MarKon Recap
This past weekend saw us venturing to Pittsburgh with over a dozen others for a mini-convention of epic proportions. May I present: The Tale of MarKon, in several parts.
engelhardtlm1 and I left Columbus after work on Friday afternoon and headed mostly straight for Pittsburgh. For dinner we ate at USA Steak Buffet, an all-you-can-eat steak and other buffet items restaurant that we'll occasionally stop at on our way into PA. It's not top steak, but it's pretty darn good, and the rest of the buffet is small but delicious. It's a good place.
Take note of the steak, friends. That represents real meal number one of the weekend.
We arrived at the hotel in the rain around 8:30 or so. After checking in, we headed to our room. The first person we encountered was Brian C., who stopped to tell us a story of woe about hotel reservations and then went on his way. We unpacked slightly and then hung out and discovered the hotel's wifi before going to Mark's room for the opening ceremonies.
That first night was scheduled to be the first little bit of Hackmaster, run by Mark. By the time we finished chatting, ordered pizza, catching up (I don't think we've seen James in eight years! And we saw Greek Mike!) and some character creation, it was already past midnight and too late to get started on the game proper. So James ran a D&D primer for those of us who haven't actually played much 4th ed before. It consisted entirely of combat and was extremely helpful, and ran until about 2 in the morning. Those who weren't playing D&D were either watching us or playing cards. Soon after the primer was over we split up for the night. Lucas and I fell asleep around 2:30 or so.
The next morning we woke and got ready quickly and headed back up to the suite, where we soon began the Hackmaster Extravaganza. We were split into three groups - Me, Beth, Dave and Greek Mike; Lucas, James, Lo, and Erik; Brian C., Cody, Holly and Matt. (I don't think I'm missing anyone.) There were seven dungeons set up - unfortunately, we were only able to do three or four, depending on the group. They were awesome, though. My team did a little PvP for one of them (I totally did the killing blow for Lucas) and some regular killing in another, and then a puzzle for the third. It was great, and the amount of work and thought that Mark put into them was just amazing.
We completely missed lunch.
Around 6:30 we started getting ready for dinner. The group had agreed previously to dress up in 1920s/1930s outfits and go out somewhere to eat. After some miscommunications and false starts, we ended up at a fancy restaurant that was literally across the street from our hotel. I thought the food was amazing, and we looked pretty awesome, too.
After dinner (which was the second real meal of the weekend) we took pictures in the hotel lobby and then went upstairs to change.
We split into three groups again that night for the first round of one-shots. Erik ran Qin for Brian C., Dave and Matt; Cody ran Spycraft for Lo, Beth and Holly; James ran Hunter for me, Lucas, Greek Mike and Mark. As fantastic as the whole weekend was, this was my absolute favorite game. James did a great job narrating things - his voices and inflections and pacing were suitably creepy and freakish and disturbing - and the group really ran well. Lucas and I suck at making combat-ready characters, but I felt like the other two were good with combat and there were other things for us to do. I got to talk to Crazy Izzy and Mr. Potter, and that alone made me happy for the night. I also enjoyed Missy coming around to watch our game - and asking about it in the morning! Just excellent all around, and I would play under James again in a heartbeat.
And then it was 3 am, and we went to bed.
Late morning, we gathered again to split into the second (and last) of the one-shots. This time, Dave ran Changeling for Mark, James and Lucas; Brian C. ran Star Wars for Lo, Holly and Greek Mike; Matt ran Adventure! for me, Cody and Beth. Adventure! was just a ton of fun, even though I'm afraid we shanghaied Matt's game into ridiculousness. My character, Kit Baloo, was a wing walker and barnstormer who answered the phone "Kit Baloo, I'll fly for you!" and had the Knack of defying death. Beth played Melanie Dunhill, a British heiress and the secretary for a private eye. Cody played Remington Rand, ________ at large. He introduced himself as something different every time: "Remington Rand, Imports/Exports!" "Remington Rand, Male Nurse!" "Remington Rand, owner of a chain of kosher bakeries!" Eventually we started making things up for him, based on what was happening in-game. "Remington Rand, psychopath!" "Remington Rand, crack shot!" And eventually, "Remington Rand...dead!" Yeah, we botched a few rolls when some explodium was hanging around and accidentally blew up ourselves and Long Island. Crazy, but a fun game. Lots of laughs.
