Yes, I'm getting here first, but with just a quick note.

Basically, GenCon rocked the house & the neighbors' houses as well. It rocked the whole damn neighborhood. And the best part is, I played more games the first day than I did the entire con last year. I played:

Elfs--It was the "Fire & Ice" scenario from the book & it was a hoot-&-a-half.

Dust Devils--Fantastic. I'm not much of a fan of the western genre in general, but the mechanics of Dust Devils are amazing, especially the Devil trait. So, I bought the game, & I hope to run it soon.

My Life with Master--Paul Czege's secret project (well, not secret anymore), a game about minions of a crazy mad scientist. The system needs some work, but it was a hoot to play. Somewhat like Wuthering Heights, in that it's all about gothic-to-the-max passions. This particular session, with Danielle (a.k.a. "Paul's Girlfriend") & Mike Holmes, with Paul running, was full of emotion, drama, & grotesqueries.

The Riddle of Steel--It was just a quick demo, but the nifty mechanics & Jake's enthusiasm for the game completely sold me on it. I want this game in a bad, bad way. (Sadly, my limited cash resources didn't allow me to buy the game at the con. But soon...soon...)

Synthesis--The system Mike Holmes & J B Bell are developing. It's very, very interesting. It deserves a separate post of its own, really. At some point I'll write one.

Superior!--Okay, it's not a role-playing game. But it was fun.

InSpectres--Twice. The first time was run by Jurgen & involved Ron Edwards as a true sorcerer using Sumerian rituals. I'm not saying any more about it, except that it had us all in stitches. Oh, & Jeff "Villains & Vigilantes" Dee was one of the Players. (Sorry to use that one game as reference, Jeff.)

Sure Josh, leave us all toting boxes out to our cars, claiming to have to meet with your SO, just so that you can get in the first post. Typical. ;-)

Well, I am still decompressing from what was, of all the Cons that I've ever attended, the best. Not just that I got to put out a game for the first time, but the play was outstanding. The demos were, I believe, proof of the potential of each and every one of the systems played. All sorts of random people sat down and played (and played, and played) games of all sorts and I don't think I saw any that went away without at least a smile and a good word, if not a copy of the game.

What I played:

Sorcerer and Space - I played two sessions, one actually prior to the con with Josh, Ron, Jurgen and Josh's SO. That one set up my revisions for the demo that I ran as the first at the booth, with Scott Knipe, Paul's friend Tom, and, um, I am so bad with names (post back here, whoever you are for playtest credits; I know it was a Forge poster). Anyhow, the scenario was fun for me to run, and solidified a few ideas in my mind. I think that I'll post on that separately.

Universalis - I played this one with Jason "I'm too sexy for my towel" Blair, and one of the Chicago contingent (again with the names). Anyhow, the game ended up being about a plot by members of the Hellfire club in a less technologically advanced 19th century London to cast some spell to raise the dead and crack the sky in a world the gods meddled in the affairs of mortals through their avatars who formed a sort of esthetically different superheroes. In the end, it turned out that Jack the Ripper was an avatar of Janus, and as such could change from man to woman, thus explaining how he gained the confidence of all the women that he had killed in an effort to provide sacrifices to the helffire club's ritual. Oh, and did I mention that he/she was the daughter of the chief councilor of the club? Overall, what would have been a great start to a strange campaign (so many Universalis runs are; I hope that now that people have the game that they will play them out).

InSpectres - I ran Ron's premade demo which included three characters (PF Tom, and two customers played), and the plot: A hotel owner's pool has been covered in purple slime, and their son has fallen in and has become Something Else. As always, that's all it took, and our heroes, based in an abandoned Taco Bell, after rercruiting their third member headed out to the field to clean up this problem. They ended up doing so mostly with the use of an an odd detector that went "Ping" a lot, and Butane torch that cause the purple goo (which had bunched itself up into a jello mold confiuration to attack) to explode all over the side of the hotel. After that it was just a matter of chasing the bits around (and paying for repainting thereafter), and little Timmy returned to normal. The best part, they caught most of it on video for later review!

