At Gencon, Did you learn or try anything new?

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

Played in Piratecat's Skullduggery game and loved it; it may be my new go-to gameday system (though I still love running Dread).

Ran Mouse Guard, Dread, and Song of Ice and Fire for some people that had never played them, which was a treat, and introduced the BSG boardgame to the crew, too.

 

[JediSoth]

I learned that D&D Tournaments are not for me after sitting on my butt for 2 hours doing NOTHING because my character got petrified. I spent $10 on an event and only got to play 1/2 of it because of a couple of bad rolls (plus, I have issues not being allowed to use my own dice during the game).

I didn't play anything new. I keep meaning to do this, but keep screwing it up. I still had an awesome con. It was the best yet.

I've been reading the copy of Dark Heresy I snagged and although I've heard it described as the game where nothing good happens to you, I really want to play it. I doubt I'll get to. My group mostly wants to play D&D and most of them want to stick with whatever the current version is.

Speaking of which, while I don't mind running D&D 4E, after playing it (as a player) for the first time at this con, I'm not sure I like it as my fantasy game of choice. I think it would make a pretty darn good Superhero game, possibly rivaling Mutants & Masterminds. Well, we'll see. My group is meeting in a few days to talk about Gen Con and what we're going to do. We're short several players, so I need to find more gamers who can commit to regularly-scheduled gaming (you wouldn't believe how hard that is).

 

[Alikar]

The new Bodgers Board game Scrappers, from privateer press, is very neat. Its a movement based game with a lot of strategy. However, its simple enough that its able to be played in 30 minutes and it doesn't take up the space of Infernal Contraption.

 

[TroyXavier]

I finally got to play Spycraft and it was just as fun as I thought it would be.
I also played Skulduggery.....pretty good but nothing I'd play regularly.

 

[Treebore]

I got to play Aces and Eights for the second time, this time trying out the chase rules using a deck of cards to show ranges and to determine obstacles.

I have definitely found a Western to love, for the first time in nearly 25 years of gaming.

Plus I got to play in the first official Gen Con Tournament games for C&C, had a great CK and great group and a fantastic time! Probably my best 6 hours of Gen Con.

Got to play 1E for the first time in a while, with "Taco john" John Hershberger running! Just once again proved to me edition wars are a bunch of nonsense, all of them are fun!

For the first time I participated in the ENnies silent auction and had two fantastic bargain wins! I got the full Shadowrun 4E set, including 20th anniversary core book, for $100, and I had none of the books, I only have the original 4E core book and all my old 1E/2E stuff, so I am now up to date on EVERYTHING!

I also won the Star Wars SAGA rule books set for $75, and my son has been voraciously reading through them to get ready to run his Star Wars game he has been thinking on for over a year because I hadn't gotten the books for him yet. So now that is fixed.

Plus I met a lot of new people for the first time, some from ENWorld, but most from the Castles and Crusades boards, and some who are fans, but never posted to the boards.

Plus I met a half dozen or so Necromancer board members for the first time since Gen Con 2006.

So it was a great Gen Con and there needs to be more time to do even more gaming and having fun.

They need to make Gen Con run a full 9 days! From a Saturday to a Sunday! Maybe then my kids and I will feel ready to go home.

 

[Ladybam]

Honestly, I never left the LFR Ballroom. 4 Days of DnD... I was happy all the way. Was gonna play pathfinder but never got a chance too. I think next year I would DM LFR.

 

[UniversalMonster]

We would love to have more LFR DMs!

I played 50 hours of D&D (ran 8 LFR slots, played in 2) and had a blast, but as far as something new: I played one of those sit down in a circle "Werewolf/Mafia" games on Saturday night and had a really great time- I stayed in the circle about 6 times, and even got to be the Seer once. I had read about it and watched it, but this was the first time I got a chance to play.

 

[Armadillo]

New games played at GenCon:

- Starblazers. The only new RPG I played. Lots of fun. Great use of the Fate system.

- Quest for Middle Earth (demo). It is structured similarly to Fury of Dracula. Here, one person plays Sauron as he attempts to expand his network in the years after Bilbo left the Shire. The other players, up to three, play a character from the free people of Middle Earth. Each character has individual goals in addition to the common goal of defeating Sauron.

- Chaos in the Old World. Great gameplay, but probably only suitable for a Warhammer fan or a dedicated gamer.

- Smallworld. A fantasy boardgame. It has nice components, but otherwise is unremarkable.

- Dominion. The hot new card game. It has great replay potential with different alternative setups, but is fairly abstract. But then, I played in a hurried game just before the Rio Grande room closed.

- Volley & Bayonet. A Napoleonics miniatures game. The scenario was based on the Battle of Wagram. Fun and fairly easy to grasp the basic rules, but it was difficult to find answers to rules questions in the rulebook.

 

[qstor]

I tried Hackmaster. It was ok. I played one of the new Living Kalamar mods.

I mostly played Pathfinder.

Mike

 

[AnthonyRoberson]

Had fun at the con.

- Ran Pathfinder Interactive on Fri and Sat night. Paizo guys were enthusiastic but the whole thing was a chaotic mess. There was not enough time to run the encounters and logistics were a nightmare. Hope they do better next year.

- Worked at the Kenzer & Company booth on Saturday. Got some great tips on running Aces & Eights from Mark Plemmons. He is a very low-key, but friendly gent.

- Didn't pick up too much gaming wise. Got a couple of Aces & Eights books, including Fool's Gold. Grabbed Pathfinder #25: The Bastards of Erebus (shiny). Got the special con editions of some C&C books (Player's Handbook, Monsters & Treasure, Of Gods & Monsters). Also grabbed Wings of War from FFG. That's about it...