Table-Top Panels at PAX Prime 2012
*Image Credit: Giant Bomb‘s awesome PAX East 2012 gallery.
PAX is upon us! When I decided to move to Seattle, I had no inkling that the biggest reason I’d want to stay in the city was a (then reasonably sized) convention called PAX. If you’re the target audience for this trade convention, you probably already know what it is: the biggest convention for nerds of any type.
While table-top games have always had a strong presence, the genius cross-pollination between Penny-Arcade and Wizards of the Coast has exploded table-top gaming at the con. This year’s table-top panels scintillate with possibility, they are going to put up a good fight for my PAX-minutes this year. I went through the schedule and detailed what caught my eye. Be warned, this is a very subjective list; I left a few panels out because they seemed only tangentially related to table-top or because I found them silly.
Friday Panels
11:30-4:00 Table-Top – Puzzle Strike 2nd Edition Tournament
I’ve never been tempted to spend my valuable PAX-minutes on a tournament, and I don’t think I’d normally suggest others to do so, either. But I do want to bring to your attention Puzzle Strike, the only board game that marries Dominion’s deck-drafting mechanics with an eerily accurate representation of Bust-a-Move. Yes, that video game.
4:00-5:00 Table-Top – Eberron and Beyond: World Design with Keith Baker
Eberron is my favorite published setting for D&D. Keith Baker managed to seamlessly introduce intrigue and politics into D&D without asking the game to make a single concession. I was disappointed to see that Eberron’s setting was ruthlessly smushed into a claustrophobic 288 page Campaign Guide for 4e; I’m eager to see what he’s up to nowadays.
4:30-5:30 Raven – Ask the DM
Chris Perkins is going to talk about running D&D games in a room that you could be in. You probably know Chris as the DM for the popular Penny-Arcade D&D podcasts, but his “The Dungeon Master Experience” column might be the sole source of solid DM’ing advice coming out of all of WotC’s online content.
9:00-10:00 Raven – The Art of the Table II: Return to the Table
A veritable gaggle of RPG Internet celebs talk about good GM’ing. Clearly more about strong nerdy personalities bouncing off of each other than giving solid advice, but a fun panel this late at night is a real find. If you can pull yourself away from the table-top free play, I’d suggest this one to fill your night hours.
Saturday Panels
10:00-11:00 Table-Top – D&D and Live Streaming (Thursday Knights)
While not really a “table-top” panel, I hadn’t heard of Thursday Knights until the PAX schedule came out. They’ve successfully marshaled technology to trap their chemistry as a D&D group in a podcast. No small feat!
1:00-2:00 Raven – The Future of D&D
GenCon just happened, I doubt Mike Mearls held back any revelations about D&D Next for PAX. (And he certainly didn’t reveal anything at GenCon, either.)
4:00-5:00 Table-Top – Setting the Mood
A bunch of overqualified people talk about making Call of Cthulhu scary at the table. Hearing career gamers that have had years to experiment discuss how they set the mood at the table sounds amazing.
6:00-7:00 Table-Top – Roleplaying Games Are Awesome.
Luke Crane and Jared Sorensen have a conversation about gaming that they normally would have had, except now you’re invited! These guys are gaming geniuses, if they talk about their field of expertise you should make every effort to witness it.
Sunday
10:30-11:30 Raven – The D&D You Never Knew
Luke Crane recently made an amazing G+ post about how his group fell in love with the 1981 Moldvay edition of D&D. They found hobby-defining revelations within, and Luke is clearly convinced that you will too. If you’ve ever gotten in a fight about recent editions, you’ll want to go to this panel to find out about the D&D you may have missed.
1:30-2:30 Raven – Magic: The Gathering World Building Panel
I’ve had a long, long love affair with Magic. I love nothing more than taking high level concepts and boiling them down into game mechanics that fit on a playing card. Also: they’ll have a Ravnica preview, meaning that the line for this panel will be four miles long.
4:00-5:00 Table Top – Sympathy for the Devil: Creating Killer Villains for Games and Books
I added this one because it looks badass. That’s all.
4:30-5:30 Unicorn – It Only Hurts When You Laugh
What is this? A panel with huge names talking about funny table-top gaming? Yeah, I’ll cap PAX off with a room where a ton of nerds telling funny stories.
