		

> *Sooooo, now Im convinced I need to go next year. But damn, is it going to be in the same place at the same time or what? Ive not been to a gencon in all my 16 years of gaming (or any of the rest of the years of my life for that matter) and know precious little about it. Any insight? *




I'm not sure if it will run the same dates, but it WILL be in INDY over the summer of 04. So dont worry.


----------



## Angcuru (Jul 31, 2003)

I know I won't be going next year, but I hope that if Sir Osis of Liver(Sool) attends, someone challenges him to a drinking contest!


----------



## Droogie (Jul 31, 2003)

Say, Q, do you remember my buddy Jim? He's the loud skinny guy with brown hair who couldn't stay in his seat at Who's Line Is It Anyway.

I must say, I ended up being more shy at the con than I expected. I met Neg-0 when I bought his initiative doohicky. Nice guy.

By chance, I played a Freeport game with Buttercup as previously mentioned. Fun time indeed.

Got a pic with Monte Cook after the ennies, but then got too chicken to start mingling. Duh.


----------



## Twin Rose (Jul 31, 2003)

I want the gnome and other EN World party at PS O'Rourke's pictures posted!  *Sniffs*

I was kinda the man for that brief hour


----------



## BrooklynKnight (Jul 31, 2003)

Droogie said:
			
		

> *Say, Q, do you remember my buddy Jim? He's the loud skinny guy with brown hair who couldn't stay in his seat at Who's Line Is It Anyway.
> *




Was jim the guy who asked me about the BOEF after the Ennies?
there were plenty of people who couldnt stay in their seats at Whos Line is It anyway. Myself included.

DAMN that was fun.

[yoda voice] hrm, prince of darkness you may be, but master of the force am i! YES! [/yoda voice]


----------



## BrooklynKnight (Jul 31, 2003)

Twin Rose said:
			
		

> *I want the gnome and other EN World party at PS O'Rourke's pictures posted!  *Sniffs*
> 
> I was kinda the man for that brief hour  *




Yes, quite the ladies man, showing off the BOEF.
I'll never let you live that down *chortle*


----------



## Henry (Jul 31, 2003)

alsih2o said:
			
		

> *here is another bar pic (62 enworlders made it in iver 12 hours  )
> 
> from left to right... donadam, pielorhino, can't tell from the pic the next guy...*




Amusingly enough, the guy you couldn't identify is named Mark. He was the gaming buddy I brought with me.


----------



## Droogie (Jul 31, 2003)

ArthurQ said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Was jim the guy who asked me about the BOEF after the Ennies?
> there were plenty of people who couldnt stay in their seats at Whos Line is It anyway. Myself included.
> ...




Jim was Kathryn Hepburn.

Although I'm not sure if he did that impression, since I missed that Who's Line.


----------



## BrooklynKnight (Jul 31, 2003)

yep thats him! Man he was cool

I belive i gave him my email address...
tell him to contact me with his AIM SN or something he's way cool.


----------



## alsih2o (Jul 31, 2003)

Twin Rose said:
			
		

> *I want the gnome and other EN World party at PS O'Rourke's pictures posted!  *Sniffs*
> 
> I was kinda the man for that brief hour  *




 they were posted..i will find them. hold on.

 edit- here they are: http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=58653&highlight=blows+fuse


----------



## alsih2o (Jul 31, 2003)

the ennies judges who were present 9teflon billy, psion and crothian) with peter adkinson. guess which one is used to having a camera pointed at him


----------



## alsih2o (Jul 31, 2003)

one of my favorite con pics. i could go on and on about this one, suffice it to say it makes me happy


----------



## Draken Korin (Jul 31, 2003)

Storminator said:
			
		

> *
> 
> I still think you should have gotten the flanking bonus...
> 
> ...




I'm pretty sure the fat guy between Storminator and Neg Zero is me. 

Draken Korin


----------



## BrooklynKnight (Jul 31, 2003)

badabing


----------



## Hand of Evil (Jul 31, 2003)

some from the ENnies - not really great, too far away and too dark but...


----------



## Hand of Evil (Jul 31, 2003)

more


----------



## Hand of Evil (Jul 31, 2003)

another


----------



## Hand of Evil (Jul 31, 2003)

again


----------



## Hand of Evil (Jul 31, 2003)




----------



## Hand of Evil (Jul 31, 2003)

last one (for now) the rest are really sorry.


----------



## francisca (Jul 31, 2003)

Here is a shot of Leopold, before the carnage started thursday night.  

Check out the eyes.  

Leopold: Fiendish DM/PCGen Hackmaster (somebody stat this guy out!)


----------



## Rugger (Jul 31, 2003)

Hand of Evil said:
			
		

> * *





Umm...I never saw Eric this year, but WHEN did he become a floating torso!! My sanity!!!

-Rugger
"I Gibber!"


----------



## Hand of Evil (Jul 31, 2003)

Oh, I am also so jealousy  over Priatecat's dice bag from the Gamer's Bag, his avatar on the bag was damn cool and sharp!


----------



## Dextra (Jul 31, 2003)

alsih2o said:
			
		

> *oh! and many of the costumes were impressive- *




I loved that one- the Sabbat (complete with shovel) wants YOU!


----------



## Teflon Billy (Jul 31, 2003)

Dextra said:
			
		

> *
> 
> I loved that one- the Sabbat (complete with shovel) wants YOU! *




That girl was ultra-hot


----------



## Ashy (Jul 31, 2003)

"I concur."  (Turns to the poster on his right) "Do you concur?"


----------



## francisca (Jul 31, 2003)

Ashy said:
			
		

> *"I concur."  (Turns to the poster on his right) "Do you concur?"
> 
> 
> *




You *know* I concur, Ashy.


----------



## EOL (Jul 31, 2003)

Teflon Billy said:
			
		

> *
> 
> That girl was ultra-hot  *




Check out this picture of them.  My official costume photographer told them to make a happy face:






It's from DireKobold's huge GenCon Costume collection which should be up later today.


----------



## Crothian (Jul 31, 2003)

My trip to Gen Con was almost without incident.  It was actually after I got to Gen con that my troubles began.  It took me only about three and a half hours to get to the city and another hour to find a parking space.  I left my luggage and boxes of books in the truck.  I didn’t have access to my room at that point.  So, I walked a the few blocks to the convention.  It took a little while to find someone to help me get my badge.  The first three people I talked to were clueless.  They didn’t know what the ENies were, or where I might go to get my badge.  Finally, I was able to find a lady I’ll call Sue.  Sue was very helpful.  She didn’t have the badge, but used her radio.  She was told that someone named Janet had the badge.  Janet was off site, but supposedly she was a few blocks south next to the ice rink setting up speakers for something.

So, I walked down there, around the ice rink, found the place they were setting up speakers, and of course there was no Janet.  Not only was their no Janet, no one there knew of a Janet of could help me find her.  So, I walked back to Sue.  Sue was sorry I couldn’t find Janet, so she got back on the radio to figure something else.  I watched con goers going to and fro.  Then Sue told me to go to Customer Service, Janet might have left the badge there.  So, off to customer service I went.  It was a small line, only a dozen people in line.  I got up to the booth and talk to the young lady.  I explain who I am and that I’m looking for my badge.  She was not familiar with the ENnies or anything.  But did go talk to some people.  She came back and asked me what I was looking for again.  I told her my badge.  She went back to the people and came back a few minutes later.  She asked who I was with, I told her the ENnies.  She went back to the people, came right back and asked me to write it down.  Then she went back to the people and talked to them some, and then came back to me and told me the ENnies were going to be Friday Night at nine.  So, I explained again I was looking for my badge and I was part of the ENnies.  She got up to go back to the people.  I stopped her and asked if I could just go over there and talk to them.  She said that was fine.

