In part one of my Gen Con reflections, I shared thoughts from Will Sobel, Wen Reischl, Alex Flagg, Charlie Dunwoody, Barak Blackburn, and Chris Tang. You can read their memories here before diving into these.
Andy Peregrine of Cubicle 7: “These days I mainly go to Gen Con to catch up with the array of amazing people I otherwise only get to see once a year. I don’t get to play games often, but this year was an exception. I played a great game of the new One Ring Second Edition and my usual 7th Sea game that went long into the night. But I think my favourite session (by a whisker) was running the new ALIEN game from Free League on Saturday night. I had three amazing players who were all great role players and just had a blast running it. The two-hour demo went on for three and if I’d not horribly slaughtered them all we’d probably still be playing!”
Egg’s Note: This is my first Gen Con that I didn’t see Andy. We both write for EN World and he always has the best finds of the con, so missing him was a shame. But, there’s always next year.
Jamie Wood,Freelancer, Green Ronin Publishing: “This year was probably my best Gen Con experience yet, and I think a lot of that was because it was a year of firsts. It was my first time not purposely scheduling to play games with people I knew. It was my first time painting a mini that I was really proud of. It was my first time on a panel. And for the first time, I didn’t let imposter syndrome keep me from hanging out with colleagues I admire.”
Egg’s Note: Only at a Gen Con convention game will you play with, and learn from, a writer for the game you’re playing. I signed up for a Dragon Age session. Jamie, who I had never met before, was there and the GM innocently let us know that she had written for the Dragon Age RPG. So, when I flubbed the history of the setting and the engine, it was extra embarrassing! (Seriously, Jamie did a great job of bridging my notions of the setting into a better understanding.)
Danny O’Neill of Hammerdog Games: “Gen Con is that time of year where you get to meet your best fans. This year I got to walk this hall with a few of them. But the best moment for me was when fans came up and started to tell me their favorite parts in The Dread House and The Grande Temple of Jing. To know people actually read and play the material I work so hard on is a blessing.”
Egg’s Note: My buddy, Leland, and I were walking over to say hi to Danny at his booth as he was leaving. Instead of cutting our visit short, he asked us to walk with him as he did something incredibly interesting, he took us on a publisher art hunt. Together, we toured artist alley making contacts with artists for his next project, Denoa, and learning how to be a publisher. I learned a ton in a 30-minute walkthrough that made me view the beautiful works that adorn artist alley with a new appreciation.
Craig Campbell of Nerdburger Games: “With three games in the dealer hall, this year, I brought a team of three to Gen Con to [sic] run me run events and promote my games. This was the very first Gen Con for all three of these people. It was incredibly gratifying to introduce three friends to Gen Con and help make sure they had a fantastic first experience. We all came away stronger in our friendships and with some wonderful memories.”
Egg’s Note: Nearly 70,000 gamers attended Gen Con 2019. My first game was Heroic Dark run by its creator, Dustin DePenning of Synthicide. Sitting behind me was Craig Campbell as he ran a session of his award-winning (2018 BAMFsie Award) CAPERS. Back in Atlanta, Craig and I game together so it was fun to run into him at the beginning of the con. It felt like a good sign (and it was).
Patrick Kapera of Crafty Games: “Gen Con is all about discovery and inspiration for me. I often dread going until I’m on my way, largely because I’m an introvert and the show is profoundly tiring for me, but every year I come home with new friends, new ideas, and amazing new experiences to draw from. As an example, from this year’s show, I didn’t realize initially that Era [a boardgame advertised as “The world’s first Roll & Build game! In Era – Medieval Age, each player rules over their domain. With every roll of the dice, players will continue to build their city while trying to avoid extortion, scorched earth, and disease!”] was originally conceived as a roll and write. After Alex mentioned that, I was suddenly seeing new ways to develop games that I hadn’t even considered before. Every year I find countless little eye openers like this, and it makes every step of an otherwise grueling experience for a person who values solitude absolutely worthwhile.”
Egg’s Note: Patrick set up my interview with Crafty Games’ Alex Flagg. I appreciate that he did that, answered my questions for another article I’m doing, and participate in this piece. He’s very generous with his time.
