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GEN CON!

Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 6:19 am
by Harley Stroh
Simply, Goodman Games had an amazing showing.

A killer (!) DCC tournament, signings by THE Dave Arneson, tons of new products, awesome miniatures, multiple mentions in the upcoming Gamers movie, and friendly staffing throughout the duration of the entire con (which is no small feat in itself).

As a newbie, I can only say that the con was more amazing than any amount of hype could ever convey. I'm sorry for all the folks I missed, but I'm booking my tickets for next year, and not skipping a single day. (Ben, I owe you one still ... how did your tournament group make out?)

Thank you GGames!

Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 12:39 pm
by superfan
Hey Harley!!!

I'm sorry I didn't get your autographs on some of your modules! I could never make it to the signing sessions when you were signing. Too busy having my arse attacked by Erica and Chris in the tourney.

Wow was that intense!!!!!!!!!! So intense that I refuse to do it next year. I nearly died of stress. TPK in the third and final round, but I escaped without a heart attack, and got a trophy. Not bad for a group with generic tickets who had never met each other before.

Let me say for the record that I apologize to the other members of my group for being overly intense. Pete, Chris and Aaron were saints for putting up with me......the intensity just made me into a Pit fiend!!! They are fabulous role-players, and I wish them the best. Didn't get a chance to say goodbye or get my photo taken because I had to GO. 10 hour drive to Minneapolis.

Joe Goodman thinks that I could do all the Dundjinni maps for next years con. I think I'll volunteer to do that rather than the stress of the tourney. I love role-playing the DCC modules, but rapid crawling at the tourney for points with no "role-playing", just "roll-playing" is not my strong point.

I have to say that I have tremendous respect for the 1st and 2nd place teams.....I can't believe how deadly this years' tournament was...Unreal! Made Crypt of the Devil Lich look like "Elmo's big parade". I'll try writing up the stories of our groups' success and failures just for fun.

Keep in touch homeboy, and keep up the excellent work! You owe me some autographs!!!!!

BTW: Ken Hart takes the cake for running my favorite game at the con, a Dragonmech adventure....I'll be buying all the books any day!!

Ben "superfan" Waxman

"Tis better to have played Ynnen and died, then not to have played at all"

Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 12:48 pm
by walrusjester
Everyone should buy DragonMech books. They cure disease, increase sex appeal, and every time you buy one a faerie gets its wings.

A nasty sawtoothed faerie with a frickin' huge steam engine between its shoulderblades.

GenCon was a great time, and we met lots of cool people. We had three DragonMech adventures take place, each run by its author: Dieter "mythfish" Zimmerman, Matt "walrusjester" Sprengeler, and Ken "Ken Hart" Hart. Love that nickname, Ken. And special huge thanks go to the people who came down after their DragonMech adventures to talk to us. Some of 'em even bought the books!

I hear that Goodman Games ran some non-DragonMech events too. Anyone want to talk about that?

Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 2:09 pm
by Ken Hart
Mock my screen alias if you will, Matt. I'll have you know that my real name is Phinneas Thibbleblister. You'll now appreciate that "Ken Hart' is diabolically clever.

Actually, I first started posting regularly on RPG boards years ago because of my love of Ravenloft, so my frequent alias online is "Ken of Ghastria" (like "Tim ... the Enchanter"), named after my favorite region in the Domain of Dread.

As for other Goodman games, yes, how did the non-tournament DCC adventures go? :) Demos of the new card game, Scavenger Hunt, seemed to go very well and attracted players.

Ben: Glad you enjoyed the DragonMech game! Yes, DragonMech books are healthy for you. Consuming them will give you an iron constitution (of 22) and allow you to blow off some steam through the new pipe in your back.

I do have a funny in-game story that happened during one of the other slots I ran this weekend. The adventurers, now in possession of the stolen Lancer mech, are descending into the grotto HQ of an insane halfling wizard/alienist. They have already found the wizard's abandoned familiar, his weasel Dorn. (Bonus points if you get the in-joke.) When the PCs attack the guards and then the wizard himself shows up, throwing lightning bolts at them, the stalker who's holding Dorn says, "I break the weasel's neck." Everyone at the table is horrified! "WHAAAAT...?!?" But I thought, "Well, that IS what the character would do..." Snap!