So, I go talk to some other Convention people.  I was told to just go see Lily, at a lady at another place, and just have her print me a badge.  I was actually told to give her the message “Janet said to print me a badge”.  So, off to find Lily I go.  She was easy to find, there was no line, and I get up to her explain who I am and then say “Janet said to print me a badge”.  Lily looks at me and says she already printed those badges and gave them to someone.  She didn’t know who or where they might be, but she would not print me a badge.  So, I’m thinking that maybe Morrus has the badge and that he might be in the Dealer Room.  So, I go back to Sue and tell her about customer service and Lily, and ask if I could get a gopher (messenger) to deliver a message inside the dealer room for me.  Sue told me to just wait and she got back on the radio.  I watch the con goers and then here over the radio a voice say “Lily, print him a damn badge!!” Sue asked if I heard that, and I did.  So, back to Lily to get my Badge.  This time she was helpful and printed me a badge although for some reason it said “Chris Chris”.  

So, it was a little bit disorganized, it took me over an hour to hunt around and finally get my badge.  It was bad luck as Morrus did have my badge, but since he had his luggage lost it is understandable.


----------



## Sniktch (Jul 31, 2003)

Hand of Evil said:
			
		

> *again *




Ah, very close - if you had gone a little to the left you would have caught the elusive rat-man on film   In the very lowest left is my friend Jesse (Artemis Sendant in my SH) and to his right is Apeboy, or Stumpwater Jack.

To Jesse's left was me, Ashy, Brannon Hall, Capellan, Simson, and a couple of others...


----------



## Teflon Billy (Jul 31, 2003)

Crothian said:
			
		

> *....Sue told me to just wait and she got back on the radio.  I watch the con goers and then here over the radio a voice say “Lily, print him a damn badge!!” Sue asked if I heard that, and I did.  So, back to Lily to get my Badge.  This time she was helpful and printed me a badge although for some reason it said “Chris Chris”... *




Jesus! that sounds like we might actually ave aconfirmed sighting of a "Competent Gen Con Staffer"

And here I thought they were a myth


----------



## ColonelHardisson (Jul 31, 2003)

Crothian said:
			
		

> *snipped account of badge rigmarole *




I wonder why they don't send out badges to people associated with the con ahead of time?


----------



## Crothian (Jul 31, 2003)

ColonelHardisson said:
			
		

> *
> 
> I wonder why they don't send out badges to people associated with the con ahead of time? *




I would have really liked that.  Would have saved me a lot of worry.


----------



## francisca (Jul 31, 2003)

Teflon Billy said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Jesus! that sounds like we might actually ave aconfirmed sighting of a "Competent Gen Con Staffer"
> 
> And here I thought they were a myth *




There  was another one.  Wednesday night, after the second time badge printing crapped out, and after they had taken my money, she was able to force a reprint of my badge.  She was very cool under fire, very understanding, and helped out a bunch of us.


----------



## mythusmage (Jul 31, 2003)

Crothian said:
			
		

> *
> 
> I would have really liked that.  Would have saved me a lot of worry. *




At the San Diego Comic Con all prereg badges are kept in a specific area, depending on whether it's for a pre-pay, guest, professional, or exhibitor. If you're a pro you go to the pro booth and tell the nice person your name. He looks through one of a number of  boxes with the pro badges (we get tons of pros every year) and when he finds yours hands it to your along with extra stuff for you to look at. At no time is a badge wandering around with a staffer who can't be found.

A suggestion for the folks at GenCon.


----------



## Cthulhu's Librarian (Jul 31, 2003)

alsih2o said:
			
		

> * cthulus librarian- easily as cool as his supercool avatar. easy to talk to and easy to lauch with. a sea of calm in the maelstrom that was gencon. *




you obviously didn't see me shopping, or running around trying to find events! calm is hardly the word I would use!


----------



## Ashy (Jul 31, 2003)

The Enkventure (Part Two) (see it all here!)
Thursday 7:00 AM CST
Darkness and oblivion gave way quickly to softly muted early morning light; I could sense the awkward, jerkily rousing movements of my companions around me. I was tired, hungry and needed a shower and a hot cup of coffee; my first impulse was to roll bag into my bag, rivet my eyes shut for another few hours and then give it another, more refreshed go.  It was then that my brain finally stirred out of its sluggish sleep-induced morass enough to tell me exactly where I was in the continental U.S. – I was not home, I was in Indianapolis – I was at GEN CON!

My recollection of the next little wedge of time is awfully clouded in my memory, but several things stand out distinctly, the first of those was meeting my good friend and long-time co-conspirator, Ed Bourelle, with whom I had spoken with countless times and exchanged easily three times that number of emails and whose silhouette I had met the night before. Ed was slightly more formidable than I had envisioned in my mind’s eye and somehow infinitely cooler. Now do not get me wrong on this, folks, as I already knew that Ed was cool (and I would soon learn just how cool he was over the days to come) but Ed exudes a velvety subdued panache and a refined uniqueness that is like all the best possible connotations of silk sheets and sweet jazz – Ed is, in a word, ubercool.  

In the light of Ed’s expertly conveyed sense of self, I was awe-struck to meet, in not just my own opinion, one of the hottest names in the D20 arena, Wil Upchurch. Wil is a quiet and immensely friendly (not to mention utterly laid back) bear of a man who is at once, equal parts quizzical scholar and wookie. Sadly, I think a supreme air of “fanboy” crept over me as I blabbered on about how big of a fan I was and Wil’s keen instincts kicked in with a fight or flight response. Not long after everyone began stirring, Will excused himself to go to the airport in order to pick up a friend.

Lastly, I got to hit the showers and my man Hall brewed up a pot o’ joe – that quick one-two jab combo got me kickin’ and ready to roll. As we discussed what to do for breakfast, I gave Jim Butler (of Bastion Press) a ring, as he had said that he would like to break our fasts together and give me my exhibitor’s badge at the same time. Sadly, he and some of the Bastion crew were already at a joint that was slammed and had been waiting for their morning grub for nearly an hour; I decided that an hour was way to long to get some initial eats and told him that I would meet him in front of the Exhibitors Hall around 9:00.

Plans were made and Hall, Ed and I geared up for our initial foray into the hallowed halls of the Indy Convention Center. As we got ready, drinking coffee and telling the stories of our various arrivals to Indy, I realized that I had forgotten to print out and bring my Gen Con schedule – out of the entire bundle of indexed and cross-referenced info I had brought along, I had forgotten quite possibly the most important item! I was aghast at first, but knew that I should be able to find net access somewhere and would be able to hit my website and thus, my schedule. Ed, Hall and I cruised out of our posh pad at the Westin and over to the Convention Center, as we had decided that we would slide in with our Exhibitors badges (slipping Hall in just long enough until he could hook up with MEG Hal and score his badge), get the general lay of the land and then jet out to breakfast about 10:00 AM when all of the hubbub began. It was a sweet plan and worked great – we may even do the same next year…  Anywho, back to the tale….

