This past weekend (at the time of writing this), nerds of all stripes once again descended upon Texas and filled the rooms of the Watters Creek Convention Center with the sounds of rolling dice and laughter. Gamer Nation Con 007, a convention three years in the making finally occurred. And while subdued in numbers, the atmosphere was no less electric. We knew we had a special mission this year. We knew we weren’t just gaming for ourselves – we were throwing dice and running games for everyone who wanted to be there, but couldn’t. And we gladly accepted it.
Let’s talk about the biggest change in the convention this year – the new venue. The Watters Creek Convention Center attached to the Marriott Bonvoy was immediately a different beast than our usual haunt of Dallas Games Marathon. And while we probably had about as much collective table space as we did at the new place, it was divided up over three rooms. And while it’s difficult to say how much more effective that was without all of the tables filled up with games, it felt a lot easier to run games and hear your players over other sessions being run in the same room. And then you get to add the fact that a lot of the out-of-state guests were staying in the hotel, just a short elevator ride (or two flights of stairs) above the convention itself. Not having to travel to the venue with a full day’s gaming supplies was great. Grabbing what I needed for my first game and then being able to pop back up to my room to grab what I needed for the next was wonderful. And the added ability to hang out with attendees after hours was a nice bonus. That said – this definitely wasn’t the cheapest GNC I’ve been to, and the hotel cost was a good part of that. But the convenience definitely outweighed the cost for me, and I would happily spend some extra money in years to come to keep that going (the amazing Old Fashioned they serve as one of their signature cocktails at the bar also didn’t hurt).
For myself, I decided to put five games on the schedule – two games of Dungeons and Dragons 5e, one session of Monarchies of Mau, and finally two sessions of Sentinel Comics The Roleplaying Game. If you’ve been following my posts, you’ll have already read about my “Music of the Night” module that I wrote for those 5th Edition games. And both of them ended up being a lot of fun. It was great to knock the proverbial rust off of my GM skills with something familiar and I had a great table to do so. I even got the chance to run a game for DM Eric of d20 Radio’s Eberron Renewed who ended up playing the most beautiful himbo of a goliath Oath of Glory Paladin that I’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing – I even got to witness him use the Peerless Athlete Channel Divinity class feature in combat to leap over a gap and close into battle from a flanking position.
“Meowsic of the Night” was what I ran for Monarchies of Mau, where I was able to focus on the more supernatural aspects of Phantom by including actual demons and ghosts within the adventure. This table proved to be a lot of fun and the big dungeon crawl that I opted to run proved to be a big success. Thanks to Heroic Maps to having just the map I needed to really make this adventure shine.
But I think my two favorite experiences were the last two games I ran – I was most excited (and most nervous) about Sentinel Comics. I’ve had the system for quite some time and really liked what I read, but I’ve just never had the chance to get it on the table. I ran my first session Saturday night and my second session on Sunday morning as my last game, both to full tables.
It was wonderful.
I knew from just reading it that I liked the design of the game. But after finally running it a few times, they really knocked it out of the park. Both tables had an absolute blast picking up on the game and its various mechanics. The GYRO scene tracker puts a clock on every scene making every turn and decision matter. “Boost” and “Hinder” actions to give allies bonuses to dice rolls or levy penalties on an enemy are frankly necessary in a way that I don’t think they have been in previous iterations of this kind of dice pool mechanic based on success thresholds for various actions and the way that damage works. And the way the dice work, there really isn’t such a thing as a “wasted turn.” The success may just cost you more than you initially thought. Both teams managed to pull out victories against very overwhelming odds in an encounter that I designed to be very difficult and it was an absolute delight to watch both tables pull together and really act like a superhero team to end up victorious. I will absolutely be writing up a sequel to this adventure for next year. I heard action scenes described as “playing the card game, but as an RPG” from multiple players, and that is honestly the perfect comparison. And as good as that card game is, that is a complement of the highest order.
I also got to roll some dice as a player – both in an impromptu 5th Edition game the second morning that proved that even assassination can be a hilarious experience with the right table. And then I got the chance to play in a session of Studio 404’s new cyberpunk setting “Anarchy in Dragon City.” If you’re a fan of cyberpunk and Genesys, you want to keep your eyes open for this release – it is promising to be something special. I haven’t had much experience with “heist” games, but the work that Brett and the rest of the team have done so far is absolutely outstanding and the love they have for the setting is readily apparent in what I got to witness.
I didn’t do a whole lot of board gaming, though I did manage to grab a game of Villainous: Marvel with DM Eric and another attendee after my first session. I don’t know that I would have ever given this game a look otherwise, but it proved to be a lot of fun with asynchronous victory conditions as we played against each other.
Aside from that, it was an absolute treat to get to see the faces of people that I haven’t seen in three years and experience the thrill of running games in person for them again (and eat some PHENOMENAL food). I’m already anticipating next year’s convention and starting to brainstorm ideas for the 80s theme. “Kurt Russells of the Multiverse” is one idea that keeps bouncing through my head – so I’m about to start following that thread and seeing where it goes.
Ben Erickson
