Conclusions of Variety A Personal Blog on my happenings and thoughts

Geeking Out in VegasPosted by cczernia on April 24th, 2006

I ended up returning to Vegas. My Friday night gaming group thought it would be a great idea to go to Vegas and roleplay there. At first I was indifferent toward it and eventually did not want to go. However, I was convinced otherwise and before I knew was driving to Vegas at 5:00 Friday afternoon.

We arrived at 11:30 and it took forever to check in to the Riviera. We then headed out and ended up at “Treasure Island.” We found a lounge, ordered some drinks, pulled out Changeling: The Dreaming and proceeded to roleplay, drink, and smoke until 3:30 in the morning.

Next day we headed out around 11am and headed over to the Aladdin for the breakfast buffet but it had already switched over to lunch so we ate at a restaurant. We then went to see the Matt King Magic show but Matt wasn’t there and we saw his backup who was very funny. Got some drinks and a massage at the Aladdin.

We returned to our hotels and then headed over to the Hilton for the “Star Trek Experience.” This was the coolest themed event I had ever been to and I really got sucked into it. We also got dinner at Quark’s Bar and talked to a Pharangi and a Klingon.

After that we took a taxi down to Fremont street and then returned to watch the Billagio Water Show. After an exhausting we walked back to the Riviera, got a quick drink and went to bed.

Next morning we got the buffet at our hotel, stopped by the General Gamblers Store and then headed home. Overall this trip was more fun then the last for a number of reason. Things that bothered me about Vegas before weren’t bothering me this time. We had a plan and were with someone who had a good idea of what to do. The Star Trek Experience was awesome.

D&D for kidsPosted by cczernia on March 10th, 2006

Yesturday I ran a game of “Dungeons and Dragons” for a small group of junior high students. It was part of a library program and they needed someone to run the game and I volunteered.

It was really strange. I don’t spend much time around kids at all and wasn’t sure what to expect. As far as D&D went I didn’t know if they would be familier with the rules or not. I’d met with the Librarian about a month ago and she said most of them would not know the rules.

I was also told that we should use the basic rule set. This is a box set with the most basic rules for the game as compared to the three core books (Players Guide, Dungeon Masters Guide, Monster Manual).

I ended up making 6 characters from those core books and prepared a short adventure. Nothing too complicated. Basically the characters were suppose to be part of a small town which they were to protect.

I left in a hurry but ended up about 5 minutes late (5:05). Luckily the librarian and her husband were describing the game to the group of four players, 2 boys and 2 girls. Here I found out they didn’t have any experience and started telling them what a roleplaying game was. We then went over the character sheets using the stuff from the basic game.

We then auctioned off a set of dice and I let the others pick out some dice that they could keep. By this time it was almost 6 and two kids had to leave. Parents kept sticking there heads in saying “we’ll have to leave soon” and I was thinking did they actually sign them up or did they stick them in to keep their kids busy while they do their taxes.

By the time we started playing I only had two players and they had a great time. I expect both of them to be back and they were kind of bummed that I only ran on Thursdays. Another thing was that what I normally plan for in a rpg had no value. Sticking to the basics was key. Such general concepts as what is an elf or a cleric and how to decipher a d4 and what does 2d4 mean were all important and we had to go over them.

Can’t wait until next week.

Gencon 05 and NIN part deuxPosted by cczernia on November 22nd, 2005

Inbetween moving I decided to take a break and head out to Gencon Socal. However, this time it wasn’t to be all fun and games, this time it was to work with the team at Dream Pod 9. I have always wondered what it was like to work a convention or in the gaming industry and this way I can do both.

I left on Thursday around 11:30 just finishing up a Jovian Chronicles adventure I was going to run at the con. I got there around 1 and after checking into the hotel room we picked up our badges and then went to set up our booth. I had never seen a convention in the set up stage with forklifts, boxes, trash everywhere. It took us about 2 hours to set up.

When we finished we headed out to dinner and I ran into some friends, Andy and Andy who I game with. After dinner I met up with them at the “True Tavern”, which was a bar dressed up like a tavern and the lights were turned low. After that we got tickets for True Dungeon and then a few of us went over to Downtown Disney.

Friday we headed over to our booth at 10. Working the booth was boring as it was real slow both Friday and Sunday. At 1pm I went to run my Jovian Chronicles game but I only had one player show up, one of the Andy’s. Later Jonathen went up to run Tribe 8 and no one showed up for his game. We were both annoyed. Later in the evening we did “True Dungeon” and then had some pizza.

Saturday morning I played in a Shadowrun game which starts in 3rd edition and ends in 4th (both rules and setting). I spent the rest of the day working the booth and at 7pm we went to run a 12 person Heavy Gear Miniature tournament. I ran a got the guys some taco bell (there was no time to stop and eat) and then went to get a burger and beer with the Andys and another friend Mike.

Sunday I got up early again to run Jovian Chronicles and again no one showed up. Ditto for Jonathan’s Tribe 8 game. Stayed until 12 and then left.

Total Swag from con: Dreaming Cities, Delirium and supplement, Burning Wheel, In Spectres, some Vampire tES cards, 2 Dork Tower graphic novels.

When I got back I got some dinner with Stephanie and then it was off to the Nine Inch Nails concert again. It was fun and they finished the show. Best effects I’ve seen at a concert. I loved it.