Gencon – Friday
The Hangover
No, not the movie. Friday morning I was forced to descend into the Underworld and rescue all that was good in me. The portal to Hades was made of porcelain.
The Dealer’s Room
Probably the main attraction at Gencon is the dealer’s room. The dealer’s room is a room inside the convention center that could comfortably house the city of Dehli filled to the bursting with booths. And oh what wonders to be found therein.
I knew steampunk was big now, but didn’t understand just how big. Probably twenty percent of the booths in the dealer’s room was clothing shops specializing in steampunk clothing. Gone are the armor and sword booths that I remember from years past. Instead all you could see as you moved around was brass and leather. I think there were more sets of goggles at Gencon this year than Burning Man. I picked up a beautiful pocket watch with visible spinning gears, and half the people I know bought corsets.
Surprisingly there were virtually no video games on display this year. I remember huge World of Warcraft displays, City of Heroes, Skyrim . . . anything remotely applicable to sci-fi/fantasy. The only game I saw on display was Artemis, which is still awesome. A roguish figure whispered to me that there were hidden Battletech pods around somewhere, but he disappeared before telling me how to find them. I believe he was killed for revealing too much.
I spent way too much money, but came away with some fat loot and good ideas for things I want in the future.
Dorks in Dungeons
A few of my friends went to a comedy show on Thursday night on a lark, and aggressively demanded that the rest of us attend the Friday night showing. I’m glad I did.
I’m not going to talk a lot about Dorks in Dungeons here because I’m going to write an entire article about them in the future, but it was probably the funniest performance I’ve ever seen, live or on television. They are essentially an improv troupe that half plays and half larps a silly DnD like game on stage while asking the audience for suggestions on various situations they encounter. It sounds like it could be kind of lame, but it turns out to be a lot like “Who’s Line Is It Anyway?” if that show were created by Wil Wheaton. (Speaking of Wheaton, I passed him today sitting next to a lifesize cardboard cutout of himself. It was a little weird.)
If you ever have a chance to see these folks, DO IT. Request them at conventions. They are awesome.
