We’re a week out from Gamer Nation Con 8 as I write this. My brain is slowly reforming itself into a functioning organ after it was subjected to several weeks of intense convention prep and then four solid days of running and playing games. (Seriously – I went to do some work done on a project last night and I swear I heard it laugh at the prospect.) And I wanted to take a moment and get some thoughts about the convention down before they become memories that will become lost like tears in rain.
One thing that Gamer Nation Con has always done well (at least insofar as I’ve been going) has been strong theming for the convention – and this year was no exception. Continuing to play on how many times the convention has been held, this year’s theme was Gamer Nation Con 80s. And like in years past, so many games delivered in regards to theme.
For my part, I brought down two games – one Dungeons and Dragons game that utilized the “iconic” cartoon from the 1980s, but with a more traditional flair. Every five centuries the realm saw the return of the eternal being known as Venger who tried to conquer the world. And each time, the realm sent forth champions of their own – warriors who did battle with the forces of evil. But this time, Venger enacted a ritual that blocked them from rising in response. And so the PCs were tasked with carrying the mantles of these heroes for a time, called upon by the enigmatic being known as Dungeon Master. It was a fun romp, and I included a number of custom miniatures for all the PCs, Dungeon Master, Venger, and even Uni that I had painted up special for the convention.
The other game that I had brought down was a sequel adventure to last year’s Sentinel Comics Roleplaying Game adventure “Training Day.” In this year’s installment, “The TRON Legacy,” the heroes had earned some R&R time at the local mall after saving all of reality on what was supposed to be a routine training mission that had gone awry. After spending some time doing their own thing while also working on “socializing” a new lab assistant robot by the name of Otto, they decided to hit up the new arcade and try out the virtual reality machines – only for them to find out it was a trap. When Otto put on a headset to do some gaming himself, he was attacked with malicious code by a virtual reality obsessed programmer/hacker who went by the name Purge and plunged the entire mall into a digital realm. Now in control of Otto, Purge used him to interface with the world and issue commands, starting the process of sending the entire city into the same space. It was up to the heroes to find out where Otto was being kept, defeat the programming, and stop the spread of the digital world.
Both adventures were a lot of fun to run and had very positive reactions from everyone who took part in them. I had gamers both old and new alike at my tables. In the several conventions that I have been to, this one saw the biggest influx of brand new attendees that I have ever seen, and it was a blast meeting so many of them and welcoming them into the Gamer Nation family. And I look forward to seeing them again at the next convention.
But I didn’t just run games – I also got to play in quite a few. Steve Snyder of the Me and Steve Talk RPGs podcast ran us through a Running Man inspired Cyberpunk RED adventure where we got to fight against a color gang that was dressed up as the members of Guns n’ Roses. I got to get “fantasy player” pants on with Darren West’s Savage Worlds game set in the realm of Quadredia, a home setting that has slowly been developed for the last 40 or so years. And then I got to get my energon with GM Phil’s Transformers game using the Mechasys rules from Studio 404 Games. And that doesn’t even begin to cover the amount of games that got played that I didn’t get a chance to take part in – from The Last Starfighter to Alien to Conan the Barbarian to Return of the Jedi to Stranger Things to Ghostbusters and even Scooby Doo, there was so much gaming to be done. And even better, this year saw our triumphant return to the new location of Dallas Games Marathon, now back from the dead.
And between it all, I got to enjoy some great food and even better company with the gamers that have made this convention their home for so many years. I mentioned that we had a lot of brand new attendees, but this year also saw the return of many gamers who couldn’t join us in recent years due to Covid or other reasons including a number of our friends from north of the border in Canada and several long time members of the network that have been absent for other reasons. It was fantastic to get to hang out with everyone, shake lots of hands, give lots of hugs, and chat without any latency from Discord or Zoom.
That said there were still many people who couldn’t attend this year for any number of reasons, both within the US and internationally, and I hope that I will get to see them again next year.
That being said – next years convention theme was announced at the end of this year’s auction, and boy is it a doozy. Next year will be the ninth Gamer Nation Con and so we’re going on a long journey. And while we all will return, not all of the characters we will play mean to.
“Nine conventions… so be it. You shall be the Fellowship of the Gamers.”
That’s right – we’re going to Middle Earth next year with Tolkien and high fantasy inspired games. I know I’ve already got a number of ideas bubbling up for things that I could do and other GMs are just as furiously jotting down notes as they come to them. Be on the lookout for the Kickstarter later this summer, but keep the first full weekend in April of 2024 penciled in.
I hope to see you there for an expected party. I’m just glad they didn’t wait until Gamer Nation 111 for this theme.
Ben Erickson
