Gen Con 2023: Gamers Cranked Up to Eleven

Our Gen Con trip began with a surprise road closure.

I was heading to pick up my son and his SO when I encountered a highway shutdown for road crews to work at precisely the interchange I was about to use, so I had to go past that interchange, get off the highway at the next exit, and then swing around and head north instead of south. 

So... Although I began my trip earlier than in past years, we arrived at Indianapolis about 1/2 hour later than usual. 

"Slight chance of rain" my ass.

This year was going to be a bit of a throwback to years past, when I had to tightly control my budget due to unforeseen costs.* If I hadn't already bought tickets for this years' Gen Con, I would have likely had to beg off. Still, we had already committed to the trip and arrived at the Indianapolis Convention Center with a half an hour before the Main Hall opened up, and all we had to do was pick up our badges from Will Call and head inside.

Uh, about that Will Call line...

That line on the left? That's the Will Call
line behind us. Our line snaked to the doors
at the end then doubled back where
we were going. Yikes.

From that pic, the Will Call line in front of us stretched the entire length of this hallway, turned right and across a busy intersection, and then entered the "official" Will Call line. Although original estimates posted online were for a 2 hour wait, traversing the line took slightly less than an hour. Or, for people who ride roller coasters, the equivalent of one length of time to wait to get onto The Beast at Kings Island.

My occasional plug for The Beast,
the world's longest wooden roller coaster.
It is still the best coaster I've ever ridden on.
Photo from Kings Island.

In the meantime, I became "acquainted" with the fact that there's apparently an RPG based on Avatar: The Last Airbender:

The signs were everywhere.
Really.

Eventually, we made it through, got our badges, and then set forth to go to the Main Hall. I asked the other two if they were planning on heading off their own way, and he said, "Yeah, I'm gonna take a few pics and then we'll do our thing."

"Okay." I saw the big balloon display, this time with an Apollo Moon Landing theme:

Human Not Included.
(She was posing, but for who I don't know.)

After I snapped a pic or two, I turned back to my son and.... They were gone.

Okay, that's fine. Time to enter the Main Hall.

Looking left....

...center...

...and right.

Hoo boy.

***

I decided early on to limit myself to two items. I didn't have much choice in the matter, and I seriously considered reducing that to one, but I figured I should aim for something that's not easily found at my Friendly Local Game Store (FLGS)**.

The first area I spent some time in was Studio 2 Publishing, where RPGs such as Savage Worlds and Traveller could be found. And yes, because it's Traveller, that's where I stopped first.

Traveller isn't nearly as popular as Savage Worlds --hmm, I should do an "RPG From the Past" about Savage Worlds-- so when I showed up at the Traveller section one of the Mongoose Publishing people was happy to find another Traveller fan. We chatted a bit about the game and the new revised High Guard sourcebook that was published over the past year, and what campaigns he liked to play. 

Yes, this was one of my two purchases.

Among the ships inside is the iconic Far Trader,
the Empress Marava class. It may not look
like much, like some Scoundrel I know
likes to say, but it's got it where it counts.

The Mongoose team was going to leave at 1 PM that day, but Studio 2 was planning on being there until the Main Hall closed, which was 4 PM, so I didn't have to purchase right then and there, but that didn't stop the salesperson from trying. I did resist at that point --barely-- because I did want to peruse more sections first before circling around and buying the splatbook.

***

As I wandered the booths, I recalled another goal I had: to visit the Art Show area and provide some artists for my old WoW Classic friend/raid leader, Jesup, to peruse. She is unable to attend Gen Con, but is on the lookout for art for her house. So I spent spent some time talking to the artists at the show and taking some photos of their art to send back to Jes. 

I really liked the whimsy behind these drawings.

Jesup, for her part, was appreciative, and getting a chance to speak to the artists was fun as well. One thing that stood out to me during my chats was that a lot of the artists really liked to paint women. It didn't matter what gender the artists themselves were, that just seemed to be a universal constant. A lot of them got into art through reading Fantasy and Science Fiction, and naturally RPGs had an influence on them as well. Watercolors as a medium were very popular, as was digital. The one term I did NOT hear --and I dreaded bringing it up-- was AI.

The colors absolutely pop here.

One of the artists I spoke to at length admitted he was here to determine the viability of a store. He paints a lot of contract work, but he wants to branch out and reach people for direct sales, and he said that the reaction he's been getting at Gen Con has been very encouraging.

The stylized designs are fantastic in person.

I spent a bit of time asking this artist about
her inspiration, and she was happy to
'talk shop' for a bit. She also enjoyed getting
a chance to be at the con to talk with her
friends and fellow artists.

If there was one place that was going to test my resolve to limit my purchases, the Art Show was it. I survived, but oh was I tempted. I think the thing that kept me from pulling the trigger here wasn't so much a lack of desire, but in the back of my head I kept saying "Just where would you put this artwork, anyway?" And to that, I had no answer. (Yet.)