We arrived at the front of the Exhibitor’s Hall around 9:10 or so and I looked around for Jim – there were about 8 gazillion people around and I could barely see Hall and Ed, much less someone who I had only seen in grainy, year-old pics on the Internet. I was surprised, in my search, to find, standing not two feet from me none other than Claudio Pozas and his lovely bride. I introduced myself, Ed, and Hall, but I think it was a bit early in the morning for Caudio, or maybe he was worried about finding the Fiery Dragon crew and getting HIS badge, as he seemed a little distracted. I told him that I would see him later and began my search for Jim in earnest.

It was not going well so I decided to think like the hunter and watch for movement. I whipped out my cell and tapped Jim’s speed dial number and then watched the crowd, suddenly I saw a flash of black with a splash of red and then I saw Jim putting his cell phone to his head. I watched him answer his phone as I walked towards him, a big (probably stupid) grin on my face.

“Jim?” I quipped.

The dude nodded and smiled, closing his phone.

That was all I needed – I stuck out my hand. “Brannon Hollingsworth, good to finally meet you, boss.”

And that was that – I had met the dude that had made me a published writer. I could have hugged him on the spot, but that would likely have escalated me to Lord of the Fanboys, and I was not quite ready for that – yet.  It is a funny thing about being a freelancer in this business: (at least for me, as I’ve not confirmed it with enough of my peers to see if the feeling permeates throughout them all) deep down, we are nothing more than fans – fans who have been ridiculously lucky enough to begin to live the dream (just a bit). So while all the fans look to us to be these wheelin’ and dealin’ industry types (I guess – that seems to be the perception and the vibes I get most often), we are just as starry eyed when we meet somebody like Jim Butler, Monte Cook, or Bruce Cordell.

It is all good as gold, though, because the hands down coolest thing about this industry is that nobody -and I mean nobody- that I have yet to meet has any sort of attitude or “holier-than-thou” complex going on; I mean, how cool is that?  

Jim passed me my badge and I thanked him profusely, I introduced Hall and Ed (both of whom have worked with Bastion in the past, but never met Jim to my knowledge) and we all headed for the Exhibitor Room doors. As we approached the entryway, I felt a sensation wash over me that was quite unlike anything that I had ever experienced before; something akin to knowing that once I passed through those doors, that a portion of my life was going to be stripped from me forever – my anonymity. For those of you that have known my since my Planewalker days, you know well that I have been somewhat reclusive with my real self, I have never posted a picture of myself to the web, or in truth revealed much about the “real me”, even to my closest “e-friends”. Whether or not this was a conscious act is immaterial but the fact that that time in my life was about to end was very real in my mind.

Sure, I was excited about going to Gen Con. Sure, I was excited about meeting the folks I had worked with and admired for years. Sure, I was about to game my brains out. But a part of me was about to go away forever and that tinged everything with this weird stain of melancholy; it was by no means strong enough to wash off the big, stupid (yes, I am sure it was plastered all over my face at this point) grin off my face, but I knew it was there and it was undeniably weird, and unusual, and unique.

The doors opened before me, and nothing was ever the same…


----------



## War Golem (Aug 1, 2003)

I confess to not having found the time or energy to write up some witty and entertaining anecdotes from our GenCon trip; work's been pounding me since our return... nothing new there, though.

Anyway, my girlfriend May and I had a great time, and we both agreed that by far the best part of the trip was getting to meet and put faces/voices/body language/etc. with so many EN World folks, who were, without exception, friendly and fun. The ENnies were a close second. (And kudos to the folks responsible for putting on the show - I really thought it was top-notch, all things considered. Good job all around!)

I want to say "Thank you" in particular to Leopold for running his Against the Giants game, and to Piratecat for his Paranoia game. It's all good and fine to say some quick hellos to someone you meet in passing, but you really get to know someone around the game table. Well, certain aspects of them anyway.   Both games were quite fun, and both DMs did a great job!

It's weird how at a convention of thousands and literally square miles of terrain to cover, that there always end up being a few people you just seem to keep running into. For us, those people were francisca, Storminator (& his wife) and Glenn from DireKobold.com. Why? I have no idea. But we didn't mind at all - all 3 of you guys were great, and May and I look forward to gaming with you next time. (Glenn & EOL, I really apologize for not ever making it to the DK booth with enough time to sit through a demo... to be perfectly honest, I still have no clue what your product is... but I PROMISE to check out your web site VERY SOON!)

Well, enough talk. Here are some pictures from our GenCon, nothing award-winning, but hey...

Cheers,


----------



## War Golem (Aug 1, 2003)

Here are the troops marshalling in the food court for Leopold's d20 Against the Giants smackdown....


----------



## War Golem (Aug 1, 2003)

Leopold (in the grey shirt) prepares to hurt us...


----------



## War Golem (Aug 1, 2003)

This is most of the crowd. I can easily say that this was the largest party I've ever been a part of (number of Players, anyway):






I'll leave it to someone else to go around the table and identify everyone.


----------



## War Golem (Aug 1, 2003)

Leopold's Against the Giants:

Here is a shot of the battlemat during our surprise attack by an accursed dire bear. The little figure lying on top of the dire bear DragonScale counter was my wizard, who was, at that point, inside the dire bear.


----------



## Angcuru (Aug 1, 2003)

War Golem said:
			
		

> *The little figure lying on top of the dire bear DragonScale counter was my wizard, who was, at that point, inside the dire bear.  *



Excuse me for a moment.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHaHAHAHAHAHAHAHaHAAAA!!!

 That's just funny.


----------



## Twin Rose (Aug 1, 2003)

Well, here is one photo that's worth a look.

(From left to right
"John Sussenberg, BD "They broke the GenCon jail record with me", Mynex the evil monkey, and Chris from Twin Rose Software. 
"

(Picture by Sherilyn and Klingon Jail & Bail)

Luckily, there is no audio of the four of us singing, "I'm a little Teapot".


----------



## francisca (Aug 1, 2003)

Angcuru said:
			
		

> *
> Excuse me for a moment.
> 
> AAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHaHAHAHAHAHAHAHaHAAAA!!!
> ...




Not nearly as funny as his tactics to combat the bear from the inside.  See the picture about 5 pages back to see the crowd's reaction....


----------



## Storminator (Aug 1, 2003)

francisca said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Not nearly as funny as his tactics to combat the bear from the inside.  See the picture about 5 pages back to see the crowd's reaction.... *




Ah, hell, let's just let 'em know.

War Golem: I cast Enlarge on myself...

Neg-Zero tried to Reduce the bear, but it made its save.

PS


----------



## Storminator (Aug 1, 2003)

War Golem said:
			
		

> *
> <SNIP>
> It's weird how at a convention of thousands and literally square miles of terrain to cover, that there always end up being a few people you just seem to keep running into. For us, those people were francisca, Storminator (& his wife) and Glenn from DireKobold.com. Why? I have no idea. But we didn't mind at all - all 3 of you guys were great, and May and I look forward to gaming with you next time.
> <SNIP>
> Cheers, *




I noticed that too, and it was cool seeing you and May all over the floor as well. 

We'll definitely have to do that on purpose next year!

PS


----------



## francisca (Aug 1, 2003)

Storminator said:
			
		

> *
> 
> I noticed that too, and it was cool seeing you and May all over the floor as well.
> 
> ...




I second that, you guys were great.

Storminator, we need to game again next year.


----------



## Storminator (Aug 1, 2003)

You betcha man, I'll have a scenario or two whipped up, and I'm ready to play any time. I probably won't make it thru the weekend if I don't invite Ashy, tho, so be ready to game with him too!

