Thoughts on GenCon 2003
    My first GenCon. Aw, shucks.
     Well, we left Ohio very late Thursday because Heather had to work, so we didn't get in until nearly 1:00AM, after which Kylee promptly ske-daddled to play in a LARP. Long story short, no pics from Thursday.
     Friday, on the other hand...
Moral: Pre-register.
    The plan was, go to the White Wolf booth, find Colin, Jo, Ari and George, play some D&D until my Dark Ages: Vampire game...well, first, though, Kylee needed to get a badge. The silly girl didn't pre-reg (they mailed me my badge). To be fair, she didn't pre-rep because her credit card was stolen, but still. Yeek. Look at that line. The photo doesn't really do it justice.
    So we left her in line and went to exhibitor's hall, where we found the usual crew of White Wolf miscreants fending off questions like "What's the big announcement?" and "What's the big announcement?" In the midst of all this was Justin, looking sullen and melancholy in his hat. At left. No ass-chickens, no ether, just a hat. Not even black.
I wear black on the outside...err...
Well, we finally did manage to hook up with the folks we wanted to see, and two photos resulted (below). Oh, plus, Kylees got a photo taken of her and Mark Rein*Hagen (right). And then we went off to play "Satan's Game" (just in case I'm not on any fundamentalist hit lists yet).
Da girlz.
Da boyz.
    The game of D&D was good, but short; we only had a few short hours before my Dark Ages: Vampire game was meant to start. The pic from the D&D game is at right.
I attack the darkness.
    So then, I had to get ready for my game. Now, I had two games scheduled, they were both full (and had been for months), so I was a little surprised when folks showed up wanting to use generic tickets to get in. I really shouldn't have been; gamers aren't the most reliable of people on the best of days, so it stands to reason that someone would flake.
     Thing is, though, these guys got a little...well, pissy...when I didn't let them in. Sorry, dudes. I had 6 slots and 6 players. Again, the moral is: Pre-reg.
     The game went fairly well. I ran the old Snow and Madness thing, but this time didn't have them chasing a frozen child and added some new characters. Several of the people had never played before, but they rose the weirdness that is Vampire pretty well. Somewhere along the way, I got this picture of Kylee as she blushed at some offense to her virgin ears.
Hee-hee. Virgin ears.
    Anyway, the game ended in a timely fashion and the characters went off to amuse themselves with Baroness Seren; definitely the nicest in terms of character death (or lack thereof) of the times I've run this game. Joshua, the fellow in the middle (white shirt) won the prize: A brand-new copy of the Players Guide to Low Clans.
     So then afterwards, Kylee and I went to get dinner at this cool little Japanese place (Heather and company had already gone to dinner), and then she went to the LARP (again) and I went to the room to await my wife. I was pretty tired.
     I did, however, manage to snap a picture of Chris and Rhiannon in a Changeling LARP (below).
Wait, we're vampires who worship Jesus?
The end is the beginning.
Whoudini said it best.
    As is often the case after Friday, it soon became Saturday. We got up and hurried down to the White River Ballroom for the Big Announcement. Popped in, got our T-shirts, and awaited the rush. Some folks had been waiting in line since 2:00AM, so hats off to them. That's dedication. Or a real strong desire for free drinks.
     In case you don't know, the big announcement is that the World of Darkness is ending. No, really. Check it out. I'm actually developing the Changeling section of the Time of Judgment hardcover.
     Got several photos of the announcement. Also bear in the mind that my Dark Ages: Inquisitor game was meant to start at the same time as the announcement, so we put a sign on the table and started late.
Maniacs!
Some very surprised people looking at the T-shirt in wonderment.
60 seconds to midnight.
The masses waiting for news of the End.
Hey, mom! The world's ending!
Our motley crew. Ari, George, Colin and Jo, in that order.
    So the announcement went off, and was very well received, and we went back to the business of smiting the world in God's name. This was the first time I'd run Dark Ages: Inquisitor at a con, and I think it went pretty well. Some photos:
     Well, we started spending freebies and Eric (left) didn't have a copy of the book, so he went out to the exhibitor's hall and bought one. That's the kind of player I like. 
     During the game, Vicky (playing a pyromaniac nun) acted out her character's "holy vision" (faked for purposes of diversion. At right.
     After all was said and done, they killed the vampire and saved the world. Well, not so much saved the world. They burned down an inn, though. Group picture below; Vicky won the prize - a brand-new copy of Dark Ages: Inquisitor.
Brings a tear to my eye.
Burn it down! God said so!
Deus Vult!
    So after that craziness, I had a little downtime before going to play in a Hero Clix tournament that evening. So I did what I always do with downtime at a con on a Saturday - search for strange and beautiful things to photograph.
That's mythdude on the far right, by the way.
Gamers give you cavities.
An acutal prop from the movie Critters.
I find your lack of sleep disturbing.
No stormtroopers, but look who I did find!
Look! A Black Lotus!
A tower of Magic cards. More like a city.
Yow.
Rick, who is both strange and beautiful.
Who likes Van Halen?
Kylee, ditto.
    So then I had this Hero Clix thingie. OK, a little more organization would have been nice; waiting for the points to get tallied up between games took longer than the games themselves. But maybe I was just annoyed that we opened 12 booster packs of Cosmic Justice and didn't get one damned unique. That's not justice, cosmic or otherwise.
     For all that, I did pretty well in the tournament. Won my first two games pretty decisively and lost my third just as decisively, but came in 4th in the whole thing, I believe. Got a neat little Limited Edition character out it, so I was happy. A picture of me deep in thought during my first game at right.
Cheetah is my new best friend.
    So as it wont to happen after Saturday, it became Sunday, and we had to leave so as to get to my folks' house for dinner. Mmm....dinner with parents....Mom always cooks enough for 20 people, which is great, because McFarlands like to eat. Anyway, one more picture (at left) of people watching the Time of Judgment announcement at the White Wolf booth. And then, on the way out, we saw a couple of guys recuperating from the Time of Judgment party. Check it out.
The End will be televised.
So what have we learned? Pre-reg. Drink. Dance. Make merry, and see you at Dragon Con!
My lovely wife and my other hat.
Heather and I at the end of the world.
The end of the world wipes you out.
You can't really tell, but the guy on the left is using a Vampire book as a pillow.
Do not disturb.
That was some Apocalypse, dude.
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