GENCON DAZE AND KNIGHTS: Vlad & Greg Go To Hell

[William the Bloody]

Gencon Daze and Knights

The Glorious Gencon Adventure:
Vlad and Greg Go To Hell

WEDNESDAY

Check-In
Things were looking normal. I had picked Greg up at the airport without major incident; infact I had managed to avoid paying for parking. (Yes Greg, I mailed them the check for the broken automated guard arm. *cough* Really!)

We cut through Indy with ease and arrived at Maryland Street, directly across from the Convention center. After nearly causing a traffic pileup due to inept valets and an already full, severely poorly placed parking garage at the Hyatt, I managed to find parking for my 300 foot truck and trailer (Okay, its more like maybe 30-35 feet... but sheesh! ) at the Westin hotel next door. Full of anticipation, Greg and I traversed the busy street. (Yo, Greg, really, you can jaywalk. All the cool kids are doing it now!)

Greg and I checked in at the Hyatt. Already gamers are all over the place and I was seeing familiar faces from the last decade and a half of my life. There was a cute little brunette counter girl that was obviously flirting with Greg, but he paid no notice of her. I think it's somethign to do with that Jedi code of ethics. *sigh* So, in the universe's best interest towards balance, I hit on her unabashedly while Greg had some huge, male, blonde Swede (I think his name was Sven...seriously!) check him in.

Greg's room: 2005. Kewl, I thought...easy to remember. It was on the ride up twenty floors on the glass-sided elevator that Greg mentions his fear of heights. But he steadied himself and we shoved his luggage into the room. I looked around: nice place!
Here's his bathroom.

So we get to the Center and make it in the front doors. Of course the first thing we see are the armed guards. I don't know where they got their uniforms from...Imperial surplus, I believe.

We quickly made our way past. I noticed Greg kept mumbling to himself "These are not the gamers you are looking for..move along." Eventually he stopped this behavior and I soon forgot about it. We made our way to Will Call and Greg stepped up to the desk, asking aobut his papers. He was so intent on the procedure that I don't think he realized just how close he came to being dinner for the orc lurking at the next counter.

Oh well, Fate favors drunkards and fools (and I am not sayin who is whom!)... we managed to get his paperwork without further incident.

Now, it was my intention to secure myself a locker prior to the 4 day event, but, when I approached the area, I saw that it was under heavy security.

I tried muttering Greg's "these are not the gamers you are looking for" mantra...but alas, it seems I lack that certain something. I quickly decided to abort my locker mission for the time being. I also "decided" to forgo my Gencon t-shirt mission as well. (Okay, okay, I forgot... happy now?!)

So, Greg and I headed back over to the Westin, our new task to retrieve my truck before I owed them several appendages. We quickly rambled down to the gate, towing my bike. At this point we met a barrier. There was a trainee at the gate and her supervisor felt hte need to make sure she dotted all her "i"'s and crossed all her "t"'s (and dangled her "g"'s and crossed her "x"'s...) This pair decided that we owed them 12,000 credits for dumping our load of spice when we were boarded.... errr, I mean they decided that I owed them 12 bucks for hte 45 minutes worth of parking! "That's inconceivable," I said. The supervisor said something about that not meaning what I thought it meant, but I ignored her. I was informed that it was $6 for the first hour of parking and since I had two vehicles, they would be double charging me.

Tempted as I was to say "Fine.. I have 12 more minutes" and jsut park there at the exit booth for the remainder, I handed out the ransom they wanted and said somethign to the effect "I'll never stay here again, I'll tell all my friends...highway robbery... I know for a fact that you only charge 3 bucks an hour regularly.... Damn purple-belly Alliance medddlers!" Of course they may not have heard me as, by that time, I was driving down the street with my window rolled up. I consoled myself with the recent profitable Airport Parking Caper. Feeling slightly better, I whipped out my comlink...err cell phone and called up my local connections to see about grub and entertainment. Two wild and crazy guys had jsut hit Indy and were looking to sin. By chance, Greg and I were there, too.

