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Yo Mortals--
I don't like you and you don't like me but that doesn't mean that we can't celebrate the fact that I made it to my first GenCon *and* that Kyle Baird didn't.
If you like and read this or my bloggeries, please like the post so me and other contributors know what they are doing matters. Thanks.
I came to meet people (especially those board yahoos whose posts I've been reading for years), play some of the Adventure Card Game, and hack my way into the Specials. There are 4 specials this GenCon. Two I already played at PaizoCon, but two new ones.
In short, I've already met a piddlespot load of new people: redward, VOs Jeremy Chapman, Seth & Kristen Gibson, Mark Stratton, Jacque Woods, David Frahm (super nice guy), Alison Ooms, Kevin Ingle (Sniggevert), Lucas Servideo, Joshua North, Texan Stephen Ross, Andrew Shumate (Netopalis), James McTeague (Iammars), and Dan Simons.
Of course, I reengaged the usual compliment of scum and villainy: Todd Morgan & TwiLiBobJonquet, Jason Roeder, Jon Cary, Chris Mortika, Jonathan Choi, PirateRob, DragnMoon, Andrew Christain (I love this guy more every time I meet him), and Jon Dehning.
I still have yet to meet Del Collins, Dan Cornett, Mike Bramnik, Joe Ducey, James Martin (who I play in two PbPs with...and have yet to meet), Joseph Kellogg, and many more.
Piddlespot...there are more people that I'm forgetting to mention than I am naming. I believe the core of the Society is the people therein and the common social bond we forge as we play this silly roleplaying game and enjoy a common pastime.
* * *
I get a chance to shake Brock's hand. I am sorry to see him leave. *sigh*
* * *
Wednesday PFS @ Scotty's bar happened. I got there late (5pmish) as they were just wrapping up. They started play at 8am and ran about 25 tables. VC Mark Stratton rocked the organization and the special menu for the event (yes, the brewpub had a *fantastic* special Pathfinder themed menu) was and is amazing.
(More on Scotty's later.)
* * *
I finally got to meet Seth Gibson, aka Disturbed1, aka GodsDMit, VC of someplace after interacting on the boards with him for years. He and his wife Kristen are co-venture officers for their region and are two the nicest, mostly easily approachable and likable people I've met. (They wear the orange Pathfinder shirts indicating they are front desk for the Con.)
As it turns out, I've been using a dice bag his wife made for years. However, I have no recollection of how I got the dice bag. It's a small world.
* * *
As some of you know, I love Play-by-Post. I'll play entire campaigns via PbP without ever meeting the other players in person. There is also a lively PFS PbP community. Why do I bring this up? Not just because you should be playing Play by Post, but because sometimes I run into other PbPers and it's nice to meet them in person.
I've met Silbeg (aka VL Jack Brown from Minn) for years via his participation in PbP. On Wednesday, we finally met. A couple of notes: the entire Minneapolis/St.Paul/Cloud PFS group is pretty freakin' spectacular. From Ryan B, to the other Ryan B, to Jon D, to Ray and Keith, Mark, and Aaron, and AChristain...they are a piddlespot ton of fun. And man do they drink. My liver can only take so much of these guys, but I love them to death.
So Silbeg introduces me to his crew and we hang out most of Wednesday night. There are plenty of bars close by and eventually end up at Scottys at midnight for more beer and food. Jack, Mark, & I polish off 101 oz of Scotty's Ghost Goblin Brew (an IPA). Damn...that finished me off for the night....
...Until I met Auke and Thursty and Tonya Woldridge (VC Ontario) and got pulled into chatting with the Paizo staff for a bit. Tonya is pretty amazing, nice and friendly, open and talkative. I like people who can socialize well.
More to come...I'm going to dinner with Auke (an old friend and VC of Netherlands).
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As you guys know, PFS is pretty much the largest and bestest thing at GenCon. We have the biggest solo room and have the most tables. This place is rocking. 4 years ago, when Brock started, it wasn't this way. Under his leadership, PFS has grown and grown. A lot of awesome that we have today are because of the decisions he's made and the policies he's enforced.