Kayfabe - Matt Gwinn ran his demo for me and a potential customer (who I am sure bought; everyone bought Kayfabe). It was just a demo match, and we were doing well until the last couple of minutes, when my "opponent" kinda slowed down the match, and I tried for a huge finish with my character's "Bottletop Neckbreaker" move, gambling big on the ending. I rolled 16d6, and not a one came up with a 6 (I am classic that way). Apparently the maneuver look completely fake, my hands slipping around his sweatty head. So, what would have been a huge payoff in terms of Heat for our wrestlers, ended up being only a moderate showing. Ah, well, such are the tribulations of the wrestling circuit. Very fun game, and the wrestling is only a third of the action (you also have the scenduling, and the lockerroom politics).

Dust Devils - I played the same scenario twice, one with Forge folks, and once with customers. In the first, I was the gambler, and I was thrown in jail by Zeke (bountyhunter played by Paul) after I stuck the Sherrif in the back (see, I had let a guy out of his cell so that he would lead me to the gunfighter's loot, but it all went to hell). In the second, I played the gunfighter, and was shot by Zeke (customer) as the gambler distracted my character (actually trying to stop the fight). I reared up from the floor to try to shoot Zeke, but took out Delmer the bartender instead by accident, just befor Zeke finished me off. Apparently Zeke has my number.

TROS - in a scenario inspired by the Origins game we all played, Jake ran me and two customers through a tight fight. In the end, I threw over my former master, and joined with the man who killed him replaceing his flunky in the upcomming wedding (he ended up chained to a galley). Fun fight as always. The following evening, Jake ran Gordon, Ralph, and myself through an intensely interesting discovery of the people of Fahal. My character, a priest from Numeria, was on the hunt for artifacts in this ancient land. Ralph was a marauding Savaxen warlord who's men had all been slain except for two. Gordon was a Cossak rider who had been kicked out of his homeland by the same tribe that had killed Ralph's men, and who pursued us into Fahal (shich caused their demise). We played for a long time, ending at four in the morning. The coolest scene for me was Jake's description of a blood ritual being performed in a sacred chamber (a ritual disturbed by Ralph's character who slew all 24 cuiltists in an orgy of gore). My character got to examine the chamber afterwards and determine the location of just the sort of artifacts he was looking for. In other words this would have been the start of a great campaign. I hate when the con ends and everyone has to return to their place of origin. :-( Adagga will return to find those artifacts someday!

Synthesis - as Josh mentioned, we ran a test of Synthesis. The more I play it, the more I learn about it. I await Josh's post on this subject to discuss it, and I will thereafter be hellbent on improving it. Not that I think it's bad now, but I am really excited about the potential on this one.

My Life with Master - the changes necessary to complete this game are few, IMO. And Paul's already working on it, unless I'm mistaken. The session was a blast; Neff actually made me nauseous at one point. The system drives a very specific game, one that I really liked.

I missed out on Octane, my one regret (I was even tempted to play LF). And I think I am missing one or two games I played. As I said, still decompressing. I am feeling a little depressed about this being the last Milwaukee GenCon, but I got to say goodby to it in a special way (thanks to the Starchildren guys), and I am looking forward to doing it all again at Indianapolis. What was it somebody said? "Indie's at Indy?" I'm already waiting for it.

Big thanks to Ron and Jason for organizing such an effective venue for play.

Mike

Yo,

GenCon was fantastic, but unlike the rest of these schmoes, my con basically consisted of Charnel Gods. I didn't get to play TROS, or octaNe, or Dust Devils, or Trollbabe (although I bought all of those). I did squeeze in to an Jurgen's InSpectres game and had a blast, and Mike put me through my paces in his Sorcerer & Space demo/playtest (featuring the coolest demon I've ever created - an interstellar amoeba - who by the end of the session had a good chunk of the supporting cast entombed in its undulating mass...awesome stuff).

As for Charnel Gods...it was great. The least successful session was actually the game I ran after hours for Gordon, Ralph and Travis, and even that came off okay. The demos went well...I had players looking at each other and saying "this is the coolest thing I've ever played", and that always brings a smile to my face.