[William the Bloody]

Gencon Daze and Knights

The Glorious Gencon Adventure:
Vlad and Greg Go To Hell

WEDNESDAY

D&D: Dinner and Darts
I made contact with my two Indy compatriots and together we worked out a complicated rendevouz involving stoplights, malls, and the Outback. I eventualy broke the code and told Greg that dinner was going to be at a steakhouse located behind the Castleton Mall at 6pm. I could see the relief in his eyes. We were going to eat beef after all. Meanwhile, we had a couple hours to kill. I dumped off my trailer, bike and luggage at my friends. Rather than go back downtown and face the Alliance fascists hoarding all the parking, I decided to take Greg to one of my local dens of villainy...errr, I mean, take him to my favorite gameshop across town.

He was mightily impressed with the selection of used games and seemed to enjoy arguing debating talking with the knowledgable and opionated proprietor. Time quickly passed and we headed over to the Outback.

Dinner was fairly uneventful. My friends showed up and they and Greg seemed to hit it off. Dinner was normal Outback: great flavored if a little tough sirloin steak, big tasty baked potato and assorted salads and soups. I think Greg ate his only green and leafy's for hte entire event. Like I am to judge? I had the potato soup. ;D

We left hte Outback and parted ways... my friends had to attend some co-ed volleyball club thingy they had jsut joined and would be at until 10 (or later if there were any good lookin single gals.) I took Greg back to my friends' empty house and discovered that I had no online access (desktop computer had been loaned out a few weeks back!) and Brent had finally made good on his threat and canceled his normally unwatched cable. Greg and I lasted maybe ten minutes in this deafening lack of stimulation. Next thing I knew, I had him on the back of my bike and we hit the highway, looking for adventure...or whatever would come our way. He looked particularly fetching in the pink helmet. (Okay, I am kidding...all my helmets are black. Who would have guessed? )

We rode about 15-20 minutes to a little Irish pub I have occasionally frequented. I ordered my traditional VO and coke and Greg ordered a Coke. I think we got his free as a designated driver. (I told you he looked fetching in that helmet!) So, we flirted with the lady bartender, the really cute drink gal and mingled with the blue collar crowd. A skunky beer that was passed around to all patrons with a command "Hey, taste this." offered up at least 10 minutes of hilarity. As much fun as that was, it was time to get back to my friends'... they would be home soon and we had darts to throw!

I slipped back on the bike, it roared to life and I decided it was time to show Greg what it would do. I have heard reports that we were doing maybe 55 or so. That would be fine if the "or so" was like 85-90... The wind was rushing past our ears, tugging at our bodies, bloomin' onion recipes were being solicited and Greg was clinched tightly to the seat behind me. We made it home in short time. He told me he enjoyed it a lot as I was gently prying his fingers from the grab bars.

B&B: Bullseyes and Bullsh*t
My friend Brent wussied out, claiming he needed sleep or something before work the next day. But we met Charles at Chalkies, a smoke free bar that caters to pool and darts. Unfortunately I had left my own darts and cue stick at Brents. We decided to play darts since we all universally suck at the game. We had a really cheerful cute little waitress that attended to our every need and drink order. Once more, Greg was flirted at but, like any young Jedi in search of the balance of the force, he maintained a cool exterior. She didn't even notice his darts hitting the wall instead of the board whenever she happened along. Around midnight or so we decided to call it quits. I drove Greg the 20 minutes to his hotel and then returned to slumber in the futon with my name on it at my friends.

