GenCon '14 Part 2: Let's Not Count Days

I awoke each morning in Indy with the sun was howling to me, though we had an enclosed suite overlooking an indoor swimming pool with only skylights . For mysterious reasons, I felt fair-haired again, which I haven't since being airborne in straight leg units back in the early 90s. I got to practice mental skills that I don't get to often in the world that is not filled with Gamer Dorks. The gathering is a small city of such beings for at least three days each year, like Brigadoon.This year's convention was everything that the GenCon convention is supposed to be on hyper-drive. 

Quick Notes:
My post-apocalyptic game Glow sessions, ran by TimS and myself, help get some concepts down a bit more solidly for the final product, whenever that comes out. I am not sure if the world needs another set of world holocaust game rules, but my setting might just be going places.

Spacers (TM) is doing just fine. I've been experimenting the the genre for ten years. When I sit down to get "Spacers: Universes" together, things are going to come together nicely. Mind you, it won't be Traveller. No, it'll be Spacers.

I took a baby-step with my card-driven RPG Crawlspace  proved that there is a market for the "horror at midnight" that isn't CoC. Next year, I'll make more of the events just to test that it wasn't just the return of a couple friends and a couple interested purchasers that made the session worth while. GenCon will be the perfect spot to try out a different sub-genre of horror, up to three a year. I get a tingly feeling thinking about it.

Tunnels and Trolls games are going strongly, without me as a main driver, and I can still get a table full, a goal for the last last eleven years.

The Trollgod Sub-Plot
While Ken and I would see each other at certain points, but either of us were on the way to running our games. Then on Saturday night, Peryton started sharing little tales of her last conversation with the man. 
My main man! MY woman! Should I be jealous?  Something told me to hold on. 

Booth Monkeys On a Chain
Thanks to JerryTel and Peryton, I became a pretty good manager. Jerry for his enthusiasm and Robin for her reluctance but wherewithal. He jumped in feet first, organizing everybody who would earn badges with "Peryton Publishing" on the face. She is always like acting that she was being fed spinach, until it matters. No seriously, one time she didn't have chair to sit down, she tried to hide behind Exile Games backdrop to not have to talk to strangers. I felt I had to be the kingpin, which both of the mentioned will say to me, "NO DUH" after reading this.
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And the other other personages, need to be mentioned:

Sligo and WEB, they are not men to be triffled with.

 TimS while being an diligent and conscientious new-person-to-GenCon,refused to be daunted, if a little disoriented. He actually wanted to volunteer to be a convention volunteer as well as PeryPubber next year. I told him to go with the convention, he'll always be welcomed  as a PeryPubber anyway.
Sligo, made sure he ran games to "pay" for his badge. When one of his tables came up empty, he worked of my slots, and found a GMless group afterwards just for kicks. 
Just listening to Cramm run an awesome swords and sorcery game, what can I say about him? This man is a better GM than I am. I disagree with his T&T, but I have to love his style. He'll still have to be burnt at the stake.
Darrenn Canton finally hung for a whole night, and even jumped in to help out at the booth when I wasn't around.
For some reason LinZ still comes around, despite the fact that I am such a terrible writer. At least her and Joe, her hubby, bring their own drunks around so I have some company.
Bill Bricker, WEB, is almost as crazy as I am. I found out that I am his project. I am pretty okay with that, he brings out good writing in me.

Tim and Curtis who ran the best Cards Against Humanity game that I've ever seen. But they helped Pery slink off whenever they could.
Paul 2.0 because he finally re-surfaced after a few years, and has yet to not provide helpful feedback.
Randy Market, Markt (from now on), got pulled around a bit, but he's tough enough to be a PeryPubber. And he's an awesome scenario designer.
And Batman, who turned his attention onto me on Thursday to help me despite his busy schedule. 
But I am not including Caed. One because she's my virtual kid sister, and a man's gotta be a man. Mostly, I didn't get to meet her son and his wife. Glow is beckoning the couple to the wastelands of the future.

I Loves Me Some Batman (Cosplayers)
While Tim (of Curtis and Tim) and I had to laugh at a couple of public meltdowns by some amateur cosplayers, I have to say that I found some very talented impromtu performers of the Kabuki theater that costume-wearers perform each year at the more up-scale of cons. Nice thing about GenCon is that they stay approachable. That's mostly because everyone walking around the place is already high on the opioid of their own minds. But here are some pictures.

So going to be incorporated into the print version of Kopfy's Swamp Of Doom.

And I loves me some DC and Fantasy.

The Artistic Box

A nice thing about the Crowne Plaza hotel is the fact that exhibitors, authors, and artists that have bought space at the convention get to reside there. And the place kind of makes you feel like like you're living in a toy boy to begin with. Besides having rooms set into old train cars, there are 5/6 size sculptures of folks from 1875-1900 placed along major walkways.  The employees themselves were happy to have TSR-spawn there and not just for the tips, a number were gamers themselves.

I felt like I was in the Free-City of Frankfort in 1865 as I spoke with Scott Glancy of Pagan Publishing about the more obscure points of WWI, German Unification and Call of Cthulhu. Of course, I was ever the Bavarian. 

And then around 11pm on Saturday night, our house-sitter phoned us to tell Peryton and me that our townhouse in Cleveland had been burglarized...