And, of course, I'll be party of the insane ENWorld enormous gaming event (which seriously needs a cool name)

PS


----------



## Queenie (Aug 1, 2003)

Rugger said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Heheh! If it makes you feel any better, Kugar and DonAdam never skipped a beat...but I did worry for a second.  Then the Heineken reminded me that women are excellent navigators and Queenie made her Intuit Direction check! Shame on you for stealing her credit!  Thanks to both of you for the ride!!
> 
> ...




No problem! And I don't know what it is about guys and directions.. we won't even go there...

I am glad we did give you guys a ride because it was cool to hear what you all thought was the best GenCon moments. Next year we will have to plan better so people don't get stuck with $40 cab fares!

~Queenie


----------



## Queenie (Aug 1, 2003)

ArthurQ said:
			
		

> *
> 
> hey RJ since you're a fellow NY'er maybe next time we can travel together or room, and save some $$ It was kool meeting you. *




I am so behind on this thread, it took me quite a few days to recover from the whole GenCon experience.

Rob and I are already looking for people to travel / room with for next year. We were even hoping to get into one of the connecting hotels. We heard the Hyatt was wonderful from Rugger.

Where in NY are you from?

~Queenie


----------



## Queenie (Aug 1, 2003)

Breakdaddy said:
			
		

> *Sooooo, now Im convinced I need to go next year. But damn, is it going to be in the same place at the same time or what? Ive not been to a gencon in all my 16 years of gaming (or any of the rest of the years of my life for that matter) and know precious little about it. Any insight? *




Sorry if someone responded to you already, like I said earlier I am slow getting through this thread.

The dates for the con next year (and the two years after that) were in the GenCon book they gave out. It was something like August 5th - 8th, off the top of my head. The con is going to be in Indy for a while, according to the guy who "owns" GenCon (sorry I don't know his name!). I think he said (at the Party in the Plaza) they had signed a big contract with the city.

~Queenie


----------



## Ashy (Aug 1, 2003)

Storminator said:
			
		

> *You betcha man, I'll have a scenario or two whipped up, and I'm ready to play any time. I probably won't make it thru the weekend if I don't invite Ashy, tho, so be ready to game with him too!
> 
> And, of course, I'll be party of the insane ENWorld enormous gaming event (which seriously needs a cool name)
> 
> PS *




You'd better not game without me, dagnabbit!  

It does, doesn't it?


----------



## Negative Zero (Aug 1, 2003)

War Golem said:
			
		

> *This is most of the crowd. I can easily say that this was the largest party I've ever been a part of (number of Players, anyway):
> 
> 
> 
> ...




well, that's me with in the white T-Shirt, with my back to the camera, and my two friends Dave and Mark (black cap), to my immediate left. (no, not Mark from the boards) on either side of Mark's head, i recognise EOL (on the boards) from DireKobold.com and his buddy Glenn (who is a riot btw) to his left. and of course Leopold is standing with the blue cap, and that's right, a copy of Improved Initiative in his hands!!!  

...

heya Queenie, always nice to see another NYer on the boards  welcome

~NegZ


----------



## Negative Zero (Aug 1, 2003)

Storminator said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Ah, hell, let's just let 'em know.
> 
> ...




well by then i figured it wouldn't have worked, not with the +40 saves the damn thing had, but i kept hoping for that 1!  that woulda been too dang funny 

~NegZ


----------



## Queenie (Aug 1, 2003)

Negative Zero said:
			
		

> *
> 
> heya Queenie, always nice to see another NYer on the boards  welcome
> 
> ~NegZ *




Thanks! Good to be here. Where are you from?

~Q


----------



## francisca (Aug 1, 2003)

Storminator said:
			
		

> *I probably won't make it thru the weekend if I don't invite Ashy, tho, so be ready to game with him too!
> 
> PS *




Ashy and I have already planewalked together and lived to tell about it!  We're ready for your challenge!


----------



## Ashy (Aug 1, 2003)

francisca said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Ashy and I have already planewalked together and lived to tell about it!  We're ready for your challenge! *





YOU KNOW IT!


----------



## Negative Zero (Aug 1, 2003)

Queenie122 said:
			
		

> *Thanks! Good to be here. Where are you from?
> 
> ~Q *




from? St.Lucia (in the Caribbean) but i live in Brookyn now, Flatbush area. not quite as tropical, but more exotic in many many ways 

~NegZ


----------



## heldenhammer (Aug 1, 2003)

Buttercup said:
			
		

> *So this Freeport game, it was way cool.  It was the first part of a new Freeport adventure that's coming out in October.  I'm probably going to get the title wrong, but I think it's called Black Sands of Freeport.  Or maybe not.  Anyway, just remember October.  They guy who DMed it was the author, and I had a blast.  I played an evil dwarf cleric named Ham Foulbrew, who was in a party of good folks.*




Ham Foulbrew isn't evil. He's just misunderstood.  

The Freeport adventure is called *Black Sails Over Freeport* and there are three additional authors of the game (I'm one of them). Find out more at Green Ronin's website !

I'm glad you had fun playing our demo. There'll be plenty more Freeport mayhem coming in October!

-rhl


----------



## Tabarnak Smokeblower (Aug 1, 2003)

Ashy said:
			
		

> *
> Or.....I might have to use this:
> 
> 
> ...




lol. It's even funnier to me since you have "Bandai" in the background, which, in french, is a conjugation of the verb that describes getting, hm, an erection.

TS


----------



## Tabarnak Smokeblower (Aug 1, 2003)

Teflon Billy said:
			
		

> *
> 
> That girl was ultra-hot  *




Uh, anyone actually see her _face_?

TS


----------



## Rugger (Aug 1, 2003)

Tabarnak Smokeblower said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Uh, anyone actually see her face?
> 
> TS *




C'mon...who needs a face? 

Gas Masks are sooooo dead sexy!



....she DID have a face, though, right? I know I never saw her face....

-Rugger
"I Wonder!"


----------



## Sialia (Aug 1, 2003)

Ashy said:
			
		

> *
> 
> As we approached the entryway, I felt a sensation wash over me that was quite unlike anything that I had ever experienced before; something akin to knowing that once I passed through those doors, that a portion of my life was going to be stripped from me forever – my anonymity. For those of you that have known my since my Planewalker days, you know well that I have been somewhat reclusive with my real self, I have never posted a picture of myself to the web, or in truth revealed much about the “real me”, even to my closest “e-friends”. Whether or not this was a conscious act is immaterial but the fact that that time in my life was about to end was very real in my mind.
> *




I totally get you here. 

I remember going through this feeling when the first couple threads opened that asked for photos of us, and why we chose our userids, and what do we "really" do.

Thre was definitely some anxiety about gettin' nekkid w/ all you folks here.

But then I realized that what with my .Baby Pictures of the Elder Gods thread, and Orc and Pie as if by Boynton and all the other various crazyness I've gotten up to here, I'm already more "out" to all the folks here than I am to most of the folks I spend time with in "real" life. Anybody I've gamed with knows more about how my brain really works and what is going on inside it than anybody I've ever worked with. 

It's the other moms at the playgroup who haven't met the real me, and don't need to know her


----------



## Cthulhu's Librarian (Aug 1, 2003)

Tabarnak Smokeblower said:
			
		

> *
> Uh, anyone actually see her face?
> *




Yep.  

And I will agree with Teflon Billy, _That girl was ultra-hot _, even w/o the gas mask. Maybe even more so...  

I got my picture taken with her, but I'm still waiting for the photo place to process my film. Hopefully I can post my pics tomorrow.