No, his decisions haven't always been popular, but they have been for the good of PFS. And looking around GenCon and seeing the diversity and size of our players (let alone their enthusiam), I can't argue with what he's done.
As you may know, Brock was interviewed at GenCon (at a WhiteCastle no less) years ago and he was offered the job. And, as any VCs will tell you, Brock responded to emails at any time of the day or night. (I'm still not sure he ever slept.)
There will never be another like him. I'll miss him.
At the same time, however....there is some neat hubbub about the interviews for the next campaign manager.
This year, more than a few applicants have had phone interviews at GenCon. I can't imagine being an applicant for the job: there is huge responsibility and a lot of pressure on the position. There is a continual balance that needs to be struck between the needs/wants of the PFS Community and Paizo itself. Is this a marketing/sales or community management position? How do you manage a huge community over many time zones, let alone one that that has (and intends) global reach?
I've met a few of the those who are have applied and I'm not worried about finding someone awesome (but different) to fill the position. With change comes the opportunity for growth. There will be new ideas and new priorities and new ways for us to grow and have fun.
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A few lessons I've learned from coming to GenCon:
- It can be humid as anything here. I come from a generally mellow climate (the SF Bay Area) and I pretty much melted my first hours here. Wow. Thursday was more mellow as there was a breeze, but wow.
- Food here is way cheap compared to the SF Bay Area. I went to my first Steak & Shake (apparently a chain) with Mitch (VL from CA) and we both got good burgers and fries for under $14.
- As always, skipping 8am slots is the way to go. Ain't nothing like relaxing and sleeping in after a night of 'stuff'.
- There were tons of pick up PFS games at various locations last night. And a few more zany antics were offered. (One group was going to do a random PvP pregen arena battle.)
- There was a line that literally stretched the length of the Convention Center to pick up badges and whatnot (Will Call for those too lazy, like me, to volunteer to GM/help out.) I walked it twice...the first time to see if I wanted to grit and bear the wait, another time when I came back when the line was slightly shorted. Still, it was a 40 minute line...even though it moved quickly, it took that long because it was so long.
- On the cab ride over, it was suggested that I buy a few generic tickets in case I saw something that I wanted to try out. I already had a light schedule (mostly focusing on the Specials and some Adventure Card Game) so I took the advice and bought a few. At $2 apiece, I liked that I could jump in to pretty much anything that looked interesting.
- The Dealer Hall was overwhelmingly huge and loud and packed. I walked some of the length of it today and it reminded me of Jim Groves scenario. I'll need to go back and cover more of it, but there are an ungodly number of games and game companies on display.
- I hit up the Obsidian booth to play the Adventure Card Game demo...and wow...they have freakin' nailed it. It took me a few moments to get the hang of the controls and what-does-what, but it was amazingly well done, fun, and can't wait to see the final product.
* * *
I played the Adventure Card game for my noon and 4pm slots. (I love having a light schedule so I can meander). Awesomely, Paizo has a few dozen of the new Monk, Druid, and Paladin class decks available for playtest and fun. There were tables of both Skull & Shackles and Wrath of the Righteous ACG, with plenty of volunteers to help run stuff.
At noon, I grab the unreleased Paladin and sat down at a table to play Scenarion 1:1A. I initially picked out the Seelah build, but was talked into playing Raz (the gnome mounted build). Raz was fun to play and they worked in the mount/ally abilities really well. However, Raz was pretty much a solo player, she didn't have many ways to help others or interact with others. I spoke to Tanis about the 3 paladin builds and she explained that Seelah, Korzen(sp?), and Raz are 3 different builds with different levels of interaction with other decks. It will be interesting to see and try out those different paladins. I like that these class decks seem to have more variability.
For my 4pm slot, I lucked out and got into the first round of the 'The Open' ACG Tournament. There were 6 or 9 tables being run today and tomorrow, with 2nd round events happening on Saturday, and the finals on Sunday. The event was timed, based on points, and was.completely.nuts.
The cards were from every set. Every piddlespotting set. We had 4 prebuilt decks. My team Doc76, Pirate Rob, and Joe H. There were 6 locations and the scenario level was about 3...and our decks (at least mine was) were built pretty well, with a mix of fun cards and some power as well. Interestingly, the characters might have been from RotR or S&Shackles or whatever...you might be interacting swashbuckling with mythic. Each Open Tourney table had a designer GM: ours was Tanis. She giggled every time I failed.
