D&D General Gen Con First Time

[GwaihirAgain]

Hi All, I bought my badge yesterday and will be going to my first ever Con with a couple guys from my D&D group. Excited!

I understand that WOTC doesn't do Gen Con anymore, but as someone who is primarily interested in D&D or similar games, Im looking for Tips or advice on how to approach my time there.

Thanks!

DK

 

[Lakesidefantasy]

How did you do in the hotel lottery?

 

[Lakesidefantasy]

Definitely block out a couple of four hour slots for the Exhibit Hall.

Also, stay up late. A lot happens through the night.

Don't be afraid to jump into a game on the fly.

 

[ART!]

GenCon is absolutely GINORMOUS. Think about - and discuss with your friends - how much time you want to spend playing D&D, looking for new D&D and related products, attending D&D-related panels, and whatever else your interests are. GenCon's site has a fairly user-friendly system for finding or browsing events. There's a boatload of D&D games you can register for, and probably a somewhat smaller boatload of informal ones you can join in. I'm honestly not sure how people discover the latter, tbh.

Hydrate. Wear comfortable shoes. Know your endurance limits, how often you need to snack - that kind of thing. When I'm there, I have a shoulder bag for things I buy, but also stocked with a water bottle, hand sanitizer, pain-reliever, a snack bar or three, gum, etc.

There's all kinds of food trucks right outside the convention center, a food court with not a lot of choices inside the convention center, and lots of restaurants nearby. The same street that has the food courts also has a coffee shop or two, and a not well-stocked convenience store. Be prepared to spend $4 per bottle of water.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Though Wizards doesn't have an official presence, you won't lack the opportunity to do D&D-related stuff. Adventurers League games are always available by the hundreds.

I wouldn't neglect the seminars, and The Gamers Live is an absolute must. So funny.

The dealers room is massive and overwhelming - if you can avoid doing so, schedule your time there across two days, rather than trying to do it all at once.

I understand that WOTC doesn't do Gen Con anymore, but as someone who is primarily interested in D&D or similar games, Im looking for Tips or advice on how to approach my time there.

Thanks!

DK

Cosigned. Especially the shoes. Wear good sneakers or get some good insoles. My first Gen Con I did in plain old Converses and that was a learning experience, shall we say.

Hydrate. Wear comfortable shoes. Know your endurance limits, how often you need to snack - that kind of thing. When I'm there, I have a shoulder bag for things I buy, but also stocked with a water bottle, hand sanitizer, pain-reliever, a snack bar or three, gum, etc.

If where you're staying has a refrigerator, I recommend bringing your own food so you don't have to eat out every meal. Something like a pasta (or some sort of grain - I go with quinoa for cons) salad that can be eaten cold and quickly. It'll be cheaper and sometimes you don't have the time to wait for food between events.

Another life- (and penny-) saver for me is the Bobble, or its knockoffs. Essentially a water bottle with a water filter on the top, it makes it easy enough to just fill up at your room as you need to.

There's all kinds of food trucks right outside the convention center, a food court with not a lot of choices inside the convention center, and lots of restaurants nearby. The same street that has the food courts also has a coffee shop or two, and a not well-stocked convenience store. Be prepared to spend $4 per bottle of water.

 

[Retreater]

Hi All, I bought my badge yesterday and will be going to my first ever Con with a couple guys from my D&D group. Excited!

I understand that WOTC doesn't do Gen Con anymore, but as someone who is primarily interested in D&D or similar games, Im looking for Tips or advice on how to approach my time there.

Thanks!

DK

Buy tickets to events. Be ready to smash the purchase button the very second events go live - and even then, it's rare that you'll be able to get into even 50% of the events you want. Make that Wish List and be ready to go. (And if you're going with a group who wants to play together, make sure to have it set up to buy tickets for those friends.) Seriously, a delay of 5 seconds of hitting the purchase button has left my friends shut out of getting a single event ticket.
If you don't buy tickets, your chances of happening into an RPG game are nil. (I was mislead early in my con-going past by those who claim there are literally games all the time that you can just walk up and play. This isn't true in the least.) You may find some brief card or board game demos on the Vendor's Hall, but you're not just going to find a random D&D game you get to join. Every event is sold out, open gaming space is hard to come by (and snatched up quickly by groups that have come together and don't want you there.)
This means you will walk the Vendor's Hall until you're exhausted, spend a lot more money than you were planning, etc.
Trust me. Buy the event tickets. Sure, give yourself a few hours to walk the Vendor's Hall, but otherwise, fill up your time with events.

 

[Eltab]

If you decide to use a not-downtown hotel (because cost or not enough rooms or whatever) make sure the drivers have MapQuest-ed the route from here to there, you have a printed map / saved directions - and you know where the downtown parking is. You can squander hours if you get lost.

 

[Lanefan]

If you decide to use a not-downtown hotel (because cost or not enough rooms or whatever) make sure the drivers have MapQuest-ed the route from here to there, you have a printed map / saved directions - and you know where the downtown parking is. You can squander hours if you get lost.

Indeed.

Getting to downtown Indy from anywhere nearby is fairly easy as the main roads are kind of laid out like a wheel, with the 'spokes' all going to about a 4-block area in the middle.

Getting out of town, however, can really be a headache; as all those 'spokes' split as you get out of downtown and - particularly if it's dark - it's very very easy to end up on the wrong spoke and not realize it until you're outside the "ring freeway" that surrounds the city.

Also, though it might have improved since I was last there (2016) I wouldn't rely on public transit; for a city that size there wasn't much of it at the best of times and very little on the weekend.

 

[Lakesidefantasy]

In 2019 we reserved a parking space with shuttle service. However we never used it because we always found parking at the Oilers Stadium. Though, it was nice to know we had a backup plan, so I'd recommend it.

I am so excited for you GwaihirAgain. First time at GenCon will be a blast!

This picture, for some reason, just sums it all up for me (even though that's not me in the picture).