Indie Gaming at DragonCon

[efindel]

Anyone going to DragonCon?  There's supposed to be open gaming areas available 24 hours in the Hilton, so I'm hoping we can get some people together and do some actual play!

I'm going to getting there around 1pm Friday, and leaving around 9am Monday.  I'm staying at the Hilton.  I can be emailed as efindel at earthlink.net -- real name Travis Casey.

I'm planning on bringing along Capes, Shock:, and Polaris, as all seem well-suited to a pick-up con game.  I'd also like to take a stab at playtesting Verge.

So... anyone?

[Adam Dray]

I am not going to DragonCon but I know people who are and they might want to play Verge with you.

In any case, I will make sure I post the latest draft of the Verge rules by, say, Wednesday or Thursday night. Even if you don't end up playtesting it, the possibility keeps me motivated!

[David Artman]

I am going: arriving about 8pm Thursday, leaving... sometime Monday. Probably before 3pm.

I was hoping to track down some Indie RPGs--how shall we Forgites know each other? Should we go ahead and say we'll try to play/setup/hang out near, say, the northern most table in Open Gaming? (It should be cooler to the north....)

Also... is everyone ready for a rainy con? I think Ernesto is supposed to track past Atlanta late Thursday.

I will probably only be carrying Pyramids (Icehouse) and whatever games I pick up in the Dealer Room (I plan to catch up on Indie stuff, in particular, if I can find it).
David

[efindel]

I am going: arriving about 8pm Thursday, leaving... sometime Monday. Probably before 3pm.

I was hoping to track down some Indie RPGs--how shall we Forgites know each other? Should we go ahead and say we'll try to play/setup/hang out near, say, the northern most table in Open Gaming? (It should be cooler to the north....)

Go Play buttons?  ;-)  Seriously, though, I'm offering myself as a point of contact via email.  Being a glutton for punishment, I'll offer up my cell phone number as well:  850 980 5105. 

From what I've seen so far, it doesn't look like there's going to be a lot of us, so I'm thinking a set time and place for us to meet up is probably the easiest option.  Unfortunately, the dog ate my copy of the DC schedule (really -- we have the amazing destructo-puppy right now).  Let me see what they've got online...

Grr.  Just checked, and the web site is saying open gaming in the gaming areas will be from 2am to 8am.  *sigh*.  Tables "may be available" during scheduled time. 

Hell... I suppose at worst, we'll gather in someone's hotel room.  Maybe even mine, if it has a decent table.

Also... is everyone ready for a rainy con? I think Ernesto is supposed to track past Atlanta late Thursday.

Yeah... most probable path doesn't go through Atlanta, but we'll probably get fringe rain.  I'm just hoping it isn't too bad on the drive up Friday.

I will probably only be carrying Pyramids (Icehouse) and whatever games I pick up in the Dealer Room (I plan to catch up on Indie stuff, in particular, if I can find it).
David

Sounds cool.  :-)

[David Artman]

Well, I went, I looked, and I only saw one game of Roach being played. There was an ad for a Dogs pick-up game for Sunday night, but I never got an answer on the cell phone number it gave.

Further, in the three separate vendor areas, I could not find any of the games from The Forge for which I was searching, though I did see a few folks who were obviously small press or self-publishing. I looked closely, too: I went into each room three different days, just to be sure.

This leads me to think I should offer to be an Envoy or organize Envoys to DragonCon next year.

I will probably be rolling out GLASS before then, so I will also have my own pimping to do anyway; but that won't cut into TT game demoes (GLASS is a boffer LARP system, and there isn't likely to be enough safe space to show even the basics). Heck--when not in a WizKids event or the Cthulhu LARP event, I was basically a Looney Labs "envoy": the only thing I carried all weekend (other than loot) was my box of pyramids and various accessories. Hehe... I even sort of stunned the actual Looney Labs Envoy with my knowledge of various games for pyramids (I know about 30 games well enough to teach them).

All that I figure I'd need to "envoy" for a particular game is a copy of the game and as many sell sheets as you think I could effectively give away (within reason--how many?). I would set up either a Track with the con itself, or a simple banner and some flyers and run in Open Gaming. My plan would be to basically run shortish games (half hour to an hour) of each game, rotating through the whole list as I am able (i.e. I'd be good for about eight hours, so that's eight to sixteen games a day). I'd be handing out sell sheets for each game, to direct folks to web or direct sales--I don't think I would be allowed (or have the time) to actually sell books in the Open Gaming or Gaming area. So make the sell sheets AWESOME!

While I'm on the subject, anyone doing anything for MACE, in High Point, Nov 10-12? I could begin to "practice" the whole envoy thing there, before the big show next year at DragonCon...? Hmmm.... this is a different thread....

What do you folks think of that?
David

[Adam Dray]

Did you see anyone drawing crazy Verge network maps on big sheets of paper at D*C? =)

If I can swing it, I'd love to come to MACE again this year. It's only a few hours from Baltimore.

[David Artman]

Sorry, Adam; I didn't notice. DragonCon seemed pretty strongly oriented towards collectable and board games, more than RPGs. To look at the gaming room, at least. Even Open Gaming (which *did* has space at all hours of the day) seemed mostly to be folks playing card or board games. When I spotted RPGs, the d20 logo wasn't far away.... :-(

Hence my pushing for MACE representation--which is apparently well represented already, if not in a unified manner. It was kind of sad to go to the third biggest con in the country (the world?) and not see a Forge booth or indie games in the dealer rooms. MACE is a LONG way away from being an equivalent venue, but at least it's (a) in my state and (b) in a state with 127 colleges and universities. I've always thought that college age and older is the best target for indie games, mainly because of the inspiration of self-publication and the edgier play most games offer--harder to sell to (typically young) power gamers and d20 hack & slashers new to the hobby.

Anyhow... back to MACE plans. DragonCon was great, but the future starts tomorrow! :-)
David

[dcolanduno]

Anyone coming to Dragon*Con 2007?

They are doing the gaming back over at the Marriott this year, and making the Hilton the main hotel this time around...

Derek Colanduno
Dragon*Con Director of Podcasting and New Media