She giggled a lot.
In my first turn, I get hammered mercilessly (I get a 7 total from a d12, d10, & d4) and lose my hand. It's not a good way to start a timed and scored event. The rest of the team manages to close a location as they go around. On the next turn, I use most of my hand getting my butt handed back to me and pass the turn. The rest of the team closes another location.
The entire run had them carrying my laggardly body up and down the game board as I valiantly try to anchor them to the bottom. However, despite my best efforts, we finish early...and even finish the bonus surprise. We knocked up a good score and we'll see if we make the semifinals on Saturday. Our team name was "Don't trust Tanis!"
Regional Venture-Coordinator, Baltic
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It's my 4th GenCon and with only 1 official day almost behind us, I can say it's already a succes IMHO.
Tuesday socializing at Scotty's, Wednesday gaming at Scotty's including playing From Under Ice ran by the author himself! Very nice 3D terrain and my fellow patfinders were very capable and we managed to complete the adventure succesfully!
VC dinner followed by more socializing and running into Painlord (see above). Eric Mona even acknowledged my PFS author credit! :-)
Wednesday morning I had cardgame duty which was very well organised and less stressful for the volunteers. The tournament seemed to be a great succes as well.
Wednesday afternoon I ran We Be Goblins Too. There were 5 players, so we had Poog and Goop who both claimed to be the true chosen of Zarongel. Poog was victorious and crowned chieftain! (however didn't notice as he was unconscious at the time). After a long and challenging combat the goblins managed to drive Pa Munchmest away!
Now I'm just a spectator at the Serpent's Siege special, which is very impressive and the biggest ever held!
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Thurday Night: Siege of Serpents, aka GenCon Special #1. I played this at PaizoCon so am taking the slot off to type up my experience so far. This time, according to John Compton, we have 180 or so tables, putting about 1200 or so Pathfinders in the room.
There are 2 ginormous screens detailing the Pathfinder's joint efforts against what is happening. Syrinscape, again, (thanks Ben!) provides sound and mood for the event, John Compton again announcing and acting and pretty much rocking the mic. I wouldn't be surprised if he did a mic drop at the end, it would be earned.
I'm not going to spoil anything, but this room is buzzing and murderhobos are murdering Pathfinders are pathfinding.
Soon...there will be post Special 2nd dinner and beering. I'll try to get others to post their experiences here. We'll see.
Thanks for the reporting again. Super happy that I get to live vicariously through you once more. It is most appreciated!
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This is only my fourth Gencon, and my third volunteering to help Paizo. The first two years I chose to GM to pay my way, this year, Kristen and I are taking a more behind the scenes kind of role and working HQ.
First off, if you are here and want to say hi or play PFS for free, come see me tomorrow night, Saturday night, or Sunday at the red bannered info desk. I'm mustering the Phantom Phenomena quests almost all con long. I'll be the guy in orange with black hair and glasses.
Gencon,at least at this point, is not about gaming for me. I would love to get to play in the Android Netrunner National Championship, but being here and working for Paizo is definitely worth the effort I put in. That is not to say that the rewards are worth it. I don't take a week off work every year for the rewards. I take a week off work each year to to come here and see friends I haven't seen in too long and meet new friends.
It's only Thursday night and I've already met many people, almost all of who have been a joy to help. Players are having a good time, which means I'm having a good time, even if I'm not participating in a game myself right now.
So...
Thanks to Mike for all he has done for PFS. It definitely would not have been the same without him.
Thanks to Paizo for making this annual trip affordable enough for Kristen and I to attend every year, even if it means we spend most of the con as Paizo-tutes. :p
Thanks to my fellow volunteers for helping me in any way you have.
Thanks to all the cool kids I've met and gotten to hang out with. You guys rock.
And thanks, especially, to my wife, Kristen. I definitely wouldn't have trips as fun as I do without her being here too. If you believe Bob, she's the one who does all the work for PFS for us (that just makes me the pretty face, I guess?)
