Like Ron White said once, “I’ve told you that story so I can tell you this story.” I am referring to Reewind #2. You see I was invited to go to another convention with Bob this weekend. I’ll have to say it was the most fun I’ve had all year.
I stayed at Bob’s apartment across the state where this convention was taking place. This con was smaller and more focused then the other one I went to this summer. The focus of this con was role playing and table top games. In preparation for the stories that we were going to encounter, Bob and I watched an awesomely bad movie, The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu.
Epic.
We then watched Dungeons and Dragons: Wrath of a Dragon God. However, we didn’t pay too much attention to this one because we had a lot of catching up to do. I had not seen nor talked to him since that June so we talked through the whole thing. We went to bed ungodly late.
In the morning our day of geekiness had begun! We grabbed something to eat and headed straight for the convention. I wore my standard uniform for conventions [at least the first day] and was very excited! I was hoping to meet someone other than myself that played my MMORPG but unfortunately I met no one there the entire day. Shucks.
I was introduced to a couple of Bob’s gaming partners but they had their own schedules. I was not sure what tables to go to with which games, so I stuck with Bob the entire day. Since it was my first time at this convention, I was still a bit timid. I would rather be told what to do the first time so that way I could observe, and then the next time I would avidly participate!
We played a really fun game called Untold in the afternoon. Untold is a RPG based off of cards and involves really creative characters. I was a robot and Bob was some sort of animal with magic powers. Our GM or Game Master, the person hosting the game, found our adventure quite entertaining as we defeated spider people and blew up a wrecked ship Capitan Kirk style.
RPGs to me are like “create your own” video games. Plus I get to use all this imagination built up into a story. I love story telling. I forgot how much I enjoyed doing this! But it wasn’t like I was not a part of an RPG over 3 years…
I was part of a really fun concept game called Scion, where we were sons and daughters of gods and goddesses and had to prevent the mythological Titans from taking over the world in some form or another. It took place in present day so we had cars and guns as well as special items from the centuries. I was the daughter of Rhiannon, the Celtic horse goddess, and an animal psychic. I really enjoyed being this character.
But I hated the game. I really had trouble with my roleplaying group. My personality did not mix well with the chaotic, loud, and sometimes rude players. Of course I was the only girl, which as girl geeks know can be quite hard to deal with. It did not help that several members were socially missing the boat and I could never quite get my idea or turn out without being interrupted. I wish there was some sort of courtesy rule.
But because of this I stopped playing with my husband and his acquaintances. I just couldn’t handle it, but I also stopped having a regular thing to talk to my husband about.
Back to the present, I had forgotten how much imagination I truly had. It felt really natural to be doing this, and I realized that I now had a way to meet people again. Maybe I’ll get in with a current RPG group. At least my mom would like the fact I was out of the house.
That evening, we were lucky to get the last two spots in a very popular role playing game Call of Cthulhu. I had never played it before but I had done some board gaming with the Arkham concept. Arkham Horror a mini RPG/Board game that can take up to 8 hours to finish. Geekdom is not for the weary.
The main organizer of the convention was our GM, which meant it was going to be awesome! A bad GM can make or break a game, so we knew we were in capable hands. Besides Bob and me, there were 4 others, even another girl! However there was only one pre-constructed character that was a girl. For times sake I just played a Navy officer.
I did not like my character at all. His stats were so strange and he did not have many skills.
It also did not help I rolled so badly! Most games are played with a set of different shaped dice. These dice are called D20s, D8s, etc. The D stands for dimension. You have to get certain numbers for certain things to happen. Roll too high or too low you fail and you have to figure out what to do next.
My character was useless and got beat up so much. I ended up shooting some zombies effectively but that’s about it.
The whole game, which had a horror theme, was so hilarious! Imagine Looney Tunes meets a horror movie. We kept messing up all our numbers, by random chance mind you, so it became a comical tale of misfits and how they got beat up by cowboy hat wearing drug addicts while a businessman summoned an Elder God.
Oh and sandwiches. The setting was 1920s America, so there were lots of sexist jokes about sandwiches. As a guy character I could have joined in, but I decided against it.
After 5 hours of gaming, Bob and I went to Taco Bell and then watched a stand up comedy special. This was such an amazing weekend! I got a chain mail bracelet (In case someone wields a sword my wrist is protected) a new set of dice, and a D20 magnet for my car. Yes, the world needs to know about my hobbies.
It felt so good hanging out and being among people I had something in common with. Most of the time I feel like a stranger in a strange land. I doubt many people I come into contact with have these hobbies and if they do they do not advertise them. Why do people feel like they have to hide? I am open about all these things I do, and many of them seem childish to most people. Considering most of the people I met were a lot older than me and having fun, I am not worried about it.
So come, let me play you the song of my people. It sounds like whatever your imagination can create. And dubstep. Can’t forget dubstep.
reesubmerged 