Unfortunately, this wasn't to be the case. I discovered that I had left my entire itinerary at home. With some minor begging and offer of sexual favors (which he thankfully turned down!) my friend Charles lent me his laptop 'puter. So between online charts and graphs and the official Gencon Program I had picked up at the Con Center (this puppy is as thick as a GQ magazine!... Hey, I don't read GQ, but I have had to move it at the barber shop while going for an issue of Field and Stream or Motor Trend ) I was able to re-piece together the majority of the things I wanted to do over the 4 days. Of course, by this time it was 5AM and I had to be up at 7AM to make it to the Con by 9am so I could buy those damnable t-shirts at the gift store opening. Yep, Gencon was looking to be exactly like all the previous ones. I wonder what it's like to be there with appropriate sleep. I laid out my outfit for hte next day ( black Blue Sun T-shirt, carpenter jean shorts and socks ) and collapsed to sleep the sleep of the "for a short time only" dead.

Tomorrow, tune in for more exciting adventures (and loads more pictures!) Same Vlad channel; Same Vlad time

Vlad

[William the Bloody]

Gencon Daze and Knights

The Glorious Gencon Adventure:
Vlad and Greg Go To Hell

THURSDAY

Brent's B&B
My cellphone's alarm went off, blaring its annoying computer rendition of The Entertainer. I rolled over and blinked at it, trying to get some sort of tears to hydrate my contacts which now bore a striking resemblance to fishscales. I rustled around in my jeans on the floor near the futon and dug out my little bottle of saline and *plop*... *plop.* Just add water, instant eyes! At this point I figured it was probably a good idea to go ahead and switch of the alarm on the phone before Charles and Brent started having strange dreams about Redford and Newman. Really, they jsut live together platonically! Not that there's anythign wrong with th....

I drug myself off the sofa, stumbled my way to the suitcase and dug out my undies, shorts and toiletries and managed to find my way to the shower. Ah, yes, a Gencon morning, like soooo many others.

After a quick shower, shave and toothbrushing, I began feeling almost human again. I dressed in my black Blue Sun tee and quickly ate a mini-raspberry muffin, took my preventative painkillers and slurped down a couple ounces of OJ. Bless Brent's little heart... there's something to be said for staying at Brent's Bed and Breakfast: room service is prompt and free! I collected my gear, carefully prepared the night before and did a quick check-off of all the important items:

-badge with the day's tickets...check...
-placed over neck so as to not lose....check...
-camera...check...
-Backpack with box of dice; Shadowrun book; bottle of water in insulated cover; pencil case with assorted writing implements, tape measure, calculator; extra painkllers...check.

I made sure my wallet was firmly in place and slipped my cellphone into my pocket. I checked the time: 7:45. I thought, "Not bad Vlad, you're on schedule."

Hurry, Hurry, Wait
I left Brent's, swung into a Hardee's along the way and bought a NEW pork chop biscuit combo, upsizing it for the BIG coke. As I drove, I inhaled the tater tots, tossed the greasy biscuit aside and munched on the pork chop (amazingly not bad) and slurped down copious amounts of the Coke. Ahhh...caffeine! I weaved through the Thursday morning Meridian Street traffic with ease, laughing as my Magnum V6 burned vast amounts of fossil fuels to make each light. Gas was still only a mere $2.55 then.

After a quick trial and error of parking garages (Oh no, Westin Hotel, you won't see any more of MY money this trip!) I parked in stall 7 in the nearby Circle Center Mall parking garage, on the 5th floor near the elevator. I noticed on the way up that the first 4 floors were already full. Looked to be a large crowd this year! I checked the time: 8:15. Once more, not bad. I hustled out, down the connecting tunnel to the Con Center. I swung by the Welcome stand and grabbed my now second bag of "goodies" and another GQ sized Program. Then I made my way down to the Gift Shop. I saw a moderate sized line. With no people behind the counter, the darkened display cases loomed ominously. I noticed a sign nearby: Gift Shop Hours. Peering closer I saw that it said the Gift Shop would open promptly at 9am. I groaned, checking my clock: 8:25. I took my place in line, behind a pair of Gencon veterans arguing about the relative worth of some cards in a trading card game of which I had never heard. Some hardcore Gencon mom with her 6 year old son stepped into line behind me. Within one minute the kid was on my last nerve, whining at his mom over not having some type cards in his goodie bag. I rustled around in my bag, pulled out the juvenile pack of cards he was whining about and presented it to him. This shut him up for a few minutes and I got a look of appreciation from mom. I sat down on the floor and began looking trough the program.

