Dragonflight 2002 Post Convention Report

August 26, 2002

Well, I made it back from Dragonflight in one piece. It was a long and exhausting convention, but a whole boatload of fun.

Things started out poorly when I went to bed Thursday night at 9pm and woke up four hours later at 1am and couldn't get back to sleep. So I got up and worked on the adventures I was going to run, then tried to sleep again around 4 or 5am. Still no joy. Finally I got up, packed the car, got ready to go, then changed my mind again and grabbed a 1 hour 20 minute nap from about 11 to noon. Arrived at DF around 2:30pm, said hi to Steve Jackson (for like 30 seconds - he was gaming), met Michelle Barrett, the SJ Games' Warehouse 23 manager, visited with some old friends, met Devin Ganger and his family (lead playtester for GURPS Cliffhangers) settled into my room, etc.

I ran a GURPS WWII: All the King's Men session that night from 7:00-11:30pm, which was a British LRDG (Long Range Desert Group) group of commandos that were sent into the N. African desert on a combat search-and-rescue mission. It was during the battle of El Alamein, only two weeks prior to Operation Torch (the HUGE Allied invasion of North Africa), and a courier en route from Alexandria had been shot down somewhere in the western desert, west of the Qattara Depression (pardon my spelling). The courier was carrying ship dispositions of the British fleet for the upcoming invasion, so those plans couldn't be allowed to fall into German hands. So the group of six commandos (ie, the PCs) with two Chevy 20cwt trucks headed into the desert to retrieve the plans and rescue any survivors. The adventure went well, with some nice opportunities for Danger Sense to come into play (including a booby-trapped body), and a critical hit (a natural 3) on a nighttime ambush shot at a German heavy-machinegunner from 400 yards that basically turned the tide of the ambush so that the Brits won. :) One of the players had scrounged up a Boys Anti-Tank rifle, which they used to ambush a pair of German halftracks, by dropping a .55 cal slug into the lead engine block. Nice use of an otherwise relatively useless weapon. :)

After the game, I locked myself into a gaming room with Scott and Jason Hill (and a friend of theirs, Chris) and we played two board games that Jason had designed. A "zombies attack humans in a small town" game, and as "aliens in a 1950s movie trying to take over the world" game. Both were absolutely a blast. Jason wants to get them published, but they'll be expensive to self-publish and he's hesitant about losing creative control if he sends them elsewhere. But honestly, they were every bit as much fun as Fury of Dracula, Talisman, Warhammer Quest, and the like. I especially loved the Zombie game... it was a near thing, really. Except the zombies won by only a narrow margin. :) Braaiiiins...

It was during this session that we coined the 2002/2003 Phrase of the Year [which later became the theme phrase for this website - Ed]. I'd mentioned that we were gaming in the very room I was to run Cliffhangers in, and maybe I'd just conk out in the corner. Someone said we could tape a sign on me that said "Wake me for adventure" and the new slogan was born. :) Last year's phrase "I see robots" (which is generally whispered, a'la The Sixth Sense, and was coined by Jason at about 3:00am on Friday night of last year's con) is still valid, but we're definitely encouraging the "wake me for adventure" phrase to be used for the coming season. :) T-Shirts, anyone?

So anyway, I get done gaming and get back to my dorm room at 6:05 a.m. (make note of this time, it will come into play again later) which puts me up for 29 hours with a 1 hour 20 minute nap. Bleh. I was beat. Set my alarm for 11:00 am, and crashed. Slept restlessly for the most part; it was a twin bed with a head- and foot-board, and other gamers slamming doors at various intervals throughout the morning. But still, 5 hours was better than nothing. :)

Climbed out of bed, slogged down the hall to the communal showers, and was back in the world of the living by about 11:30. I felt like one of the zombies from the night before. Braaaaaiins....

SJ Games' MIB Greg Nokes (who I sadly didn't get to game with!) and I headed over to the auditorium to catch Steve Jackson's Q&A. He was listed in the program ("Spend an hour with Steve Jackson" or something), but one of the Con folks had told me it was supposed to be both him and I. Well, I wasn't sure, and I was in no huge hurry to muscle in on Evil Stevie's time. :)

So Greg and I snuck in the back of the auditorium and listened for about a half hour while Steve talked about various things. Nothing really exciting, IMHO, but it was mildly interesting. Finally he entered a generic Q&A, and as it wound down, and people stopped asking questions, I raised my hand. He gesture to me, so I asked, "Who is your favorite GURPS author at this convention?" Big laugh, Steve called me up on stage, gave me the galleys for GURPS WWII: Return to Honor, which was at the printers. Oddly enough I got considerable applause not only when I was introduced, but when I mentioned RTH. I'm used to getting applause for various things - music, improv, whatever - but not for my writing. It was a little weird.