And, if you can believe it, Pathfinder is the only rpg Kristen has spent more than one game session playing. She was a complete newb to all this about five years ago. Now she's a five-star GM and probably better at this game than I am.
Everybody have a good con!
~Seth
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This is my first GenCon experience. I caravanned all the way from St. Louis, Missouri to GM PFS all weekend long. I arrived and got my badge, and found myself volunteering to run the Adventure Card Game on Sunday. My first GenCon and I'm running 9 slots, a lot of people have been saying I'm crazy!
I have gotten to meet some interesting people here at the convention. Some of the highlights include meeting Tannis and the ACG team, as well as getting to run a table of The Wounded Wisp with Alexander Agunas of Know Direction at the table.
It's the end of day one, and I'm still alive...for now. This first day has been exciting, nerve wracking, and so much fun.
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Last year was my first GenCon. I dipped my toes in, only playing the two specials. This year I recklessly signed on as a Tier 1 GM, a decision that has excited and terrified me in the weeks leading up to today.
When I tell other GMs my schedule (Wounded Wisp, Wounded Wisp, Quests, Wounded Wisp, Wounded Wisp, Wounded Wisp, Wounded Wisp, Beginner Box) I get sympathetic nods. And it's true, those evergreen scenarios get old fast when when you're playing them with the same group of people to power through level 1. But they take on new life when you sit down with a group of strangers.
And something really amazing happens when you're playing Quests with someone new to PFS, or new to PFRPG, or new to RPGs. You get to see the game again for the first time. You get to see people laugh at your ridiculous voices and terrible accents and know they feel safe to take some risks because you just made a complete ass of yourself.
So I want to thank the organizers (and particularly Mike Brock, who's done an incredible--and largely thankless--job these past few years). But I really want to give a shout-out to all the new folks who peeked into the Sagamore Ballroom and decided to give us a shot.
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Painlord! Was awesome to meet you in person tonight at Scotty's. Can't believe they closed the bar at 2am - still owe you a beer for all your guidance over the last year or so. Tomorrow night for sure.
As an avid PbPer who doesn't see much real life gaming, it has been an absolute blast to meet not one, nor two, nor three but four (as of tomorrow night, time is only linear for the feeble minded) folk from PbP in person. The best thing is that these guys who I've never met before were greeted as friends. Big hugs, shared stories, beers shouted and everything. A lot of this is thanks to a small bit of advice in a famous guide about being sociable with those you PbP with. It has been amazing, and 3 days remain.
Folks, if you can't roleplay often in person, give serious thought to getting serious about PbP. Aside from being the best in-character experience you'll ever have, the other people you meet online are actually real people (strange, right?) and the social network you get pre-made for events like these is nothing short of wonderful.
Painlord, keep up the posts, mate and we'll be seeing you whenever you deign to greet we mortals in person at the Sagamore!
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Yay, more bloggery to live vicariously through! Wish I could be there - especially for Mike's farewell. Folks who don't go to big events or see behind the scenes have no idea what an impact Mike Brock has made on the campaign. It's the biggest thing at the biggest con in the world, and it's because he made the tough and sometimes unpopular decisions that were for the campaign as a whole and not one segment of it (no matter how vocal that segment).
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I haven't been to GenCon, but I live way closer to it than PaizoCon nowadays. (This year, the timing was bad for me. Next year... maybe?) I have to admit, though, the photos of the crowds (just do a Google Image search for "gencon crowd", for instance) and the stories of 40+ minute lines for registration, plus the whole "must buy additional tickets on top for events" things are all kind of turn-offs for me.
PaizoCon sort of hits a sweet spot of being a big convention with lots going on, but not too big that it becomes overwhelming crowds. (As shiny and attractive as things like DragonCon and SDCC are in terms of the stuff that happens there, the size of the humanity and the amount of time we hear about people waiting in line makes me not want to go to either of those.) I've always been impressed by how Paizo handles the registration line. This year, I got the GM pass, but the previous two years even though the line looked scary long, it was only 10-15 minutes when I got into it.
Is there anybody at GenCon who shares my biases about crowds and waiting and such, who's also been to PaizoCon? How would you rate the experience for a Pathfinder/PFS player (who is also interested in other random roleplaying games), especially in comparison to PaizoCon?
