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| Ogre Macrotures |
This past holiday weekend was DexCon in Morristown, NJ, which is a convention that I regularly attend. This year, I attended as a publisher for the first time, selling Adventures Dark and Deep books. I’m going to start putting the more BRW Games-centric posts over at the BRW Games website, so you can read about the details there. I’m going to concentrate here on the other stuff.
First and foremost, the guest of honor at the convention was none other than the famous Steve Jackson. Yes, the Texan one who wrote Ogre, Illuminati, and GURPS, not the British one who wrote the Fighting Fantasy books.
Meeting Steve Jackson was really a highlight for me, as I’ve been a fan of many of his games since they were sold in little plastic ziplock baggies in the 1970’s.
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| Mark (l), who built the macrotures, and Daniel (r), SJG’s Ogre line chief |
First, he made an appearance at the Ogre Macrotures game that I ran, which lasted most of Friday afternoon, using ginormous figures and taking up much of the wargaming room floor. The MK V Ogres were about two feet in length, and looked absolutely terrific. This is going to be a regular event at DexCon going forward, and each year we’re going to make the figures better, more diverse, and include new elements like terrain and buildings and such. Steve himself said he was really impressed with how the units turned out, and I have to agree (I didn’t do any of the building; I just ran the scenario itself).
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| Couldn’t roll above a 3 to save my life |
On Saturday, I participated in a special event, wherein Steve Jackson played 12 simultaneous games of Ogre. It was a “MK III vs. the command post” scenario, and I firmly lay my resounding defeat on the fact that I was rolling just awful. If I had had just average rolls on three turns, I would have been okay. But twelve attacks and only one hit? That’s just unnatural.
Still, if I have to lose to someone at Ogre, let it be Steve Jackson. 🙂
Steve also did what was essentially a Q&A for game publishers and designers, fielding questions on a variety of industry topics, from Kickstarter to outsourcing. Incredibly fascinating stuff from someone who has been in the industry forever, but who has emerged as just another regular gamer when you meet him in person.
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| Steve Jackson sizing up the optimal way to obliterate my CP |
The rest of the convention was, as usual, just a complete hoot. I didn’t get to play as much as I usually do, but I did get in a game of Core Worlds, and ran a new Adventures Dark and Deep scenario (details at the link above). This is a very fun convention, not least because they don’t emphasize one type of gaming over any other; there is LARPing, RPGing (with lots of indie RPGs represented), board games, wargames, video games, computer games, and even outdoor games. Plus a video room, special chocolate and ice cream events open to everyone, and even a burlesque show. Plus the obligatory dealer’s room, which was much more diverse this year than it has been in previous years. I hope that trend continues.
And I should give a special shout-out to Chris Bernhardt of Judges Guild fame, who was there selling his most excellent (and huge!) City State of the Sea Kings, which is part of the Wilderlands campaign setting. This thing looks phenomenal, and I can’t say enough good things about it or him. (The website says it’s “upcoming” but it’s real, and it’s gorgeous, and it’s for sale.)
All in all, another great weekend, and I can’t recommend DexCon highly enough.
Looks like a lot of fun. I wanted to go, and in fact some of my friends went, but I had work. I can't take off work to go spend money. 😉
But it would be nice to get in on Ogre Macrotures if it's a regular thing.
Joe
Firstly, thank you very much for running both the OGRE macrotures and Tomb of the Pirate King. My daughter said that Tomb was her favorite part of the convention, she told all her friends about her fight with the furniture and she wants to do it again and that the adventure was "awesome!". She wants to go back in February for Dreamation! She loved the Macrotures and all the games there and even bought some books! scottg
@Scott: It was great seeing you again and your daughter. I'm so glad the adventure was a hit with her; I hope everyone else had as good a time. Looking forward to seeing you both at Dreamation!
@Peter: Ogre Macrotures will definitely be a regular thing at Dexcon. Hope I get to see you next time. I'll be running something Ogre at Dreamation; either miniatures or 6th Edition (or maybe even both).