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Gen Con Tips

I always collect a bunch of tips in my Gen Con posts, but then forget about them by the time Gen Con comes around. Here, I’m going to collect the tips and publish it on the Monday before Gen Con 2016. See, I’m writing the intro paragraph on Thursday, 6 Aug 2015 as I begin working on my Gen Con 2015 roundup. Planning!

For your arrival at Gen Con reserve space on Go Express (the $10 ride from Airport to hotels) in advance. The flights in on the day before the con are all looking to use the bus, and people with reservations were given priority. Do it on the website, though there is a small desk at the ground transportation centre (ground floor) that services Go Express as well as some other shuttles and the representative there might be able to help.

The Go Express shuttle service

There’s a food place under the escalators at the Indianapolis Convention Center which I believe is “Crossroads” that has an area to sit and WiFi. A couple of times I grabbed a single slice of pizza and checked my email there. If your hotel doesn’t have WiFi, this place is a saviour. It has been for me a few times.

Convention Center Floor Plans

Gen Con 2015 was the first time I heard about the Quiet Room, a place to just go and decompress for a little bit. It’s a great idea, and there were people napping, reading, or just sitting with their eyes closed and enjoying being out of the crowds and noise. It’s okay for babies if they are quiet, but in general, if the baby is being fussy, the monitors would ask the parent to please take the child elsewhere. There are other childcare facilities in the convention centre, and the quiet room was not for that purpose. If you need a place to chill, check the program for the location of the quiet room and take advantage of it.

 

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How I Survived 2015

2016 you say? Where did that year go?

Let’s see what happened in 2015 for me.

Nefertiti Overdrive
On 13 January, the Nefertiti Overdrive Kickstarter began with a target of $3,000 Canadian dollars. It closed on 10 February having raised $4,892 CAD. The amount that made it into my bank account was $4,387.19 CAD

The costs? $5,381.15 CAD
Editing $711
Art $1836.95
Design $905.00
Printing $800.13
Shipping $1,128.07

So, yes, I was in the hole $993.96 and this was mostly due to the drop in value of the Canadian dollar against the US dollar. I lost about $1,200 on the difference in value, so I would have come away with a little money in my pocket if the exchange rate had held.

All’s well that ends well, as Nefertiti Overdrive has been selling well and we are on target to get out of the red relatively quickly.

Bundle of Holding
Centurion: Legionaries of Rome was part of the IGDN Bundle at Bundle of Holding in February. This was my first experience being included in a BoH. I’ve purchased a few of them. There’ve been so many great collections I just couldn’t pass up. It was a great experience, yet another reason to be happy to have joined the Indie Game Developer Network. I got to be in a bundle with curse the darkness by Matthew McFarland at Growling Door Games, Edara by Carl Harrison and Ryan Schoon at Caelestis Designs, Fortune’s Fool by Jay Stratton at Pantheon Press, Misspent Youth by Rob Bohl, Psi-punk by Jacob Wood at Accessible Games, S.P.L.I.N.T.E.R. by Devon Oratz at End Transmission Games, Wu Xing by Eloy Lasanta at Third Eye Games, issues 4-7 of The Fate Codex magazine from Magpie Games, and a local favourite, Spark by Jason Pitre of Genesis of Legend.

Impressive company.

Gen Con
I was able to attend Gen Con 2015 and I had hoped to have the Nefertiti Overdrive books ready for it. Unfortunately, Gen Con was a couple of weeks early and the book was delayed in the layout phase. I had a PDF out to the backers before the convention, but no books. I was still able to run some games of Nefertiti Overdrive, and it was a great chance to get to know some of my colleagues at the Indie Game Developer Network.

Gen Con also provided the chance to sell a few books and it got me in touch with Indie Press Revolution, which now carries SEP’s systems.

Definitely a great investment!

Nefertiti Overdrive in Print!
And it was great to get the books out to the backers at the end of September. Much later than hoped, but there had been some issues with the cover and the time it took for proofs to get to me. Still, only one month late with delivering the book.

CGX
I attended Capitol Gaming Expo the first weekend in October with the plan to run some Nefertiti Overdrive and hangout with the crew from Ottawa Story Games community. I sold a few books – which was cool – met lots of awesome people, but didn’t actually get to run anything. This has not deterred me, and I plan on being at the next CGX in April of 2016 (and also at CanGames).

The Masters!
And I started a Masters program in October. It has taken up a huge amount of my free time, and so SEP and my Sword’s Edge blog have both suffered. I’m actually taking a break from schoolwork to write this. The program is set to take two years, but I hope to have it done by March 2017. We shall see.

Bundle of Holding, Take Two!
Nefertiti Overdrive was featured in the Indie Cornucopia +3 Bundle of Holding which kicked off 25 November. It was an insane collection of games, including Blood Red Sands, Circle of Hands, The Clay That Woke, The Gaean Reach, Starfall, and Urban Shadows. That puts me in company with Ralph Mazza, Ron Edwards, Paul Czege, Robin D. Laws, Paul Mitchener, Andrew Medeiros, and Mark Diaz Truman. Kind of makes one feel like one has arrived.

And that was my 2015. Next post I’ll share the numbers with you. Ignoring the Kickstarter, SEP did okay for sales in 2015. Nothing spectacular, but enough to make me happy.

As I hope you are in the coming year.

Stay frosty!
Fraser

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Gen Con Wrap-Up: Final Thoughts

So, Gen Con 2015 . . . what more can I say?

Listen, I love Gen Con. I really, really hope that I will get a chance to go again. There are always highlights and I get to meet friends that usually I can only wave to virtually.

And gaming, gaming, gaming.

But this time I learned not to overextend myself.

Do I want to do more interviews/demo more games next time? Of course.

Do I want to run more games next time? Of course.

Do I want to hang out with my friends, sometimes later than is rational or healthy? Absolutely.

If I learned a lesson this time, it is restraint. Don’t try to frontload everything. Don’t run more than two games in a day. Plan lots of down time. And if I’m feeling tired or run down but don’t want (or can’t) get back to the hotel, head to the Quiet Room.

Changes in my real life mean I might not be able to make it back next year or maybe not even in 2017, but I plan to return – whenever I can. My budget for Gen Con is about $1,000 USD (which is $1,250 CAD) which is a lot, but whenever I can afford to go and have the time to do so? You’ll be seeing me at Gen Con.

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Gen Con Wrap-Up: Sunday . . . I got nothin’

Sunday at Gen Con did not start well. If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll know I was out late – very, very late – with some friends on Saturday. I had my final game of Nefertiti Overdrive on Sunday, so I had to wake up. Because I had been careful to get enough sleep through the rest of the con, I got up around 07:00 and had breakfast. I didn’t feel horrible (as I expected I would), just kind of tired (big surprise).

I made it in plenty of time for the game, only to have nobody show up. Nobody. Out of six tickets sold for the game, nobody arrived. I don’t know how common that is. I expected at least one or two people, but it’s possible the tickets were sold to one group, or perhaps two different groups, and they had enjoyed themselves so much that they couldn’t drag themselves out of bed Sunday morning – or were having too much fun doing something else that they missed their 10:00 curtain.

Whatever the reason, but 10:30, with six no-shows, my Gen Con duties had ended. I went looking for the Lanzas and found Alex, one of my drinking buddies from the night before. We ended up chatting for a bit and taking up a lot of space at the Games on Demand table. I thought Alex was working there, but he had stopped by to talk to somebody else, so we were actually in the way of legitimate business.

After we found ourselves somewhere comfy to chat, Mark Diaz Truman showed up and asked if we wanted to join a game of Cartel, his new Powered by the Apocalypse game. After checking with the Lanzas about their lunch plans, I was able to jump in on the game.

I wrote about Cartel here. I really enjoyed the game, partly because I was playing with a very good group, but also it’s a fascinating situation and the rules really help to reinforce the setting and the feel of cool, Mexican, narco-criminality. It was quite easy to get immersed in the story, and building the interpersonal relationships was almost as fun as actually getting to play those out.

That was a great way to cap off Gen Con, but then I got to do lunch at Steak & Shake with the Lanzas. Those guys are a big reason I always want to go to Gen Con. And there are so many others. Gen Con, for me, is much more about the people than the big announcement, or the exhibitors’ hall, or any of the rest. I get to immerse myself in geekiness with some of the coolest people on the planet.

What is not to love?

After lunch, I offered to help with the tear down of the Indie Game Developer Network’s booth, but there were so many people there, I felt kind of useless. It was fascinating being in the hall as everyone is packing up and getting out.

After all was said and done, many from the IGDN gathered at the Weber Grill. A few last pints and a great burger later, and it was back to the hotel. I was with roomie Jason Pitre of Genesis of Legend Publishing, and we ran into a whole crowd from the IGDN shooting the shit in the lounge of the Embassy Suites.

I kind of wanted to stay and just listen the whole night, but I was wiped and went to crash. And so my Gen Con ended.

One more post to come with final thoughts on my Gen Con 2015.

You can find Steak & Shake here.

You can find the Weber Grill here.

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Gen Con Wrap-Up: Surviving Saturday

And then came Saturday.

Saturday was actually pretty relaxing, considering that I kind of had the morning off. I had nothing scheduled until my Historical Gaming panel at 13:00 hrs. This gave me a chance to meet up with Howard Andrew Jones, fantasy novelist extraordinaire. We had coffee and just chatted about writing, business, and life in general. It was great to catch up and pretty awesome to get an advance copy of his new Pathfinder novel, Beyond the Pool of Stars.

I’m a few chapters in to the novel and it is outstanding. Right now, I’m thinking it’s his best Pathfinder novel yet, and that’s saying something.

After chatting with Howard, I was able to get some time in for demos. Over at Sword’s Edge, I’ve written about both Short Order Heroes and Castle Assault. I had to go through both very quickly given time constraints, but I was able to get in some games, get some food, and make it to my panel early.

The Historical Gaming panel was sparsely attended but everyone that was there participated and we had a great chat. It was more of a roundtable than a panel, which suits me fine. I had some topics to discuss, but it was better just to take questions and engage discussion. It was really satisfying to meet some people who enjoyed and were fascinated by historical gaming as much as I.

The panel recharged me even more than monitoring the Quiet Room had on Friday, and while I was a bit late for my shift on the IGDN Booth, I was enthusiastic. Mostly it was answering questions and directing people who mistook us for Games on Demand. There were a few people who came to talk about IGDN, which was cool.

I had plenty of time to enjoy a leisurely dinner at Loughmillers Pub & Eatery, and I had a very satisfying Greek Pita (lots of veg!) and a pint of Uplands Dragonfly IPA along with a few glasses of water. Let me tell you, when you are running panels and games, you drink a lot of water. If you don’t, you’re going to have a bad time.

Saturday night’s Nefertiti Overdrive was fantastic. I was able to game with another backer and fellow Canuck (I didn’t meet many, which was kind of sad) and there was a lot more role-playing than in the other sessions. It was a great way to round-off a really good day.

Afterwards, I was planning on meeting Victor and the Lanzas for some food and drinks, but it ended up being JJ, Victor, Alex and I at Rockbottom. I’ve always been very happy with Rockbottom. It generally isn’t as busy as places like the Ram or Scotty’s, probably because it doesn’t really participate in Gen Con. That being said, the beer and the food are good, so I figure it’s a fair trade. The night was insanely late, but it was one of those times when the conversation and company are so good, sleep seems an unwelcome intrusion. As I had my final Nefertiti Overdrive game Sunday morning at 10:00, I had to get some sleep. Some.

You can find more information on Howard Andrew Jones here.

You can find more information on Beyond the Pool of Stars here.

You can find Loughmiller’s Pub and Eatery here.

You can find Upland Brewing Co.’s Dragonfly IPA here.

You can find Rockbottom here.

