Joachim
First Post
2004 GENCON INDIANAPOLIS UPDATE
As you know, Jollydoc and I traveled up I-65 to Indianapolis to take part in the yearly (as my fiancé calls it) ‘Four Day Nerd Festival’ that is GenCon. The results were admittedly mixed (as you will see) but ended with a mighty success. The following are my (as ever) no-bull, pulling-no-punches observations from GenCon:
1) GAME RECAP 1: THE CULT OF THE SWAMP LORD – This was an RPGA classic adventure where the party consisted of six pre-generated half-dragons in search of a handful of stolen dragon eggs. Our party consisted of Joe, myself, some lady that looked like my grandmother, some guy that could have been my dad, some guy that looked like a professional librarian, and a superdork who shall forever be derided as ‘Cat-Boy’ (see rant below). The module was pretty stupid, the DM sub-par, and our partymembers were downright irritating. However, it was a success for me personally as my character was the only one to retrieve a dragon egg and return it, and it was a success for JD as (when charmed by one of the BBEG’s minions) his character slaughtered the rest of the party.
2) CAT-BOY RANT – Why is it that there are so many gamers out there who think that ‘good roleplaying’ for a rogue is to pick everyone’s pockets and then screw with the other PC’s equipment while they sleep? Are you 12? Well, my friends, meet Cat-Boy, so named because of the actual cat-ears glued to his head and the cat-tail strapped to his ass. If you have gamed long enough, I am sure that you have played with one of Cat-Boys avatars. Cat-Boy and his many incarnations always want to play a rogue, and then at any given opportunity will stop the flow of the game to make the DM adjudicate his picking the pockets of a nearby NPC peasant or merchant. At a time-slot RPGA event, this is especially annoying because it’s just another distraction to prevent you from reaching the final goal before time runs out, and it’s not like you are ever going to play the pre-generated character ever again. So Cat-Boy, if you are reading, pull that crap off of your head, take off your black trench coat (its 90 friggin’ degrees outside), and grow up!
3) GAME RECAP 2: D&D JEOPARDY – This was an event that JD and I were really looking forward to. Both of us are complete trivia junkies, and when you throw in the idea of D&D trivia…drool…The game was hosted by Fat Llama Games, a gaming company who thus far only produces T-Shirts (we think it was a joke, and a funny one at that). These guys were really cool. They brought in a digital projector, and shot up a Jeopardy-like game board on the wall. “I’ll take Aberrations for 500,” was an actual quote. JD and I actually made it to the final round, where we ran into the D&D equivalent of Tim Jennings. JD and I were good with the recent trivia, but this guy (who couldn’t be older than 24) knew all of the old stuff. Who has even heard of the book ‘Eldritch Magic’, let alone be able to recognize it? All that matters was the final score. Tim Jennings: 8500. Joachim: 8200. JD: 0 (granted, he blew it all on Final Jeopardy). EAT IT!!
4) GAME RECAP 3: THE LEGACY OF THE GREEN REGENT – This was actually 2 game sessions, but I grouped it into one. The modules were ok, but JD and I actually teamed up with a group of four friends from Delaware. Let me tell you, these guys can play. I played a cleric that I crafted myself, and when I tried to cast ‘Longstrider’ on JD’s dwarven spiked-chain trip-monkey, the guy sitting next to me said, without missing a beat, “That’s a personal spell.” FACED BY A STRANGER! OH, THE IGNOMINY! JD and I looked at each other, and realized that we might have met our powergaming match. These guys were really, really nice, too, and we traded personal information so that we could hook up again at future con’s. Our DM on the first session was a Canadian, and was always telling us “aboot” things.
5) GAME RECAP 4: THE RPGA/WoTC D&D OPEN: The D&D Open is one of the major tournaments that the RPGA and WoTC sponsor. It’s the oldest and one of the toughest D&D tournaments out there. There is no real ‘roleplaying’, just tactical combat and problem-solving. Basically, it’s kill or be killed. You score points for completing objectives, you lose points for PC deaths, and then a certain number of teams that score the highest advance from the first round to the semi’s, and then from the semi’s to the finals. Last year, we did not advance (we were told that it was possible that it had to do with the kind of game tickets we used), but we didn’t take it seriously. This year, JD and I were going to take it seriously. We hooked up with 4 guys who were friends, having grown up in Chicago together, but have since moved away from each other. They told us that they had been doing the Open for the past 7 years and had never advanced out of the first round. 125 teams of 6 played in the Open for a grand total of about 750 players. Our team was named The Aqua Teen Hungerforce in homage to those mighty heroes of yore.