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Yesterday evening as I was preparing the Special I was approached by someone who, at first, I mistakenly thought was one of my players. Then I experienced an odd feeling as he introduced himself...surprise?...shock?....fanboy moment?....humility in the presence of a divine being?
Introducing himself as Painlord, my knees nearly buckled, but I steeled myself as I sputtered, "Ohmyfrigginggoshnicetomeetyousir!" Regaining a semblance of composure, I took a deep breath and beseeched the Lord of Pain. "Great and omniscient lord, why have you not found us GenConians worthy of a blog such as you have gifted the PaizoConians?" I asked humbly. He regarded me for a long time without speaking, his eyes boring into my soul and laying bare my sins and transgressions. Finally he merely said, "I will consider it, mortal."
After running the Special, I staggered home to bed, but fought off fatigue and ritually sacrificed two dozen minis, six flipmats, and my tier one GM boon to the Lord of Pain, then collapsed onto bed as fitful sleep overcame me.
Waking this morning, I went to the Paizo site, trepidation wracking my shaking fingers as I checked the boards. Rejoice! My prayers had been answered! There is a Painlord GenCon blog!
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This is my fourth GenCon and truth be told, meeting the people I know through the boards is my favorite part of GenCon. The PFS community is by far the best, friendliest, gracious group of people. It's that sort of community that drew me to PFS in the first place. Enjoying meeting a bunch of people this year including Painlord, Pirate Rob, Ilmakis, Justin Peters (who is awesome for giving a map for 7-02 that I was going to have to draw!), and more that I'm forgetting at the moment.
I've also enjoyed seeing people I've met at previous GenCons, including the entire Indiana contingent, Iammars, Auke, numerous VOs, and players I've ran for in previous years.
More to come later....
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As I sit here reading Rand's thread, it is a "quiet" moment, if such a thing exists at GenCon to peer out into the Sagamore and ponder how incredibly awesome our community is. This year we have over 300 volunteers help us with PFS from the marshals that seat the players, to the HQ staffers shuffling paperwork, reporting table results, etc to the GMs running games. It is exciting to know sooo many people are willing to give up their personal, most likely limited vacation time in order to make sure other people have a great GenCon. Thank you all for being awesome!
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I hope Mrs. TOZ meets your high standards on the HQ table. :)Painlord wants a post out of me:
As one of four HQ Leads this year, I wouldn't say I have impossible standards. BUT you've all sorely disappointed me and I hate you all. Good day!
Is this what you wanted, Painlord?
I'm not sure your wife can fix all the things wrong with Todd Freakin' Morgan. I mean...she's amazing, but that Cornhucker is the only Pathfinder I know who can take 10 and end up in the negs.
But yeah, she's rocking it. All the orangies are (including Todd Morgan). (The shirts for FD staff are orange, GMs are grapies, unless the VOs are wearing their reds and greens.)
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Thanks for doing this thread, Painlord. LIke others, the idea of the crowds at Gencon are enough to make me have serious hesitations, but I love that you are able to share, and get others to share a little bit of it with us.
I never found the crowds to be all that bad. Now I don't have an issue with crowds and I know some people do. However, I find that the Convention center is very spacious with very very wide hallways and there is almost always a quiet corner within sight.
The most crowded spaces are definitely the registration line, vendor room, the larger halls, and any place with cheap food or beer. Although the PFS hall is absolutely huge and with 180ish tables is packed with people, I never felt crowded. The ceilings are very tall and the sight lines are long.
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And thanks, especially, to my wife, Kristen. I definitely wouldn't have trips as fun as I do without her being here too. If you believe Bob, she's the one who does all the work for PFS for us (that just makes me the pretty face, I guess?)
And, if you can believe it, Pathfinder is the only rpg Kristen has spent more than one game session playing. She was a complete newb to all this about five years ago. Now she's a five-star GM and probably better at this game than I am.
I will vouch for ALL of this.
Especially the "better at this game" part since I've tabled with you guys. ;-)Missing Gen Con and all of you peeps. Have fun in my stead!
