Intro to D&D
Meh, thats about all I can say about this session. The 5th edition is a solid traditional hack and slash RPG. More technically focused and regimented, and that has its place and is its own kind of fun. And I know some of you (if there actually are any readers out there) are saying to yourselves, "but you can ROLE play anything. It doesn't have to be all ROLL play!", I know that already. Now stop being obtuse and admit you know exactly what I am talking about. The story for the adventure was not compelling in any way, and the GM did little to give it the help it needed. GM was a rookie, and really shouldn't have been doing a convention, especially teaching new players. I don't fault him, but rather Baldman Games, who coordinate these events, and shoulder responsibility for their quality. My overall experience with D&D at Gencon is pretty consistent. Not Good. As in the quality is not good. At least its consistent.
Grade: D
Kobolds Ate My Baby
This turned out to be a completely impromptu thing. We popped by with generics on our way in, knowing it was sold out, but luckily there were 3 open seats. Awesome luck. Silly fun eating babies and getting killed. Poor unfortunate Kobolds. ALL HAIL KING TORG!
Grade: A
Artemis
We like this game and have played together at home Decent setup at the con, but nothing special.
Grade: B+
Extra Extra
Didn't play - no real instruction, just dropped a board game in our laps and expected us to teach ourselves. Disappointing.
Grade: F
Damage Report
Here was a fun, fast paced game of surviving and fixing a spaceship. A realtime board game. Each player has an hourglass to measure when they can act again. Lots of moving around, juggling resources, and prioritizing the repairs. Of course never knowing when or where the ship is going to get hit again is a problem. Also, try not to open an airlock with a shipmate in the room! A fun game, enough fun that we bought it
Grad: A-
Grow
Game was fun, rules explained by the designer, engaging, cute. I had backed their kickstarter, but its been years without a finished game :( - Update on this one, I finally got in touch with someone on Etsy who is selling the game. I told him about my kickstarter pledge, he asked me for my pledge number, and said he'd send me the game. This is notable because this person is NOT the people who did the kickstarter. They somehow and for some reason decided to sell all our shit to another person? I'm pissed at the creators, but grateful for the person running this Etsy for being accommodating.
Grade: A for gameplay and an interesting concept. F----- for execution and business follow through
The Whispering Road
This is an interesting story game, written by my friend, Brent Newhall. Its hard to explain so I'll let his website do the talking. I'm not an anime guy, so a lot of the background or style was lost on me, but the game was fun. It provided room to create for my girls in ways that a more rigid structured game like D&D does not. http://brentnewhall.com/games/doku.php?id=games:whispering_road
Grade: A
Gen Con with Kids
Its definitely a completely different experience. Right off the bat, I'm looking at more limited hours. You cant keep a 10yo up until midnight and up at 6am for 4 days in a row. They are a puddle of tears by the end of the first day. It's just too much. So it was 8am start, and 9pm to bed each night. But all in all it was a great experience because I got to share it with my daughters. Just the three of us, memories that are special and ours.
Grade: A+
Cosplaying
Outside of halloween, this was my very first time since becoming an adult that I wore a costume for something. We wanted to do some kind of theme and settled on Firefly. I went as Wash, my oldest as Kaylee, and my middle daughter as River. We did it the same day that I had gotten a ticket for an autograph/picture with Summer Glau. Ellie (Kaylee) got a lot of attention, many people complimenting her and some asking to pose for pictures. I think she enjoyed that. Sadly most people did not recognize Hannah as River, who doesn't have such a distinctive costume. Which made her sad, and you could tell by the look on her face.
So we get to the line for the meet with Summer, and I'm managing kid emotions. They are both being good sports about it and getting along nicely. Not an easy thing for a 10 and 12yo to do all the time. We get to the front and immediately upon seeing my Hannah, Summer exclaims "oh my god, you're dressed like River!", and gave her a hug. Summer looked up making eye contact with me and I put my hands in the prayer position, and mouthed the words "thank you" to her. She was a lovely young lady, who cheered up my daughter at absolutely the perfect moment. I'll probably remember that one forever.
Summer, if for some insane coincidence of the universe you're reading this, thank you again, from the bottom of my heart
Grade: A+++
Artemis
We like this game and have played together at home Decent setup at the con, but nothing special.
Grade: B+
Extra Extra
Didn't play - no real instruction, just dropped a board game in our laps and expected us to teach ourselves. Disappointing.
Grade: F
Damage Report
Here was a fun, fast paced game of surviving and fixing a spaceship. A realtime board game. Each player has an hourglass to measure when they can act again. Lots of moving around, juggling resources, and prioritizing the repairs. Of course never knowing when or where the ship is going to get hit again is a problem. Also, try not to open an airlock with a shipmate in the room! A fun game, enough fun that we bought it
Grad: A-
Grow
Game was fun, rules explained by the designer, engaging, cute. I had backed their kickstarter, but its been years without a finished game :( - Update on this one, I finally got in touch with someone on Etsy who is selling the game. I told him about my kickstarter pledge, he asked me for my pledge number, and said he'd send me the game. This is notable because this person is NOT the people who did the kickstarter. They somehow and for some reason decided to sell all our shit to another person? I'm pissed at the creators, but grateful for the person running this Etsy for being accommodating.
Grade: A for gameplay and an interesting concept. F----- for execution and business follow through
The Whispering Road
This is an interesting story game, written by my friend, Brent Newhall. Its hard to explain so I'll let his website do the talking. I'm not an anime guy, so a lot of the background or style was lost on me, but the game was fun. It provided room to create for my girls in ways that a more rigid structured game like D&D does not. http://brentnewhall.com/games/doku.php?id=games:whispering_road
Grade: A
Gen Con with Kids
Its definitely a completely different experience. Right off the bat, I'm looking at more limited hours. You cant keep a 10yo up until midnight and up at 6am for 4 days in a row. They are a puddle of tears by the end of the first day. It's just too much. So it was 8am start, and 9pm to bed each night. But all in all it was a great experience because I got to share it with my daughters. Just the three of us, memories that are special and ours.
Grade: A+
Cosplaying
Outside of halloween, this was my very first time since becoming an adult that I wore a costume for something. We wanted to do some kind of theme and settled on Firefly. I went as Wash, my oldest as Kaylee, and my middle daughter as River. We did it the same day that I had gotten a ticket for an autograph/picture with Summer Glau. Ellie (Kaylee) got a lot of attention, many people complimenting her and some asking to pose for pictures. I think she enjoyed that. Sadly most people did not recognize Hannah as River, who doesn't have such a distinctive costume. Which made her sad, and you could tell by the look on her face.
So we get to the line for the meet with Summer, and I'm managing kid emotions. They are both being good sports about it and getting along nicely. Not an easy thing for a 10 and 12yo to do all the time. We get to the front and immediately upon seeing my Hannah, Summer exclaims "oh my god, you're dressed like River!", and gave her a hug. Summer looked up making eye contact with me and I put my hands in the prayer position, and mouthed the words "thank you" to her. She was a lovely young lady, who cheered up my daughter at absolutely the perfect moment. I'll probably remember that one forever.
Summer, if for some insane coincidence of the universe you're reading this, thank you again, from the bottom of my heart
Grade: A+++
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