The highlight, though, had to be running CG for a group of teenage girls. They showed up at the booth wanting to play Sorcerer and somehow got shunted into my CG demo. As odd as that was, they totally bought into the melodrama of the whole thing. "It's just like a soap opera" one proclaimed, and indeed it was. Jason Blair has pictures of that run somewhere, I think.

Overall, the experience was fantastic. We played a lot, talked a lot, and proved that good games, properly supported through actual play, will sell themselves.

Take care,
Scott

As if everyone already couldn't tell Gen Con rocked.

I got to play in a lot of Sorcerer. The sorcerer and space game that Mike ran was fantastic, and it was a great way to start the con.

I also got a chance to fall in love with The Riddle of Steel. The only way to describe the game is WOW.

The Inspectres game with Moose, Josh, Jeff Dees, and Jurgen was absolutely fantastic, and listening to Ron and Jeff talk game design after the game was very inspiring.

It was just great meeting everyone.

trav

Travis, that's who I forgot! The man who participated in the first ever Sorcerer & Space demonic aerial combat. Sweet!

Mike

Scott, you are too kind. It was a riot GMing you guys, I hadly had to work. I watched a couple of your Charnel Gods demos, including the game with Ralph and gang, and I miss not having played. I'll be ordering a full copy ASAP.

Mike

P.S. Speaking of which, are they available now?

Mike,

Charnel Gods isn't available yet. I'm not sure when they'll be ready - Mr. Snyder is the guy to ask about that - but I'm thinking maybe in two weeks. Maybe.

BTW, those typos you pointed out have been fixed. Thanks. ;)

I'll be all over Sorcerer in Space when it's ready, and anyone with even a passing interest in sci-fi Sorcerer should be as well.

- Scott

Games I played!

Sorcerer & Space: Mike Holmes, Josh, Julie, Jurgen, and me (more about this in the nearby thread soon)

Sorcerer: Peter Adkison, Jason Blair, Jake Norwood (more about this in the Sorc forum soon)

A Starchildren demo (with lots of help from Rich Ranallo; the rules just fled right out of my head between the writing and the playing of the demo)

An Elfs demo

Four demos of Little Fears

Several demos/combat demonstrations for The Riddle of Steel

At least five demos of Sorcerer (all the "In Utero" scenario, more about that in the forum later)

Trollbabe: Julie, Josh, and Rich (last name unknown)

Plus probably a bunch of other stuff I'm totally forgetting about.

The big regrets for me were not playing Le Mon Mouri, Charnel Gods, Nicotine Girls, or Universalis.

Best,
Ron

Trollbabe: Julie, Josh, and Rich (last name unknown)

Danielle played too. Did Jared? Or did he just peer through his fingers at the horrid cross-gendered roleplay?

Paul

Oh, I'm all mixed up. The Trollbabe players were Danielle, Jared, and Rich. Josh was in Elfs. Blah.

Best,
Ron

Trollbabe was very interesting. I liked it quite a bit. I really wish I was able to snag a copy. When's that sucker going to be on sale, Herr Edwards?

I ran an octaNe game for Jurgen and Rich Forest (it was awesome to meet Rich, he's a mammal, he's totally cool and by that I mean sweet, and he flips out and kills people! Jurgen...well, Jurgen is just the fuckin' MAN). Ummm...see, now do I wait for them to talk about it or do I start it off? It was fun...Jurgen's Monster Smasher and Rich's Ingenious Tinkerer got together in a jiff and went off to explore the ruins of Atlantis. There were giant wasp attacks, explosions, run-ins with a mysterious bluesman, fish tacos, a bar brawl with some bikers, a luchador named "El Mar," Pepe the boatboy, an evil octopoid and lost Atlantean technologies.

Todd Luikart ran octaNe Saturday night and Jurgen reprised his role as Mr. Spiner, the Monster Smasher. That damn game was so fun...Wasabi Jones, Brasco Hi-Fi, Poo-poo Kim Chi and Mojostophacles squared off against Poison Elvi, giant Gila Monsters, and deranged classical musicians...and emerged victorious. I'll let Todd & Co. talk about that game.