----------



## Ashy (Aug 1, 2003)

Tabarnak Smokeblower said:
			
		

> *
> 
> lol. It's even funnier to me since you have "Bandai" in the background, which, in french, is a conjugation of the verb that describes getting, hm, an erection.
> 
> TS *




ROTFL!!!  Priceless and Perfect!


----------



## Ashy (Aug 1, 2003)

Tabarnak Smokeblower said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Uh, anyone actually see her face?
> 
> TS *




Yea, I did - at the White Wolf party - it fit with the rest of the package.


----------



## Negative Zero (Aug 1, 2003)

i dunno if anyone else has noticed, but Teflon Billy looks remarkably like the picture of the akashic on the right on page 29 of Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed, to me. weird.

~NegZ


----------



## Ashy (Aug 1, 2003)

Sialia said:
			
		

> *
> 
> I totally get you here.
> 
> ...




::chuckle::  Precisely.    I'm glad at least SOMEbody out there gets my mad ravings, Sialia....  

Gettin' nekkid?  Did I miss a thread somewhere?!?!?!??!?!


----------



## CaptainCalico (Aug 1, 2003)

Hey NegZ! Glad I got to meet a fellow Carribean transplant and ENWorlder. Love the initiative tracker.


----------



## BrooklynKnight (Aug 1, 2003)

Queenie122 said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Thanks! Good to be here. Where are you from?
> 
> ~Q *




both of us are nyc'ers

wanna visit?


----------



## Teflon Billy (Aug 1, 2003)

Negative Zero said:
			
		

> *i dunno if anyone else has noticed, but Teflon Billy looks remarkably like the picture of the akashic on the right on page 29 of Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed, to me. weird.
> 
> ~NegZ *




Can someone post that pic?


----------



## War Golem (Aug 1, 2003)

Okay, we're back. Here's the rest of our GenCon photos...

I don't know who these two are. I think I was immersed in some minis when May took this shot.


----------



## Teflon Billy (Aug 1, 2003)

I remember those two...his armor was pretty cool, but I don't recall his wife being painted up like a cat.


----------



## War Golem (Aug 1, 2003)

Here is the first of 2 shots of the incredibly cool, life-sized Iron Lich at the Privateer Press booth. He was so cool, I had to buy the figure. 'course that doesn't take much; I'm a miniature whore. (Wait... I don't think that came out quite right.)


----------



## Teflon Billy (Aug 1, 2003)

Tabarnak Smokeblower said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Uh, anyone actually see her face?*




No, and I didn't see her personality or her ability ot hold up her end of a conversation either

My comment remains unchanged. Ultra hot.


----------



## War Golem (Aug 1, 2003)

This guy was really awesome. Better than most booth babes...


----------



## War Golem (Aug 1, 2003)

Although not all of them. Here's our one token booth babe shot. She was very friendly, and May really wanted to try out the demo so she could spin the Big Wheel, but we were short on time and had to move along.... (more minis to buy!)


----------



## EOL (Aug 1, 2003)

War Golem said:
			
		

> *Okay, we're back. Here's the rest of our GenCon photos...
> 
> I don't know who these two are. I think I was immersed in some minis when May took this shot.
> *




They worked for Nero Midwest, kind of a live action D&D as I understand it with fairly realitic weapons and armor.  They had a booth right across from ours.  They were pretty cool.


----------



## War Golem (Aug 1, 2003)

And speaking of minis, here's what we finally ended up with. A few? A lot? I can't tell anymore.... I have so many minis and no time to paint them all. My friends tell me I'm just preparing for retirement.






Privateer Press' War Machine minis were probably the hit of the show for me. Mike McVey is really doing some great work. Crocodile Games' WarGods of Aegyptus (and now Greece) had a lot of very nice figures. Enjoyed chatting with Ben Siens for a while about his work for Croc and Reaper. Spent a while talking to another nice fellow whose name escapes me (but he said he posts irregularly on EN World) at the Black Orc Games booth (The Hundred Kingdoms) and picked up some figures there. Excelsior's Chronopia didn't disappoint, and grabbed some of their stuff. A very nice lady (dressed like a gypsy) helped us track down some Reaper minis we were looking for, and finally we picked up the AU set from Iron Wind... where I also talked to a fellow sharing booth space in the back trying to demo his mini skirmish game, Torne Realms. He was a nice guy but I have forgotten his name. Didn't sell me on the skirmish rules, but I did buy some minis. (A huge draconic mage - very cool.)
(Has everyone figured out how to part me from my money by now?)

Cheers,


----------



## Negative Zero (Aug 2, 2003)

CaptainCalico said:
			
		

> *Hey NegZ! Glad I got to meet a fellow Carribean transplant and ENWorlder. Love the initiative tracker. *



heya Cap'. it was great to meet you! glad to hear you're enjoying Improved Initiative  how'd the rest of your GenCon romp go?




			
				Teflon Billy said:
			
		

> *Can someone post that pic? *



if only i had a working scanner! 


War Golem:
yep, the painted lady and the dude in the armour are LARPers. you should have seen their kid. couldn't have been 1 yet, and he was trying his darnest to heft a huge battleaxe! (foam of course) he was too cute. i tell ya, he was the poster child for weapon specialization!  Joshua, at the DireKobold booth, got a picture of him, i think.

~NegZ


----------



## Negative Zero (Aug 2, 2003)

hey EOL, i thought your GenCon photo album would be up by now ... or am i just too dim to find it? what gives?

~NegZ


----------



## Storminator (Aug 2, 2003)

War Golem said:
			
		

> *And speaking of minis, here's what we finally ended up with. A few? A lot? I can't tell anymore.... I have so many minis and no time to paint them all. My friends tell me I'm just preparing for retirement.
> <SNIP>
> Cheers, *




Starting to understand why we kept running into you...

My wife has much the same ... prediliction? She identified most of the minis in that photo, and she has a fair chunk of them.

She doesn't like to brag, so I have to do it for her: she painted half of Reaper's demo armies for their Warlord games. Thursday night and Friday. In fact, while we were in Against the Giants, she was behind me, painting like mad. Next year Reaper is sending her all the demo armies, so she can paint them in the offseason, rather than at the Con.

PS


----------



## EOL (Aug 2, 2003)

Negative Zero said:
			
		

> *hey EOL, i thought your GenCon photo album would be up by now ... or am i just too dim to find it? what gives?
> 
> ~NegZ *



It's a long story involving broken promises, unchecked greed, intellectual property and scantily clad females, but the short of it is that it's all up to my friend Joshua who continues to promise that it will be tonight, though that's what he said last night...  I'll be sure to let you know.


----------



## Negative Zero (Aug 2, 2003)

EOL said:
			
		

> *It's a long story involving broken promises, unchecked greed, intellectual property and scantily clad females, but the short of it is that it's all up to my friend Joshua who continues to promise that it will be tonight, though that's what he said last night...  I'll be sure to let you know. *




i see. y'know, any story with scantily clad ... um ... promises is worth hearing  

~NegZ


----------



## EOL (Aug 2, 2003)

Negative Zero said:
			
		

> *
> 
> i see. y'know, any story with scantily clad ... um ... promises is worth hearing
> 
> ~NegZ *




They're up.  Check it out:

http://direkobold.com/conpics.htm


----------



## jaldaen (Aug 2, 2003)

EricNoah said:
			
		

> *The guy who kept picking up the awards for Privateer  ... that was definitely the highlight of the show.  The guy was practically getting standing ovations by the end.
> 
> The Ambient girls were flip-flappin' cute and did a great job announcing their category.*




Hey Eric and All!