Skipping the boring parts and the game listings , I went straight for the map of the dealer room, plotting out my potential path to the Serenity booth, #611. The kid managed to wander off with some other adult that I assumed was supposed to have him. I wondered briefly if I was bad for not really caring. I decided that it wasn't a karmic black stain and began digging around in my goodie bag. Sure enough, there was the offical Gencon coupon book. This year's sucked compared to the last two years: no food coupons for nearby restaurants. Then I saw a coupon for 5 dollars off for every $50 spent at the Gift Shop. I stopped in mid "WOOT", however, as I saw the fine print said "for "classic stock only." This meant, in human terms, "last years crap that didn't sell out." Oh well. The line began really growing behind me.

Finally I saw the lights go on at the Gift Shop. I checked the time: 9:00. Within minutes the line began shuffling forward. I was actually up to the counter in less than 10 minutes! Looking up, I saw this year's shirts were so-so, but at least an improvement over last years.

This Year's Authentic Genuine Commemorative Gencon T-Shirt

I told the slack-jawed kid behind the counter I wanted a large, an XL and could I see a man's small of the red commemorative shirts, please? He looked at me blankly. I began looking for his Wonderfalls yellow vest. Nope, but he sure was WF material! I slowly repeated myself using the smallest words possible. He left and came back with a shirt: the large. I asked about the XL and the small. He left and came back with one: the XL. I began to realize 'it's one item at a time' with him. I asked to "see" a small... This was obviously too much for his little brain. Finally, a gal standing nearby leaned down, rustled around and pulled up a t-shirt, handing it to him. He thrust it at me. I checked it and it looked waaay too large for my brother's wife. I gritted my teeth and asked the helpful lady standing nearby if I could see a woman's medium, handing over the small. She rustled around and, presto, there was a shirt in my hand. I quickly checked it: looked good to me!

I moved down the line and waited to make my purchase. I noticed a sign that said they were offering commemorative Star Wars bric-a-brac with the purchase of a shirt; it was left over from the Star Wars convention last April. When I reached the register, I asked about the extras and she handed me one for each shirt. Cool!

Then she rang me up: 75 bucks. As I dug out the bills, she asked for my coupon. I started to say "But that's for the old stuff." Catching myself, I rumaged the booklet out and tore the coupon loose, handing it to her. She took off 5 dollars from each shirt. Obviously something was wrong with the universe. I handed her 3 twenties quietly and slinked away, mentally calculating that she had just made up for yesterday's parking fiasco. And I had cool Star Wars memorabelia to boot! I now probably had a tiny black spot on my karma chart, but hey, 15 bucks is 15 bucks. Besides, who was I to ruin her self image by telling her she was doing her job wrong?

[William the Bloody]

Savvy Browncoats
I walked down to the Dealer's Room that was to open at 10am. Already there was quite a crowd.

I checked my phone: 9:30. I decided it was time to call Greg. He answered on the second ring. I told him it was his wake-up call. Laughing, he told me he was already down at the vending doors, waiting to get let in. After looking around and not seeing his tall body, I inquired as to his location. Turned out he was at another set of doors around the corner. I hesitantly left my sterling position and made my way to him. Gencon is notorious for not opening all the doors to vending in the morning. He insisted he had it on good authority that his doors would be opening at 10.

I had to admit that his crowd was indeed smaller than mine. This really didn't make me feel much better , though. What were the odds we knew more than... the rest of these geeks?

After we found one another we went over our plans. Both of us wanted to get the Serenity RPG and he also wanted another new game that was being released. I told him fine, I'd go for hte Serenity books and he could dash for the Mutants and Masterminds. With that kind of cooperation, we could conquer the entire universe...or at least get a jump on the ruffians surrounding us. We edged through the throng and got within 6 feet of the doors.

