I was planning on doing a recap of MINI Takes The States when – “WHAM!” I got hit with Gen Con. As many know I am a registered “Kidult” aka a child who never really grew up. I was retained in third grade because the school felt I was “immature” now as I close in on 60 I read comic books, play with LEGO bricks, and carry around a stuffed monkey- so the retention didn’t work. One of the things I’ve been testing during the early phases of my retirement has been discovering what I am really passionate about. Gen Con highlights one of those things- Gaming.

Last year was my first chance to actually attend all four days of the con. I attended multiple sessions on Puppetry and tried out a few games. In the past I would arrive and spend the day in the exhibit hall wandering aimlessly throwing money around buying games for my classroom. This year I switched things up a bit more. Instead of puppetry I focused on games, and those were divided into two categories: miniature war games and role playing games.

For Level Zero to Level One Players- A Bit of Advice

You will be overwhelmed… there are a lot of people and a lot of things going on. If you are planning on going all four days (which I recommend) plan on going with the flow. Look at what is being offered. If you see something that sounds amazing- see about getting a ticket for it, or buy some generics and hope they have an opening. For the most part you can spent fours days wandering the exhibit hall and just playing games when someone calls out from a booth- “Would you like to see our new game?”

Does it matter which days you go? Not really, Sunday is a shorter day, so it is a bit cheaper, and some activities will have concluded by then. Cardhalla would be destroyed and the balloon sculpture is popped Sunday morning. Besides that any day is good. This year the hall was really busy on Thursday. Next year? Who knows?

Unless you have something specific you are trying to get wait until the crowd dies down before entering the hall. This year I had games scheduled for 9:00AM or before, so except for one day, I missed the throngs of angry villagers storming the doorways to get into the exhibit hall.

Another thing- use the App. If you are with a group, share your schedule through the website. Hopefully they’ll figure out a way to add sharing to the app next year. so you know where to find the rest of your party.

If you are a teacher and can afford it (I know being a teacher and being able to afford something is kind of an oxymoron) I suggest getting a Trade Day badge and going Wednesday to those sessions. Bring play into your classroom, no matter what the high paid consultants who haven’t set foot in a classroom for over a decade say. I wish schools in Indiana would start a little later to allow teachers to attend Gen Con. It would be nice if the Dept. of Education even could sponsor teachers to learn about the importance of play. Most teachers that I know spend those first couple of days bored in meetings wishing to be in their classroom setting things up. The problem is a Trade Day Badge gets you a four day badge and teachers are usually teaching the first two days which IMHO is stupid- just start school on Monday. I also kinda wish they’d open Trade Day up to retired educators…

My First Game for Gen Con 2024

Thursday began with a “funnel” in Goodman Games: Dungeon Crawl Classics (DCC) system. Those who know about role playing games (RPGs) know that part of the fun is making a character. I recall one system that took days to go through character creation and I still have no idea how what brand of baby formula I had in infancy impacted my character’s game play. In a role playing game you assume a role. kind of like an actor and all you have is the writer’s overview of the character. In this play and you are a new character and your decisions determine if you live or don’t.

I played what was called a “funnel” in DCC. My friend Brian was running the game and each player was given four characters from a village to play. These were not adventurers, these were pig farmers, a cooper, a trader, basically the characters out of the book I read on MTTS- NPCs by Drew Hayes. We begin waking up on a ramp leading to a pit surrounded by the beautiful music of a choir. Each group of four characters is run by a player sitting around the table. Our job was to live long enough to figure things out and escape. You are given four characters because the chance of survival is low. As characters died the GM would stamp that portion of your sheet. If you lost all four characters you got up walked out to a gong and rang it. At this point the area would erupt in cheers at your death. I’m not going to give away anything else, but it was fun and I look forward to trying it again. As my friend said- he’d most likely be editing this adventure once the con was over as that is his retirement gig… what a life, if only I could spell.

*Spoilers*

My notebook pages from the funnel… Sometimes I draw to help visualize the location, other times I will draw out the situation. Then sometimes I try to flesh out the characters or monsters. In this case you can see a lot of trying to figure out where we were and where things were, along with some monster bits. If you couldn’t tell one of my funnel characters “Jean Claude” was a trapper so I drew him accordingly. The Star Trek Adventure games didn’t lend themselves as well to drawing, and in a miniatures based war game, you don’t have time to draw things out.

It’s all in the Dice

I guess this would be a good time to mention polyhedral dice used in lots of games. We all are familiar with the common cube shaped die, six-sided nice random number generator. Most role playing games use a bunch of different sided dice. Enough different kinds to make it expensive. DCC uses even more “funky” dice, so I, of course, had to buy a set when everything was over. During my the games, dice were loaned out, but as the great gamer once said, “You can never have enough dice.”