I'm "That Privateer Press Guy" or more aptly named "Sir Not Supposed to Be Appearing in this Award Ceremony Except as a Cameo for the Monsternomicon" ;-)

I have to say the Ennies were the highlight of my GenCon and I look forward to coming again next year... as for the Ambient girls... they were adorable and indeed did a great job announcing their category... I only wish I could have gotten their autographs before I left.

Take Care,
Joseph Miller


----------



## jaldaen (Aug 2, 2003)

*Re: Psion's report!*



			
				Psion said:
			
		

> *Privateer was probably the biggest source of amusement during the show. Monsternomicon was sucking down a lot of prizes, but there was only one guy there (whose name I never caught) that submitted ten monsters. He had nothing to do with about half the prizes like art and graphical presentation, but accepted them all with humor with quips like "I had nothing to do with this."*




Psion,

     The Ennies were a great source of amusement for me as well... and I hope to have "nothing to do with" the Ennies next year ;-)

Take Care,
Joseph Miller (aka "That Privateer Press Guy" or "Sir Not Supposed to Be Appearing in this Award Ceremony Except as a Cameo for the Monsternomicon" ;-)


----------



## jaldaen (Aug 2, 2003)

Teflon Billy said:
			
		

> *Privateer Press Guy has got to be given some recognition for being such a humble good sport about picking up "his" companies 312 seperate awards despite having virtually no hand in any of them *




Thanks and I hope to have "no hand" in next years Ennies ;-)

Take Care,
Joseph Miller (aka "That Privateer Press Guy" or "Sir Not Supposed to Be Appearing in this Award Ceremony Except as a Cameo for the Monsternomicon" ;-)


----------



## jaldaen (Aug 2, 2003)

Buttercup said:
			
		

> **That Privateer Press guy at the Ennies.  I was sitting between Emergent and Cthulu's Librarian, and we were all cracking up.*




That would be me and I was honored to accept the awards on Privateer Press's behalf... and also happy that I could provide a little comic relief for the Ennies.

Take Care,
Joseph Miller (aka "That Privateer Press Guy" or "Sir Not Supposed to Be Appearing in this Award Ceremony Except as a Cameo for the Monsternomicon" ;-)


----------



## jaldaen (Aug 2, 2003)

Teflon Billy said:
			
		

> *Sorry, but from now on he's Privateer Press Guy in my mind  *




To simply be in Teflon Billy's mind is an honor... or sorts ;-)

Take Care,
Joseph Miller (aka "Privateer Press Guy" or "Sir Not Supposed to Be Appearing in this Award Ceremony Except as a Cameo for the Monsternomicon" ;-)


----------



## jaldaen (Aug 2, 2003)

Napftor said:
			
		

> *Sunday: Enjoyed a seminar with the Game Mechanics (Stan!, JD Wiker and a Matt XX (cannot remember last name--good men all), Joseph Miller (the now-very-famous Privateer/Mongoose freelancer from the ENnies)*




Great Seminar and it was good to meet you too Bret!

Take Care,
Joseph Miller (aka "Privateer Press Guy" or "Sir Not Supposed to Be Appearing in this Award Ceremony Except as a Cameo for the Monsternomicon" ;-)


----------



## jaldaen (Aug 2, 2003)

simmo said:
			
		

> *- Ennies! I have to agree with everyone that "That Guy" was hilarious, he deserved an award for his acceptance speeches.
> *




Thanks very much... like I said I only partially deserved one of those awards, but I was honored to fill in for the Privateers who did not make it... ;-)

As for an award... well I know Wil Upchurch is pushing for the "Joseph Miller Award"... perhaps for most amusing award recipiant ;-)

Take Care,
Joseph Miller (aka "Privateer Press Guy" or "Sir Not Supposed to Be Appearing in this Award Ceremony Except as a Cameo for the Monsternomicon" ;-)


----------



## Teflon Billy (Aug 2, 2003)

jaldaen said:
			
		

> *...As for an award... well I know Wil Upchurch is pushing for the "Joseph Miller Award"... perhaps for most amusing award recipiant ;-)...*




I would support that


----------



## jaldaen (Aug 2, 2003)

Hand of Evil said:
			
		

> *Friday up early for seminar, games, dealer room (again), Art Show, Auction, and the Ennies!  Great program this year and very professional and well done.  “That Chap” that may or may not have been part of Privateer Press stole the show and Morrus and Eric are quite the host.  If you missed them, I hope you catch them next year as they did not disappoint.  Congratulations to all the nominees and winners.*




Hand of Evil,

     Rest assured that I am indeed one of the contributors to the Monsternomicon... I wrote 10 of the monsters 9and commented on many of the others)... and that the Ennies indeed found their home at the Privateer Press booth despite some pressuring from my peers to hold them ransom and send paper clipping notes instead ;-)

Take Care,
Joseph Miller (aka "That Chap", "Privateer Press Guy", or "Sir Not Supposed to Be Appearing in this Award Ceremony Except as a Cameo for the Monsternomicon" ;-)


----------



## jaldaen (Aug 2, 2003)

emergent said:
			
		

> *The ENnines.  I made a big list of stuff I now need to buy.  Namely, anything by that Privateer guy.  *




Emergent,

If you are interested (or anyone else for that matter) in playtesting for my next project entitled Nevermore: The Everchanging Realms (a d20 dreamscape campaign setting)... I'm looking for help... so if you want to help "that Privateer guy" put out the best products he can email me at: jaldaen@aol.com with "Nevermore Playtesting" in the subject line...

Take Care,
Joseph Miller (aka "That Chap", "Privateer Press Guy", or "Sir Not Supposed to Be Appearing in this Award Ceremony Except as a Cameo for the Monsternomicon" ;-)


----------



## War Golem (Aug 2, 2003)

Here is the last of my GenCon photos. This was Piratecat's Friday Paranoia game run right before the ENnies. Pkitty did a great job, his most admirable quality as a DM being his endless and reckless enthusiasm, and not ever forgetting to include everyone in the game. These aren't DM traits that need to be learned -  anyone can satisfy these requirements every time they come to the table, and yet many DMs don't manage it. So kudos to Piratecat, and all the other DMs out there who do manage to run a fun, high-energy game session after session.

At the table we have (L to R): "Friend of EN World" (FOE) May, coik, Ashy, Crothian, Storminator, FOE Brannon Hall, Piratecat.


----------



## emergent (Aug 2, 2003)

jaldaen said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Emergent,
> 
> ...




Sounds very cool!  I'll drop you an email very soon.  The monsternomicon is great and you were certainly a good sport at the Ennies.


----------



## Ashy (Aug 3, 2003)

War Golem said:
			
		

> *Here is the last of my GenCon photos. This was Piratecat's Friday Paranoia game run right before the ENnies. Pkitty did a great job, his most admirable quality as a DM being his endless and reckless enthusiasm, and not ever forgetting to include everyone in the game. These aren't DM traits that need to be learned -  anyone can satisfy these requirements every time they come to the table, and yet many DMs don't manage it. So kudos to Piratecat, and all the other DMs out there who do manage to run a fun, high-energy game session after session.
> 
> At the table we have (L to R): "Friend of EN World" (FOE) May, coik, Ashy, Crothian, Storminator, FOE Brannon Hall, Piratecat.
> 
> ...




GREAT PIC, War Golem!    But where are you?


----------



## Ashy (Aug 3, 2003)

Stormy,

I LOVE the new avatar!!!!!  LOL!!!!