Promptly at 10:05 (after them toying with us unmerciously by locking and unlocking hte doors several times for a few minutes) the doors were thrown open. Both Greg and I were inside in a flash and I began vaulting over tables and cutting through displays still being setup, making my way for the Serenity booth.

I glanced once and saw a far off Greg doing much the same. It looked like we had a good lead on most of the crowd. I arrived at booth #611 quickly (that program studying at the Gift shop paid off!) and found myself to be the eighth person in line. People were already thronging behind me. I reached ahead of me (to the baleful eye of one of the booth venders) and grabbed two of the game books (to an even more baleful eye), quickly checking them for any obvious distress. It seemed I had chosen well: two pristine copies of the Serinty RPG were in my hands. I felt giddy!

I followed the queue along, folk chatting excitedly, already the crowd in the hall becoming a sort of vague roaring backdrop. I noticed that a man in a suit was signing the books immediately before each purchase. When I reached him, I handed him my two books. Somehow I inferred that he was hte author, Jamie Chambers. As he signed both the books with a silver Sharpie, I asked him about when the "supplements would be coming out." He laughed at me and said "Hey, not bad.. it only took half a dozen people before I got that question." He then went on to tell me that there was a game screen and a few adventures to be released over hte next couple months and that a lot would depend on sales. I collected my swag, paid the lady 80 bucks, slipped the books into the safety of my padded backpack and made off for the other side of the hall, in search of my compatriot, Greg.

As I neared his booth, scanning the crowd for him, I saw that he was jsut receiving his change from the vending person, his own purchase clutched firmly in hand. I marveled at my timing. I slid over beside him, grabbed his arm and moved him to a quieter location. I slung off my backpack and handed him his copy of the book, signature and all. He admired it, ohhing and awwing and then handed me my 40 bucks. Thus far, it had been a really good day!






All Roads Lead To Roam-ing
It was at this time I looked around and saw where I had drug Greg off to to make our covert swap. We were standing in the middle of the Axis & Allies display near the middle of the dealer's hall. All around us were lifesized implements of war! I fired up the trusty digital camera and took a quick snap of Greg.

I saw Greg then go for his his own camera, slung high on his hip like some western marshal.

With nary a fumble, we both managed a snap of each other.

To this day, no man can say who won that contest... but from his lack of flash, I think I bested him. I am sure there are other opinions.

Putting away our implements of digital destruction, I checked my cell phone: 10:15. I had tickets for an early Shadowrun game that would run from Noon to 4pm. That left Greg and I maybe 45 minutes together to roam through part of the vending area, then another 45 minutes or so for lunch. It sounded do-able. Quickly we formulized a strategic plan for reconoitering the event (okay, it basically amounted to starting at one end and working our way to the other.. but I tell you, it's hard to move from the middle to one end without stopping along the way. People (and even more nefarious things) reach out and grab you!)

Avoiding all eye contact with dealers, we quickly made our way to one end and began checking out the merchandise. I noticed early that Greg, for all his Jedi mind powers, was easily swayed by the hypnotic summonings of the vendors. We spent several minutes studying some software for a game that I could make no heads nor tails of. It reminded me of a combination of Civiliation and Qbert. Greg was fascinated and I was mildly disturbed. I took the opportunity to browse the nearby boothes, looking surrepticiously around for the infamous chainmail chics. I didn't see any thus far, but, hey, it was Thursday and this was only aisle one. I settled for taking pictures of some of the better banners and promo displays.

Finally Greg managed to drag himself away. I checked him over carefully to make sure they had left no parasites or tracking devices on him. He seemed no worse for wear. We moved on. As soon as I was out of eyesight, I chucked the fliers the dastardly Qbert/Civ guys had handed me.

The next couple aisles went by without much note. Lots of dealers hawking their wares, eyes bright, smiles not too plastic yet. Freebies were being handed out, mostly of the "crap flier" quality. I noticed distinctly less "good swag" was being offered this year. Damn gas prices!

