GenCon Day 2, The Rest of the Day
Aug. 20th, 2005 07:02 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shannon_aIt's Saturday morning now. For most of the con I've been feeling like I've been running on unnatural reserves of energy. Spending hours staffing the booth, walking the floor, talking to people, and selling RPGnet and Skotos should be exhausting, but I've been largely subsumed by a feeling of energy, warmth, and purpose that keeps me moving, walking and talking, even when the legs are aching, the voice is cracking, or I should be remembering that I still haven't eaten that day.
Today I woke up at about 8am feeling sick. An hour later it's subsumed a little bit, but not entirely vanished. It's like it's my body's way of saying, "Hey! Still here!" Stupid body. I could have gotten it an extra hour of sleep if it hadn't been so communicative this morning.
The rest of the exhibit hall time yesterday was largely uneventful. We gave out stuff at the booth. We covered the rest of aisles #1500-#1100, telling about RPGnet and setting up a few tenantives to talk to people later (after the con; after sanity returns after the con). And then the disembodied voices announced that the dealer room was closing, once more to the cheers of the crowd (of exhibitors).
The main focus of the evening afterward was![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
artegal and Kathy running Tomb of the Desert God as an RPG adventure. I was quite enthusiastic to play, because I've never played the online version, and I knew it would give me a better focus for the Lovecraft Country comic if (though it now looks like "when") I write additional issues, and because I wanted to see Kathy and Todd's style of Cthulhoid gaming. And because it sounded kinda fun, which I have to admit isn't the reaction I have to RPing most of the time nowadays, and was nice to have.
It was a tabletop RPG run, except we had maybe ten people, broken into three factions (MU, French, natives), so it naturally took on some LARPish tendencies too. Actually having sufficient room in the suite to walk around, talk, and all that, made LARPing more possible too.
I took on the role of Carlton Fletcher, the dilletante older brother of Seth Fletcher, the protagonist of my comic. I'd read his character before, but it had never really sunk in the way that something does when you roleplay. He's good natured but not really that useful, and I had a good time playing that up. I was bumbling, and not understanding of the intricaciees of things like bargaining, and at least once was told to shut up and go away, and it was all great fun.
In the end I ended up in a deep underground chamber without a lantern (which I'd never thought to grab) or a rifle (still on my camel), the fine Professor Newland fled in terror with the French, and I got eaten. It was almost a picture-perfect setup for the comic, minus the fact that Professor Harding wasn't along on the actual expedition, which he must have been during the comic book history.
The run was amusing & interesting, and I also enjoyed the fact that some of the players (lydialicious and Stacey L.) didn't really seem to have tabletop RPed before. (Though they've done plenty of RPing in general on Castle Marrach.) So, they were much more willing than your average RPer to really act. At one point, during a standoff between the expedition and the natives, Stacey screamed at them to back off and put down their weapons. It was wonderful, and later the player playing one of the main natives admitted he'd been terrified at that moment. Lydia also did a wonderful job of playing a hysterical daughter (May), on the verge. She'd been really worried about RPing a tabletop game, and she was one of the people who really made the game memorable.
I can still hear the sobbing and the screaming.
Today there's more boothing, and I want to cover the other half of the exhibit hall for RPGnet, since tomorrow is a shorter exhibit hall day and we'll have less players & staff around to help run things (since many need to be back to work on Monday & so are heading out). This evening is a pizza party and probably many hours of game playing back in the suite.
Today I woke up at about 8am feeling sick. An hour later it's subsumed a little bit, but not entirely vanished. It's like it's my body's way of saying, "Hey! Still here!" Stupid body. I could have gotten it an extra hour of sleep if it hadn't been so communicative this morning.
The rest of the exhibit hall time yesterday was largely uneventful. We gave out stuff at the booth. We covered the rest of aisles #1500-#1100, telling about RPGnet and setting up a few tenantives to talk to people later (after the con; after sanity returns after the con). And then the disembodied voices announced that the dealer room was closing, once more to the cheers of the crowd (of exhibitors).
The main focus of the evening afterward was
artegal and Kathy running Tomb of the Desert God as an RPG adventure. I was quite enthusiastic to play, because I've never played the online version, and I knew it would give me a better focus for the Lovecraft Country comic if (though it now looks like "when") I write additional issues, and because I wanted to see Kathy and Todd's style of Cthulhoid gaming. And because it sounded kinda fun, which I have to admit isn't the reaction I have to RPing most of the time nowadays, and was nice to have.It was a tabletop RPG run, except we had maybe ten people, broken into three factions (MU, French, natives), so it naturally took on some LARPish tendencies too. Actually having sufficient room in the suite to walk around, talk, and all that, made LARPing more possible too.
I took on the role of Carlton Fletcher, the dilletante older brother of Seth Fletcher, the protagonist of my comic. I'd read his character before, but it had never really sunk in the way that something does when you roleplay. He's good natured but not really that useful, and I had a good time playing that up. I was bumbling, and not understanding of the intricaciees of things like bargaining, and at least once was told to shut up and go away, and it was all great fun.
In the end I ended up in a deep underground chamber without a lantern (which I'd never thought to grab) or a rifle (still on my camel), the fine Professor Newland fled in terror with the French, and I got eaten. It was almost a picture-perfect setup for the comic, minus the fact that Professor Harding wasn't along on the actual expedition, which he must have been during the comic book history.
The run was amusing & interesting, and I also enjoyed the fact that some of the players (
lydialicious and Stacey L.) didn't really seem to have tabletop RPed before. (Though they've done plenty of RPing in general on Castle Marrach.) So, they were much more willing than your average RPer to really act. At one point, during a standoff between the expedition and the natives, Stacey screamed at them to back off and put down their weapons. It was wonderful, and later the player playing one of the main natives admitted he'd been terrified at that moment. Lydia also did a wonderful job of playing a hysterical daughter (May), on the verge. She'd been really worried about RPing a tabletop game, and she was one of the people who really made the game memorable.I can still hear the sobbing and the screaming.
Today there's more boothing, and I want to cover the other half of the exhibit hall for RPGnet, since tomorrow is a shorter exhibit hall day and we'll have less players & staff around to help run things (since many need to be back to work on Monday & so are heading out). This evening is a pizza party and probably many hours of game playing back in the suite.