Allan Carey of Type 40: “Gen Con 2019 was our first one. The energy, the people and the sheer creative inspiration has made the pain in my feet and back well worth it.
Highlights would have to include meeting some of our Kickstarter backers at the booth. Watching people who had worked very hard get recognized for their efforts and win ENnie Awards. Spending time with the wonderful people at Chaosium and the HP Lovecraft Historic Society. Making new friends and finding my new home, Gen Con.
Egg’s Note: Chaosium Inc’s VP, Michael O’Brien, invited me to conduct a pair of interviews at their booth looking at third party Call of Cthulhu props by companies like Type 40. I was able to interview Allan about the artifacts and memorabilia he crafts for the game. I cannot stress the luxury and beauty of his works.
Justin R. Isaac of The Lone Bards: “This was my first Gen Con and it was really cool to finally take part in the spectacle. Hanging out with the DCC crew at the Embassy Suites after hours was the most special part to me. I got to meet the saint among gamers, Diogo Nogueira. I also got to be in the first play group for Joshua Burnett and Leighton Connor’s upcoming DCC setting, Leopard Women of Venus. My brother in dice, Eric Bloat, was also a part of the group, which made it even more special.”
Egg’s Note: At Origins Game Fair 2019, I was supposed to play in a game with Justin but he couldn’t make that con. I meant to say hi to him and Eric Bloat at Gen Con, but I never found the time to meet with them. Like so many others on this list, next year.
Dedren Snead of Sorghum & Spear: “After many years of trying, I finally made it to my first GenCon in 2019 to immerse myself in the current world of tabletop gaming, with a particular eye towards learning how to develop my very own game. I am a comic book writer and creator of a fantasy series Sorghum & Spear, for which I have been working to expand its reach and mythos, and have had several fans and fellow games remark that our saga would make for a great gaming storyline. Being a fan of RPGs and games of all types, it made sense to make the pilgrimage from Atlanta in hopes of learning what it takes to make this dream happen.
The entire experience was simply a fun and engaging four days, as advertised. While I had a lot of great gameplay and new experiences throughout, my favorite memory of the convention was talking to some first-time creators at the Indie Game Developer Network booth just before leaving on Sunday. It was near the end of the convention, and I recall how inviting the team was there when I asked for help in finding a story-based game system to read and learn from as a new game creator. They gave me several great suggestions and were quite excited to hear I wanted to make my own game and were knowledgeable about a couple of story games that piqued my interest, Home by Dark by Jason Oslan and Rememorex published by Eschaton Media. As an independent creative myself, I know the importance of supporting first-time creators and sharing their voice, and to see many titles the IDGA booth represented, and just how supportive the people were there, it made me feel like I could be a part of their community without question. They were very generous with their time and experiences and gave some suggestions of resources to get started. I ended up buying both games, and also picked up their recommendation of Legacy: Life Among the Ruins by Jay Iles as well. They shared that buying the games directly from the via IGDA and at conventions like Gen Con allowed for creators and developers to gain substantially more return of their game’s investments by getting them here, rather than ordering online as I typically do with a lot of my other game purchases. This was exactly the type of feedback and camaraderie I was hoping to find at the show when I purchased my badge, and I was not disappointed. I plan to apply for IGDN membership and continue my efforts to create a Sorghum & Spear tabletop game, in part to the great experience I had with the team at IGDN. Here’s to having a prototype to share for next year’s event!”
Egg’s Note: Dedren is an Atlanta friend and like many of my Atlanta friends, I see them at cons more than at home because traffic in Atlanta is… well, you know the hometown traffic song and dance. But, in Indianapolis, we (authors, Dedren Snead and John McGuire, poet, Leland Beauchamp, and I) walked the show, ate at Loughmiller’s Pub & Eatery, and talked a lot of games. It was a highlight among a show of highlights.
Egg’s Conclusion: If you’ve never been to Gen Con, I recommend trying it out if you love tabletop RPG. It’s a great time and you’re likely to make a list of new gamer friends. I have a blast each year.
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