I also ran a game of InSpectres that went very well. Damn, that game is easy to run. Long story short: the team dealt with a re-animated giant ground sloth running amok in Muncie. Fun.

Much rocking was done.

Jared A. Sorensen wrote:

Todd Luikart ran octaNe Saturday night and Jurgen reprised his role as Mr. Spiner, the Monster Smasher. That damn game was so fun...Wasabi Jones, Brasco Hi-Fi, Poo-poo Kim Chi and Mojostophacles squared off against Poison Elvi, giant Gila Monsters, and deranged classical musicians...and emerged victorious. I'll let Todd & Co. talk about that game.


quote]

You there. No, no, down here. In the belly. It's Mojostopheles! MOJOSTOPHELES! How is a mutant mastermind to take over the world when people keep referring to him as a Voodoo Greek Philosopher?!?

Idiots.

=-=-=-=-=-=-

(Matt would like to apologize for the behavior of the devious Mojostopheles and mention that, indeed, this session of octaNe rocked. Literally. Pretty much the most fun I had at the most entertaining Con ever.

Oh yeah, Jared rules. He is not wack, my brothers. Todd's a _great_ GM. Jason Blair is a monkey reincarnated. And Mike Mearls is SO high! Oh, and Jurgen. Yeah, Jurgen IS the man.

Finally, if you haven't already, get you hands on octaNe. Oh, wait, I have to finish the preview PDF first. Ok, so get it SOON.)

That damn game was so fun...Wasabi Jones, Brasco Hi-Fi, Poo-poo Kim Chi and Mojostophacles squared off against Poison Elvi, giant Gila Monsters, and deranged classical musicians...and emerged victorious.

That...is a hell of a lot of spontaneous creativity. Poison Elvi...Mojostophacles...!!! No pre-planning, pre-prep for the game at all?

Paul

Paul Czege wrote: That damn game was so fun...Wasabi Jones, Brasco Hi-Fi, Poo-poo Kim Chi and Mojostophacles squared off against Poison Elvi, giant Gila Monsters, and deranged classical musicians...and emerged victorious.

That...is a hell of a lot of spontaneous creativity. Poison Elvi...Mojostophacles...!!! No pre-planning, pre-prep for the game at all?

You guys had a lot more fun overall at your booth than I did at my booth. You got to play all those cool games while I spent four bloody days woith Jay Jay and Mr. Pickles glaring at me from the omnipresent TV screens. (If chimpanzees are an endangered species, then I'm all for it.)

I did get to GM one game of HeartQuest, the scheduled Slayers event. I can tell you more about it in another post if anyone;s interested, but basically it went really well.

I've been to five GenCons (95, 96, 97, 01, 02) and this was, by far, the best GenCon in every possible aspect. Anyway, this is Actual Play so let's get it on.

Sorcerer
Bound by Herr Edwards; my other captives were Jake Norwood and Peter Adkison.
This was my first time playing Sorcerer. Ron ran a three hour sanzoku game. I played an IRA grey man on the lam in the states, Jake played a Polish mafioso, and Peter played an Irish gypsy. The game centered around a woman named Siobhan. I'm not going to be the one to spoil the scenario (in case Ron wants to put this up for other GMs to use) but let me say this, the "truth" behind Siobhan... oh man... OH MAN. Well done, Ron. Just the idea of it rocks my pants.

Dust Devils
Dealt by Matt Snyder; shot out by Jake Norwood, Ralph Mazza, Todd Luikart, and Seth Ben-Ezra.
This was an expanded version of the demo Matt was running at the booth (Ralph played the sheriff NPC). This was big, big fun. I played Gentleman Jim. Truth is, I liked Dust Devils already. I downloaded the PDF way back when and couldn't resist picking up the "Parchment Edition" from the booth. But after having actually played it... shit. This game is so fucking cool. Flipping through some of the (many many many) games I picked up at GenCon got my gears turning on just how important games akin to Dust Devils are.

octaNe
Directed by Too Sexy Luikart; the other actors were Mike Mearls, Jared Sorensen, Juergen Mayer, and Matt Snyder.
As everyone's already said above, this game was so fucking cool I still can't feel my tail. It also inspired me to whip up a scenario about Satan's Cheerleaders that I absolutely MUST inflict upon my peeps very, very soon. Bosco, Wasabi, Mr. Spider, Mojo, and Poo-poo will go down as one of the best characters every put together in one of the best games I've ever played in.

