Appearances - May 2016

I have two appearances coming up!

First at 42 Ale House, on Friday, May 20th, I'll be hosting another edition of Dungeons and Dragons and Drinking. I'll be talking about a variety of RPGs, then mingling with everyone. It's there for players looking for groups, groups looking for players and the curious who want to know more about pretending to be an elf.

Then, over Memorial Day Weekend, I'll be a guest at this year's Nexus Game Fair. I'll be running Firefly and CHILL at the convention, and sitting on a few panels too.

Come say hi!

Classic Con Report - Nexus Game Fair 2015

High light:  Walking through the con and just stopping and talking to people be they friends, fans or other pros.

Low light: Many of the seminars and panels were sparsely attended. Everyone was too busy playing games, I guess.

Best experience: The Milwaukee Company of Gamers bringing their truck full of games and letting me play games that I might take home at a later con.

Worst experience: Save Game and Atomic Robo were underattended. Ghostbusters Fate rocked, so maybe more Fate adaptations of popular media to get people on board with trying it out.

Best bargain (had to buy it, no freebies): Both the silent auction and the trade booth allowed me to get some good deals without spending money.

Best Freebie: My business dinner with Jason Hardy, the Shadowrun developer, about [REDACTED].

Most welcome surprise: Meeting fans of this very blog. Sometimes, writing can feel like you're just screaming into the darkness. It's nice to see I connect with people and that they care enough to seek me out.

Most unwelcome surprise: The scratch in my passenger door that one of the hotel guests left on Snubfighter.

Games played: 
Ghostbusters Fate
Feng Shui 2
Colt Express
Firefly RPG
Tales of the Arabian Nights
Eldritch Horror
Kaiju Incorporated

Coolest booth and why: The con shirt makers could customize your shirts at the show. I know have a shirt with my Twitter handle on it!

Strangest moment: Having a small but fierce following show up at my various events. You guys rock.

Favorite item available in the Exhibit Hall: Dojo, a card drafting kung fu battle game, is now on Kickstarter.

Stuff traded:
Pathfinder Card Game packs
Forbidden Lore Eldritch Lore expansion

Stuff got for free:
Guest of Honor experience
Nexus T-shirt
Nexus plastic cup

Stuff that was wanted that was unavailable:
I'd love to see more board game prototypes at the show.

Things to buy after Nexus:
Colt Express is likely going to punch, shoot and run its way into my game library.
Likely to pick up the expansions for Eldritch Horror, which I enjoyed much more than it's older sibling.

Best Quote:
"Acquire! Acquire! Acquire!"

Nexus Game Fair - Schedule

This weekend, from June 25th - 28th at the Crowne Plaza Hotel - Milwaukee Airport, I'll be a Guest of Honor for the second annual Nexus Game Fair. In addition to the tournaments and MilCog's ginormous board game library, I'll be involved with games, panels and wandering around talking with designers. Here's where I'll be officially:

Thursday - 7 PM: Ghostbusters - Satanic Panic (SOLD OUT)

I'm running a session of my Fate hack for Ghostbusters at the show. We'll make up a franchise and get down to busting heads...in a spiritual sense of course.

Friday - 10 AM: Feng Shui 2 - Demo

I'm pinch hitting for Cam Banks who had to cancel his appearance at the con. As a Feng Shui 2 backer, I'm excited to get the game on the road and kick some butt!

Friday - 6 PM: Fun Facts About Fate

If you've ever wanted to pick my brain about Fate, here's your chance. I'm talking about the different variations and my experiences working with Evil Hat.

Friday - 7 PM: Firefly RPG - All In The Family (SOLD OUT)

I'm running an adventure out of one of the books for a Full Boat: 9 players, each taking a role of the Serenity Crew!

Sunday - 1 PM: Atomic Robo RPG - Neil DeGrasse Tyson Is Missing!

Sign up as Tesladyne interns assigned to pick up the famous scientist for a meeting with Robo...and then brainstorm to figure out what happened to him!

