Back From GenCon

I returned from GenCon in Indianapolis yesterday just in time to go straight to work. Apologies to all and sundry for being incommunicado (e-communicado?) since last Wednesday, but it was nice to escape e-mail for a while.

(You know how, when you go on vacation and don't drive for a week, when you get back and get behind the wheel, it feels weird? I had that feeling when I started typing yesterday.)

I did a little bit of lots of things at the con. I played copious Call of Cthulhu, and heartily recommend a scenario called "Hobo Quest," by my good friend Joe Donaghue, available from Chaosium in their new Cthulhu Masters Tournament 2005 monograph. I don't see it on their website yet, but it was presumably only available starting at the end of the convention. You know, to avoid ruining the tournament. I quite naturally made Joe sign mine.

Convention shopping consisted mostly of picking up products from the last year or two that have been frothingly well reviewed but that I haven't made the opportunity to buy, for whatever reason. Purchases consisted of the Diana Jones Award winning Ticket to Ride, the Diana Jones shortlisted Dogs in the Vineyard (which I read in its entirety before arriving home; good stuff!), a copy of Savage Worlds (sold out at last year's convention; do I really only shop for RPGs once a year?), and some miscellanea from the Titan Games "Buy One Get Three Free" table. (Also seen at the Titan Games booth: a sign reading "Your wife called — she said go ahead and charge it.")

Actually, speaking of calling wives, I also bought a copy of two-player Days of Wonder boardgame Memoir '44 after Stacey said she'd play it with me.

I had planned to buy a copy of the Serenity Role Playing Game, but it sold out on Thursday. I'll grab one from Amazon when it's released, I guess.

I had wanted to try Zombies!!!, which I've never played, but it didn't pan out. I did get a chance to try Shadows over Camelot. I felt like the collaborative approach worked better in Camelot than it did in Fantasy Flight's collaborative The Lord of the Rings boardgame.

Ah, GenCon. Indeed, the best four days in gaming.

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Comments

It was good to see you, hang out with you, and share a meal with you, Jeff. When friends live so far away, it's easy to forget how much we miss them.

Yeah, Ticket to Ride is awesome. I will have to buy it if only to play the online version. Funnily, a guy I ran into in a game met Adkinson at a restaurant, and he was supposedly also reading Dogs in the Vineyard.

I sincerly believe that Gen Con is one of the most genuine vacations I can take. I completely sever all ties with my reality as I play varied and challenging roles in my games. A whole new level of escapism, but fun and refreshing as I look forward to another school year.

Besides, it's good to attend the dork family reunion and feel at home.

Heather and I were talking about it and we agree that there is, indeed, power in numbers.

Though that begs the question: What would gamers do with real power?

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