Our Trip to Lake Geneva
Gary Con... wow. So many amazing moments and emotions. So much planning, preparing, fretting, organizing, traveling, and before we knew it we were there. It's really hard to put this all into words, so I thought I'd do it with pictures.
Let's start with the packing! Here's our pre-Gary Con organization area. Lot of good it did me! I ended up forgetting some of my monsters for Star Wars DCC. No worries though, as I was able to access Google Docs during the game. Very grateful that the Grand Geneva had WiFi!
A little pre-Gary Con iced tea with +Jennifer Walls' stress relieving wizard.
If I was going to hold the wizard, I was holding my special d20 as well.
The view from our hotel room balcony.
This one was hard to look at and not get emotional. A table of honor for Dungeons & Dragons creator Gary Gygax. All of these items could be found at his table during gaming sessions with friends and family. A touching tribute to an incredible human being.
It wasn't hard to find after-hours gaming. I managed to get in on a little of +Doug Kovacs' Inferno Road DCC game.
I made sure to bring my silver cake mist so that someone could get shiny and chrome during the adventure. +Marc Plourde considered it, but it would be +Craig Stokes that would go all in.
ALL IN!
+David Baity's Dark Trails session was a weird western roller coaster of awesome! I got to play an Occultist and +Jennifer Walls was a spirit talking Calavera... not sure if I spelled that right. But wonderful classes! Really hope to see more of this... and maybe buy a shirt off of David.
Jen working out her character sheet.
My character, Doctor O, lopped his hand off mid-session and replaced it with a goaty hand. This was me doing the goat hand with +Craig Stokes.
The Growing Up Gygax panel with Gary Gygax's children was informative, touching, and warmly humorous. So glad that there are people who can tell Gary's story.
Just me and my legendary buddy +Marc Plourde being badass together.
I brought stuff to run a quick, one-hour player vs. player session of DCC Roman Gladiators. This turned into four straight hours of battling in the blood and sand.
Believe me, this game was off-the-charts crazy! Expect to see more gladiators soon...
The DCCRPG community really knows how to take up some room in the bar!
Friday morning began with +Harley Stroh's Warlords of the Purple Planet. This game needs to become something that I can spend a ton of cash on! Play a roving band of wasteland kith collecting green shards and battling worms? YES PLEASE!
I became quite the worm killer! No one killed as many worms as me!
Okay, this worm did me in.
The banner of the "Loathing Purplish Breeze." Note the three worm kills on top of the three "C's". Each one of those reflected me killing one of Connor Skatch's warbands. Dude, that kid can PLAY! I was lucky to keep the same warband until the end of the game. Then I died.
Running DCCRPG Stormtroopers of the First Order. Special thanks to +Sean P Kelley for the picture!
What a great table of players! Two of the gamers even kept their original character the entire game, never succumbing to PC death. Pretty epic for a funnel!
While I played Star Wars +Jennifer Walls and +Marc Plourde explored the Caverns of Thracia.
I don't know why Jen wanted to do Marc in...
In downtown Lake Geneva you can find a tiny plaque to Gary Gygax. A poignant and touching monument from the friends and family of Gary. Lake Geneva needs to do more for this man's memory.
+Doug Kovacs teaching the rules to Dogstorm. Imagine a miniatures combat game in a post apocalyptic world where dachshunds and rhinos can rain from the sky. That is Dogstorm.
Ready to weather the storm!
Holy crap, it's +Jarrett Crader!!!
My warband of elves led by Luke Skywalker.
Check out this terrain!
Check out +Jennifer Walls playing a miniatures wargame. What the heck, Gary Con! How did you turn Jen into a mini's gamer!?!
Got to spend a little time with +Jason Hobbs of the Hobbs & Friends of the OSR podcast. Got some podcasting tips to help my new "career" on Glowburn. Jen and I listened to Jason's podcast during our trip home, and really enjoyed it. You should check it out too, just follow this link.
Doug quizzing Joe Goodman on Lankhmar at the What's New with Goodman Games seminar. Joe didn't do so well, but fortunately he still kicked off the DCC Lankhmar Kickstarter for everyone! Go check it out and pledge today!
Jen witnessed the Judge's Guild Strongman contest. I still don't know how +Tim Deschene didn't win, after all those bodybuilding posts he puts up on Facebook. Shame!
The highlight of +Jennifer Walls' con experience was Mall Maul, the Crawling Under a Broken Moon tournament funnel with Judge +Jarrett Crader. I hope the foam wizard behaved itself!
DCCRPG Wrath of the Gungan Horde on Saturday. A perilous game, as this was the one where I forgot the monster stats!
Tamara named her Bounty Hunter "Sean Spicer." It drew a few looks from other tables throughout the game.
It was a game full of PvP action, double crosses, zombie gungans, and Jabba karaoke. Thanks for playing!
Although you can't tell from this pic, while I was talking with +Reid San Filippo, +Jennifer Walls got to play with Ernie Gygax's super-sweet dog. They had quite the game of fetch!
Got to play a halfling in a quick, 7th level pickup game with Judge +Michael Thompson. Sorry if I was in and out, dude! Thanks for the game and letting me experience higher level play for the very first time!
Speaking of this game, it was the first time I ever witnessed a PC break open a mech's cockpit and then take a dump on the pilot. You can guess who the player was...
... it was +Marc Plourde.
+Jennifer Walls and I enjoyed the alcohol based "Cultural Exchange" late Saturday night.
Goodbye Gary Con, Lake Geneva, and the Grand Geneva Resort...
... we'll see you next March!
PS: Thanks Gary...