Even if events are sold out, don't fret. I'll be running these events again at Gamehole Con in November, and feel free to swing by and see if people dropped out.

Fate Hack - Ghostbusters, Too!

As part of my con programming for this year, I'm running a Ghostbusters game using Fate. Seems easy enough, since I already did one, right? I decided to take another swing at it now that I have two more years of Fate design under my belt, and Atomic Robo had some neat ideas about brainstorming and building gadgets. Summer is sequel season at the movies, so here's my second crack at a Ghostbusters hack after the jump.

Classic Con Report - Nexus Game Fair

High light:  An excellent first year con. My handler, Stephanie, was on point the entire convention, keeping the hydration flowing and arriving just in the nick of time with more food vouchers. If I get asked back next year, I definitely want her helping me again. 

Low light: I still have yet to play Artemis, despite it being right there for free at this show, with Ben playing hours and hours and hours of it..

Best experience: an excellent 8-player game of Firefly on Saturday afternoon. One person away from unlocking the Full Boat Firefly GM Achievement.

Worst experience: The construction around the hotel was pretty intense. It normally should take about 10 minutes to get there from Stately O'Wieland Manor, but detours and dodge turns almost made me late for a couple of events.

Best bargain (had to buy it, no freebies): The free party cup offered soda for a buck anywhere in the hotel.

Best Freebie: Nexus treated me well as a Guest of Honor with free passes, food vouchers, a free shirt and party cup.

Most welcome surprise: The food at the hotel restaurant was surprisingly good.

Most unwelcome surprise: Many of the seminars and panels were sparsely attended. Everyone was too busy playing games, I guess.

Games played: 
Firefly
Camelot Trigger
Save Game
Doomtown Reloaded
Police Precinct

Coolest booth and why: I arranged an excellent trade with the guys at Chimera Games which provided the loots pictured above.

Strangest moment: Al Snow, professional wrestler, randomly showed up as a guest on Saturday.

Favorite item available in the Exhibit Hall: There were a lot o old-school game sellers there, including a run of Gangbusters adventures which I have already.

Stuff bought:
Deadlands Reloaded: Last Sons
Deadlands Reloaded: Smith and Robards
Edge of the Empire: Suns of Fortune
Edge of the Empire: Beyond the Rim
Smash Up: Science Fiction Double Feature
Smash Up: Obligatory Cthulhu Set
X-Wing: TIE Fighter
X-Wing: HWK
X-Wing: B-Wing

Stuff got for free:
Guest of Honor experience
Nexus T-shirt
Nexus plastic cup

Stuff that was wanted that was unavailable:
Looks like I may have to invest in the AEG Big Box for Smash-Up at Gen Con now.

Things to buy after Nexus:
Doomtown, though that's coming at Gen Con.

Best Quote:
"You're like a magical robot!"

Save Game - Nexus Game Fair Preview

Friday marks the first public playtest of Save Game at Nexus Game Fair. There are tickets still available if you'll be in the Milwaukee area. The manuscript is currently at edit stage, so I thought a sneak peek at the characters I'll be using would be a fun little tease. These characters only have their High Concept and Trouble aspects, since we'll be generating Inventory Aspects at the table. Check them out after the jump!

Nexus Game Fair Schedule

I'm a guest of honor at the Nexus Game Fair here in Milwaukee, WI from June 19th - June 22nd. There are a lot of excellent people at the show, but, for some reason, if you want to come and see me instead, here's where I'll be. The demos are all sold out, but there are plenty of tickets available for the Firefly seminar.

Thursday, June 19th:

6 PM: Camelot Trigger Demo

Friday, June 20th:

4 PM: Firefly RPG seminar

7 PM: Save Game public playtest

Saturday, June 21st:

Noon - Firefly Demo "Bucking the Tiger"
6 PM - Firefly Demo "Bucking the Tiger"

In addition, my friends at Plot Points podcast will be doing a live show at 8PM on Friday.