***

We reconnected for lunch, which for us typically means hitting the food court at the nearby mall. Given my dietary requirements, I tend to choose the least problematic path and get a few tacos from Taco Bell, although the food from the couple dozen food trucks outside the Convention Center looks far more appealing.  I know that Taco Bell and 'least problematic' aren't what you typically put together, but I know the nutritional data for the crunchy taco and can fit it into my dietary restrictions without much effort. Almost all of the other options, while potentially better tasting for me, have a lot of carbs or sodium (frequently both), and I can't really risk that. 

During lunch, I asked my son if he went to the Warhammer area first, and he sheepishly grinned and admitted they made a beeline for there as soon as my back was turned. I then noticed the rather large bag with "Warhammer" designs all over it. He'd acquired a pack of Aeldari, which he informed me is one of the least popular factions in Warhammer. Apparently they weren't even in stock at the game store near Lancaster University, which he attended when he was studying abroad, so when he found it at Gen Con he quickly snapped it up. 

"Do you want to drop it off at the car?" I asked.

"No, because I can use the bag to carry other stuff as well."

His SO was in the process of tracking down a pair of ears --bunny ears, wolf ears, or something of that sort-- so they were plotting out their path to success. But that's one of the things about the con: you'd think it was strictly gamer related, but in spots it's just purely a geek hangout. Sure, it's as if Hot Topic had been dunked in a gamer vat, but that's fine. 'You be you' is what I'd say.

One thing I did see coming back from the food court was --ironically enough-- MMO related:

Who knew that World of Warcraft players
had an entire garage devoted to them?

***

When we returned the Main Hall, I encountered more evidence of Airbending:

Did I mention there was an Avatar: The
Last Airbender RPG out?

I made a point of picking up that Traveller book and then focusing on games that I found interesting. 

Such as The Plot Thickens by Bright Eye Games.

Yes, the box for each version is cleverly designed
to look like a book.

The Plot Thickens is a card game with three different yet compatible editions: Sci-Fi, Detective, and Romance. The game revolves around your ability to string together plot elements to create a story, and after the first round, you can begin to use cards that the other players have played to "thicken the plot" as it were from your own plot. For example, I held the cards Time Traveler, Undersea Base, Portal, Derelict Spaceship, and the profession "Engineer". I then had to string together the cards into a plot, such as "I'm an Engineer, and while exploring we came across a Derelict Spaceship, so we towed it back to our Underwater Base, and once we did so a Portal opened up and a Time Traveler stepped through." I'd have gotten 4 or so points for that work. Now, on the next round, another player could use one of the cards I played to incorporate it into their story, placing a marker on it, and gaining extra points for using the already played card.

I'm a bit hazy on final scoring, but the game played well enough, and even if you're not into playing the game the potential for writing prompts are pretty broad. The three published versions can be integrated with each other, so you could mesh Sci-Fi and Romance together, for instance. Apparently the "Loins" card in the Romance version has been used to hilarious effect in this fashion. The designer is working on new genres of the game, so watch this space for future iterations. 

I eventually made it over to the Modiphius Entertainment area, where I was hoping to see a copy of the Star Trek Adventures RPG splatbook Star Trek: Lower Decks Campaign Guide. 

The graphic is from Gizmodo.

Yes, the cartoon has come to life. So to speak.

Modiphius had the book ready for release just in time for Gen Con, and given that I've been a fan of meshing Star Trek with humor ever since the Original Series' Harry Mudd stories, I've been hoping to get a glimpse of how the splatbook worked.

Alas for me, they had none left on display by Sunday afternoon. I mean, if they sold out the copies they brought to Gen Con then that's a good thing, but I was kind of hoping to check it out.

Modiphius was also leaning heavily into their Dune RPG, which I still find... puzzling. It's not that the Dune universe couldn't be mined for RPG material, but that the novels focused so much on factional plotting that you don't get nearly as much of a glimpse of the universe as you'd expect. Or as my son put it, "the book focuses so much on Paul that I'm not sure what you can do for an RPG." The Dune boardgame has been rereleased after a long hiatus, and the factional nature of that game fits perfectly with the Dune universe, but still, I'm not sold on a Dune RPG. But apparently I'm in the minority, as Modiphius was doing some brisk business with the game.

Finally, there's a new RPG that Modiphius had a Starter Set available for sale: Dreams and Machines.

If you can imagine an RPG that scratches the itch that video games such as Anthem and Horizon: Zero Dawn, in a post apocalyptic world with sleeping gigantic terraforming robots littering the landscape, waiting to come back to life to finish their "programming" of destroying humanity. 

It looks really well done, but what especially interests me is the card-based character creation. I picked up the Quickstart available on Free RPG Day (because of course I did) and I came really close to pulling the trigger on this Starter Set.  I decided to wait until later, however, while I perused other game companies' work.

Such as, oh, What Steve Jackson Games has for Munchkin these days:

WARHAMMER Munchkin??
And Age of Sigmar at that.

But I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that an old classic was back for another drive around the block:

Oh wow.

Yes, Car Wars is back.

I remember playing the Commodore 64 equivalent of the game back in the day, so seeing the game back on the market makes me smile.

***

At one point I passed by a rather uniquely closed off booth with the entry guarded by a couple of people. "18+ Only" were the signs.