We were about a third of the way through the aisles when suddenly Greg sees the huge banner above him:

CITY OF HEROES -TRADING CARD GAME

[/color][/size][/CENTER]

He looked at me, I looked at him. There was a childlike pleading in his demeaner. I knew I had lost him. I resignedly said "Hey, you want to go take a look at the City of..." He was gone so fast that I had to fight to keep the oxygen in my lungs. I trailed along and the huckster demo guy invited us both to sit down and try a demo. I waved him off, pointing to my salivating friend. "Not me... this is your man." I gestured to Greg who was already slinging off his backpack, sitting down and I think even had pointed questions to ask. I watched for a minute or two, then when I thought I could interupt, I told Greg I would be over at the Shadowrun booth, buying the new Fourth Edition that was being released at the con. He mumbled something at me that I took for an "Okay" and then was immediately back to the intricities of the game at hand.

I slogged off, alone, through the crowd to the Shadowrun booth.

Stay tuned for Vlad's Amazing Shadowrun Booth Adventure, Let's Do Lunch and also Meet the real Mal and Jayne: Vlad and Greg go 'Out in the Black'.

[William the Bloody]

Gencon Daze and Knights

The Glorious Gencon Adventure:
Vlad and Greg Go To Hell

Run, Run. See Vlad Run.
So, I made my way over to the Shadowrun booth, a little over halfway across the huge vending area. Several times I stopped to take my bearings, record aisle numbers, take in provisions and rest, but eventually, just as I thought I was nearing the fabled booth, I found myself standing in front of hte autograph signing area. Our Madam President was there, as well as Shephard Book! The lines aren't horrible, but I pretty much refuse to pay for autographs and since I had nothing to really say to either of them, I decided to try to take a picture or two.

Now, taking pictures at these events is always tricky. You have to time it correctly and do it subvertly, otherwise security hassles you, forcing you to delete the pictures from your camera. So, I backed way off, feigned interest in some anonymous nearby game booth and readied my camera. Set zoom...check. Flash off...check. I was ready for my mission.

Using the copious crowd for my cover, I slinked to a mid-position. And snap... move quickly and snap number 2. Just about that time one of the huge security guards (he can be seen over the President's left shoulder; bald and wearing the snazzy wrap-arounds ) saw what I was doing and with a bellowing "Hey!" launched himself from the podium, dispersing my quickly disipating crowd. I punched hte off button on my camera as I quickly made for my escape route, pre-chosen. I ditched the goon about an aisle away from the signing podium by slipping into a belly dancing oufit booth. Sometimes it's good to be wearing anonymous Gencon black and jeans. ;D I peeped between the skirts and dresses and scarves to see him paw around the aisle like a mad bull and then finally he headed back to the stage, frustrated. I took the time to check my pictures: they sucked!

Oh well, I had all weekend... me and The Bull would surely spar again.

Skirting the signing area for the moment, I made my way over to the Shadowrun booth. Not seeing a huge line, but only a handful of gamers surrounding it, I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. I shook it off and strode up to the counter, scanning the assorted paraphanelia strewn about upon it. Then I ask the counter gal "Okay..4th Edition...?"

She informs me that "due to a problem with the printing company, they had absolutely no 4th Editions to sell that morning." They were hoping for copies to arrive as early as the next morning. I took the news well, thinking at least I hadn't missed out on my copy. I glanced over the rest of their wares, seeing a new Shadowrun t-shirt. Classy classic logo in red on a black T; it was perfect! I rummaged through the very small stack on the counter but found nothing but smalls and 2XLs. I enquired. The gal and Rob Boyle (the guy with the green hair; he's the line developer for Shadowrun) in unison proclaim "due to a problem with the shirt printers, we have absolutely no large or extra large t-shirts." They were optomistic that they would have "larges and extra larges in by either close of the day or the next morning. Would I care to buy one of hte other t-shirts?"

Yeah, riiiight. I said "no thanks" to the other shirts, grabbed up a few posters left over from previous years and a quickstart setup rule book that was free since it wouldn't work with the new system (it did however have a whole scenario included in it that I hadn't run my players on before!) and decided it was time to check on Greg.