----------



## der_kluge (Aug 4, 2003)

EOL - those are great pics.  I have to say that, hands down, the orange-haired booth babe was the absolute hottest girl there.  Just a great smile, and a body to die for.

Teflon Billy - I did some minor review/feedback of Siege on Ebonring Keep, so I have the Arcana Unearthed .pdf to assist with that.  But, it's on my home PC, so I'll check when I get on from home to see if I have the pic in question, and I'll post it.


----------



## Storminator (Aug 4, 2003)

Gotcha covered.

PS


----------



## Negative Zero (Aug 4, 2003)

yep, that's the one, add a few years and a pick and that's Billy! 

~NegZ


----------



## DonAdam (Aug 4, 2003)

Some of my pictures...

*edit* ahem, i'll just size these down then...


A ringwraith replica in the TCG hall.


----------



## Teflon Billy (Aug 4, 2003)

Negative Zero said:
			
		

> *yep, that's the one, add a few years and a pick and that's Billy!  *




Man, i hope i look all "flinty" like that when I get older

Who is the artist?


----------



## Ashy (Aug 4, 2003)

Looks like Toren...


----------



## Teflon Billy (Aug 4, 2003)

Ashy said:
			
		

> *Looks like Toren...   *




Hmm...it might actually _be_ a picture of me then. Toren is in my gaming group.


----------



## DonAdam (Aug 4, 2003)

Alright, resizing takes too much work...

Here's a link to a page with the pictures.

http://home.comcast.net/~adam.martin2/index.htm


----------



## Ashy (Aug 5, 2003)

Teflon Billy said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Hmm...it might actually be a picture of me then. Toren is in my gaming group. *




Welp - there ya go!


----------



## BrooklynKnight (Aug 5, 2003)

*ArtQ With Famous People*

Me and Monte


----------



## BrooklynKnight (Aug 5, 2003)

Me and Ed


----------



## BrooklynKnight (Aug 5, 2003)

Yanno that fame has gone to Monte's head when he starts getting Gencon Gokarts which his name on the licenseplate.


----------



## BrooklynKnight (Aug 5, 2003)

Me and a Valar Model


----------



## Negative Zero (Aug 5, 2003)

Teflon Billy said:
			
		

> *Hmm...it might actually be a picture of me then. Toren is in my gaming group. *




cool ... in your group, huh? well, could you, y'know, ask him?  

~NegZ


----------



## Psion (Aug 5, 2003)

*The thing I took home from GenCon I didn't want.*

Well, all I have to say to Buttercup and Negative Zero is: I hope you didn't get it as bad as me.

_Story follows. Stop reading if you are eating or for whatever other reason would be made squeamish by icky medical stories. You have been warned._

*Psion's icky post gen-con medical story, or why I STILL haven't posted any more reviews since GenCon...*

As established earlier in this thread, apparently Negative Zero, Buttercup, and I caught the same malady.

A week passed after gengon. The fever and body aches had gone away, but I had aquired a persistent sore throat that wasn't getting any better.

Saturday morning: I realized (having had a few similar ear infections) that this was some sort of bacterial infection and I needed antibiotic, or I was going to be miserable for some time to come. So I checked into the urgent care centered hoping that the healing cound begin.

The PA swabbed me for strep (which turned out negative), and sent me on my way with the oh so helpful recommendation to drink fluids, take motrin, and a presription for something that wasn't antibiotics and only seem to make me less functional as a human being. I was not happy leaving without antibiotics, but I am typically not the sort to second-guess trained medical professionals when I think they are wrong (which happens all too often these days) so on my way I went.

I skipped work monday and by monday evening, eating solids was absolutely impossible, and drinking was an excruciating task. I called back the urgent care center to have them take another look. This time an MD looked at me, and it only took him about 5 minutes to say "go to the ER. You have abscesses on your tonsils and they will have to get an ENT specialist to do that."

Oh, great. Knowing they are going to drug me up, and added to the fact by this point that I cannot talk, I had to have my wife take me, so we quickly impossed upon some friends to watch the kids (which I feel real bad about, because the only reliabe friends in town that I knew could handle the job I knew worked the next day, but they were my only choice.)

Of to the ER I went. When we arrived the ER was packed, and we were hearing tales of six-hour waits. (??)

We went to see the triage nurse. He showed him the charts from our two visits to the urgent care center -- one that showed us visiting and not getting antibiotics, and another with the all-too-obvious result therof. He immediately started banging his head on the desk and said "I understand some why some professionals are hesistant the prescribe antibiotics, but dude, you _needed_ antibiotics."

So out we went to the waiting room and listened to stupid reality TV shows and bad Leno jokes... as if my suffering weren't bad enough. We got to listen to "indignant chick with colored hair" get all mad about people going in front of her, storm out, come back in later and wait in line just like everyone else. We got to listen to some crazy guy who called 911 from the payphone in the waiting room and did some other crazy stuff I am at a loss to explain.

Fortunately (?), the late shift seems to be better staffed than the evening shift, so things get to moving a bit better, and we actually get into an ER patient room by, oh, 1:30 in the morning or so. But of course, the on-call surgeon had to look at me before they could call the ENT specialist in.

It takes him about an hour to get there, and I am all uncomfortable and dehydrated, and my wife is fading in and out of consiousness. But I had my pain to keep me company. They plug me into IVs so they can get me some of the nutrients and hydration I have been missing and drug me up for the procedure to come.

For whatever else went wrong that night, at least the ENT specialist seemed to know his business: yes, you needed antibiotics, and he could tell by looking it was not viral.

So he gets us all set up with all the right drugs to get me feeling better and to drain the pus out of the absesses. It was going to involve lots of pricking and yanking around in my mouth with me fully conscious. Having had root canals recently, I thought I knew the drill. (Pun not intended, but I'll take it...)

I thought I was in the clear, actually, because for whatever else had gone wrong with this particular illness, I never got stuffed up once, which is like a miracle for me, as I usually have continual sinus problems.

Unfrortunately, after he sprayed the first anasthetic thing in my mouth, I started coughing and pretty much lost all ability to breathe through my nostrils. Which almost sent me into a panic then and there because it meant I was going to have to breathe through my mouth around all that BS that went on in there.

He does the novacane thing, very much like what you go through at the dentist. _(Here's where it get's grody, folks)_. He takes a huge syringe and draws out a ton of pus. He uses a knife to gash something open, and has me spitting blood-and-pus into a bedpan. 

Little did I know the worst was yet to come.

He grabs forceps off the table, and gets close with him when he says  "This is gonna hurt." He might have said "a bit", but if he did, my minded edited it out, because what I was about to experience was anything but a bit of pain.

I'm not sure what he did next, but involved opening and closing the forceps inside of some fleshy tissue in my mouth. It gave me a new defition of "10/10" pain. My wife said she could hear me groaning from the next room. If the morphine and xylocaine did anything to mask the true pain that would have been inflicted without them, then I hope I never have to live to feel such pain.

The worst was then over, but it still was not about to get pleasant for some time to come. The pain from the procedure still lingering, I get to rinse and spit with hydrogen peroxide. As you probably know, peroxide foams on contact with blood or bacteria.

I was spitting a lot of bloody foam by then. My poor wife stuck her head around the corner about then. I almost felt sorry for her by the look on her face.

After got done rinsing, I found that I could once again feebly do things that were denied me 12 hours ago like talking and drink water. We got out of there and got home at like four in the morning, prominsing my friends much compensation for their kindness, like spare gaming swag or whatnot.

For how uncomfortable the routine was, it is remarkable effective. My voice is better today than it has been in a week. I can stand to eat more than half a sandwich at a sitting.

