Games
I sampled a few board games but mostly I was there for RPGs. A few games were memorable.
Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition Adventurer's League
The big thing I did was D&D for 4 4-hour sessions. It was 5th edition which I hadn't played much of and it was Adventurer's League which I knew nothing about. Still, I ended up being the party leader and had a pretty good time. I'm lukewarm about Adventurer's League. The idea is that characters are built and progress in a fairly strict fashion so that characters of a given level are balanced. I suppose that's fine, but honestly if I am playing with strangers anyway I don't mind a pre-generated one-shot disposable character. I get enough long-term campaign play with friends.
So why play D&D at a con if I play at home? Good question. I guess it was to inject new ideas into my universe. I also wanted to try out 5th edition a little bit more, and I actually liked it. Not as crunchy as 3rd edition but more consistent than 1st and 2nd edition.
Starfinder
Paizo put out a game just like Pathfinder but in space. It's really pretty amazing how much it resembles Pathfinder. 1st level Technomancers cast Magic Missile, and such. They were running 1-hour demos. I played 3 of the 5 so got a feel for the system. They added space combat which looks interesting, except I'm not convinced it will be worth the complication of the rules if every turn just involves turning to face the enemy and firing. Since I'm currently playing 3 space RPGs, I don't see picking this up any time soon.
Dominion
I've played a lot of Dominion in my life and still play some on dominion.games. I checked out Empires. Seems like a good expansion.
True Dungeon
There is an event which is like an hour of D&D but you move from room to room with prop and actors. Combat is handled by doing well playing shuffleboard and spells are cast by memorizing things. There are also puzzles, much like a lite escape room. I got into a very experienced group and we didn't have any difficulty beating the dungeon.
While I am glad I experienced it and might do it again, I'm not too excited about it. The props and acting were good enough but not mind blowing. Shuffleboard was fun but I can play shuffleboard much cheaper at the sports bar. It did make me consider perhaps using a dart board or something for my own D&D games.
I was surprised that the operation wasn't smoother. In the waiting room, the guy who was supposed to explain things almost seemed to know nothing. There were multiple groups running simultaneously and there was a lot of noise. I couldn't hear the actors give their short speeches. Perhaps I'm a puzzle snob, but the puzzles weren't especially well done. The props were excellent but sparse. Still, it was a pretty unique experience.
They Might Be Giants
I'm a fan so seeing then was a no-brainer. Pretty amused how many times they talked about being in Indianapolis and got no response. I think eventually they figured out that everybody there was from out of town. They made it sound like they had never played such a large crowd, so good for them. I saw them a few years ago at a pretty small venue.
Cosplay
I love me some cosplay and Gencon did not disappoint. Favorites:
- Overwatch! Just about everyone was represented. D.VA and Soldier 76 were most common with quite a bit of Reaper and Tracer. There was an awesome Winston.
- 3 lady Yondo's, Starlord's blue adopted father. All had babies who, I assume, are Starlord.
- King Arthur, Sir Bedivere, Tim the Enchanter, and Patsy banging coconuts together
- A guy who looked like Stan Lee with an name tag that said, "not Stan Lee"
I'm forgetting a ton.
Larry Elmore
He's a fantasy artist who has been around forever. I always like his work and he was selling prints. It was neat to meet a guy who had such an influence on my life.
