Gencon.
The Biggest gamer-event of the year. One that draws heavily from table-top, card, board, miniatures, and video games together. Every year, it is the event we all look for.
From my first Gencon in 2013 after I had just moved from Colorado to Kentucky. I attended for the weekend only, playing PFS and WitchHunter. That year, I only played.
2014 was the first time I participated and GM'd for the first time. Since that time, that year, I ran 3-4 tables, and it has slowly grown and grown.
Last year, Isabelle and JS did an awesome job, growing the FOE presence by doubling the previous number of tables, from 7 to 13.
So this year, I was lucky enough to have no less than four crazy people: Flo-M, Florent-F, Randy-P and Will-M who accepted my offer to run games for FOE, which would take our total number of tables to twenty one.
Ambitious and nerve-wracking but exhilarating.
So what happened?
Before Gencon: Repeated Panics
Monday came by, I had my mods done and sent. The slot zeroes revealed a few issues that got fixed before I sent them to the guys. In all, everything that I had to do was done, I had to pack and load the car, but I was in a good place.
Around 10AM on Monday, I get a chat from Will saying "I was just let go."
And there it was: the FIRST panic. Panic for Gencon. Worry for my good friend. I quickly sent him information about the good recruiters, and even some of those I like less. With the goal to get him all squared up again. We talked and found an arrangement that allowed him to attend the con.
He's a good man and a trooper. The crisis was averted. Now there is still much work for him to do, but for Gencon, crisis averted.
Tuesday came by, at lunch, I thought back over what I had, ran through my list of mods and went. "OH CRAP!"
I did not have any adventure for my Sunday slot! Oh! I had notes, stats, and no less than five intros to this adventure. I hated all of the elements I had. My main NPC was flat without any spark of interest. The combats had no real interest, they were overly simple and formulaic. The finale only led to more and more adventure, without any way for me to close the story.
So, guess what my Tuesday evening was spent doing?
Yup! You got it! I spent writing and blasting everything, forcing it all to come together. Now, I spent a number of hours tying everything together. Now that I am a week removed from this panic, I can see that I grew as a writer. The craft of writing, which I work on all the time, really came together in these short hours. Oddly enough, the result was a cannibalized version of all five version, with a final combat I came up with at the time when I said "OH Crap!"
Wednesday.
I got up and expected to find a 4 o'clock bug. But nope. Throughout the day, I kept getting updates from friends saying they were in Indy. Landed. Checked In. Badge obtained. GAH! The day just rolled on and on. From noon-ish onward, I did not do much. Everything I had was waiting for others to review or test.
Finally, I could not take anymore and my weekly hours were done. I was up I-65 headed to Will's place. The gamer blabbing started and went on for the next 5 or 6 hours. Dinner at Denny's where neither of us had been for a long time.
Thursday morning. We are driving into the con and I ask him if he has questions about the Special. Then he replied "Huh. I did not get that one." And there I went... Panic struck again. I had one copy of the mod. I had sent the mod to Randy and he acknowledged it. So... what to do... But later.
So there is was: three major panic moments. And I was yet to reach the Marriott!
Before Gencon: Porn!
Using Hotels.com, I booked myself a hotel way back in January-ish. Good price of 60$ a night. I was very happy with my bill. Sure, it was 15 miles from downtown, but that's like a 20 minute drive. Since I drive in at 7-7:30 AM and leave at midnight, traffic is not an issue.
We get to the hotel. I get in to check in.
Standing at the check-in counter is a scantily-clad lady. Somewhat pretty and chatting with the lady behind the counter. Throughout my check in process, she tries to chat me up. The lady at the counter told me about the open porn channels. It wasn't until she heard that "my buddy's in the car, it's just the two of us," that she walked away.
That's when everything clicked: The Lingerie shop, The toys behind the glass, The large-breasted mannequin, and the decor of the room. That's when I recognized the room: it was the set of everyone's favorite porn movie!
I could not stop laughing!
Well, I did, I was exhausted.
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