Alas, the wizard made his Fort save, so he didn't lose XP (and drop a level), but it was a beautiful moment. The stalker's player asks me, "Can I move forward this round?" Chuckling, I say, "Oh no.... breaking the weasel's neck is a coup de grace action. That takes a full round!" Good times at Gen Con.

Re: GEN CON!

Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 2:27 pm
by monkeyking
[quote="Harley Stroh"]Simply, Goodman Games had an amazing showing.

A killer (!) DCC tournament, signings by THE Dave Arneson, tons of new products, awesome miniatures, multiple mentions in the upcoming Gamers movie, and friendly staffing throughout the duration of the entire con (which is no small feat in itself).



MINIATURES? there are miniatures?

Re: GEN CON!

Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 3:47 pm
by Harley Stroh
monkeyking wrote:MINIATURES? there are miniatures?
Nods! From the "Vault of the Dragon Kings" tournament. And they rock!

Scavenger Hunt was a blast. My own demo game culminated in:

(Harley shouting at another DCC author) You want some of this, hyena boy?! Bring the pain!

Nothing can top the weasel story though ... :):):)

Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 4:16 pm
by mythfish
No one can defeat the crocodile!

I'm not much of a miniatures guy, but they were fine figures.

The non-tournament DCC I ran went quite well. The players seemed quite happy with it, and a couple of them stopped by and bought some of the other ones. For that matter, at least one person from each game I ran stopped by and bought stuff. It gave me a warm smooshy feeling inside. But yeah, the weasel story tops anything my games have to offer.

I had a lot of fun, and it was great meeting all those I met. If I didn't meet you, maybe next year. :)

Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 11:25 pm
by malladin_ben
It sounds like being on or gaing with the GG team seems like the place to be at GenCon!!

Can't wait for next year - I'm starting saving for my air fare across "the pond" now (they've doubled since I was looking last year, though :()

Ben (Etherscope co-creator)

Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2005 5:55 am
by Harley Stroh
mythfish wrote:No one can defeat the crocodile!
Damn that croc and his martial prowess! I went for broke against him ...

... and got broken!

:)

Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2005 7:00 am
by walrusjester
Ken Hart wrote:As for other Goodman games, yes, how did the non-tournament DCC adventures go? :)
I ran a couple iterations of "Ravana's Cursed Crown," an 18th-level DCC-style adventure based on my Complete Guide to Rakshasas. Both groups did really well with high-level play. Mad props in particular go to the guy in my Sunday game who used the shapechange spell for all it was worth. Sadly, it looks like the module itself is 8-12 hours of playing time, so both times we had to skip a bunch of the middle.

And I kept having players who'd never played 3rd Ed/3.5 Ed d20 games before. Anyone else run into that?

Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2005 9:45 am
by Charke
Gen-Con rocked, although I was disappointed that could not get into any Dragonmech games. I got in some classic battletech which really satisfied the need to rend metal but still...

I had no idea who Dave Arneson was. I ran around the con meeting people and never spent the proper time to say hi to one of D&D's founders. I did speak to him breifly and he was really freindly and talking to everyone who came by and wanted to talk. I'll know better next year!

Paint and take, paint and take and I kept trying to get back for more! I haven't done figures in ages but it rocked.

Beer con was a blast and I got a chance to share D&D stories and nightmares.

I must say the highlight of the con was the foam sword-fighting.

Mark Charke

Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2005 2:56 pm
by Jengenritz
GenCon was a whole lotta fun.

BeerCon was a grand ol' time, even more than last year.

I ran several rounds in the tournament, but I must say that my favorite memory is from the third-round group. It goes a little something like this:

Me: "blah blah (room description) the room is octagonal."

They: "Oh no! We back out!"

Me: "Um... I said 'octagonal'...not whatever you thought I said."

They: "We know...we're not ready to be here...we don't have enough clues."

Me: "Umm?"

They: "Think about it...in every classic module, whenever you go into an octagonal room, bad things happen. We're leaving."

I died laughing. I had never heard that before, but when you think about it, it's true.

Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2005 4:36 pm
by Ken Hart
Mark,

It was good to meet you at the con! Sorry you didn't get into any of the DragonMech games. One bit of advice (and this goes for everyone!): If you want to get in a game that's sold out, see if there's a Sunday 8 a.m. slot. I guarantee that you'll always find a seat! Two or three days of heavy gaming, combined with sleep deprivation and a few drinks the night before, will always lead to a few people unable to get out of bed in time for the Sunday morning slot. :)

It's been the case at every con I've attended, and sure enough I had a couple of empty seats at my Sunday morning DragonMech game.

Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2005 5:45 pm
by Luke Johnson
I too had a wonderful time at Gen Con. It was cool to meet Joseph and Ken and a lot of other people I work with, and I had a good time signing books. Beercon was also a gas.

-Luke

Re: GEN CON!

Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2005 6:06 pm
by lyonstudio
monkeyking wrote:MINIATURES? there are miniatures?
Yes, and here is a link. I sculpted the kobold Ynnen and Jason Weibe sculpted the rest of the figures. I would love to hear more of what you think of them.

http://www.lyonstudio.com/dccsculpts.htm

Be sure you tell Joseph how good they are and buy lots so he will comission me and Jason to do more. Also, let him know what kind of figures you want: character models, humanoid antagonist packs of 4 or 5, new creatures, models of existing critters that are not represented well in figures, etc.

We like to sculpt it all, Joseph just needs to make sure that they sell and pay for his investment.

Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2005 5:16 am
by fathead
Have you guys given any thought to sculpting miniatures based off of some of the old D&D paintings by Erol Otus, Jeff Dee, etc?

Maybe the figures from the box cover of the basic set, some of the pen and ink sketches inside, etc...

I plan to pick up a full set of the miniatures from this years DCC tournament. I thought it was a great idea.

If you do the same thing for next year, have the miniatures out early so that we can purchase them, paint them, and bring them with us! :)

Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2005 5:16 am
by Jeff LaSala
You want some of this, hyena boy?! Bring the pain!
Hey! I was the hyena. Stupid monitor lizard.... :wink:

Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2005 8:12 am
by Save Vs. Death Ray
Are miniatures still for sale?!

Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2005 8:48 am
by Harley Stroh
My GenCon moment:

Image

For a D&D geek like myself (Harley is on the right), it doesn't get much cooler than that. :)

BTW: the tablet in front of me on the table is actually the rough draft to an upcoming DCC. I was hoping that if things were dead that I might get some editing in ...

...at Gen Con.

Foolish, foolish Harley. :)

Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2005 6:09 pm
by Charke
It was good to meet you at the con! Sorry you didn't get into any of the DragonMech games. One bit of advice (and this goes for everyone!): If you want to get in a game that's sold out, see if there's a Sunday 8 a.m. slot. I guarantee that you'll always find a seat! Two or three days of heavy gaming, combined with sleep deprivation and a few drinks the night before, will always lead to a few people unable to get out of bed in time for the Sunday morning slot.

It's been the case at every con I've attended, and sure enough I had a couple of empty seats at my Sunday morning DragonMech game.
@!#!@$! I got up early on Sunday to make sure I had a chance at that dragonmech game. It never occured to me to drop by. Sigh - so much to learn, so many, many people left to kill.

Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2005 4:00 am
by goodmangames
Save Vs. Death Ray wrote:Are miniatures still for sale?!
They will be available on the web site in about two months, once we have painted versions.

-- Joseph

Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2005 6:04 am
by Save Vs. Death Ray
Harley Stroh wrote:BTW: the tablet in front of me on the table is actually the rough draft to an upcoming DCC. I was hoping that if things were dead that I might get some editing in ...
So that means the DCC was actually in progress while within 4' of Dave Arneson!!! That's GOT to be good luck! Game design by osmosis or something .......

What's the DCC???!!! :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:
Patron God of DCC Creation wrote: They will be available on the web site in about two months, once we have painted versions.
Oh.........I am SO there. Please tell me you are taking pre-orders, because I REALLY don't want to miss these......please please please please. :)

No pressure or anything.

Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2005 8:45 am
by Luke Johnson
Hey gang!

I've posted some pics of me at the con on my website; check it out: http://www.lukejohnson.com/gcon_thumbs.html

-Luke

Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2005 4:00 am
by goodmangames
Hi everyone,

I've posted the final tournament results:

http://www.goodmangames.com/tourneyresults.php

32% kill rate in round one! Woo hoo!

Results

Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2005 7:10 am
by Tindalos
Thanks for posting the results, but I believe that the fourth member of "The OCR Bunny Killers" was Kerry Rogers.