Other Games-

I focused on playing this time around, and my next game (also with Brian) was called “Rivet Wars” kind of a science fiction steampunk World War 1 battle game. My side (Germany) against his side the Allies. The hardest part about this game was turn order. Turn order is the basic order in which you do things during your turn. In this case: deploy units, attack, and move. Which was counterintuitive to deploy, move, attack. It threw us both off even though Brian had played the game before. When you are in a “Learn to Play” game, they rules are gone over and you start with simple basics, and then rules are added as you play. It’s a nice introduction to a game. These are usually led by people who love the game and play it often. My last game for the day was in the evening, so I had time to walk through the “Bazaar of Deva” aka the exhibit hall. More on that later.

Gen Con takes up pretty much all of downtown Indianapolis, most of the convention center is used to create a massive exhibit hall, those not are then used by game companies and groups to play or teach people games. As are the ballrooms and meeting spaces at every connected hotel. They even use Lucas Oil Stadium to house an open game library and that’s where I played DCC, Rivet Wars, and AerodromeACE. It is also a nice air conditioned place to sit back and relax with food if things get too crazy everywhere else.

My last game for day one was learning a game that won’t be by released until October -Star Trek: Into the Unknown. Basically this is a spaceship game using ships from the Star Trek Universe around the time of the The Next Generation and Deep Space 9. I got started early and took command of be the Defiant against a Jem Hadar fighter ship. We started off just scanning the system as an intro act. Then we started a rescue mission that ended up with some pew, pew, pewing so we could experience the combat system. Like many combat systems it seemed fairly straight forward, the ships looked nice, you had crew member that added a dynamic. The issue is that this becomes (like many games) a collector game. You need to collect things to be competitive. I love Star Trek and the ships are very cool – an Enterprise D with a saucer section that separates! But the question I will return to is – “Will I play it enough?”

That ended Thursday. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday looked similar with the games being different. I played the recent update of the Star Trek Adventures role playing game twice. One a spy mission, and another repelling a boarding party. I’m cutting the GM’s some slack since the new version came out a few days before the Con and they seemed a bit confused since they hadn’t really played it before. I think the publisher could have better prepared the GM’s especially since these folks were the ones promoting the games. Like my current game using the “FATE” system it seemed like as long as you could convince the GM enough you could do anything. Not as concrete as Dungeons & Dragons, so I found it was not to my liking. I guess I’m more “Lawful” than I care to admit. Unlike a game like “Dogfight!” that I purchased after playing, I did not buy the 2nd edition of Star Trek Adventures. I have had the first edition since it came out, and really never found a group I was comfortable enough with to play it. The first group I tried made me look like someone who knew nothing about Star Trek! The second group never got past talking about playing.

One of the other games I played was called Space Alert and was a cooperative game. A cooperative game is one where everyone is trying to beat the game. In this case we are all on a spaceship and have 10 minutes (real time) to accomplish your mission and keep the ship safe. The hardest part was when a player didn’t listen to the discussion (or thought they were the one everyone was talking to – and Sue says I think it’s always about me!) so when they programmed their actions it overlapped with other people 🙄. This created chaos with our limited resources. Fun game but requires a group to play. So I probably won’t ever play it except at a con.

The other two games I played were World War 1 dogfight games. The first one was based on Wings of War and we were part of two squadrons attacking a giant monkey on a skyscraper in New York. The other one I had played the science fiction (Battlestar Galactica) version last year and decided to try a Sopwith Snipe instead of a Viper. I actually was able to shoot down two enemy planes during the missions we flew. I happen to get shot down so my wings were awarded posthumously.

The question is would I either purchase or play these games again? The dogfight games I would, I even checked and I once owned Wings of War, but since I never had the opportunity to play it at home it no longer is in my game library. Space Alert was another one that was fun, but I’m not seeing myself having the chance to play it at home. I purchased the rules for Dungeon Crawl Classics and the funky dice. Just to be prepared. As for the second edition of Star Trek Adventures… I’m not sure. I have a bunch of resources for the first edition that have sat on a shelf. After playing it, I’m not sure I like the game mechanics, but that could be the issue of Modiphius not preparing their GMs well enough, coupled with my experience last year where I spent 2 hours listening to a lecture about how the game is played without ever playing the game. So is it the GMs, is it Modiphius, or is it the game? Star Trek into the Unknown… The price point is a bit too high for a game I may never play. The ships are amazing, but I’m just not sure I need to get into another high priced miniature game. Unlike some of the massive Star Wars games, this does have a mission component, but once you’ve played out the missions… what’s next?

Level One Players- How Does One Go About Playing Games at Gen Con?

Your badge gets you into the Exhibit Hall which includes some games, there are a bunch of places that are demoing games and have other activities, but if you want to do something for the most part you need a ticket.

