Mepacon Fall 2010 Review

I survived Mepacon Fall 2010, but I didn't even get a lousy t-shirt!

Despite late hours to finish up one game and a complete collapse trying to finish a second, Mepacon was a rousing success. Parenthood/fatherhood any hobbies, I got to go up all day Saturday, run two games, catch up with friends, and clean out some gaming stuff in the auction.

I arrived at the Ramada in Clarks Summit around 8:30am to find an empty ballroom. Apparently Friday night was lightly attended, but those who were there had a GREAT time. Once I picked up my bag I ran into Gerry (know to the Lehicon con as the beret guy). We caught up and I found out the was a possibility of an appearance my Mike Griffith. Mike has been MIA since 2000 and it would be have been nice to see him, but family issues always trump gaming.

At ten after 9, Larry stumbled into the hall. He apparently had a awesome time the previous night and treaded carefully with each step. By 9:30, a half hour after the time slot started, my Hackmaster game was actually just starting up. I actually had five players: Larry, Gerry, some guy named John, and two guys who claimed they played Hackmaster with a drunk Jolly Blackburn. Of course this is the game that had unfinished pre-gens. I had the group roll of characters on 4d6, roll twice for quirks and flaws, armed them and we were ready to go.

My event, Citizen Chaos, was staged in the lost city of Cyndicea from B4: The Lost City. The PCs were drug addled citizens of a decadent society, banded together to solve an epidemic of undead that were terrorizing the inhabitants.

I don't think a formal after-game report would do the game justice. Everyone determined their own motivations, their own goals, and just how often they partook in hallucinatory mushrooms. Going through the catacombs, one member dragged around a boat (or DID he? Have another mushroom.), another was a goblin shaman whose magic only seemed to work around said boat, and yet another was left in a storeroom full of wine. They group encountered undead, deities, and somehow with only one tweak by me in the last thirty minutes, the final encounter. We picked up a sixth player at that time (a third player with drunk Jolly ties). It was a deadly battle, very Conan-esque, but the evil was vanquished. But in a city were short term memory is a way of life, would the surviving PCs actually be heroes?

After a quick lunch at Damon's I finally got to tour around the con. The dealers were pretty standard con fare: The Portal from Bethlehem with a decent new selection, some store that just sold those expensive board games everyone drools over, perrinial Guest of Honor, horror author CJ Henderson, and a new author, although every time I got near, I saw a "Sorry I missed you, check out my site," sign on his table.

There were also two tables for different LARPS games: one for Werewolf and another for a Fantasy game. I do not disparrage LARPers. They bring more people to the con and more people means more money for the con. However, about half of their representatives were of the "Scuzzy and Smelly LARPer" variety.

They also introduced video gaming in a corner of the hall. Three large TVs, multiple systems available, yet I only saw a never ending game of Sou Caliber (4?). I would rather see the tables used for a display of family and board games, rather than hidden under a table somewhere .


Finally, the true revenue source was at full capacity: Organized Play. RPGA and Pathfinder games were again located in the restaurant's hotel. About 50 people, over 80% paying admissions filled the room and rarely seemed to leave.


The second slot I didn't have to fulfill my duties as back-up player for the Drow game. Steve had 10 players, and in proper Drow fashion, the party barely got out of the bar. I spent the slot, tweaking the Toon characters, shooting the breeze, and filling out auction slips for my boxes of stuff.

The extended break between the afternoon and evening session is chock full of raffles and the game auction. As auctions go, it was definitely good, and some of the bids were definitely impressive, but I picked up absolutely nothing. There was barely anything I would pick up for a buck or two, much less the 4 or 5 they were going for. Remember, I'm not the demographic.

The evening session was another slow starter. I scrounged up three players for Cthulhu Comes to Springfield, snagged Patrick, one of the drunken Jolly players, and after the first episode, corralled Mepacon staff member Jim Minor to play Apu.

The Toon game went off well, actually subdued in the "TV-MA" areas I was worried about. Of course Jim won the award for most sadistic PC, having Apu lure a Homer-Shoggoth into the elementary school, and I do have updated notes on the new episode the Neffs helped create last weekend, "Duffman Fails His Sanity Check."

Finally, the most interesting development came while chatting with Nichols. He mentioned that Wilson Borough opening up a community center that was available for rentals. Right next to Meuser Park, it's three minutes off of Rt 22, with plenty of parking. We threw around some numbers, how we could to get the word out IF we were to run a con in the Lehigh Valley, and I convinced him to check up on prices for a Saturday. By the end of the night I had about ten different people coming up to offer events and support for a con that we'd hadn't even done the premilinary research on. The Lehigh Valley is definitely desperate for a convention. I wonder if anyone still "owns" the rights to Lehigh Valley Games Fair? Game Day? Whatcon II? Covecon II? We-didn't-name-it-Lehicon?

Edit: Of course, it doesn't help that I mentioned this to my wife, Michelle, and her first response?
"If you could make a couple of dollars from it, you should do it!"

When my non-gaming wife likes the idea, I guess we start the preliminary planning.