GenCon 2017

As I mentioned earlier this week, this past weekend was GenCon here in Indianapolis, Indiana. In case you are unfamiliar with it (and I am always amazed at the people who live in the Indy area and yet have no idea what it is), GenCon is the largest gaming convention in the world. Their motto is, "The Best Four Days in Gaming," and as far as I'm concerned, they live up to that claim 100%. This year was their biggest attendance yet, with well over 200,000 people in attendance over the four days. In fact, for the first time in their history, they sold out of admission badges the week before the event began. This convention is so large that it not only encompasses the entire Indianapolis Convention Center, but spills over into event areas of seven other nearby hotels as well as Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the Indianapolis Colts.

I got the chance to play several great games, including:

• Scythe, a 7 player asymmetrical civilization and warfare strategy game
• Clank, a deck-building adventure game (by the same company that makes the CCG Eternal)
• Ex Libris, a card drafting and set collection game that feels like something from the Harry Potter universe
• 7-Wonders Duel, a 2 player variant on the popular 7 Wonders civilization strategy game
• Yamatai, an Asian mythology themed route/network building strategy game that is highly reminiscent of 5 Tribes
• Imperial Settlers, a asymmetrical civilization card strategy game 

I also have to mention attending the fantastic Writer's Symposium, which is an entire mini-seminar within the conference itself that brings in the top authors in the science fiction and fantasy genre to host topical panels for aspiring and beginning authors. Just like in previous years, my wife and I got sit in on the live recorded sessions of Writing Excuses, which is highly recommended. And for once, they had the whole cast there, which has not happened in previous years.

But the highlight of the weekend was the special panels I got to attend with Patrick Rothfuss, Brandon Sanderson, and the cast of Critical Role. Rothfuss is absolutely hilarious in person; listening to him reading his Princess book is not to be missed. I also managed to get a special promo card from Sanderson for the Mistborn: House Wars board game that just arrived on my doorstep straight from its Kickstarter fulfillment. And last but not least, seeing the amazing cast of Critical Role is an experience that should not be missed.

If you're a gamer of any sort, you should come to GenCon. It's well worth whatever it takes to get you there.

More Miscellaneous Musing

There hasn't been much to share lately in the world of Standard Pauper, especially since I have barely been able to play the past month or so due to my schedule. BG Control continues to dominate the metagame, so if you have some tips or ideas on how to target that archetype, I'd still enjoy hearing them. But with little else to talk about (strange, given all the attention in Pauper around Eternal Masters), I thought I would simply share a random collection of things that I've been enjoying over the past couple weeks.

1. Soren Johnson (of Civilization IV fame) had a fantastic interview on the Designer Notes podcast about his new game, Offworld Trading Company, as well as some fascinating thoughts about video game and board design.

2. Speaking of board games, just today while mowing the lawn I listened to an interview on the Meeple Nation podcast of Dan Wells, author of the well-known horror thriller I Am Not a Serial Killer and cohost of the popular Writing Excuses podcast. Dan discusses his love of board games and particularly what attracts him to story-driven game play.

3. Somehow on YouTube I came across an indie strategy game from last year called Prison Architect, in which, as one might expect, you create and manage a prison. While this is not a game I think I ever would have picked up on my own, I've been watching Lets Play series by Sips and OfficialStuffPlus, and what I've seen has definitely caught my eye. I'm still not sure if I'll actually buy the game or simply scratch that itch by continue to watch other people play.

4. Finally, as I do every week, I have continued to enjoy the Dungeons and Dragons live shows Critical Role and Dice, Camera, Action. DMs Matt Mercer and Chris Perkins respectively make these shows what they are, and if you want to see roleplaying done well, you'd be hard pressed to find much better. I highly recommend you check both of these out.

If you've got some interesting content (particularly related to Standard Pauper) that you would like me to feature on my blog, please let me know! I always love hearing from my readers. Thanks as always for making me a part of your week. Until next time...

Critical Role

If you're a regular reader of my blog, it should come as no surprise to you that I am a major fan of all things fantasy, and that includes fantasy roleplaying games as well. I have participated in all sorts of tabletop RPGs off and on since high school, and in particular have enjoyed Dungeons and Dragons in most of its iterations (including its red-headed stepchild Pathfinder).

One of the players in my current game recommended a recent webcast series put on by Geek and Sundry called Critical Role. In the past I've tried to watch various recordings people have made of their roleplaying sessions, and by and large I have found them tedious watching at best. So, it wasn't until recently that I finally decided to go check out the show.

If you've ever wondered just how good a roleplaying gaming session could be, you need not look any further than Critical Role. Of course, it helps that the entire cast is made up of professional voice actors who had already played together for quite some time before making the show. It also doesn't hurt that the show has quite high production values, with an animated intro and backstory for all the characters, an overlay that integrates three cameras as well as Twitch chat, and excellent audio not only for each actor but also for background music and sound effects.

But it is really the chemistry among the DM and the characters that makes this so compelling. With just their voices and some minis moving around on hand-drawn maps, the cast brings their sessions to life. The DM draws upon his rich repertoire of voices to bring various NPCs to life, and has an excellent command of the game mechanics as well as the world the characters are playing in. The rest of the cast are genuinely focused on playing their role, and at times you can see the tension and joys on their faces as they experience the highs and lows of their adventures.

All of the past episodes are available on the main page; sadly, they can only be accessed via this page, as they are not reposted to YouTube or even available on their Twitch page. Each episode generally runs between three and four hours, so you've got an incredible amount of content to view if you're just now starting to watch. You can also watch each week's episode live on Thursday nights at 10pm EDT on their Twitch channel.

And now, I really must get back to watching. See you next time!