We had no lunch.
The second round of one-shots having finished (mostly), Lucas and I said goodbye and headed home. We stopped for dinner at LJS on the road and got home around 10ish, thanks to some stupid traffic near Wheeling. Ultimately it was a great weekend, although we're still completely exhausted and not quite recovered. But I'm glad it happened, and I hope it happens again, and I'd love to try something similar with other friends eventually, too.
I didn't realize how much I missed being around people like that. I'm an introvert, but the friends we made at GCC are special, and I missed having them around. I love my Columbus friends and we have our own great relationships, but they don't call me Tahm, and haven't earned the right or the history with me to call me Tahm, and I've missed being called Tahm.
Some of my favorite general memories about the weekend: Dave having to talk in an accent for most of Saturday because of a Hackmaster item, everyone loving my fudge and cookies, Mark's black raspberries pies (sooo good!), talking about our children all marrying each other, discussing Terry Pratchett and the Muppets, kidding Lo about having a wolf and gills, getting to hang out with Greek Mike so much, everyone looking so spiffy dressed up, getting awesome hand-sewn dice bags from Holly, and Dave bursting through the door and announcing "Mmmm, it smells like college in here."
But I am happy to be back home, was happy to see everyone today at work, am happy to get back to some normalcy. After I get caught up on my sleep. :)
In other, non-MarKon related news, I finished The Wake (Sandman) and the next Elizabeth Peters in line. Currently I'm reading the newest Discworld (yay!) and am looking forward to the next book in the Looking Glass War series, which is speeding on its way to me through library delivery. Yay newly released books!
engelhardtlm1 and I left Columbus after work on Friday afternoon and headed mostly straight for Pittsburgh. For dinner we ate at USA Steak Buffet, an all-you-can-eat steak and other buffet items restaurant that we'll occasionally stop at on our way into PA. It's not top steak, but it's pretty darn good, and the rest of the buffet is small but delicious. It's a good place.
Take note of the steak, friends. That represents real meal number one of the weekend.
We arrived at the hotel in the rain around 8:30 or so. After checking in, we headed to our room. The first person we encountered was Brian C., who stopped to tell us a story of woe about hotel reservations and then went on his way. We unpacked slightly and then hung out and discovered the hotel's wifi before going to Mark's room for the opening ceremonies.
That first night was scheduled to be the first little bit of Hackmaster, run by Mark. By the time we finished chatting, ordered pizza, catching up (I don't think we've seen James in eight years! And we saw Greek Mike!) and some character creation, it was already past midnight and too late to get started on the game proper. So James ran a D&D primer for those of us who haven't actually played much 4th ed before. It consisted entirely of combat and was extremely helpful, and ran until about 2 in the morning. Those who weren't playing D&D were either watching us or playing cards. Soon after the primer was over we split up for the night. Lucas and I fell asleep around 2:30 or so.
The next morning we woke and got ready quickly and headed back up to the suite, where we soon began the Hackmaster Extravaganza. We were split into three groups - Me, Beth, Dave and Greek Mike; Lucas, James, Lo, and Erik; Brian C., Cody, Holly and Matt. (I don't think I'm missing anyone.) There were seven dungeons set up - unfortunately, we were only able to do three or four, depending on the group. They were awesome, though. My team did a little PvP for one of them (I totally did the killing blow for Lucas) and some regular killing in another, and then a puzzle for the third. It was great, and the amount of work and thought that Mark put into them was just amazing.
