8.15.2006

Death by Con: Part II
Everyone that goes to GenCon has a different experience. The event is so rich and varied that there were dozens of rooms and events that I never saw in any of the 4 days I attended.

Having declared my ignorance, I am now going to tell which of these thousands of events was the coolest.

On Saturday I was running my “Halls of the Minotaur” in one of the RPG rooms. A single room packed with 9 or more tables, each with 6 (or in my case, 9) gamers. An intense experience by any standard.

Just behind my table was a game being run by a woman in her mid-thirties. She had a kind, mature way about her, and seemed to radiate a calm joy.

At her table were 4 children, fully enraptured by her game. Of the +50 gamers in the room, these kids were the ones living fully into their imaginations. Some wore costumes, some didn't. They were all having the time of their lives.

This, ultimately, is the magic of role-playing games, and the best that our industry has to offer. Nothing else we do will ever come close.

1 comment:

Lara said...

That is so cool...

My nephew's one regret (well, aside from the one about being able to attend only one day of the con) was that he didn't get to play an RPG. It's on his list for next year, and I'm kind of hopin' he'll get to meet the DM side of Harley. *hee*