I could go ahead and give you a long description of what happened, what we fought, etc., but I will cut to the chase. When the dust had settled, The Aqua Teen Hungerforce reigned supreme. Yes, its true. Out of 125 teams, we placed FIRST. For our victory, we were each given a PHB with a gold 1st Place Stamp on it, a little D&D 30th Anniversary tote bag, a veritable butt-load of mini’s (just guessing, at least 150 bucks worth if we sold them piecemeal), and the professional maps that were used during the game. In addition, the Aqua Teen Hungerforce has been given the opportunity to contribute to an upcoming Eberron source book, describing the backgrounds and stronghold of the pre-generated party that we played throughout each of the rounds. One word, people…SWEET!!
The guys we played with were great, too. They admitted that they did not know anything about Eberron. They primarily play in 1st Edition games, but they knew 3rd Ed. pretty well. Also, I don’t know if it’s just a Yankee trait or not, but the amount of wit at the table was staggering. Some of the funniest impromptu comments ever spoken were thrown across the table. We actually learned that one of them trolls around enworld as Izerath, and said that he has even read some of the posts on this board. I think that we may have made an impression with them, too. By the third round, one of the guys playing the Warforged Juggernaut shouted out a big ‘EAT IT!’ after connecting with a big hit. The RPGA/WoTC asked us to return next year to act as judge/DM’s, but I think that the Aqua Teen Hungerforce may have to come back so that we can defend our title.
Needless to say, the amount of chest-beating that occurred in JD’s SUV between Indianapolis and Birmingham probably could have been considered criminal in several states. If you can believe it, there was 7 hours of “Man, we are AWESOME! I mean, we are just awesome. Why do we rock so hard?”
So, there you have it. A fantastic time to be had by all. We wish that more of our group could have gone with us, but I think JD would agree that we wouldn’t have had it any other way.
As you know, Jollydoc and I traveled up I-65 to Indianapolis to take part in the yearly (as my fiancé calls it) ‘Four Day Nerd Festival’ that is GenCon. The results were admittedly mixed (as you will see) but ended with a mighty success. The following are my (as ever) no-bull, pulling-no-punches observations from GenCon:
1) GAME RECAP 1: THE CULT OF THE SWAMP LORD – This was an RPGA classic adventure where the party consisted of six pre-generated half-dragons in search of a handful of stolen dragon eggs. Our party consisted of Joe, myself, some lady that looked like my grandmother, some guy that could have been my dad, some guy that looked like a professional librarian, and a superdork who shall forever be derided as ‘Cat-Boy’ (see rant below). The module was pretty stupid, the DM sub-par, and our partymembers were downright irritating. However, it was a success for me personally as my character was the only one to retrieve a dragon egg and return it, and it was a success for JD as (when charmed by one of the BBEG’s minions) his character slaughtered the rest of the party.
2) CAT-BOY RANT – Why is it that there are so many gamers out there who think that ‘good roleplaying’ for a rogue is to pick everyone’s pockets and then screw with the other PC’s equipment while they sleep? Are you 12? Well, my friends, meet Cat-Boy, so named because of the actual cat-ears glued to his head and the cat-tail strapped to his ass. If you have gamed long enough, I am sure that you have played with one of Cat-Boys avatars. Cat-Boy and his many incarnations always want to play a rogue, and then at any given opportunity will stop the flow of the game to make the DM adjudicate his picking the pockets of a nearby NPC peasant or merchant. At a time-slot RPGA event, this is especially annoying because it’s just another distraction to prevent you from reaching the final goal before time runs out, and it’s not like you are ever going to play the pre-generated character ever again. So Cat-Boy, if you are reading, pull that crap off of your head, take off your black trench coat (its 90 friggin’ degrees outside), and grow up!