Venture-Captain, Washington—Spokane
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Thank you everyone for posting in this blog and being asesome. Painlord, you have my thanks for starting one of these threads for GenCon.
Everyone posting here has brought some of GenCon to someone who wishes they were there to take part in the experience (myself included).
Thank you all and I will be there one of these years.
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During the Adventure Path Q&A seminar, The Strange Eons Adventure Path was announced! This will follow the Hell’s Vengeance AP and will be available August, 2016.
This will be a very Lovecraftian themed AP. Focusing on the Old gods.
Will have amnesiac players.
Will involve a lot of travel.
Dreamlands may be explored, meeting famous authors of books, such as the necronomicon, etc…Back matter will have a lot of lovecraftian details.
Will explore new continents in Golarion!
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Global Organized Play Coordinator
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As I sit here reading Rand's thread, it is a "quiet" moment, if such a thing exists at GenCon to peer out into the Sagamore and ponder how incredibly awesome our community is. This year we have over 300 volunteers help us with PFS from the marshals that seat the players, to the HQ staffers shuffling paperwork, reporting table results, etc to the GMs running games. It is exciting to know sooo many people are willing to give up their personal, most likely limited vacation time in order to make sure other people have a great GenCon. Thank you all for being awesome!
From Tersha to Angus, Mildred, Sara, the four HQ leads Lucas, the Scarab folks, the Gipsons, Hayes, and Brummonds, the eastern WA crew, and all the new people added to HQ every year (Ali, Jenny, etc) they all make this show in particular run unbelievably smoothly and tirelessly give up their own show time so everyone else can have fun. I can't name everyone off the top of my head (we've literally had more than 100 people over the years) as I'm very tired right now and have some red ale running through me.
But know, if you have now or have ever worn an orange shirt or worked HQ, you have my most heartfelt thank you. You made my job so much more easy and gave me fond memories to last a lifetime! I'm going to miss the chats and hangout times tremendously.
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Three of eight slots Gm'd and still going strong. I've had two good tables of Returned to Sky so far, had the pleasure (misfortune?) of GM'ing Silbeg's PBP group. I got to meet Her Imperial Majestrix Queen Abrogail Thrune II (Linda Zayas-Palmer) and Mark Seifter at the Paizo booth and learned that they are as awesome in person as their board presence suggests. I'm currently enjoying a cold drink and a hot meal at Champions while I still can and giving 7-00 a final once over in preparation for tonight.
Thanks to Mike for making PFS at Gencon what it is today, and John for all the support he provides to the community and the hours they both put in. Thanks to my VC Todd Morgan along with all of the other HQ staff for making this a smooth and drama free GenCon. And thanks to anyone that has played at one of tables this Gencon for keeping things exciting and making this a memorable convention!
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When will the announcements of new products be announced?
Not sure there will be any new products announced...but then again, I'm probably wrong. Most new announcement happened at PaizoCon two months ago.
* * *
Again, enjoyed an open slot morning. Slept in mostly before heading over. Wednesday was hot hot & humid, yesterday was mild, and today it's back to being warmer. So far, the Conv Center has kept its cool which is nice.
Ate lunch with PirateRob, VC Jeremy Chapman (Indy), & VL James Martin (Iowa) at Champions right across the street from the con. It's great because it has yet to be too crowded, they have food (which I totally love), and bottomless sodas. Also, food...which is great when you want to eat. And free wifi.
The 3 goons are all active PbP PFSers: i.e. they play PFS via Play by Post and enjoy the format almost as much as I do (or more). I play in a Giantslayer AP campaign with Jeremy (aka GM Tektite). I play in Reign of Winter and [url=http://paizo.com/campaigns/MotteditorsSkullAndShacklesPBP/gameplay] with James Martin. Though I've been playing with James for almost 2+ years, and Jeremy for 6 months, this is the first times we've met. It's keen to have a backstory and history with someone before you've actually met face to face.
We talked a lot about PFS PbP play, what we need to do improve it, and, seperately, what we can do to improve it. For guys like Jeremy, there isn't a lot of local PFS, so he instead he can play and enjoy PFS all the time rather than driving an hour for a face to face game. I wonder how many people there are out there who are in a similar position and don't know about the PbP experience.
