March 25, 2000
Notes from Steelcon 2000
(Most of this entry was written at the above time. Notes to pictures were added later.)I'm so ashamed! I now have two characters for a game I swore I'd never play. Yes, it's true. Since arriving at the con yesterday I've played Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (AD&D for the initiates) twice. I arrived at the hotel just as the first session was starting, and got dragged into a game before I'd even seen my hotel room. With a great deal of help, I managed to create the character I've played both times -- a cleric of Tyr. Yeah, it didn't mean a whole lot to me either. Think a Knight Templar, who follows a god of justice.
It was fun. So fun, that I ended up creating a second character to play tonight. Well... adapting, more accurately. I'll spare the non-gamers the details, but I'll be interested to see how she plays. Suffice to say, I've seen a few too many guys playing gorgeous, scantily clad tarts. Subtlety may be beyond them (hee hee), but I've got to try. So -- I'm playing a brainy, gorgeous Druid (nature-type priest, in truth, she's a version of Jake).
This is Mike. Mike was my first AD&D gamemaster. Here he is, either describing just how big the monster really is, or trying to fly, I can't remember. I ended up playing with him quite a bit over the weekend. Although his wife was one of the other few female gamers there, I didn't get to play with her. Phil, I should mention somewhere through here, is a lot of fun. Whenever we haven't been busy playing, we've been talking nonstop. Well, except for now. See, I was ridiculously sensible last night and went to bed around 1 am (actually, I was ridiculously tired), unlike some people who stayed up all night playing. At any rate, he went off to take a nap while I tried to figure out AD&D's character creation process. I may be tackling Feng Shui (one of Phil's pet games -- based on action movie cliches -- it's a riot) next. I'm mulling a character concept.
However, as a result of all this hack and slash gaming, I'm getting the bug to run Changeling. I could try for a pick-up game, I suppose. If nothing else, I have a story idea for one of Phil's characters. The biggest problem, I think, is that my style of storytelling doesn't mesh well with AD&D-type roleplay. We'll see what happens.
For now, I'm sorta tired, but happy, and thinking that I need to go to more gaming conventions. [Transcription note: Female gamers are extremely popular at conventions! Of course I should go to more!] But now I have too many game books and accessories that I want to buy!
Above is the group I played with Saturday evening, in a scenario called "The Forgotten Land". It's a rather atypical AD&D scenario, involving more diplomacy and roleplaying than hunting down bad things and killing them. I enjoyed it very much. It was exactly the sort of thing that Jake (or in this case, Grainne) plays well. Looking into the camera is Jeremy, who played a truly hysterical female character named Spunky, and turned out to be an awesome gamemaster -- even if we were a bit rushed Sunday morning. Hiding in the shadows in the left corner is Phil, next to the empty chair.
When he's not hiding, this is what Phil really looks like. Well, with no sleep for two days, at least. And when I make him pose in front of my rented monstrosity and squint into the sun.
Before I forget... I had a rather surreal experience on the flight from St. Louis to Tulsa. A young woman traveling alone with a baby sat down opposite me. I, of course, spent some time admiring the baby, who was asleep. The woman looked so familiar, I couldn't put my finger on it at all. Then it came to me. She looked exactly like Jake. Jake, who is currently a single mom with a brilliantly blue-eyed baby girl. Surprise, surprise, when this woman's baby woke up, he had amazing blue eyes. I so wanted to take a picture of them both, but she was already looking at me funny for staring. How do you say to someone, 'I thought you only existed in my head'? Simple. You don't.
I have so many voices inside my head. I suppose it was only a matter of time before I met one of them.
Posted by Lisa at March 25, 2000 04:10 PM