3) GAME RECAP 2: D&D JEOPARDY – This was an event that JD and I were really looking forward to. Both of us are complete trivia junkies, and when you throw in the idea of D&D trivia…drool…The game was hosted by Fat Llama Games, a gaming company who thus far only produces T-Shirts (we think it was a joke, and a funny one at that). These guys were really cool. They brought in a digital projector, and shot up a Jeopardy-like game board on the wall. “I’ll take Aberrations for 500,” was an actual quote. JD and I actually made it to the final round, where we ran into the D&D equivalent of Tim Jennings. JD and I were good with the recent trivia, but this guy (who couldn’t be older than 24) knew all of the old stuff. Who has even heard of the book ‘Eldritch Magic’, let alone be able to recognize it? All that matters was the final score. Tim Jennings: 8500. Joachim: 8200. JD: 0 (granted, he blew it all on Final Jeopardy). EAT IT!!
4) GAME RECAP 3: THE LEGACY OF THE GREEN REGENT – This was actually 2 game sessions, but I grouped it into one. The modules were ok, but JD and I actually teamed up with a group of four friends from Delaware. Let me tell you, these guys can play. I played a cleric that I crafted myself, and when I tried to cast ‘Longstrider’ on JD’s dwarven spiked-chain trip-monkey, the guy sitting next to me said, without missing a beat, “That’s a personal spell.” FACED BY A STRANGER! OH, THE IGNOMINY! JD and I looked at each other, and realized that we might have met our powergaming match. These guys were really, really nice, too, and we traded personal information so that we could hook up again at future con’s. Our DM on the first session was a Canadian, and was always telling us “aboot” things.
5) GAME RECAP 4: THE RPGA/WoTC D&D OPEN: The D&D Open is one of the major tournaments that the RPGA and WoTC sponsor. It’s the oldest and one of the toughest D&D tournaments out there. There is no real ‘roleplaying’, just tactical combat and problem-solving. Basically, it’s kill or be killed. You score points for completing objectives, you lose points for PC deaths, and then a certain number of teams that score the highest advance from the first round to the semi’s, and then from the semi’s to the finals. Last year, we did not advance (we were told that it was possible that it had to do with the kind of game tickets we used), but we didn’t take it seriously. This year, JD and I were going to take it seriously. We hooked up with 4 guys who were friends, having grown up in Chicago together, but have since moved away from each other. They told us that they had been doing the Open for the past 7 years and had never advanced out of the first round. 125 teams of 6 played in the Open for a grand total of about 750 players. Our team was named The Aqua Teen Hungerforce in homage to those mighty heroes of yore.
I could go ahead and give you a long description of what happened, what we fought, etc., but I will cut to the chase. When the dust had settled, The Aqua Teen Hungerforce reigned supreme. Yes, its true. Out of 125 teams, we placed FIRST. For our victory, we were each given a PHB with a gold 1st Place Stamp on it, a little D&D 30th Anniversary tote bag, a veritable butt-load of mini’s (just guessing, at least 150 bucks worth if we sold them piecemeal), and the professional maps that were used during the game. In addition, the Aqua Teen Hungerforce has been given the opportunity to contribute to an upcoming Eberron source book, describing the backgrounds and stronghold of the pre-generated party that we played throughout each of the rounds. One word, people…SWEET!!
The guys we played with were great, too. They admitted that they did not know anything about Eberron. They primarily play in 1st Edition games, but they knew 3rd Ed. pretty well. Also, I don’t know if it’s just a Yankee trait or not, but the amount of wit at the table was staggering. Some of the funniest impromptu comments ever spoken were thrown across the table. We actually learned that one of them trolls around enworld as Izerath, and said that he has even read some of the posts on this board. I think that we may have made an impression with them, too. By the third round, one of the guys playing the Warforged Juggernaut shouted out a big ‘EAT IT!’ after connecting with a big hit. The RPGA/WoTC asked us to return next year to act as judge/DM’s, but I think that the Aqua Teen Hungerforce may have to come back so that we can defend our title.
Needless to say, the amount of chest-beating that occurred in JD’s SUV between Indianapolis and Birmingham probably could have been considered criminal in several states. If you can believe it, there was 7 hours of “Man, we are AWESOME! I mean, we are just awesome. Why do we rock so hard?”
So, there you have it. A fantastic time to be had by all. We wish that more of our group could have gone with us, but I think JD would agree that we wouldn’t have had it any other way.
Last edited:
