Chicago Gameday: Read about what you missed

[Shadowbane]

I have to congradulate my formentioned companions on the two-tabled game. I also have to congradulate the defeated in a valient effort to try and hold back the crushing jaws of death for as long as they did. Pat yourselves on the back for a job well done!

P.S. For whoever donated the D&D Mug, thanks! It's quite cool!

 

[thalmin]

Met some new friends. Saw some older friends. Had a good time gaming. Thank you to the judges. Thank you to the companies and individuals who donated prizes. Thank you to William Ronald and KnowTheToe for the refreshments. And thank you to everyone who participated.
Special thanks to buzz for putting it all together.
I look forward to seeing you all at future GameDays.

 

[Barendd Nobeard]

Big thanks to everyone who made the Gameday so much fun. Thanks to thalmin for hosting, Mark for starting the Gamedays so long(!) ago, Buzz for organizing, Trev for co-Dm'ing with me, and omokage for GM'ing d20 Modern.

And a huge thanks to all 12 players in our "tournament" - it was a lot of fun, especially the final battle between the two parties. And the "prom dates" (hags). And the kua-toa. And the skum. And, uh, whatever else I'm forgetting.

 

[Mark]

Lots and lots of fun!

Thanks to the organizers, DMs, the players, and all of the company supporters for such a great time!

Picked up a hard copy of Expeditious Retreat's latest tome and am damned proud to have it in my collection!

w00t!!!11!!!!!

 

[Trevalon Moonleirion]

Big thank-yous are in order to a bunch of people!

Mark: You're a damn fine DM, a gentleman, and a scholar, and I'm happy to say that I know you because of these gamedays that you started up several years ago.

Curt(thalmin) and his coworkers: Thank you, as always for providing the chicagoland area with such a superb location to game, relax, and generally empty our wallets. You're incredibly awesome for hosting these gamedays-- though I'm sure you do get a bit of a business boost when all of us are around . And perhaps the biggest thanks I can give--So Barendd and I were planning on giving the winning group 5 dollar gift certificates to Games Plus to give them something a bit more fun than bragging rights to have, not to mention it would make sure Curt got at least thirty bucks out of having us in the store. Barendd and I pool a bit of cash and give it to Curt for the gift certificates and this good sir tells me that they are on the house. THANK YOU! (It should be noted I promptly spent all money that would've been my share of the prize pool plus 30 more dollars in the store immediatlely thereafter, so really he didn't lose out much... )

Barendd: It was an absolute blast running a two-table competition with you, and look forward to sometime play in a game under YOUR talented DM direction. And I think we pulled off a pretty decent adventure for how much we really planned out and worked on....

My first slot players: It was an absolute blast getting to run you guys through the first adventure that I wrote myself (with a great amount of help from my esteemed co-DM, mind you) and was willing to show off to people that were for the most part complete strangers. I hope that my rusty DMing skills didn't offend any of you and I hope you all had a good time. And thank you for beating the other team! To Barendd's table (and my own, too, really), it was a pleasure, after watching you blast through our dungeons nearly unscathed, doing our very best to kill you all

To everyone who donated prizes: THANK YOU! Especially for me, KnowTheToe since I snagged his signed DL campaign setting, a book that I've always wanted to have to call my own but have never wanted to pay money for it since I'll probably never really use it except as reading material All the companies that donated prizes are extremely cool and you better believe I'll be checking out your products in the future

To everyone: All of you that came are top-notch individuals and I'd be honored to game with each of you again. I hope I'll see all of you next time around! And for those that couldn't make it, I hope the same!

 

[William Ronald]

To buzz: Thanks for pulling this together!! I liked the D20 Modern/Darkmatter game, and got out a few good lines. (In a Samuel Jackson voice, "Do I look like a lumberjack!?"

Mark: Thanks for running a fun game! I am glad that I was able to surprise you with my portrayal of "restrained anger."

Pbartender: I am glad that you FINALLY got to come back to a Game Day!! Maybe we should try to have you help us schedule the next one.

I think we did well, but we might want to take some time over the next few days to think about what we can do better for next game day. I know the timing was an issue, with Origins, but maybe there are somethings we can do to attract some new people. I was pleased to see some new faces, of all ages.

We might want to consider doing a poll to see what sorts of events people might be interested in for future game days. (I know we got a good crowd last time for the Living Kalamar event, and maybe we could see about some other RPGA sanctioned events.) I like to think of the game days as something that is growing and evolving. Hopefully, I will see everyone at the next Game Day.

This, by the way, is my 2,500th post -- using my real name, a true rarity here at EN World. (I was originally wronal1 on some of Eric's early boards.) So, here is a big thank you to the moderators and everyone who makes this place an interesting and friendly community.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Well, I was late. For some reason, I thought the breakfast was at 9:00 AM and got to the store a little before 10:00 AM. Found out that the slot I was signed up for was taken.

Thankfully, Curt and Mark came to the rescure with some D&D minatures. First time I ever played. It was me and another dude as the LG and GC duo vs LE and CE. Ironically enough, I and the other guy went with numbers instead of powerful figures and were beaten like stray dogs. It was a fun game though and I can see myself playing it again.