Using my notes, the aisle banners, a compass and some triangulation equations, I managed to make my way back to the City of Heros area. Alas, I was too late! It seemed Greg had lost and paid the ultimate penalty. Tough game!

I look around and then realized it wasn't Greg, but some other unfortunate gamer. Greg had, in fact, won his demo. I rushed over before he jumped up on the table to spike his cards in the face of the unlucky demo guy. Talking him down, I mentioned that the celebrity signers were in action. We wandered over to the area and he took a gander upon the preacher and the president. I wisely stayed out of sight; The Bull still seemed to be sniffing around for my scent.

Vlad and Greg Do Lunch
After Greg had satisfied his voyueristic nature, we decided to make our way to lunch. Without speaking, we made our way to the attached Circle Center mall. I asked him what he was hungry for. Without hesitation he said "Johnny Rocket's! I could go for a burger and a vanilla shake." I agreed and we slid by his hotel room (which was located directly on the way) to dump off his purchases.

We arrived at JR's and quickly ordered. Greg loves JR's and should any of you ladies ever decide to pursue him romantically, know that there is no quicker way to his heart than via a fresh, hand-dipped vanilla milkshake.

Lunch went smoothly and soon I had out my remaining tickets for hte day. I showed Greg where I had written down the room and table numbers for the Serenity RPG game. It was sold out but I wanted to swing by and check it out anyway. Who knew, sometimes there are openings and I had the foresight to purchase generic tickets for the both of us.

We made our way back the Con Center and on the way in I checked out hte locker situation. The main block was all rented but I remembered they have a "hidden" block near the restrooms close to the Vendor's area. I checked in there.. and sure enough, there were a few lockers available. I dropped off my books and my other assorted posters and such from vending. From this point on, Vlad had a locker that only cost him 50 cents upon each opening. I was king of the world! Well, at least lighter. I made sure I had my Serenity RPG book and my dice. We made our way to the Rim upstairs to get a ship and find a crew.

Vlad and Greg go "Out in the Black"
"Ya know, your coat is sort of a brownish color... "
We hustled upstairs. It was noon on the nose and we started looking for the Serenity tables. There were supposed to be two demo games being played and we found several more than that. About that time a woman proudly wearing a Serenity RPG shirt asked "Who's here to play Serenity? " Quickly Greg and I raised hands and manuevered to hide those shorter folk behind us. The lady smiled and said you, you, you and you... and... (To be fair, I quit paying attention at this point because Greg and I were in the first couple "yous")

We made our way to a table and the woman sat down. I looked around at our companions as they took their own seats. A motley crew it appeared to be. I glanced down at the table; character sheets were already laying out, xeroxes of the original characters from the new book. Mal was laying tantalizingly close to my seat.

The woman was friendly and gregarious. Holding up the sheets she asked who wanted to be whom. There was a silence for all of one second and hten Greg roard "Jayne!" He then slipped into character as hte lady handed him the sheet, reciting assorted dialogue from the series. The woman then held up the "Mal" sheey. "Okay, who wants to be Mal?" There was silence. I glanced around the table, noticing most people's eyes were not making contact. "Oh what the heck," I said. "I'll be Mal." She handed me the character sheet and with a smile said "Now, be aware, if you are taking Mal, you are going to be in charge...orderin folk about and whatnot. Are you capable?" I reckoned I was the man she was lookin' for and it was agreed. "Jayne" said something rather uncouth and mouthy and I immediately hit him with the tried and true "Jayne, your mouth's talkin. Best be looking to that." This got a laugh from the group and the GM, The rest of hte characters went quickly now that the ice had been broken.

For the most part, the character choices fit, until we got to "Kaylee." As you can see from the picture, it took some effort to sustain disbelief. Actually, I had met the man playing Kaylee before; he was a Shadowrun GM and I had played in one of his SR Tournament sessions hte year before. As I figured, he made a terrific Kaylee. The guy playing Zoe also ended up playing Wash, as he really never left hte ship and was jsut htere for piloting.