• Step one- get a badge when they go on sale (Remember GenCon sold out this year, so you might want to do this early.
• Step two- wait patiently for the event listings to get posted. They will go live about a week or two before you can purchase tickets.
• Step three- add events to your wishlist. Put them in a preference order, your wishlist gets filled in order so think about this.
• Step four- when it tickets go live get into the queue and submit your wishlist. Cross your fingers. The Queue is long, but you might get lucky.
• Events get added up until Gen Con. You can also get generic tickets and use them if there are open spots. Those with actual tickets get in first. AerodromeACE wasn’t live when I first filled out my wishlist, I added it later.
• Your badge and tickets will arrive to your mailbox (signature required) before the Con… or you could brave the Will Call line, which this year wasn’t as bad as the merch line.

My2024 Official Schedule:

• Thursday 9:00-1:00 The Doom Spell of Amarath Seahold (DCC)
• Thursday 1:00-3:00 Rivet Wars (Brian had the tickets he was before me in the queue)
• Thursday 6:00-8:00 Star Trek: Into the Unknown – We started early and therefore ended early.
• Friday 9:00-11:00 Space Alert Learn to Play
• Friday 9:00-3:00 Player’s Handbook Early Release pick up
• Friday 1:00-3:00 Star Trek Adventures 2nd Edition – Enemies Without
• Friday 3:00-4:00 Dogfight! Rule the Skies in 20 Minutes!
• Saturday 8:00-11:00 King Kong: Monkeying Around!
• Saturday 12:00-2:00 Star Trek Adventures 2nd Edition – Through Fire and Fury
• Sunday 10:00-2:00 AerodromeACE WW1

Most games started around the time they should have… people are late, sometimes even the GM. One of the Star Trek Adventure games almost ended because we had reached the old college 15 minute rule waiting for the GM. Most ended early, which was fine, giving me enough time to get to whatever was next, and have a bathroom break. By actually playing games this year two things happened: First, I didn’t spend that much in the exhibit hall. Secondly, the days went by quickly. It also caused me to actually talk to people, which I guess is a good thing.

The Hall of Wonders

The exhibit hall, like most cons are where most level one players hang out with their mouths agape trying to figure out what to buy first. As I started to go to cons this was where I spent most of my time. It didn’t matter the con, the exhibit hall was a hall of wonders filled with delights to tempt any and all forms of geek. Each hall has its own flavor in this case, lots of games (duh). Since Fantasy Role Playing pretty much started at Gen Con, a lot of the stuff on sale has a fantasy twist to it. You want a cloak, a sword, a witches/wizards hat? Games cover so many pop culture and historical topics, everything is covered in the hall. The hall also is attached to a large gaming area used by companies for tournaments or to just give people a chance to try out games. That was where I played Star Trek: Into the Unknown, and battled King Kong on the Empire State Building. You could spend all four days wandering the hall and be very content. The doors to the actual selling portion of the hall closed and gaming went into the late hours of the night.

Things to watch out for: As with most conventions people are oblivious. They are focused on one thing, and the people around them are not it. You have a wide variety of people (something great about gaming) but you also have wagons, rolling carts, and board game bags. Board game bags are backpacks designed to hold a bunch of games… which mean they still out over a foot. and the people wearing them tend to turn and hit people accidentally. Getting hit in the face with a bag filled with boxed games can leave more than a mark. So just be aware of your surroundings.

Maybe the Holy Grail?

There were thousands of games being played, demoed, and sold at Gen Con. I was fortunate enough to figure out how to get a copy of the soon to be released 2024 Dungeons & Dragons Player’s Handbook. Now I’m not one who played D&D through all its iterations. I started with Advanced D&D in the 80’s moved to Middle Earth Roll Playing (based on ICE) in college, then stopped until 5th edition came out. So this is really my first rules change that I’ve been interested in. I’ve only taken a cursory look at the book and it looks like there have been some changes, but mostly in layout and placement of information. Basic changes I’ve noticed (besides races becoming species) the loss of half any “Race/Species” You no longer can play a half-elf or half orc, they’ve also added the Aasimir to the Player’s handbook, I’m guessing as a way to balance out the Tiefling. Besides that the layout seems much more user friendly, I especially like the class Spell list being a part of the class description instead of a massive list in the Spells, section. There is information that is being mentioned, but with a “see the DM Guide for more information.”

I’m not an expert player, and have limited myself to playing just a few classes so I can’t say much more than these basic “Aha!” noticings. I know there’s a lot more, but until I create a character and play it, I’m not sure how these changes will help or hurt the game. Many people online have used this as a way to promote their favorite RPG and how it is superior to D&D. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. It just can be hard to switch when the audience for non-D&D RPGs is small. Pathfinder is probably the easiest to find a group. Since I don’t have that many people to game with I’ll probably stick with whatever they are playing which is currently FATE (which I’m not excited about) and D&D.

