Dragons Well Met
LONDON - Having been lucky enough to attend Dragonmeets 08 and 09, I’ve grown accustomed to the pleasantly relaxing pace of a smallish one-day event. This year it was still a delight but at a significantly faster pace. The added energy level became apparent immediately on entry to the hall and sustained itself throughout the day. Even putting aside its sold-out limited edition preview edition of Ken’s Bookhounds of London, the Pelgrane stand outdid its previous Dragonmeet trade by a considerable margin. Excitement for Bookhounds, the supplement Mr. Hite was born to write for the game he was born to write, ran justifiably high. Yet the other Pelgrane items did themselves proud as well. A good supply of The Armitage Files was laid in but failed to hold. Skulduggery inveigled its way into many new homes. The Esoterrorists continued to prove its evergreen status. Graham Walmsley very kindly laid in a shipment of Hamlet’s Hit Points at his neighboring festive soaps and indie games boutique table, and saw it vanish well before the day was out as well. Other vendors reported similar bracing results.
The midday panel on GUMSHOE and investigative gaming shockingly drew an SRO crowd. Ken, Gareth Hanrahan, Simon Rogers and I talked philosophy and practice to a crowd mixed between those unfamiliar with the SHOE and those for whom it is already a comfortable fit. We were buoyed by the quality of the questions both at this panel and at the general guest free-for-all Q&A at day’s end. For the latter event Ken and I found ourselves in the incisive company of Chris Pramas and Jeff Combos. Much fine palaver was thereby fueled.
It was great to catch up with Jeff Richard of Moon Design and see that they’re going great guns with the revived HeroQuest line. Their strategy of producing blockbuster tomes and selling them direct to their community has shown itself to be the correct one. All hail the new era of mixed distribution models, and the small press success stories it fosters.
Congratulations are again in order to Angus Abranson and the rest of the crack Dragonmeet team for an event well held. Ultimately the success of this event, like any other, depends on the strength of the attendee community. Based on yesterday’s turnout it’s clear that the spark of UK hobby gaming is if anything gaining brightness.