We completely missed lunch.
Around 6:30 we started getting ready for dinner. The group had agreed previously to dress up in 1920s/1930s outfits and go out somewhere to eat. After some miscommunications and false starts, we ended up at a fancy restaurant that was literally across the street from our hotel. I thought the food was amazing, and we looked pretty awesome, too.
After dinner (which was the second real meal of the weekend) we took pictures in the hotel lobby and then went upstairs to change.
We split into three groups again that night for the first round of one-shots. Erik ran Qin for Brian C., Dave and Matt; Cody ran Spycraft for Lo, Beth and Holly; James ran Hunter for me, Lucas, Greek Mike and Mark. As fantastic as the whole weekend was, this was my absolute favorite game. James did a great job narrating things - his voices and inflections and pacing were suitably creepy and freakish and disturbing - and the group really ran well. Lucas and I suck at making combat-ready characters, but I felt like the other two were good with combat and there were other things for us to do. I got to talk to Crazy Izzy and Mr. Potter, and that alone made me happy for the night. I also enjoyed Missy coming around to watch our game - and asking about it in the morning! Just excellent all around, and I would play under James again in a heartbeat.
And then it was 3 am, and we went to bed.
Late morning, we gathered again to split into the second (and last) of the one-shots. This time, Dave ran Changeling for Mark, James and Lucas; Brian C. ran Star Wars for Lo, Holly and Greek Mike; Matt ran Adventure! for me, Cody and Beth. Adventure! was just a ton of fun, even though I'm afraid we shanghaied Matt's game into ridiculousness. My character, Kit Baloo, was a wing walker and barnstormer who answered the phone "Kit Baloo, I'll fly for you!" and had the Knack of defying death. Beth played Melanie Dunhill, a British heiress and the secretary for a private eye. Cody played Remington Rand, ________ at large. He introduced himself as something different every time: "Remington Rand, Imports/Exports!" "Remington Rand, Male Nurse!" "Remington Rand, owner of a chain of kosher bakeries!" Eventually we started making things up for him, based on what was happening in-game. "Remington Rand, psychopath!" "Remington Rand, crack shot!" And eventually, "Remington Rand...dead!" Yeah, we botched a few rolls when some explodium was hanging around and accidentally blew up ourselves and Long Island. Crazy, but a fun game. Lots of laughs.
We had no lunch.
The second round of one-shots having finished (mostly), Lucas and I said goodbye and headed home. We stopped for dinner at LJS on the road and got home around 10ish, thanks to some stupid traffic near Wheeling. Ultimately it was a great weekend, although we're still completely exhausted and not quite recovered. But I'm glad it happened, and I hope it happens again, and I'd love to try something similar with other friends eventually, too.
I didn't realize how much I missed being around people like that. I'm an introvert, but the friends we made at GCC are special, and I missed having them around. I love my Columbus friends and we have our own great relationships, but they don't call me Tahm, and haven't earned the right or the history with me to call me Tahm, and I've missed being called Tahm.
Some of my favorite general memories about the weekend: Dave having to talk in an accent for most of Saturday because of a Hackmaster item, everyone loving my fudge and cookies, Mark's black raspberries pies (sooo good!), talking about our children all marrying each other, discussing Terry Pratchett and the Muppets, kidding Lo about having a wolf and gills, getting to hang out with Greek Mike so much, everyone looking so spiffy dressed up, getting awesome hand-sewn dice bags from Holly, and Dave bursting through the door and announcing "Mmmm, it smells like college in here."
But I am happy to be back home, was happy to see everyone today at work, am happy to get back to some normalcy. After I get caught up on my sleep. :)
In other, non-MarKon related news, I finished The Wake (Sandman) and the next Elizabeth Peters in line. Currently I'm reading the newest Discworld (yay!) and am looking forward to the next book in the Looking Glass War series, which is speeding on its way to me through library delivery. Yay newly released books!