DunDraCon 32 Report

DDC Con Report

For the first time in three years, I've made it to a game con . . . and I feel fine.

That has not always been the case with respect to gaming the last year. I was very very close to writing a repeat of last year's April Fools post – and that post not being a joke. I've been feeling burned out on all fronts of the hobby, missing the fire and passion I used to put into my games. My game world was in a virtual stasis, I had all but ceased writing anything for it and I kept asking myself “Why bother with working on a game anymore – or even playing?”

This weekend reconnected me with why I game. I originally decided to attend DunDraCon 32 as a kind of last huzzah, a farewell of sorts. I'd run a game as I always do, and I'd play as many as I could. If the old magic wasn't back by the end of the weekend, then I'd leave the hobby for good.

I got to the con on Saturday morning just minutes before the start of my con-sponsored game. I had put that game together in what had become my usual style the last year or so; with a bit of background info and an outline as to possible events. When I came up with the game-world event that would frame this adventure a few months earlier – having the party put an end to the misconduct of a mercenary company – I did not have a clue as to how this would happen. I floundered for weeks looking for an important game world consequence of failure . . . .

Sometimes I feel as though I am channeling the game world, not writing or running it. Stuff flits into my conscious mind, my “this is cool!” alarm triggers, and an idea hits the pixels. Three separate bolts of deep channeling hit me a week before the DunDraCon that got me the skeleton of a plot and some approaches the party may take in completing the adventure. On Saturday I had more pages of players notes than I did DM notes. This was a bit of a worry because the DM I was two or three years ago was hyper-prepared. I'm a good improviser, but was I good enough?

Apparently I was.

I got what had to be the best group of players I've had outside of my home groups: no power-gamers, no stat-monkey munchkins, no spotlight hogs. Players who actually took the time to read the background I'd created and integrated it into their roleplaying. While not up to the deep-character / deep verse style of the Kitsune Chronicles players (the best damn roleplayers I know, period!), I was floored by the quality of player I'd gotten, and I was as underprepared as ever.

My players made all the difference. They managed to scheme, sneak, dissemble and when needed fight their way to victorious success in the scenario. As in years past, I created a convention adventure where party failure at this convention game would drive major plot threads, or in this case, literally enact a cosmic change in the game world.

Their play took my breath away. I found myself challenged to keep up with them, even when I was the DM, the supposedly all powerful demigod in charge. I still don't know quite how it hppened, but I walked out of the game a new DM.

My D&D game was only the setup for what was to come next. The next day I finally got to play a game I bought some time ago as a convention break-game – SJ Games' Munchkin. Reading a review on a website saying “Munchkin is cool!” or hearing a friend tell you “Munchkin is cool!” pales next to the moment when you get to play and finally get to say to one and all “Munchkin is cool!”

Munchkin is a card game of old-school dungeon-crawling: kick open the door, kill the monsters, steal their stuff, stab your buddy in the back and steal his stuff too. Be the first to get to level 10 and you win.

I got the box out and one player (me) became three (me, Iz and another) became five. It's a game that's pretty easy to learn, hard to master. You must be ruthless in ensuring that your buddies get the backstabbery they soooo richly deserve. While I did not win, I came very close and managed to pull off some pretty ruthless moves. At times I think they need to call this game “You Bastard!” because that's what you'll say when someone ices your perfect plan to kill the last monster you need to win. A willingness to engage in High Treachery is needed to win. If you aren't looking for a way to fsck your buddy, you aren't playing to win.

In meta terms, DDC seemed a much smaller con than it was back in 2002-3. The dealer room was tiny, the con less spread out. I suspect this is due to macroeconomic issues and worries.

The facilities in San Ramon were awesome as usual, the hotel staff was friendly if a bit bemused by the eclectic crowd that is Gamer Nation. The on-site food options were not insanely overpriced. I would have given a random testicle for decent bandwidth, though.

Finally, early Monday morning I was interviewed for a podcast: “Heroes of Science Fiction and Fantasy.” In it I discuss my adventure “The Agony of Kessel” and my favorite sf and fantasy media.