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Gen Con Wrap-Up: Feeling Friday

Gen Con Tip: Gen Con 2015 was the first time I heard about the Quiet Room, a place to just go and decompress for a little bit. It’s a great idea, and there were people napping, reading, or just sitting with their eyes closed and enjoying being out of the crowds and noise. It’s okay for babies if they are quiet, but in general, if the baby is being fussy, the monitors would ask the parent to please take the child elsewhere. There are other childcare facilities in the convention centre, and the quiet room was not for that purpose. If you need a place to chill, check the program for the location of the quiet room and take advantage of it.

And always remember to stay hydrated.

As I mentioned, Thursday at Gen Con was kind of crazy, but I got to bed early, got a good night’s sleep, and didn’t start until 09:00, which isn’t bad for a guy who considers 08:00 sleeping in.

Friday was busy, though not as busy or in the same way as Thursday. It was kind of busy in a good way. The 09:00 start was for a panel I was on chaired by Jason Pitre of Genesis of Legend fame. It was Indie RPG Matchmaker, in which the audience was supposed to tell us what games or kinds of games they loved, and we would offer up suggestions for indie games which they may not have heard of that might hit that sweet spot.

I had told Jason that I probably was a poor choice as my knowledge of indie games comes nowhere near his own. Luckily, we also had Alex Trepanier, an RPG community organizer also from Ottawa, along with us, and between he and Jason, they had it covered. I threw in my two cents (Canadian, so really only worth 1.4 US cents) where I could, and it gave me a chance to plug some games I like and expand on some ideas brought forward.

Very low drag. Good start to the day.

I had a bit of time off, so I quickly hit the exhibitor’s hall. To be honest, being in a rush really doesn’t help, and there was nothing I was actually there to see. Each other year, there has been something or someone of interest – like Cubicle 7’s One Ring or picking up Hillfolk. This year – maybe because I was working as an exhibitor myself – there was nothing that excited me.

I had designated time on Saturday morning for interviews and demoes, so after about 30 minutes, I headed off to my next assignment: Quiet Room Monitor!

The Quiet Room is a really good idea. It’s a room with subdued lighting in which people can disconnect from the frenetics of the con floor. I had two shifts of two hours each, and they actually went really quickly. I think this was a great way for me to decompress as well, after a very hectic kickoff to Gen Con. Next time you are at Gen Con, ID the Quiet Room location early, you never know when you might need to disconnect and go get your head together someplace calm.

I was unfortunately late in leaving my post, which meant I had little time for dinner. Thankfully, the Embassy Suites has a manager’s reception each night, and while I wasn’t up for free beer, I was happy to see veggies and hummus. I had a plate of carrots, a plate of broccoli, and a bowl of hummus – along with copious water. It was actually the perfect dinner. My lunch had been a slice of pizza in the WiFi lunge, which was honestly enough after the massive breakfast I had (also complimentary at the Embassy Suites).

The Nefertiti Overdrive game that night went fantastic – as all of them did, I hasten to add – and it was fun gaming with a Gen Con/internet buddy, Victor. We had made plans to head out after the game, and we met a bunch of people at Scotty’s Brewhouse.

Here’s the thing, if you call your place a “brewhouse,” your staff better be able to explain the intricacies of the beers on the menu. It’s like having a steakhouse in which the staff don’t know about the different cuts of meat or how the level of cooking will affect the taste and texture. So the waitstaff serving us didn’t know the term IBU (international bitterness unit) in regards to the IPAs that were on tap. I got the taster set (3 beers, 6 oz of each) to address this problem.

More sadness. I actually didn’t really enjoy any of them. After that, I got the Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA, which I really enjoyed but which only came in half-pints. Later, I realized I should have just got the taster and had the 90 Minute IPA in all of them. Live and learn.

We didn’t go hard that night, but I enjoyed the company immensely. It’s fun to hang around with geeks and talk geek stuff over some beers. It’s one of my favourite aspects of Gen Con.

You can learn more about Genesis of Legend Publishing here.

You can learn more about Scotty’s Brewhouse here.