All that said, I can only think about how all this pain could have been avoided if they would have coughed up the antibiotics on my first visit.


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## Crothian (Aug 5, 2003)

Wow, Alan, I really hope you are feeling better now as that does not sound like a fun thing at all.  I'm thankful I didn't catch anything at Gen Con.


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## Teflon Billy (Aug 5, 2003)

Christ Alan, do I feel for you.

I had abcesses on my tonsils when I was a teenager...luckily in Canada you just go to a doctor and they straighten you out rather than all the running around you experienced (that is to say, iw as given antibiotics) 

It hurt like hell just sort of existing, I shudder to think how much it must have hurt having someone slice, poke and extract pus from them.


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## Hand of Evil (Aug 5, 2003)

*Re: The thing I took home from GenCon I didn't want.*



			
				Psion said:
			
		

> *Well, all I have to say to Buttercup and Negative Zero is: I hope you didn't get it as bad as me.
> 
> Story follows. Stop reading if you are eating or for whatever other reason would be made squeamish by icky medical stories. You have been warned.
> 
> *




All I had was a sore throat that went away by Tuesday but then I don't have tonsils.  

Hope you have a full recovery!


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## der_kluge (Aug 5, 2003)

Good lord!  Well, if it's any slight concilation, two years ago at GenCon I had Mono.  Lord only knows how many people I infected with that.  I was really grumpy the entire time, and by Sunday, my legs and arms broke out into horrible hives (in the middle of a Monte Cook seminar, no less).

Oddly enough, after I got home, and went to the doctor, I pretty much felt better.  So, it really only lasted at GenCon.  Awful timing.


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## BOZ (Aug 5, 2003)

die_kluge said:
			
		

> *Good lord!  Well, if it's any slight concilation, two years ago at GenCon I had Mono.  Lord only knows how many people I infected with that.*




kissin a lot?


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## alsih2o (Aug 5, 2003)

will upchurch (d20 dwarf), maldur and i pretending we aren't excited to be leaving after breakfast..


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## Psion (Aug 5, 2003)

Crothian said:
			
		

> *Wow, Alan, I really hope you are feeling better now as that does not sound like a fun thing at all.  I'm thankful I didn't catch anything at Gen Con. *




What, did you Lysol your playing cards?


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## Psion (Aug 5, 2003)

Teflon Billy said:
			
		

> *Christ Alan, do I feel for you.
> 
> I had abcesses on my tonsils when I was a teenager...luckily in Canada you just go to a doctor and they straighten you out rather than all the running around you experienced (that is to say, iw as given antibiotics) *




Yeah, well, that's what I EXPECTED to happen before the absesses developed in the first place. I get ear infections every other year or so since I moved to MD. I go into the doctor, get my antibiotics, go home, and get better. Which is why I was so stunned that the same didn't happen here.


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## Teflon Billy (Aug 6, 2003)

Negative Zero said:
			
		

> *
> cool ... in your group, huh? well, could you, y'know, ask him?
> *




I spoke to Toren and he tells me that it is not me, and is in fact a picture of his friend Dan.

*Toren*: "If I drew a picture of you, you'd know."

*Teflon Billy*: "How would i be able to recognize it?" 

*Toren*: "The outrageous Moustache and the Devil Horns."

*Teflon Billy*: "So it'd be like looking in a mirror then?"

Should anyone ever get a copy of the boardgame *Cults across America*, I was the hand model for Cthulu's talon on the box's cover art.

Bask in my fame.


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## Liminal Syzygy (Aug 6, 2003)

Cthulhu's Librarian said:
			
		

> *
> I got my picture taken with her, but I'm still waiting for the photo place to process my film. Hopefully I can post my pics tomorrow. *



Hey I'm still waiting to see this.


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## Negative Zero (Aug 6, 2003)

Teflon Billy said:
			
		

> *... Bask in my fame. *




ooh ooh ooh! sign my shirt! sign my shirt! 

~NegZ


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## alsih2o (Aug 6, 2003)

more folks you may or may not recognize-


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## Morrus (Aug 6, 2003)

Ewww!  Eric forgot his deoderant!


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## Pielorinho (Aug 6, 2003)

Holy Hell, Psion!  My throat got sore just reading that!

Have a full recovery, and I pity the poor schlub who next tries to deny you your antibiotics .

Daniel


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## Henry (Aug 6, 2003)

Psion said:
			
		

> *Yeah, well, that's what I EXPECTED to happen before the absesses developed in the first place. I get ear infections every other year or so since I moved to MD. I go into the doctor, get my antibiotics, go home, and get better. Which is why I was so stunned that the same didn't happen here.  *




Alan, I am sorry to hear that. I had (still have) a bit of a cold, which started the Thursday after I got back, and a slight sore throat, but it's been coming and going. I have been toughing it out, but it sounds like it body-slammed you in spades.


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## Cthulhu's Librarian (Aug 6, 2003)

Cordo said:
			
		

> *Hey I'm still waiting to see this.  *




I got the pics back, but have been slammed at work lately. Our network got hit with a couple viruses, and I've been running around since Monday to fix everyones PC. I'll try to get the pics scanned & up tomorrow.


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## der_kluge (Aug 6, 2003)

CL - do you work for GenCon?  *smirk*


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## Henry (Aug 6, 2003)

Darnit! Squirrel Nutkin's T-Shirt turned out great! Next time I ever get a T-shirt made, I'm gonna either do it myself, or make the T-Shirt guy sit up all night till he gets it right! 




			
				Morrus said:
			
		

> *Ewww!  Eric forgot his deoderant!  *




Y'know, it's moments like that that make me want to throttle Louis Daguerre and Phillip Eastmann.


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## sotmh (Aug 7, 2003)

I'm no squirrel! Just a fan!


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## Psion (Aug 7, 2003)

BTW, anyone who came down with that sore-throat thingie, my culture came back today and it was strep.


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## FraserRonald (Aug 7, 2003)

ArthurQ said:
			
		

> *Me and a Valar Model *




Dude, I am *so* jealous . . .

of you, not her!


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## Cthulhu's Librarian (Aug 8, 2003)

Finally, some photos from GenCon. Sorry for the long delay.

First, this is me with a couple of costumed people, one of whom attracted alot of attention...


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## Cthulhu's Librarian (Aug 8, 2003)

Next, this is a bad picture of emergent about to be trampled by a RingWraith. Note the ever-present can of Coke in his hand. Never Pepsi, only Coke for this gentleman.


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## Cthulhu's Librarian (Aug 8, 2003)

Me & emergent with a big d20. 
Note-disposable cameras are not the best when used indoors, no matter what the packaging tells you. Next year, I'm bringing a real camera.


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## Cthulhu's Librarian (Aug 8, 2003)

emergent beginning to assemble his masterpiece at "Cardhalla", where unwanted CCGs go to die. (Sort of like the Island of Misfit Toys, but with gamers instead of Rudolf & Hermey)


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## Cthulhu's Librarian (Aug 8, 2003)

And finally, a couple of the models from the Book of Erotic Fantasy. They were very happy to pose for me, even with my cheap camera. Thanks ladies!


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## emergent (Aug 9, 2003)

Cthulhu's Librarian said:
			
		

> * Never Pepsi, only Coke for this gentleman. *




Damn right.


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## Negative Zero (Aug 9, 2003)

right there with you, emergent. i mean if i were stranded on a desert island with only pepsi, sure i'd drink it, but over coke? that's just weird!

~NegZ


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