Off to GenCon
Jul. 31st, 2019 12:49 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
singedsunIt's been more than a week and my knee is STILL in pain, although I think that finally my delicate treatment of it is finally paying off. Unfortunately, it's not quite better enough for the amount of walking I'm about to undertake in the rest of the week/end. In the morning we are taking off for GenCon in Indianapolis. I have at least two games scheduled for each day of the convention, and we are not staying in a hotel near to the convention this year so we'll be doing some parking and walking and then more walking between the convention center and Lucas Oil stadium.
If you're unaware, GenCon is a fifty year old four day gaming convention for board & table top games. Although these days they do have video games and a writer's track of panels and a variety of other activities. It's a lot of good fun, and this is my sixth or seventh year going I think? I've learned over time that I can't do everything there, but if I scheduled a game or two a day, I feel as though I've gotten my monies worth out of the event.
Of course the last three years, there's been a Critical Role show happening one night of the convention. It's an off-site theater you don't need convention badge to attend, so it's pretty well-attended by the fans. I didn't go the first year because I didn't have friends to go with, but last year I was able to go with a friend who had tickets through D&D themselves and it was SUCH a good time I had to buy tickets for the show this year. So Friday night, that's where I'll be: as part of one of the loudest theater audiences in attendance of any show, ever.
As far as games go, I've got a good variety of options. I'm doing both a Honey Heist & Crash Pandas game -- these are games with minimal rules and extremely crazy plots. In Honey Heist the characters play criminal bears in search of honey. And in Crash Pandas the characters play racing raccoons. These should be crazy games. I managed to nab one of the few games of Bluebeard's Bride that's being run, which I'm really interested in. I backed the Kickstarter a few years ago but haven't yet had the chance to play it. In Bluebeard's Bride everyone plays an aspect of the Bride and it's sounds twisted and dark and wonderful. The writing and art for the game is really special.
My husband and I both signed up for games of Illimat and Warhammer Fantasy, both games we own but haven't been able to play. I LOVE the older version of Warhammer Fantasy, it's one of my absolute favorite gaming settings, and I really miss not being able to play it these days. I've also signed up for a game of the Dragon Age RPG, which I've tried to play before but haven't been able to. Dragon Age is a setting I know VERY VERY well though, so I'm interested to see how the game plays. I have played other games with a similar rule set though, so I don't feel like there's much learning involved there. Illimat is a card game designed by a pretty famous game designer in conjunction with the band, The Decemberists. The design and layout is very reminiscent to me of a Tarot layout.
Then the other two games I have are Zweihander -- which is a very close love letter to Warhammer Fantasy. The creator actually lives here in Kansas City and was kind enough to give my husband a copy of the game. I've flipped through it several times looking for character ideas, but it is a THICK read so I would not even try to attempt a game in that setting on my own yet. And lastly (although not in the schedule, just in this list) a game of Masks, which is a superhero setting I've heard good things about. I used to play a lot of Aberrant which is the White Wolf superhero setting and I loved it. Masks is done by the same game company that did Bluebeard's Bride.
It's going to be a very busy weekend but hopefully a good one, despite my knee injury. I have lots of good meds and braces, I always take a cane with me to help when I get tired, so hopefully it won't be too bad. Once I get/stay up and moving, my knee doesn't hurt too bad and as long as I'm gentle with it at night, I think I've given myself plenty of time each night to recover for the next day.
Preparing for this vacation has been a little strange though, because I'll only be back for a few days before I have surgery. Today was my last day at work this week and then Tuesday morning I have my pre-op appointments before my surgery on the following Monday, the 12th. The new manager at work has been sitting with me, but I don't know how effective my time with her has been given that I've been preparing for both this vacation and covering for someone else who was out on vacation too. My stress about leaving my team for two months after my surgery is definitely increasing and I'm hoping to give myself a small break from that this weekend since I'll be so busy with fun things. Wish me luck.
If you're unaware, GenCon is a fifty year old four day gaming convention for board & table top games. Although these days they do have video games and a writer's track of panels and a variety of other activities. It's a lot of good fun, and this is my sixth or seventh year going I think? I've learned over time that I can't do everything there, but if I scheduled a game or two a day, I feel as though I've gotten my monies worth out of the event.
Of course the last three years, there's been a Critical Role show happening one night of the convention. It's an off-site theater you don't need convention badge to attend, so it's pretty well-attended by the fans. I didn't go the first year because I didn't have friends to go with, but last year I was able to go with a friend who had tickets through D&D themselves and it was SUCH a good time I had to buy tickets for the show this year. So Friday night, that's where I'll be: as part of one of the loudest theater audiences in attendance of any show, ever.
As far as games go, I've got a good variety of options. I'm doing both a Honey Heist & Crash Pandas game -- these are games with minimal rules and extremely crazy plots. In Honey Heist the characters play criminal bears in search of honey. And in Crash Pandas the characters play racing raccoons. These should be crazy games. I managed to nab one of the few games of Bluebeard's Bride that's being run, which I'm really interested in. I backed the Kickstarter a few years ago but haven't yet had the chance to play it. In Bluebeard's Bride everyone plays an aspect of the Bride and it's sounds twisted and dark and wonderful. The writing and art for the game is really special.
My husband and I both signed up for games of Illimat and Warhammer Fantasy, both games we own but haven't been able to play. I LOVE the older version of Warhammer Fantasy, it's one of my absolute favorite gaming settings, and I really miss not being able to play it these days. I've also signed up for a game of the Dragon Age RPG, which I've tried to play before but haven't been able to. Dragon Age is a setting I know VERY VERY well though, so I'm interested to see how the game plays. I have played other games with a similar rule set though, so I don't feel like there's much learning involved there. Illimat is a card game designed by a pretty famous game designer in conjunction with the band, The Decemberists. The design and layout is very reminiscent to me of a Tarot layout.
Then the other two games I have are Zweihander -- which is a very close love letter to Warhammer Fantasy. The creator actually lives here in Kansas City and was kind enough to give my husband a copy of the game. I've flipped through it several times looking for character ideas, but it is a THICK read so I would not even try to attempt a game in that setting on my own yet. And lastly (although not in the schedule, just in this list) a game of Masks, which is a superhero setting I've heard good things about. I used to play a lot of Aberrant which is the White Wolf superhero setting and I loved it. Masks is done by the same game company that did Bluebeard's Bride.
It's going to be a very busy weekend but hopefully a good one, despite my knee injury. I have lots of good meds and braces, I always take a cane with me to help when I get tired, so hopefully it won't be too bad. Once I get/stay up and moving, my knee doesn't hurt too bad and as long as I'm gentle with it at night, I think I've given myself plenty of time each night to recover for the next day.
Preparing for this vacation has been a little strange though, because I'll only be back for a few days before I have surgery. Today was my last day at work this week and then Tuesday morning I have my pre-op appointments before my surgery on the following Monday, the 12th. The new manager at work has been sitting with me, but I don't know how effective my time with her has been given that I've been preparing for both this vacation and covering for someone else who was out on vacation too. My stress about leaving my team for two months after my surgery is definitely increasing and I'm hoping to give myself a small break from that this weekend since I'll be so busy with fun things. Wish me luck.
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Date: 2019-07-31 11:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-07-31 04:06 pm (UTC)