We then talked curt into picking up Apples to Apples. If you've never played it before, it's a great, fast game that relies on quick hands and quick thinking. One of my problems at this game is I'm used to my group where we usually put the opposite or most humour comment of the cards but most of these judges preferred something a little more matching. Great game though.

The painting seminar was pretty slick as well. I enjoyed working with some other painters as it's usually, as Merlin from Excaliber would say, "A lonely lot." One thing I'm definatly going to have to keep in mind is the consistency of the paint. I'll have to make some of that thinner. I got out of there around 7:30 PM so I'm pretty happy overall.

If any of those other guys who were painting want to do that again, just give me an e-mail.

 

[buzz]

The Big Thanks

Now that I've had some time to decompress, spend some quality time with my family, and collect my thoughts, I'm gonna get my thank-yous on...

When You Assume, You Make An Ass Out Of U And Me
First off, I'd like to once again apologize profusely to Reidzilla and the players who had signed up for his game --Bront, spacepirat2, and moquif-- for doing such an atrocious job of getting in touch with him to make sure he knew I'd re-added the Darwin's World game at the last minute. :\ It was a bonehead move that I will never pull again. I cannot thank thalmin and Mark enough for getting a D&D Minis game together to accomodate them, as well as GORAK, Trev, and Barendd for absorbing the displaced into their events.

In the next planning thread (some months away), I'll post some ideas for how to avoid situatons like these at future Gamedays.

Kudos, Kudos, Kudos...
Thanks to thalmin and the staff of Games Plus for hosting the event, keeping all the prizes in order, and generally serving the needs of the attendees. Every trip to GP is a joy; a trip to GP for a Gameday is simply one of the highlights of my year.

Thanks to all of the GMs who offered up events, whether they happened or not: Reidzilla, Barnedd Nobeard, Trevalon Moonlerion, Mark, GORAK, Pbartender, omokage, Kid Charlemange, thalmin, and KnowTheToe.

Thanks to all my players in the d20 Dark*Matter game: Pbartender, jalea, William Ronald, Baron Von Starblade, Kareyev, and rowport.

Thanks to omokage for GM'ing for me in the second slot, and to the other players: Barendd Nobeard, socpsychguy, Pbartender, and CalicoDancer.

Oh, The Swag
Thanks to all of the companies and individuals who donated prizes: Wotc, BadAxe, Necromancer, MonkeyGod, Contested Ground, Bastion, RPGObjects, Expeditious Retreat, Khan's Press, Eden Studios, and to Reidzilla, William Ronald, GORAK, KnowTheToe, and anyone else that I'm forgetting. I didn't have high expectations for the prizes this time around, but it honestly was the best selection of stuff I've seen yet.

The Sappy Part
Lastly, I just want to thank everyone for participating, being friendly, and contributing to the overall fun of Gameday. I think it's inestimably cool that the ENWorld community isn't solely a virtual one, but one comprised of people who want to get together, share their geeky passions, make friends, and grab some swag while doing so. This is a huge part of what makes pen n' paper gaming one of my favorite things to do.

I hope everybody had fun, and I hope to see all of you (and more!) at the next Gameday.

Cheers,
Buzz

 

[pensiv]

We have quite the thread going now, with Academy Awards style thank you posts.

That being said, I'd first like to thank my players Matt (Pbartender), Kent (Barendd Nobeard), Paul (socpsychguy), Carrie (CalicoDancer), and Mark (Buzz), for making it through the most boring night at a casino possible.

I'm also happy for Curt (thalmin) and all of Games Plus for hosting this Gameday yet again. I spent money in your store yet again!

Thanks to Curt (thalmin) again for letting us play with his toys--his D&D Miniatures. I stand with Mark (Mark) in wicked solidarity against the goody two-shoes Joe (JoeGKushner) and Moquif.

Personal thanks to Contested Ground Studios and Khan's Press for donating the prizes I won.

I can't wait until next time.

 

[buzz]

Final tally of all the swag

In case anyone was wondering how choice the prize spread was, see below. A * indicates the prize was donated by a Gameday prticipant.

Wizards of the Coast
Complete Warrior
Dragonlance CS (autographed by the authors)*

Bad Axe Games
Grim Tales RPG (2)

Necromancer Games
Tome of Horrors II (2)

MonkeyGod Enterprises
Frost & Fur (2)

Contested Ground Studios
A|State RPG (2)

Bastion Press
Oathbound CS (2)
Forged Oathbound novel (11)
Into the Green (2)
Doom Striders (2)

Green Ronin
Arcana: Societies of Magic*

RPGObjects
Blood & Space
Against the Wastelords adventure for Darwin's World

Sovereign Press
Sovereign Stone monster compendium*

Khan's Press
PDF of winner's choice (10)

Eden Studios
Wonders out of Time d20 adventure
Abduction card game (2)

Citizen Games
Way of the Witch*

Expeditious Retreat Press
A Magical Society: Ecology and Culture

Second World Publications
Second World Sourcebook*

West End Games
TORG*

There was also some stuff on CD-ROM that GORAK had donated, and some AD&D2e adventures, and probably other stuff I'm forgetting about. All in all, a fantastic selection. Let's hope we can continue to do as well or better for future Gamedays.