That afternoon from 2:00-6:30 was the big Cliffhangers game. Initially, I was less than enthusiastic about it, to be honest. Fifteen years of running pulp games tends to make them all seem way too cliche and trite. But I tried something totally different this year. I'd outlined the adventure (based on the Sky Demons adventure seed in Cliffhangers, p. 112), but didn't write up the whole adventure like I usually do. Instead, I brought the outline only, but didn't even break it out during the game. It was an entirely improvised adventure, based on the outline in my head. That, combined with some excellent roleplayers (including two repeat players from the WWII game, and Devin Ganger who got in as an alternate), produced one of the best Cliffhangers games I've ever run. :) Two memorable scenes included a daredevil riding shotgun in an unarmed biplane, piloted by the only female (PC) pilot in the group. She had made an excellent maneuver and come up behind and beneath a Bad Guy plane (a high-end GeeBee Model Z) and wanted him to shoot at it. Instead, he slung his weapon, pulled out rope and a grapnel, and hooked onto the enemy aircraft. When he climbed up the rope and tapped the Bad Guy pilot on the shoulder, then beat him up and threw him out of the cockpit, I knew the game was going well. :)

Another memorable scene was during the finale when they'd encountered the Bad Guys' giant dirigible airship with a 600' hangar launching enemy planes, and one of the players - playing an aging WWI ace - flew directly into the hangar, shooting everything in his path. He bounced around inside, made some excellent piloting rolls, shot up barrels of aviation fuels, and rocketed out the other side in a big ball of fire as a fellow PC (Devin's gullible Kentucky hick mechanic) dropped dynamite from an inverted biplane onto the dirigible's gas bags. The airship blew up from the top and bottom simultaneously and the world was safe for democracy once again. :)

Great game, loads of fun. Make me perhaps wanna run Cliffhangers again - which is a change from my previous attitude. Of course, there's a lot to be said for going out on top, too. :)

After wrapping up the Cliffhangers game, I met up with Brandon Masterson, an old high school friend I hadn't seen in 22 years. We'd talked in email (he lives in Seattle) and so he drove down to meet with me. We not only did dinner together (Subway, for those interested), but he hung around and cruised the con with me while I visited everyone and signed more stuff. Around 11pm, we pulled together a pick-up game of Apples to Apples, which I had in my car. Seven players, great fun, and Brandon won. Nifty. :)

Finally, late night Saturday, around 1 a.m., I hooked up again with Scott and Jason and we laid into a superhero board game of Jason's design. Scott made my laugh to the point of tears with his impression of his superhero, The Yellow Dream, and by the time the sun came up and the game still wasn't over, we knocked off and called it a night. So we'll never know if the heroes or villains woulda won. I was rooting for the villains. Of course, I *was* one. :) I still chuckle when I think about the Human Devil, Custodian of Death or the Inhumane Tarantula ("I wanted to be The Black Widow, but the name was taken"). Jason's random hero name generator was a kick. :) Another fine game from Wake Me For Adventure Games; available at your friendly local neighborhood gaming store - someday.

In one of the oddities of gaming conventions, I walked into my dorm room at precisely 6:05 am (were you paying attention before?) Wierd.

Again, 5 hours sleep, a groggy shower, and a granola bar later, I was shambling through the con. Braaaaiiins...

This time around I got to visit a little longer with Steve. Together with Michelle Barrett and a couple other gamers, we walked several blocks to a Chang's Mongolian Grill and ate lunch. No real news to report about talking with Steve; he's still the same old Steve. :) He did mention that I was picking up a reputation as "one of the WWII gurus." I guess that's not a Bad Thing (tm). *shrug*

Got back to the con, visited with Raven Mimura (a great WotC-ish freelance artist), Chris Weedin (of Horror Rules / Crucifiction Games), Chuck Monson (a long-time Dragonflight organizer) and others - guys I know and like from previous cons. Chris and his cohort Darren managed to sneak a pic of me in stupid fake vampire fangs, holding a copy of their game. I expect to either see it on their website or get a blackmail notice from them shortly.

Finally, I spent a little time with John Poole, one of the Con folks. He said he was talking to someone about Cliffhangers when another gamer piped up with: "Cliffhangers - that's all I'm hearing about at this whole convention." Heh. Nice. :) He also mentioned that Seattle U was trying to gouge Dragonflight on next year's con prices, so they may be looking for a new place soon. That would be too bad; I like the site.

Spent the rest of Sunday chatting and signing, and trying to find a pick-up game of Munchkin - I've played it at every con since it's release, and am undefeated (like that's something to brag about?) - but to no avail. So finally around 6pm, I packed out and headed home exhausted, but happy. Dragonflight has always been my favorite con; this year was no exception.

Poured myself into bed last night and slept 14 hours - three hours more than I'd gotten during the entire previous three days.

I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to be getting too old for this.

Braiiiiins...

- Brian

Entire Contents Copyright 2002 Brian J. Underhill. All Rights Reserved. Last Updated: October 21, 2002