EN World's Christopher Helton talked about the need for more local tabletop gaming conventions and, to that end, I attended AndoCon (March 9th to 11th, 2018) in Peachtree Corners, Georgia (Greater Atlanta). This was an intimate tabletop gaming convention anchored by Ando Poore and housed in a Marriott. Born of Ando's love of gaming and community, the 2018 edition was funded via Kickstarter and managed a nice guest list despite being the same weekend as Gary Con X. Creators Sean Patrick Fannon, Eddy Webb, Eloy Lasanta, Jason Stone, Craig Campbell, and more attended to debut a variety of games as well as to game.
Despite missing the first day-and-a-half of the con, I arrived around dinner time on the second day for a game of Heavy Metal Thunder Mouse with the game's creator, Derek Kamal. On walking through the Marriot's doors intending to look for the registration desk, I hear, "Hey, Egg!" as Derek spots me from across the room (we'd met once before for, maybe, 10 minutes). He was having dinner with Eloy Lasanta of Third Eye Games fame. We spoke for two minutes and they told me where to get my badge. I walked toward the registration desk when I spot Craig Campbell (Capers is his current Kickstarter) and he invites me to pull up a chair. This was the tone of the convention, as warm and friendly as going home.
At Derek's game, Heavy Metal Thunder Mouse, we played mice on a mission to rescue a mouse, we had motorcycles, and it was Fate, fast, easy, and a blast! Lots of fun. The game took just over two hours and every player played like they were born to play biker mice! After the game, Derek gave every player a free PDF of the game and some scenarios, and he gave us the option to buy the print copy for $15 (every player threw down cash). After that we hung out at the table and talked until 10 when Craig hosted a playtest of Die Laughing 2e, a GM'less RPG where you play a character in a horror-comedy-movie in which, when you die, you become a producer of the movie. We gamed until midnight to everyone's amusement! I left as Craig and company started to record their AndoCon edition podcast for the NerdBurger Show.
On Sunday, I participated in Eddy Webb's first ever playtest crossover of Pugmire and Monarchies of Moa. At the table were RPG character artisans like Sean Patrick Fannon (of Savage Worlds Rifts and EN World fame) who nailed his portrayal of a British Bulldog, Chuck Childers (of DriveThruRPG/OneBookShelf) who owned the game's pug princess while Chris Tang (also DriveThruRPG/OBS) played an amazing cat with endless humor and grace. Each of them, and the other players, nailed delivery over and over again. After the game, I asked Eddy what inspired Pugmire and his story was cute – He wanted an RPG where the setting could be communicated in short order – you play a dog in a fantasy dog world where cats are the villains. Go!
After the game, I had to leave (it was a busy weekend) and the worst part of that was missing a dry run of a Legend of the Five Rings adventure. The location - Atlanta Marriott Peachtree Corners - was exceedingly nice. Wish I had been able to make it on Friday and early Saturday because the show was great from end-to-end. So much good at the con that it begs the question, how are the local tabletop gaming shows that you attend?
contributed by Egg Embry
Despite missing the first day-and-a-half of the con, I arrived around dinner time on the second day for a game of Heavy Metal Thunder Mouse with the game's creator, Derek Kamal. On walking through the Marriot's doors intending to look for the registration desk, I hear, "Hey, Egg!" as Derek spots me from across the room (we'd met once before for, maybe, 10 minutes). He was having dinner with Eloy Lasanta of Third Eye Games fame. We spoke for two minutes and they told me where to get my badge. I walked toward the registration desk when I spot Craig Campbell (Capers is his current Kickstarter) and he invites me to pull up a chair. This was the tone of the convention, as warm and friendly as going home.
At Derek's game, Heavy Metal Thunder Mouse, we played mice on a mission to rescue a mouse, we had motorcycles, and it was Fate, fast, easy, and a blast! Lots of fun. The game took just over two hours and every player played like they were born to play biker mice! After the game, Derek gave every player a free PDF of the game and some scenarios, and he gave us the option to buy the print copy for $15 (every player threw down cash). After that we hung out at the table and talked until 10 when Craig hosted a playtest of Die Laughing 2e, a GM'less RPG where you play a character in a horror-comedy-movie in which, when you die, you become a producer of the movie. We gamed until midnight to everyone's amusement! I left as Craig and company started to record their AndoCon edition podcast for the NerdBurger Show.
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The author in blue.
The author in blue.
On Sunday, I participated in Eddy Webb's first ever playtest crossover of Pugmire and Monarchies of Moa. At the table were RPG character artisans like Sean Patrick Fannon (of Savage Worlds Rifts and EN World fame) who nailed his portrayal of a British Bulldog, Chuck Childers (of DriveThruRPG/OneBookShelf) who owned the game's pug princess while Chris Tang (also DriveThruRPG/OBS) played an amazing cat with endless humor and grace. Each of them, and the other players, nailed delivery over and over again. After the game, I asked Eddy what inspired Pugmire and his story was cute – He wanted an RPG where the setting could be communicated in short order – you play a dog in a fantasy dog world where cats are the villains. Go!
After the game, I had to leave (it was a busy weekend) and the worst part of that was missing a dry run of a Legend of the Five Rings adventure. The location - Atlanta Marriott Peachtree Corners - was exceedingly nice. Wish I had been able to make it on Friday and early Saturday because the show was great from end-to-end. So much good at the con that it begs the question, how are the local tabletop gaming shows that you attend?
contributed by Egg Embry