We had a really good session for a bunch of folks trying to play a new game. The rules are pretty straightforward and the GM emphasized the roleplaying aspects more than the mechanics. Aside from the kid playing Simon (who had never seen the show before! and we conveniently learned to leave aboard ship) everyone was a good to great roleplayer. I want to mention right here that Greg played a perfect "Jayne." Rough and obnoxious and completely willing to do anything for either a good time or money. I, as Mal, spent a lot of time being hte "face" for the group and trying to arrange business deals, keeping Jayne in line, and trying to figure out how to steal a compression coil from a junkyard for Kaylee without her knowing it was outright theft. I spent quite a bit of time bickering with "Inara" as the gal playing her was quite a good role player as well.

The basic mission came down to: We were broke and nearly stranded on Whitefall (yes, the Patience moon, but we were on the other side, thankfully) after having delivered a cargo of beagles. We were arranging to take on a shipment of cattle in this god forsaken nowhere of a place (why they wanted beagles I never figured out and was afraid to ask), when we were approached by two men that wanted off-planet in a hurry. They offer to pay "well" and I grudgingly (and knowing full well that this wasn't going to go smoothly) accepted their offer.

Once in the sky, we discovered that one of the men is a former Independant general that hadn't given up fighting the war yet. His "flagship" was preparing to be destroyed as a great Unification Day event by the Alliance. We decided to steal it (and the platinum that was secreted aboard it.) We scoped it out, and I came up with a plan. Using a split team, a "crybaby" and Serenity, still loaded to the gills with cattle , we managed to make hte Alliance think it was being attacked by Reavers "elsewhere" Jayne (Greg), Zoe, Mal (me) and Kaylee snuck aboard and lifted off in the general's old ship, getting the jump on the Alliance patrol craft..

This being a demo, that's where the mission ended, with us being successful. I think we all had a good time in our 4 hours ('cept for maybe the Doc... he was a bit off-putting. Where's a good bunch of hill folk when you need them?) And for those of you wondering, Book was "at a mission" somewhere off ship and River was heavily sedated in the medbay.

4:00-6:30: The following events take place in real time...
At this point Greg and I parted ways for the day. I went back to the roiling mass that was the vending area and checked out a few more booths. The Shadowrun shirts were not in yet. I was astonished. I took a few more pictures:


A Girlfiend and her Ghoulfriend ;D

The Grim Reaper as portrayed by a TX100

Bet this ticked off a bunch of hardcore Bangles!

Spike's on the official "ANGEL RPG" gamescreen ;D

After wandering around I made my way back over to the Circle Center Mall for the food court at about 6pm. I bought a big plate of Bourbon Chicken and rice and beans and an ala cart order of the honey glazed chicken. Packing it carefully into my back pack, I made my way back to the Center via the catwalk. Stopping along hte way, I did the switchover of books from my truck parked conveniently in between the mall and the the center. I also discovered a machine that sold 20oz cold cokes for only 1.25! I stocked up by buying two of them. Being as they are 2.50 inside the Con Center, I felt like I had succeeded in something! I hit my locker, retrieved my dice and made my way back upstairs.

I plopped outside the Shadowrun room and began eating my dinner as the Game Masters meeting for the night was concluding. I was nearly the first one there. A group of 3 guys from Greenbay, WI showed up and we chatted. This was their first SR tourney but they seemed knowledgable on the game and easy to get along with. I already had them pegged as part of my six man "team" by the time the doors opened and hte GM meeting for the tourney was over. This year, by all that is right and good, I was determined to do better than 4th place, my standing for the last two years. I packed up what remained of my dinner and we went in to meet our doom.

Stay tuned for more of Vlad and Greg's Gencon Adventures! Coming soon... Vlad is "Fresh", Rockets Away: We do lunch!(again), and These two cops walk into a bar...