Gen Con Day 2
Yesterday was a day of intense and disorienting validation. So much so that I had to call my consulate’s 24-hour Humility Helpline in order to preserve my sense of Canadianness. Having been talked down from the ledge of big-headedness by a skilled and hard-working civil servant, I can now proceed to tell you about the day that was.
The Hamlet’s Hit Points seminar attracted a surprisingly large crowd. I was expecting a small knot of diehards and got a well-filled room instead. Also to my startlement and gratification, most of those who showed up were not already familiar with the project. Audience questions, after an in-depth rundown of beat analysis and its significance, showed that they clicked with the ideas right away.
Ethan Parker of Gamer's Haven fame recorded the seminar, which he'll have up on his site in the next few weeks. I'll ping you when he pings me.
The seminar helped us put copies of the book in peoples’ hands. By the end of Friday, the IPR booth was for all intents and purposes sold out. As of Saturday morning, the Adventure Retail booth (they rep Atlas, Steve Jackson and Cthulhu), still has a few in stock. A small handful will also be produced for the 4pm signing today at the IPR booth. Response to HHP has exceeded our most optimistic expectations, so if you want ‘em, grab ‘em quick. Or of course order from Gameplaywright, various online purveyors, or your discerning local game store.
Another good surprise came at the Ennies, where The Armitage Files, my improvised, hand-out based campaign for Trail Of Cthulhu from Pelgrane Press, took the Silver for Best Adventure. All aforementioned kidding aside, I try to avoid becoming ego-invested when nominated for awards, but did secretly desire recognition for this project and its previously unseen central conceit. I hope other designers and game lines check it out and like it enough to steal the idea, and this spotlight moment helps that progression along. It’s a big deal for a company the size of Pelgrane to take home a silver, and I’d like to express my gratitude to Ennies voters for their kind support.
Overall the awards were a triumphant victory lap for Paizo and Pathfinder. Erik Mona was left straining under the multitude of awards plaques. The overwhelming wave of Ennies love they earned is a testament not only to the adroit job they did refining and reiterating a popular game system, but the care and effort they’ve devoted to the building of their community. Many game companies want to achieve this, but Paizo put in the legwork. More importantly, they crafted their development process and launch to make fans feel like they were part of a giant collaboration.
On a similar note, it was also heartening to see the Eclipse Phase posse rewarded for, among other things, their stonesy use of the Creative Commons license. Plus well-deserved kudos for other companies big and small.
In other news, it’s the morning of the show’s biggest day. My head hurts. Coffee. Zebras. Is something coming out of my ear?