"What the--" I began, then I saw who it was.

Ah. That explains a lot.

I knew of Cosplay Deviants, so I understood why it was protected that way. 

Okay, I have to admit I was tempted to take a peek inside. I had some idea as to what might be there, such as calendars and even some of the Deviants themselves in their trademark risqué outfits, but I told myself that it wasn't worth it to take a look 'just because'. 

Good thing too, because after I took that photo and kept on going, less than a minute later my son caught up and surprised me from behind. Yeah, that would have been awkward.

***

The Modiphius Entertainment booth was on one corner of the Main Hall, and on the other end, diagonally, was Chaosium. Okay, Paizo was nearby, but there was a big crowd there already and I didn't feel like sticking my nose in there at the time. After working my way through a metric ton of people, and some with that characteristic "gamer funk" smell, I was happy to be away from the crowds for a bit.

So I got to pick the brains of a Chaosium rep, talking about a game I'd known about for a long time: Runequest. 

I remembered Runequest from the days when Avalon Hill --yes, the same Avalon Hill that is now owned by Hasbro-- owned the rights to publish the RPG. The Avalon Hill edition was nominally based on the world of Glorantha --a Bronze Age fantasy world created by the late Greg Stafford that actually predates Runequest itself-- but it was also generic enough that you could plug other sorts of homebrewed campaigns into the system. However, the current edition of Runequest is tightly integrated into the world of Glorantha, and the sourcebooks and whatnot are of very high quality. The rep strongly suggested I pick up the Runequest Starter Set to play, because it would do a much better job of explaining the world than he could. 

While I was considering that, I found a new version of Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur come to life:

Holy crap.

"I'd heard that a new version of Pendragon was coming out," I confessed to the Chaosium rep. "I just had no idea it was going to come out so soon."

The Chaosium rep told me that they started planning on a new version when they got the license back, but Greg Stafford had passed away before they could finish the job. So they spent a lot of time looking over the editions and Greg's sketches/notes, and have been steadily assembling a new edition.*** The new core rulebook is due out this Fall or Winter, so given the quality of the work that Chaosium has been putting out recently, it should be well worth the wait.

And yes, they had me at "Pendragon Starter Set".

I'll have to do "An RPG from the Past" on both
Pendragon and Runequest. For now, here's what's
inside the box for the Pendragon Starter Set. And
yes, unlike the early editions, you can have female
knights in the game. Score one for Linnawyn!

So I hit my two item limit and spent the rest of my time wandering around, enjoying the Main Hall without buying anything. I won't say I wasn't tempted, because I sure as hell was, but I set a hard budget and I stuck to it.

I did see some designs for games that I've already played in video game form, and while they look pretty I do have to wonder how they'll play out.

Such as Stellaris:

Yes, it does look pretty.

There was one item I was definitely curious about, which was the Ravensburger Limited Edition Gen Con 2023 jigsaw puzzle:

From comicbook.com.

I was at least curious as to whether it was still around and how much it cost. If it cost $20 or less, I could probably make it fit in my budget. When I arrived at the Ravensburger booth, however, their sign up on a door behind the counter had a lot of "Sold Out" all over it. 

I began to maneuver for a better look to see what was exactly sold out and I was stopped by one of their personnel. 

"This is the exit," they said. "You go around that way to the front."

"Okay," I replied, and stepped back.

Luckily for me, someone opened that door and the full sign swung into view, so I could get a good look.

"Sold Out, Sold Out, Sold Out, Sold Out. Got it. Thanks."

So yes, I embarrassed myself by not realizing the one location was the exit (it wasn't marked as such, btw), but I got over it. The puzzle was long gone.

***

Getting out of the parking garage was an adventure in patience, as we were on the fifth floor, but after about 20 minutes or so we finally got out and on the road home.

Unlike prior years, I actually got enough sleep the night before that I wasn't konking out on the drive back home. And believe me, that's a pretty rare event for me at Gen Con.

The crowd was significantly larger this year at Gen Con than last year, and today I saw the press release that over 70,000 attendees were at the con, up from 50,000 the year before. That explains the crowds and sweat and gamer funk in spots. 

As I told my son and his SO on the drive back, "Next year we're getting our badges early enough so that we don't have to stand in Will Call." That does have the additional advantage of being able to relax a bit before the Main Hall opened at 10 AM. And believe me, not standing in line for an hour does have its advantages. 

We did miss my sister-in-law's husband this year, as he was unable to attend due to a family matter. And hopefully, next year we won't have all sorts of money tied up with car repairs. (Or anything else, for that matter.)

#Blaugust2023

*This year it was the cars. All three cars required hefty repairs over the past 12 months, and 2 of them required major repairs in the past 2 months. And two weeks before the con, the A/C on the oldest car started misbehaving, so I know that I have to get that fixed this week. Oh yay.

**Woo, YottaQuest!

***For reference, Greg was able to see the current edition of Runequest's core rulebook out in print before he died, so at least he had that.

EtA: Clarified that I was talking about the Dune novels, not "books", as that could be construed to mean RPG books.

EtA: Added the #Blaugust2023 identifiers.