You can learn more about Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA here.

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Gen Con Wrap-Up: Thursday, It Begins!

Gen Con Tip: There’s a food place under the escalators at the convention centre which I believe is “Crossroads” that has an area to sit and WiFi. A couple of times I grabbed a single slice of pizza and checked my email there. If your hotel doesn’t have WiFi, this place is a saviour. It was for me back in 2013.

Calling it early Wednesday night at Gen Con was a damn smart plan, because I had three games to run. I won’t do that again. By the evening, and my game with Becca, Evan, Stingray and Rich, I was kind of burnt out . . . and it was the first day!

I went to Gen Con as a rep for Sword’s Edge. That got me a press badge. I was also running four official games, which could have also got me a GM’s badge. I was also there with the Indy Game Developer Network representing Sword’s Edge Publishing. In the end, trying to do much meant I did none of it well.

Thankfully, the first game of the day went really well. That had more to do with the players. Since our game of Kiss My Axe in 2011, I’ve tried to run a game for the Lanza boys every time I meet them at Gen Con. Every single time, it’s been an absolute pleasure. This time was no different. We had a lot of fun and they got to be big damn heroes, with a bit of wire-fu action thrown into their Renaissance-style gangland revenge quest. More on the system later.

We hit the Ram for lunch, and I thought we had plenty of time. It would be a little tight, but watching the servers, I felt pretty confident that even though I only had 75 minutes before my game, we’d make it in and out in time. We did make it in on time, and the drinks and appetizer arrived fast, but then nothing. I swear our waitress forgot to enter our order. In the end, I got my burger late and undercooked. I wolfed it down and prayed I wasn’t going to regret it later. I didn’t.

I like the Ram. I like it a lot. But that was not a good experience. Happens everywhere to everyone. I guess I shouldn’t have been so flippant and cavalier about the time it would take. Will I learn this lesson? Probably not.

Not only did I leave in only barely enough time to make the game, I got lost on the way, arriving late. The players were forgiving and my first official Nefertiti Overdrive game at Gen Con went well. I’m going to let you in on a secret: all the Nefertiti Overdrive games I ran at Gen Con went well. They went great. The players were awesome and really got into it. I think next Gen Con, I’m just going to run games – not worry about the other stuff. Run a game a day and get a GM’s badge.

You heard it here. Mark your calendars. (I kid, I kid)

I had barely enough time to wolf down some food before the next game. This was another tradition, started when I ran “Crossing the Millers” at Gen Con 2011. That crew also were the first outside of my home group to try Nefertiti Overdrive, back in 201. Unfortunately, most of the crew weren’t there, but Becca and Evan joined me, and I got to game with Stringray – a Gen Con buddy from back in 2008 – and Rich – one of my G+ buddies.

So I don’t think “Train in Vain” went as well as “Gangwar” did. I blame it on me having had a full day of really intense GMing (if that’s a thing) and the system. To run a game of Nefertiti Overdrive well takes a fair amount of enthusiasm and focus. By the time 19:00 hrs rolled around, I had been “on” for about eight hours that day.

It didn’t help that Fancy Pants the RPG/F#ck You Up did not do what I wanted. It worked fine, but it didn’t work well. Fine doesn’t cut it for me. It really didn’t work as a Borderlands-style system. It was okay for “Gangwar,” for which I had no real system expectations, just story expectations. For a Borderlands-style game, I had expectations for speed of resolution and excitement. Nope.

It wasn’t the players. Everyone was on their game as usual – one reason why I love to play with these people! It was me and the system. I think if I had been running the game with Nefertiti Overdrive‘s mechanics, it would have worked a lot better.

F#ck You Up, Too will get its baptism in fire 14 Aug with my home crew going through “Train in Vain.” I’m hoping the fixes worked. We’ll see.

Becca and Evan have a young daughter, so once the game wrapped up there wasn’t much time for socializing. That was okay. I needed to get to bed. I had another busy day on Friday.

You can learn more about the Ram here.