With the 50th Anniversary of Dungeons and Dragons, the US Postal Service also released a series of stamps to celebrate. Not being an avid stamp collector, I’m using them to send cursed mail as I pay bills that require stamps.

Whining, Grumbling, & Complaints

There are always people complaining to complain. I’m trying to figure out why people post certain things on Social Media. After MTTS I really don’t know why. Maybe they want the attention, the dopamine rush… There is a Fans of Gen Con group on Facebook which is great about giving out good information, but also like most Social Media provides a soapbox for complainers.

For Gen Con, most of the posts dealt with the horror (Oh the HORROR!!!) of hotels, and parking. Then came the cost of Food trucks, and why Indianapolis? Why not someplace bigger? Please note I have only attended Gen Con since it moved to Indianapolis, and I live in Indianapolis so housing is not an issue for me. To me it is an Whimventure® at home. My niece flies out from Baltimore to attend so our only problem is only having cars that seat two people and getting out the inflatable mattress since we only have guests at the house once a year (and this is that time). Like MINI Takes The States people seem to think the governing organization has control over everything… they don’t. They don’t control if the air conditioning works in the hotel room you packed 6 guys in for four days because you wanted to save some money. They have no control over the hotel staffing and if your room is clean or ready. They don’t control if the food trucks charge too much. They don’t control the number of parking spots and if one of the lots got sold weeks prior to the event. They have no control over the wagons, ginormous bags people use, or if attendees use deodorant. They have no control over how many exclusive items are available and if they happen to sell out just as you get there Sunday afternoon. They can only control certain things and learn from past experience. Complaining to everyone online and saying you will never attend Gen Con again is silly, and serve no useful purpose. It’s the midwest, people try to be nice, there will be road construction. It’s August, it will be hot and humid. If you had a horrible time- don’t come back, nature abhors a vacuum and other people will fill the emptiness you create. Those people might appreciate that a bazillion people have gathered together to play and celebrate each other’s uniqueness.

If you want to keep up with the problems people have just join the Fans of Gen Con Facebook Group… As I said, they give out great information, and help you to keep track of when things are happening, but it also can be a place for people to whine and complain about things. Who knew that Gen Con has rules against cosplaying in paramilitary or police style costumes? That some cosplayers use these “police” assault team outfits to push their way through crowds? I always wondered… now I know. Like many conventions I could see the weapon check tables at the entrances, but there are so many entrances.

My complaints? Getting a copy of the Player’s Handbook througjmhnh the ticketing system was clunky. I heard of a number of people who just gave up. I just put it in my “wishlist” and then kept pushing buttons on my keyboard starting at 7:00AM until it ended up in my cart. It took a post about putting it on my wishlist, to help me get it on the second day. I probably would have given up after two attempts.

What I Learned This Year at Gen Con

I learned to pace myself. I only signed up for a few things each day. The most was three. This gave me time to play, eat, and explore. I played this time around. I decided to try to play some games instead of going to informational sessions. Thursday first time slot is nice but in some cases that’s the slot people skip (tired from travel, or celebrating being at Gen Con) so you might not have a full game. Be patient, these people are volunteers and sometimes not given the preparation needed to run a perfect game. Many have read over the material once or twice, but may never have run a party through the game until you sit down at the table. Be patient with your fellow players… like you this may be their first time playing, or it might be the 500th. Enjoy and understand that you aren’t getting a prize for winning (in most cases) so just relax and have fun. For me, I have a number of games at home that gather dust, this is my chance to actually play them, or at least try them out. I learned that I like games where the rules are more straightforward. I’m not one for games where I haver to explain or try to convince the GM about what I’m doing every time. Let me roll my dice and know that I succeeded, or that I didn’t. I guess I like games that are more black and white. I liked the DCC funnel! It was a great way to learn the mechanics, but also a way to create a character based on actual experiences, rather than having to create a complex backstory. My best character was a cooper… who now is off to adventure since his entire village was kidnapped and fed to a choir of ghouls.

My Haul

Like any geek related convention everyone proudly displays their “Haul” all the stuff they purchased. For me, I’ll just list it:

• Dungeons & Dragons 2024 Players Handbook
• Dungeon Crawl Classics Rulebook (Softcover)
• One set of ‘Funky” Dice for DCC (purple)
• Dogfight! Rule the Sky in 20 Minutes!
• Pocket Cats
• Two sets of “regular”RPG dice from Roll4Intitive (they have a nice easy to read d4) & DiceGuardians called the Lucky Lich (sharp edged and “pretty”)
• A cat shaped dice tray *squee*
• D&D postage stamps
• a bunch of pins & stickers because pins and stickers are cool.
• Overpriced food and beverages because it’s a con, and all food and beverages are overpriced.