Here's what floors me and, I hope, the other Forgers here appreciate this as much as I do: Getting to play with fellow designers, publishers, and industry folk. This was a great honor for me. Not because they're 1337er or cooler or better looking or taste more like honey, but because the ones I got to play with love games. My interest in games has admittedly been waning as of late (like... since last GenCon) and this GenCon is just another testimony that playing games is essential if you have any interest in doing good games. But the enthusiasm displayed by the newest entries into the industry to those who make these gatherings possible is humbling and inspiring.

Big, big, big thanks to Ron Edwards, Dav Harnish, and Seth Ben-Ezra for picking up the demos I either couldn't run or didn't even know were happening until I saw the book in the table. I still owe Ron two sessions of Sorcerer and will pay in full next GenCon.

EDIT: Here are links to some pics I took. I have about 20 more but I'll get to them later. Please forgive me if I get anyone's name wrong (well, forgive _and correct_ me). Thank you.
http://www.key20.com/GenCon2002/gc001.jpg
http://www.key20.com/GenCon2002/gc002.jpg
http://www.key20.com/GenCon2002/gc003.jpg
http://www.key20.com/GenCon2002/gc004.jpg
http://www.key20.com/GenCon2002/gc005.jpg
http://www.key20.com/GenCon2002/gc006.jpg

Thanks so much for the photos, man.

I missed a great time, but it was great being able to attach names and faces.

Take care,

Christopher

This is the last year I miss GenCon. That's all there is to it. And since it's being moved to Indianapolis, that'll make it that much more convenient for me.
I need more stories. Anyone play any non-indie stuff? Any true tales of bumping into Famous Designers? Did anyone get pictures of the mythic Starchildren booth babes? Dish, people! Dish for those of us who couldn't attend!

I only got to play ONE game the whole con, but it was worth it!

I was just happy to play a demo of Charnel Gods. That F@$#ing rocked, even if it was only a demo and Ive played Sorcerer many times! (that and Scott ran it, which kicked ass, oh oh, and I got to menace Lysidious (sp?) off the bell tower to the hard, rainy ground below, yay!.)

Ill say that this year is the last time I work at Gen-Con. I got to hear all the stuff that went on from trav (he's my downstairs neigbor) and I realized that my Gen-Con was waisted. I had no fun, except for the hour I hung out with trav at the Forge booth and played Charnel Gods.

That, and I got to meet Jared. My inner fan-boy has been satisfied now that I got to shake hands with the guy that wrote octaNe.

FruitSmack

Greg Stolze came to the booth to ask for a copy of Riddle, which he traded me for, and I spend lots of time with the guy that wrote FVLMINATA (which I just bought and am wayyy excited about). Oh, and there was that Peter Adkinson thing.

Yeah, I fanboyed out BIG TIME.

Jake
who isn't ashamed

Hey, I have 18 pics from the Forge booth up. Here's a link:

http://www.key20.com/GenCon2002/

Scott,

I can't believe you ran Charnel Gods for those little teenage chickies. You're going to warp their little minds.

(Man, if only the Forge had existed when I was 16...)

Clinton,

No one was more surprised about that run of Charnel Gods than I was, but they totally got it. Sadly, they didn't buy anything - the ringleader's brother already owned Sorcerer. Sigh.

Fruitsmack! Now I have a name and face to put to the username. Cool. Glad you liked the game...Ladisalus proved all weekend long to be the perfect vehicle for various players' sadistic needs.

Hopefully I'll be writing up that demo, along with playtest notes from the con, for inclusion in RPGevolution. Anyone who played and makes their way here to The Forge should e-mail me with their favorite anecdotes...

