Cthulhu 2016!

When all else fails, go with insanity.

I put Chaosium Inc's Call of Cthulhu 7e live last night. I probably shouldn't have, as whatever I've been sick with the last few days have left me cognitively deficient. Still, it should be good; it's been tested, by Gamers' Plane Standards (TM).

I've noticed some bugs piling up, so that's probably next, then I'm not sure. Obviously a TON of systems to choose from/tackle, there's still a bunch of upgrade work to do before I can start working on the redesign, and always more features. Maybe Dungeon World? Seems Feng Shui interested people (I'm guessing there's a second edition, that's what people would prefer?)? I'd still love to see The One Ring get some love too :)

I'll be at Dreamation this weekend, so if you're going to be there, let's meet up! I also posted this in the con thread, but I made a mini app to help find events at Dreamation, because Double Exposure's site sucks. I also hated Origin's event selection, though it was slightly better. I have no idea what to expect for GenCon. Anyway, feedback is appreciated: http://dreamation16.gamersplane.com/

I feel ya, I had the Korean super-flu two weeks ago.

Never been to a convention before. Are they any fun, or are they just hectic? I see them more as an opportunity to network and find some sweet indie games, as opposed to actually playing games at them.

//Handle

Cons are what you make them. I stressed my first one, and it was terrible. Ive enjoyed each since. They're not 100% great, but what is?

The short answer is they can be fun and hectic, you can network/make friends and have time to game I think unless you're there to work mostly.

I've only been to two different ones, one in Maryland which seemed more of like a community meetup on a large scale fo boardgames (2 Day event) and Gen Con ('12-present). I have hand fun at both and at Gen Con I try things (RPGs, board/card/dice games, LARPS, seminars, parties) I don't do at home due to the system or not having enough people interested or knowing about it. (I don't have that much use for an oversized game of King of Tokyo at home where the pieces are over 3 feet tall) It can be hectic but if you like to schedule plan and enjoy that kind of thing you can run a tight ship, if you're pretty laid back you can probably walk around with generics for four days and listen in, jump in on games, or even just take pictures. You find out new mechanics if you're trying new systems sometimes playing with people you've never played with before you find out new things. If you're running a business and there for work I can definitely see the networking (especially Wednesday). Some people game for long periods of time, considering some people normally sit down to a euro game for 14+ hours is a thing I have yet to try (I don't really want to though).

I just listened to the "Talking Tabletop" podcast episode with our revered site creator and host, Ro! It was great to hear more about you and how you came about putting this site together. This community is top notch! Thank you again for all that you do.

Just wanted to say, I found Gamers Plane because of Talking Tabletop! Ro did a great job talking this site up and I'm excited to start my first game here.

I was out for a week, from what is seeming now like a new environmental allergy, so you know you have my sympathy.

As for gaming conventions, they are great, in my experience. You meet new people, you play in face-to-face games, you discover new systems and/or get to play systems that you rarely get to play, you are inundated with opportunities to spend money on cool stuff (from flea markets to dealer's rooms), you can win prizes (my son won a copy of an RPG rulebook at this last DunDraCon), you can learn things to do and not to do from other players/GMs, at many cons you can playtest games and/or find out about games that are coming to market, you can attend seminars/talks with your favorite authors, and you can see gamers that you haven't seen since the last convention. But the primary benefit is of playing games. There are scheduled games that you can register for in advance, and if you're early/lucky enough (for most cons), or have enough money to spend (GenCon), you can fill your entire time at the convention with scheduled games. But there's at least as many open games being run ad hoc at any gaming convention I've ever attended, so even if you don't get into a single pre-scheduled game, you could play games for a straight 48 or 72 hours (depending on the length of the convention), if you have the stamina for it (*).

* - a friend of mine participated in the Guinness Book of World Records attempt for Longest Continuous Period of Gaming back at DunDraCon in 2000 or 2001. After 48 hours solid play (which was something like 8 different game systems), she stopped by our table during a bathroom break, and she was a complete zombie. I have no idea whether the World Record still stands - I suspect not - but it's these kinds of fun, chaotic ideas that make gaming great, much less game conventions.

Looks like this is starting on 16th April. Who's running games?

http://www.chaosium.com/blog/announcing-chaosiums-first-organized-play-campaign-for-call-of-cthulhu