Things got a little hectic at GenCon so the rest of my posts will have to be summarized in one. When last I left off, I was getting ready for my evening LARP on Thursday night. This one was based on the Spycraft RPG from Crafty Games and took place on a research facility in Antarctica. I walked into the room and was only the second female in the room so I was a little concerned that maybe I missed some directions. It worked okay though. I ended up playing a doctor sent by the Agency to assess the research being done at the facility. I was able to accomplish my main objective. The latter part moved a little slowly after that but I think that was more because not all of the GMs they were expecting showed. The story was interesting though.
On Friday, my LARPs didn't start until the afternoon so I spent the morning just relaxing. I went for a swim and took care of some things online and reviewed my character data for my first LARP that afternoon. This one was set in Paris in a vaguely Victorian+fantasy setting. I played a sorceress with a scientific bent who was invited to an evening party because her recent work had put her in the press a lot. This suited her interests because it meant having the opportunity to network with new potential clients. I ended up accomplishing my task but there were all sorts of subplots I completely missed out on.
Afterwards, I had a quick dinner and met my husband for dessert at Circle City Bar and Grille in the Marriott Hotel. They really make an effort to accommodate the geek clientele that descends upon the city with special menus and decorations. And the food is pretty good too. I only had dessert but I almost never order dessert in restaurants because the quality is only fair to middling most of the time. This was amazing however. It was a "butter cake" which had a flavor and texture somewhere between a sugar cookie and a pound cake with ice cream and some sort of creamy egg custard poured over it. So rich and so sinful and so good.
That evening I played in a Castle Falkenstein game based on the Courting Murder scenarios. This game focused more on figuring out the various plots and subplots and attempting to manipulate the situation to work out in one's characters favor. I failed miserably at this one. I enjoyed it, but I think this type of game may not be the best fit for me. At least without some sort of puzzle or task to throw in. It is interesting how one's alliances change when they find out you might be useful in a pinch. It was also a little weird because I had found I was willing to start being more brave and come out of my comfort zone a bit in the LARPs I had participated in until this one. It may have been that I actually new some of the other players which threw off my game a little bit. I am not sure. Interesting dynamics and I learned some things.
Saturday morning was the LARP I attempted to costume for. I borrowed a skirt and blouse from a friend (along with an unbelievably fabulous hat) and I made a vest to go with it so that I could be vaguely suitable for a steampunk LARP. This LARP was billed as being more "immersible" and I thought my modern dress would stand out more in this scenario.
When I started signing up for events after GenCon registration, I wasn't really sure where to begin. I don't know that much about LARPing or where I fit in the genre. Also, from some pre-Con advice I received, GenCon LARPs can be so widely variable from one group to the next so you can't always imagine just what exactly to expect. I ended up choosing this LARP for a very silly reason...the group hosting it dubbed themselves "The League of Unspeakable Adventure" and I thought that if the name was any indication they must be be fun. And they were. The set was indescribably cool...in fact I forgot a couple of times that walls weren't walls and almost knocked them over. The GMs were great. It took me a while to warm up into my character (which was really more me then the group I believe) but once I came up with an idea and went to the GMs for help, they were totally game. They went out of their way to help me with my idea and help make things work. And I don't think it was just me. I talked to some other people who played other LARPs they ran that weekend and even though the experiences were vastly different in terms of the way the story evolved they too sounded like the GMs really did their best to make the game fun and successful. They work with the Rise of Aester world. If this group comes back next year I will absolutely sign up for whatever they run. I need to start working on my steampunk costuming
After that, I changed and headed over to the exhibit hall to do my crawl through the vendors. There is a ton of stuff to see and hear. I heard the TARDIS music and was immediately drawn to it. It was interesting to see all the demos and games taking place. Gaming really exists on a multitude of levels and it is going in so many exciting new directions. I drooled over the model building stuff. I really loved dioramas as a kid. In fact in school whenever a diorama project came up, I was there. I built some really fun stuff in our basement when I was a kid. Nothing brilliant mind you but I really loved it. I think I would get into model building as an adult except it is really expensive and there isn't a good place for it. It was fun to stare at the displays though and imagine. I watched some board games. It is interesting that the games I thought I would love were not quite what I expected, and the games that seemed less then stellar grabbed my attention in the end. I really liked Fortune and Glory from Flying Frog Games. I also picked up a copy of the game Impossible Machine. It is a simple mechanic but I like the concept. And, Brothers Knudson are good at including visual aids in their game instructions.
Some of the artists I saw that I liked (including Echo of course):
Jared Blando - I really liked his cartography work.
Doug Kovacs - he had some really interesting Green Man based art work
Fallenlights - she had some really lovely pieces and I think some of my friends have some of her work because I have seen them before. I actually bought a little pin from her booth
John Stanko - I thought his work really had a life and vitality of his own. I was really moved by the emotions he was able to capture on the subjects faces.
I met up with my husband after my crawl and we went out for dinner at a sushi restaurant and then I headed off to play True Dungeon. This game was a last minute addition to my schedule. I enjoyed the experience immensely but I was also frustrated by this game. Knowing what to expect though I fully plan to play again in the future. The interactive puzzles were fun even with some set backs. The dragon ultimately ate my face.
This doesn't even cover all the other intangible GenCon impressions. Some of the costumes were so amazing. And, I really liked the feeling that people seemed like they were free to be themselves. I don't think I have ever been somewhere that people could just explore their weird geekiness in a non-judgemental way.
I definitely had a great time and I am already thinking about all the things I want to do next year.
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