- Scott

This was my first Gen Con in years, and I can safely say that I have to Forge folks to thank for much of my enjoyment of it.

Here's what I played--

Riddle of Steel: Jake ran this, and all the players were customers (we had a full suite of 4 players). I was playing the young soldier in love (if you got to play this demo, you’ll know who). Everybody got into it, and I’d be surprised if Jake didn’t sell a copy to every player (I know I bought one, a friend of mine (Ben Terry) did, and at least one of the other players from the demo did). My character’s jealous attack on the town’s current ruler along the rooftop of his palace couldn’t have been more dramatic, and it ended with a wonderful bit of violence. And the consequences were high for my character and his love. At the beginning I gave him the destiny of losing everything that he had spent his whole life working for, and he did. Poor guy. He never had a chance. Great fun.

Dust Devils: Matt ran this; Josh Neff, Mario, and I were the players. I played mean, drunk ole’ Zeke. The game ended badly for the characters—and just right for the players. By the end of the game the sheriff was dead, Zeke had shot the gambler and left his own gun on the floor of the saloon, and Gentleman Jim was bleeding to death in the bank. All our devils caught up with us. I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

octaNe: Jared already covered this—it was the game with me and Jurgen, and Atlantis, and good little Pepe, and the great El Mar. I’ll just add my vote for “way cool” game, and add that Jared’s just being modest when he claims that he’s not a good GM. It was rip-roaring fun, and Jared made sure that our characters had plenty to do. With Plenty of monsters for the monster smasher, and plenty of Atlantean weirdness for the ingenious tinkerer with an Atlantis obsession, there was plenty of fun for all.

Lord of the Rings: Frankly, I think Decipher were shooting themselves in the foot with this demo. It didn't make sense. The book is full of verbiage about how to play epic fantasy. It's good verbiage (though it isn't really backed up by the rest of the system). But the demo--a dungeon crawl. And the players were powerless. I could go on and on...

But yes, yes… I bought the game anyway. They couldn’t stop me from buying the game. How’s that for slavish devotion to a license?

Trollbabe: I was in this with Danielle and Jared. Ron ran it. It took me a minute to adjust to what it meant to play a trollbabe, but once we started interacting with NPCs, it really came to life. Jared and I ended up making our characters sisters, and it played a large part in defining how our characters interacted. It was also fun to watch Danielle’s story develop.

I love the way relationships work in the game. In fact, as I started to figure them out, I wanted more and more to establish them and use them. I can see a lot of fun with this over more than one play session as the cast of meaningful NPCs grows.

In fact, the worst thing about playing it as a demo is that some of the coolest stuff can only be hinted at in a demo. The relationships were great, but I can see them being even cooler over time. And I love the escalation of scale over time (I’m not sure what it’s called in the game rules). We didn't get the chance to use it, of course, because it's an aspect of longer term play. It's a great idea, and has great implementation, though.

I also like the clarity of the narration mechanics—it’s a game that is very, very clear about who says what and when. And the stuff about who gets to veto what and when is also very clear.

Synthesis: Mike ran this, Josh Neff and I were the players. Fun. We used a very loose version of Spelljammer and Krynn as a setting, and the premise was a riff on the Prime Directive. That description doesn't do the session justice, though.

There was a lot of character development. The game is nicely focused on it. There really weren't many hitches once we got going. I do think, looking back on it, that I might have defined my character differently in game terms if I'd understood the game more at the beginning. But it was fun, and I think the session deserves a longer post. I'll try to get one ready, or I'll join in if Josh or Mike start one.

Wish list: I’m most disappointed that I didn’t get a chance to try out octaNe with no GM. Jared and I were talking about it, but it never actually happened. Also, I would have liked to have gotten into any one of the Sorcerer demos. I've never actually played it.

And having heard the report of My Life with Master, I just have to say that I wish I’d been there. In fact, I wish I had a copy of this game in my hands right now.

Great con. I'm glad I went.

Rich Forest

Ken Hite thinks the Forge rocks.

