This past weekend, I traveled to Chattanooga to attend Post-Apocalypticon. It was my first convention in Tennessee and one I was really looking forward to attending. For many reasons, including the premieres of two new Legacies adventures but also getting to meet and engage with new people.
I asked my children which of them wanted to attend the con and only ActionMan wanted to come. The girls both chose to stay home and go shopping with my wife. Meh, their loss. ActionMan and I got up very early, just after 6 AM and headed east on I-24. He and I joked and laughed all the way to East Tennessee.
We arrived pretty much on-time (euphemism to say "we were a tad late"). As there was no game we could join at the time...
For the first slot, we could not find ourselves a table: no players showed up for my event, all the tables of 5e were over-full and the PFS tables that could seat ActionMan were full. Oh well. So we set out to wait for the next slot.
I used that time to speak with Rob Bunn, playing a game of Mars Attack the three of us. ActionMan really enjoyed the game (particularly because he won).
Next, he and I went to have lunch at Steak n Shake. Now I will admit that the boy is truly my son. At six, he wolfed down a foot-long chili dog. Oh and he ate the fries as well. And more than half the strawberry shake we shared.
My son...
For the afternoon slot, I again had no players attend. I found a seat for ActionMan at a PFS table so he could play his second-level character, Red Eagle the rogue.
So I joined my first table for Traveller, ran by John Watts. I enjoyed it. The system itself was "all right" seriously nothing to get me jumping through hoops. However, the man is a great GM and our ship got into more comedic situation than should be placed in a single game slot. Our ship quickly became the "HMS Stereotypes" as I was Enrico, the shag-fur covered Italian who loved the ladies, under a drunken Russian captain... Everything was just a laugh.
I got to speak to Ryan and Shawn from Kyoudai Games. We spoke about being 3pp. It was quite interesting to speak with others about the game.
The next slot, John and his wife agreed to jump over to my table and I got to run a table "ToS1-06 And Everything Nice".
So I got to socialize for one, play one, and run one. In all, a good day indeed.
The Good
- All the events went on-time This is something I look at. The slots were clear and pre-determined. I love that. It's one of the things that annoyed me like crazy as nothing ever seems to happen quite right...
- Nice room The room was large and not over crowded. The con took place in an unoccupied store space in the Bradley Square Mall. A new for me. There was food, and a variety of access to things within easy walking distance.
- Good access to products Dicehead Games, the con's sponsor had a good selection of products for us gamers. I myself got a copy of the Undercity game/miniature set for Iron Kingdoms. I'll admit that the minis within are what I'm mostly interested in. A 40% off earned my immediate impulse purchase.
- Relaxed atmosphere The feel of the con was good, very relaxed, very friendly. Nothing felt rushed or stressed, yet everything happened.
- On-site organization I showed up and Kyle the organizer pointed me to a table. I set up and off I was. I want to point out Kyle's receptivity to suggestions as a BIG plus and a point of note. See the Improvable entry with the same name
- Attending guests The guests were very good guys. As I mentioned already, I got to play (twice) with John Watts and chatted extensively with the guys from Kyoudai, but there were also guys that had created the Sagaborn game, a Pathfinder-light that from their descriptions was a Warhammer Quest type of game. Very receptive and open to chat.
- Welcoming GMs The gm who ran ActionMan (I didn't get his name) through a PFS adventure was very welcoming.
The Improvable
- Attendance The attendance was lower than last year according to most people who attended both event. A lot of people pointed to another con happening back to back weekends (in Knoxville, less than a hundred miles away). Nothing any one person can do. Minor issue.
- On-Site organization This is a(nother) personal pet peeve of mine. As I stated ActionMan and I arrived very much last minute. For the afternoon slot, things fell into place and I expected a shout-out or something that did not happen. I told both Kyle and a guy from Dicehead (whose name escapes me) that it would be great to have start and muster times mentioned. Then for the evening slot, Kyle did exactly that. Major kudos and issue RESOLVED!
- Restrooms The room itself had no restroom directly on-site. They were available at the store (next door) and in the mall. Having a six year old and having to walk that far might've been a challenge. But it worked out fine. Minor issue.
Do I plan on going back?
Yes.
It is a small con with a lot of upside. I hope to return next year and see it grow. Hopefully have four full tables of Legacies players...
Okay I can dream...
JP
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