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RPGaDAY2015 the Catchup

Okay, so I saw a bunch of people doing this and it looked kind of fun, so I totally lemming’d onto the bandwagon.

RPGaDAY2015 is the brainchild of game designer Dave Chapman. Basically, each day in August there is a question about RPGs. I’m going to play catch-up first and then look at day 9’s question.

1. Forthcoming game you’re most looking forward to: I’m going to have to cheat at some of these because I’m not really looking forward to anything except High Plains Samurai, and I am part of that playtest. That cool?

2. Kickstarted game most pleased you backed: Fate Core because Fate Accelerated is a Fate version I can finally get 100% behind.

3. Favourite new game of the last 12 months: Discounting my own game and High Plains Samurai (technically been in development for more than 12 months) I’d have to go with Urban Shadows. Yeah, it probably should have been the answer to #2 as well, but I wanted to give Fate Accelerated some love. While I don’t run Powered by the Apocalypse games, that’s because I’m kind of always playtesting. Urban Shadows totally rocks for modern urban fantasy, and I think one could build some really incredible games with it.

4. Most Surprising Game: I’m going to go with Short Order Heroes, found at Gen Con and reviewed here. It’s a game I knew I wanted in the back of my head, but seeing it in action was kind of an epiphany.

5. Most Recent RPG Purchase: If we don’t count dice for my daughters, it would have to be Jason Morningstar’s Night Witches. So awesome.

6. Most Recent RPG player: I’m going with played as opposed to ran, and that would be Cartel, Mark Diaz Truman’s Power by the Apocalypse game of narcogangs in Mexico. Very cool.

7. Favourite Free RPG: Absolutely without a doubt Old School Hack, though Lady Blackbird is awesome on so many level.

8. Favourite appearance of RPGs in the Media: Do I have one? I guess the D&D episode on Community, though I had some issues with how they altered mechanics and messed up the drama. I wrote about that here.

Okay, next post I’ll look at day 9.

You can find the RPGaDAY2015 original post here.

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Gen Con Wrap-Up: Wednesday, the Arrival!

Gen Con Tip If you read nothing else, the lesson from Wednesday at the Con is: reserve space on Go Express (the $10 ride from Airport to hotels) in advance. The people on the flights the day before the con are all looking to use the shuttle, and people with online reservations were given priority.

So, Gen Con 2016. Let’s talk Wednesday.

Gen Con was a very different experience for me this time. I went representing Sword’s Edge, the blog, but also tried to work with the Indie Game Developer Network to help sell Sword Noir and Centurion. Through the IGDN, I sat on a couple of panels and ran four games of Nefertiti Overdrive.

As you can imagine, it was a very, very rough con.

Wednesday afternoon I got in without any problems. I only had carry-on luggage, so I didn’t have to pick up any checked bags. This didn’t really help – as you will see – but on the way back if I had checked luggage, I would have missed my connection. If you can, when flying, try not to check any luggage. Tough if you have a suit or are staying for more than a few days, but doable for something like Gen Con.

When I got to the zone where Go Express picks people up, there was a mob. I do not use the term lightly. There may have been no torches or pitchforks, but there were frayed tempers and frustration. Go Express was running four shuttles in regular rotation, but not even that could keep up with the arrivals.

In the end, strategic placement and a willingness to be a bit rude (tough for a Canadian) got me a place on a bus 30 to 45 minutes after I started waiting. You’ll want to avoid that wait at all costs. All the time I saved with my lack of checked luggage meant nothing on arrival.

I stayed again at the Embassy Suites, sharing the room with some friends. Luckily, one of the occupants was some kind of extra special Hilton Honours member, so we actually got WiFi. That’s not standard. You want to make plans for this. Sometimes, they’ll give you free WiFi if you sign up for their loyalty program on check in, but if one of the occupants already has a membership, see about pushing to get connected.

I attended the IGDN social at Loughmiller’s Pub and Eatery on Wednesday night. The place was packed. I met a few people, but I’m actually terribly shy, so I pretty much stuck in my spot and chatted with people around me when the opportunity presented itself. I liked the venue and went back for an early dinner one day. It’s affordable and I didn’t have to wait to get a seat around 4:15 in the afternoon on Saturday. I enjoyed the Dragonfly IPA, and they had a nice, if small selection of craft beers.

