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The World of Georic 1989-Present

Wednesday, December 1, 2021

Mepacon 41 Recap

My weekend at Historicon 2021 was a massive, triumphant return to convention gaming, but I reserved Sunday for a local jaunt to Mepacon in White Haven, PA

I didn't take Maja to Historicon (I always take her to the HMGS November conventions) because she already had enough abscesses from school.  With her Mom and sister planning a women's basketball trip to see Notre Dame play, I gave her the option to (a) go along with them to Syracuse (b) go to Allentown train show or (c) go to Mepacon.  She immediately chose Mepacon.

Main reason I couldn't bring Millie?  The con staff decided upon full masking and proof of full vaccination.   She had just gotten her first shot, so the basketball game (requiring only a negative COVID test) was a better option for her.

The con is still located at the Mount Laurel Resort, right off the interchange for I-80 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike.  Better yet, there's a Wawa within walking distance, plus a slew of food options.

We stopped off for breakfast at the White Haven Diner, a good mid-point between home and the con.  Except for a disconcerting pursuit by four Pennsylvania State Police cars (they were all coming for breakfast) and the diner's lack of Scrapple, it was a perfect way to start the morning.  

Historically, Sundays at Mepacon, are dead, with only a handful of games going on.  Upon further glance, there were a lot of empty tables in the board/card game area, but there were also a slew of tables in side rooms for organized play and RPGs.

The morning was catching up with a number of friends, while my daughter, perused the dealer hall and got to use the supplies from Saturday's coloring contest. 

Knowing that we didn't come to the con just to buy old Dragonlance novels (Yes, this is a Maja thing, blew me completely out of the water) and dice that our FLGS don't stock, we perused the event listing, and Maja chose our game, something with the terms "mystery" and "children's teeth" in the description.  This could have went in multiple directions, light-hearted to very dark, so I was happy that I was tagging along. 

Any momentary pauses were short-lived as it was "Monster of the Week", using the Apocalypse World engine.  We customized our playbooks, connected our characters, and knocked a great three-hour game.  The GM was fantastic, kept us on point, and even tolerated my deviations, as I preferred failing at critical moments and working through those complications, rather than use luck for automatic success.  

With the return to normalcy successful (there were enough people returning and not scared away by masks or needle requirements), that they could announce the Spring version of the con will be April 8-10, 2022, back at the resort in White Haven.

We'll see if basketball interferes with that one, but, for awhile, it was good to see everyone again. 

 www.mepacon.com


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