In addition, every one of us knows a wide variety of players and styles from all over the world.
* * *
In the afternoon, I played Scenario 1 1B of the Wrath of the Righteous ACG. I tested the 'healer' druid build from the soon to be released Druid deck. We had two other players, a Sorc deck, and the Rogue deck. They were both pretty new to the game, but we managed to pretty much slam the scenario. They walked away with some nice boons and I walked away feeling that the healer druid is a pretty sweet option. He's not bad and has some nice interactions with the other characters.
Getting ready for the Special Tonight, a main attraction. About 3 different GMs have told me how much they are looking forward to running this because <somethingtheywouldn'ttellmebuthadgoofygrinson> and that just gets me excited. Their passion is pretty sweet.
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Ah Piddlespot! The GenCon Special: 7-00 The Sky Key Solution.
We are playing tier 7-8 and our GM is Jack Brown (VL Minnecoldesota).
Table:
PH Unbalanced 8 magicky type - a glorious golden statue
Pirate Rob (VC Bay Area) 9 gnome battler named Sue
Christopher L. (Mich) playing Ibid a lvl 6 redshirt
Cyrus the Flea (aka Steve) lvl 7 darter
Lort (aka GM Damo, aka the Wilmannator) 7 figher guy
and
Aroden Reborn 7 - a reborn god
Again, there are 180 full tables and there is a lot of good energy in the hall.
There are some announcements before we start. TwilightBob welcomes and announces the new 5 star GMs...of which I can't possibly hear or type out over the raucous applause. These piddlespotting GMs have each GM'd 150 (or more) slots for us unworthies. Me (aka Aroden Reborn, of course) bless them all.
Mike Brock introduces the new campaign service award winners (over 1000 days as a VO).
Brett Sweeney
Eric Clingenpeel
Jason Roeder
Nathan Gilbert
Micheal Costello
Derek Boobyer
Seth Brummond
Michael Haskins
Ben F(?-too loud!)
And we Pathfinders salute Mike Brock with a stand ovation. I'm pretty sure he teared up...and he deserves every clap and every cheer.
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Uh. Wow. Big twist.
<spoiler>
<spoiler>
Well, this is awkward. My yahoo has no idea how to react. Something ain't right.
* * *
Edit: Erik Mona took the might during a break and announced that Paizo won 3 Ennies, including the Silver Medal for Best Publisher. Congrats, P.
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Got to meet Painlord today while hanging out with Mike Bramnik and Jeremy Chapman, before they head off for lunch and us mere mortal got back to whatever other stuff we had to get done. Had a cool conversation that left me awed, inspired, and curious, so that was near the top of my day. Met Linda Zayas-Palmer (her majesty) and Liz Courts, who by-the-by designed a pretty darn cool scenario that she was kind enough to talk about for a few minutes.
Notes from GenCon so far. The Exhibitor hall is massive, and the line (esp. Thursday morning) cannot be underestimated. - Also, don't be dyslexic like me and go wait at the far right door when in fact the booth is all the way on the left, good times will not be had (at least not right away). Though while I was there I got to here Mark Seifter in a conversation about mechanics and some of the newest errata's, unfortunately I was to far away to jump in the conversation, but it was certainly a neat look into the black box.
Tables that I've ran have been really cool, you get some more of the picture of regional variations in build styles. Special 1 I ran into a bunch of melee martial builds with some limited casting (kinda on the glass cannon side) with an extremely effective lore warden (I mean tripping not 1 but 2 eight-legged baddies), followed by today's special with all half and full casters (with mostly coming from magus, rogue, and warpriest). Both were a ton of fun and despite using a lot of the same popular classes that we use locally, felt completely different.
Oh and just introduce yourself to anyone, if the have a spare second they'll stay and chat - really pretty amazing considering the amount of stuff happening constantly.
There's probably more but as it is, sleep is gonna happen.
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FYI I'm not the GM in question. I just heard the story. Most players abide by the muster process, and don't use their special message boards status to get around it. A formal apology to your GM and abiding by the same rules everyone else does in the future would probably be appropriate.
Fighting cronyism in all its forms,
The Shadow Lodge