Gencon 2008: StupidRanger’s Wrap-up
I’ve been to several Gencon’s over the years, but this one will forever be one of the greatest!
First, as promised, pictures! There are pictures from the RPGBloggers Unite! panel, as well as our Out of the Box Roleplaying session. And especially for Dave the Game, there’s a set just for the Drunken D&D game sessions!
Speaking of Drunken D&D, it was great to have a chance to play D&D with some of our friends in the blogging community. Being the shy person that I am, I will confess that I was fairly quiet to start. I had forgotten how hard it can be to play with an entirely new group. But I had a great time!
The sales floor was fabulous fun, and I did my share of spending. Topping my list of cool RPG-related items was my Ring of Invisibility from Intimagik, Elven dice from Unusual Dice and a set of platinum Campaign Coins. I also purchased a few prints from various artists. And Gencon wouldn’t be complete for me with lots and lots of books. I got free books from signings — Blackstaff Tower by Steven Schend and Reader’s Guide to the Legend of Drizzt by Philip Athans (with R.A. Salvatore). Plus, I picked up a couple of books from McFarland Press, as well as the Brazen Serpent Chronicles. Lots of good reading… I should be busy for awhile.
One of the best things about the con this year was getting to meet all our friends from the blogging community. Thanks to you all helping to make this the most memorable Gencon ever!
I have a quick question. In one of your pics I see you are using small “poker chip” type things under your miniatures.
What are they, and where did you get them? I’ve been looking for something similar.
Nice post.
I have the link on my home computer, if someone doesn’t chime in I will post it when I get back.
They are magnetic and colored to indicate effects on the player, such as stunned, slowed, bloodied, etc and very cool. They were selling them on the sales floor this year.
They are from Alea Tools, magnetic condition markers. They were selling a large set (like 80 in 10 colors or something) in a carrying case for $75 at Gencon, though you can buy them separately as well.
http://www.aleatools.com/
We got to use them in our 18th-level 4e game on Thursday night. I found them a little disruptive, because if you're not super careful about stacking them all the same direction, they cause havoc on the battlemat…especially when two or three minis with a few condition markers each get near one another.
Koplow sells mini poker chips in a variety of colors that are much cheaper, stack well, and don't have the magnetic problems. I found some at this site:
http://www.unclesgames.com/product_info.php?products_id=9508&ref=29&affiliate_banner_id=1
However, poker chips don’t make a cool noise when you fire them across the table at the magnetic dry erase board!
Thanks for the pics. I am, of course, as handsome as ever.
It was great hanging with you guys, hope to do it again soon!
Thanks for the advice folks!!