I got to bed at a decent hour, which was wise, because Thursday was going to be insane.

You can find the Go Express shuttle service here.

You can find the Indie Game Developer Network here.

You can find Loughmiller’s Pub and Eatery here.

You can find Upland Brewing Co.’s Dragonfly IPA here.

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Gen Con – Useless Advice

Tomorrow, I’m off to Gen Con. This isn’t going to be my usual Gen Con as I won’t be there with the Accidental Survivors crew. I’ll be there working, running some Nefertiti Overdrive, trying to sell some Centurion and Sword Noir, and generally trying to have a good time.

This is my fourth time out to the rodeo, and I was trying to think of advice I would give to people going. These are just a few very minor thoughts regarding my preparations for going.

1) Get your rest before you go. It’s a little bit late to mention this, but if you are already tired when you hit Gen Con, it’s going to steamroll you. A body in need of rest is also more susceptible to illnesses that are always floating around cons. You can still get a good night’s sleep while at the con, but it means you need to prioritize sleep, which is generally pretty low on most people’s hierarchy of gaming needs.

2) Have a schedule notebook. I usually have a notebook specifically for Gen Con with one page for each scheduled activity. That page includes timings, required equipment, place and map. The rest of the page and the back of the page I leave blank for notes linked to the appointment. I put them in chronological order and have a small paperclip to mark the present/next event. The rest of the notebook is available for game notes, writing down phone numbers/email to keep or pass on, or even jotting down ideas that strike in the exhibitors’ hall.

3) You need to keep clean. Yes, this is just plain common sense, but also yes, it probably needs to said. Take a change of clothes for each day and don’t forget your toothbrush and tooth paste. Take some gum as well, for the in-between periods. You will be surprised how few “catpiss gamers” you’ll meet at Gen Con (thank you to Brad Clark for that evocative turn of phrase), so don’t be the person at the table that befouls the atmosphere.

4) Be flexible. Stuff is going to happen. Don’t go in with rigid expectations. Some events are going to be cancelled, some will change, some won’t be what you expect them to be. Don’t worry about it. You’re at Gen Con! Roll with it. Don’t be afraid to walk away from situations you don’t like. I’d be very careful about doing that in the middle of a game, but if you meet the GM and the individual is a total d-bag, just walk away. You don’t need that shit in your life for the next four hours.

5) Don’t be afraid to lurk – as long as you aren’t being stalker-y. A couple of times when I was running games on the side – at a free table or in the lounge at the hotel – someone has stopped to watch. That’s cool. I usually greet them, let them know it’s cool to ask questions, and if there is space, I’ll offer to have them join us. If you are interested in a game, feel free to politely watch. If you are doing it because of an attractive individual at the table, that’s not as cool. And if that attractive person studiously avoids looking at you, move the fuck along.

6) If you are coming from outside of the US, don’t expect wi-fi at the hotel unless it explicitly states it is available. When I am travelling in Canada, I am honestly shocked when a hotel doesn’t have free wi-fi. It’s pretty common in Asia and Europe as well. In the US, I am generally shocked if the hotel has free wi-fi. Maybe this has changed since my last visit, but it has been super-frustrating. At the convention centre, there are free wi-fi hot spots, so take your laptop, tablet, or phone, and check in there.

That’s all I could think of right now. Nothing ground-breaking. There are no epiphanies to be had here. If you are coming to Gen Con, I hope to see you there and shake your hand. I’ll be at the IGDN booth (#734, right beside Indie Press Revolution) on Saturday from 2PM to 4PM. You can also see me at the Indie RPG Matchmaker seminar Friday morning at 9 at the Crowne Plaza: Pennsylvania Stn B or at the Historical Gaming seminar Saturday at 1 PM at Crowne Plaza: Pennsylvania Stn A.

You can find my Gen Con calendar here.