"Not only a way to segue from the "popular" to the "truly neat-o", but also a tip of the hat to the way that Milwaukee's weather, which usually during GenCon more closely resembles that of the aforementioned Bataan peninsula, was actually fairly temperate and pleasant. Much appreciated, and I'm sure it's all down to Peter Adkison knowing people in high places -- he certainly knows the people on the Diana Jones Award committee, since he was on hand at the inaugural Diana Jones Award party on Wednesday night, where I consumed the aforementioned free beer and watched Ron Edwards accept a well-deserved Diana Jones Award from him. Ron wasn't quite speechless -- it will take a larger, heavier award to do that, and it will probably have to be placed all sudden-like atop his head -- but he did seem very gratified. Equally gratified was Tracy Hickman, who received his equally well-deserved Origins Hall of Fame Award at the same party -- for my money, giving two awards to the creators of Sorcerer and Ravenloft in the same night was a testament to everything good and fine in the adventure gaming industry. Especially with free beer.

Ron came roaring back in fine form for the rest of the show, frenetically demoing any one of 22 games, although not in response to either shouted challenges or a random die roll, which just goes to show what my influence is worth. Some of the games he demoed, sold, and masterminded at the Forge booth staked a very plausible claim to be the Best New Thing At The Show, "new" being defined as "thing I hadn't heard of yet." Matt Snyder's Dust Devils is currently in the lead, but I haven't read everything I got from them yet."

Okay, so everyone else stopped gooning over GenCon on Wednesday, but I only get here on the weekends, so sue me.

I played in one of Ron's "In Utero" demos. It was incredible! I'm sure I'll be able to run Sorcerer much better now. Thanks, Ron.

I played in one of Jake's Riddle of Steel demos, wherein I convinced Mike Holmes to betray his master (whom I had just slain) and join me! Awesome game, and I pitched it to all my friends. At least one of them even bought it.

I played in Jared's InSpectres demo, wherein I think I left him nonplussed by using a Confessional to make a re-animated giant ground sloth carnivorous ("It makes no sense!" quoth Jared.). I tried to make up for it by saying it was all a hoax perpetuated by an infamous rival scientist. Still, I had a ball.

I ran my favorite FVLMINATA event: "To Rule or Be Forgotten" and the first time I had to turn away three people, and the 2nd time I got only one player. Go figure.

I ran my THEATRIX adventure "The Ball" twice. It went very well. As usual, almost none of the players had even heard of Theatrix before, but most of them caught on quite quickly. A few just couldn't help but play it like a dungeon crawl. Oh well.

And I played in a pick-up Nobilis game that helped me to view the game in a completely different light. It was great! (All that and I picked up darn-near everything at the Forge booth, blowing my budget before the Exhibit Hall had been open an hour!)

I'd just like to thank Ron and Jason for putting together such an awesome booth (I'll definitely spend more time there next year). Congrats to Ron again on the DJ award. Thanks to Paul for the legendary achievement of recognizing me without a nametag! Thanks to all the folks at the booth that made me feel welcome (Camille is a selling machine--by the end of the con, I was considering picking up another copy of Sorcerer just because she had pitched it to me so often).

Now that FVLMINATA's been out for a year, and the second edition is on the shelves, I've got to stop resting on my laurel. Something new is in the works already (as of yesterday). It'll be available for playtest in a few months, I think.

Michael Miller wrote: Now that FVLMINATA's been out for a year, and the second edition is on the shelves, I've got to stop resting on my laurel. Something new is in the works already (as of yesterday). It'll be available for playtest in a few months, I think.

My GenCon pics will also go up on Jason site at
http://www.key20.com/GenCon2002/

Some of'em are already there, others will follow in the next days.
GenCon was great and all the games were fun - including my funniest run of InSpectres ever. You just can't beat Ron Edwards as an ancient sumerian sorcerer npc trying to stop the Peter Adkinson npc from transferring GenCon to Indianapolis. And d20-eating gamer zombies. I'll post more about that as soon as I find the t ime or Josh starts a thread about that game (hint, hint).