DEXCCON 2016
Thursday: I had to work. But was able to drop Kat off on Wednesday night. On Thursday, she was a whirlwind of activity and set up a mini-Maelstrom within DEXCON. GMs who had open slots would post the games that they were willing to run at those times. Players interested would show up or sign up. At the appointed hour, we’d seek out an unused table and BOOM!–the magic of gaming would happen. My wife is a miracle worker.
Evening: I battled through a stressful day at work and finally, finally made it to the convention. Kat ran With Great Power Classic Edition as part of mini-Maelstrom. I didn’t get to play, but I heard nothing but praise..
FRIDAY:
Morning: Another mini-Maelstrom game took off: 7th Sea Accelerated with Joe Zantek, Kat Miller, Jeff Collyer. I played a Castillian archeologist inspired by Indiana Jones. We chased down a buried pirate treasure. We had some witty repartee. Kat seduced a Naval captain of Montaigne. Jeff punched a shark. It was a fun session with fun people. The post-game discussion was particularly fruitful. Talking with Joe about the way the genre maps to FATE, how it might map to PbtA, and why it hasn’t was thought-provoking enough to start my stupid game designer brain working. Stupid brain!
Afternoon: No games came together for me. Thought more about PbtA buckling of swashes. Spent some time with Kat. We bought and played a card game called Spellcaster.
Evening: A Mini-Maelstrom Miracle. No mini-Maelstrom games coalesced for the 8pm slot. So Kat and I spent some time at the mini-Maelstrom booth chatting with our friend Joann. Around 9:30, a couple of new people wandered by, asked for details about mini-Maelstrom, and within 15 minutes the five of us were playing an amazing session of Serial Homicide Unit. I played Yousef, a Lebanese bus boy who just wanted to finish med school. He was a bit of a hypochondriac and thought he was coming down with the ailments he studied. He was savagely murdered by the serial killer. It was tragic. Probably my favorite session of the convention.
SATURDAY:
Morning: Another great mini-Maelstrom session went off as I got to run With Great Power for Dave and his two kids. I played a villain that could absorb and generate fire. When his powers emerged, he had saved a burning apartment building, and later discovered one of the people he saved was a serial killer. Now he hunted down the worst of humanity to purge by fire. Lots of fun and laughs.
Afternoon: John Farish ran a mini-Maelstrom game of Masks for me, Kat, Rich, Matt, and Brendan. It was a fun session with plenty of banter between the characters. I chose the Bull playbook, a girl called Kelsey “Kaboom” who had been given powers by an alien hive mind to be a super powered sleeper agent as part of an attempted invasion. Now that she was free and trying to be a hero, she had trouble fitting in with her fellow young heroes–one of whom was an ex-pop star turned tree. Fun times.
Evening: For my last mini-Maelstrom session, I got to run With Great Power for five players. The game is stretched to its maximum at five, so the session wasn’t as good as it could be. I actively encourage genre mixing in WGP. Often it produces amazing synergy that you’d never expect. Sometimes it produces the effect of an odd crossover where the characters seem like they belong in two different comics. This session had three players who had great interest in the physics of their superpowers and had a grand time figuring out how their powers worked, and what the repercussions would be. The other two characters were a teenager pulled from a teen drama comic, and a really interesting imp who possessed the dead that belonged in a Vertigo comic. Definitely a high note to finish off the convention.
SUNDAY:
Acknowledging the realities of age, we said our good-byes, and came home to rest up to face another day.
Thanks, as always, to Avie, Vinny, and the amazing Double Exposure staff for creating and maintaining such a great convention and community. I’m proud to be a member of such a welcoming, fun-loving community. And thanks to everyone I got a chance to chat with and to game with!