Dreamation is a magical place. The Double Exposure series of events (including DexCon, and the recently added Metatopia) are about gaming, but what makes them special is their dedication to the new. Trying new games, new styles of play is the name of the game. I always come back from Double Exposure events having learned something, be it a new game or a new way to play an old one.
Case in point, one of the best games I played this weekend was Jennifer Wong’s Project Ninja Panda Taco, a delightful meditation on super-villiany and difficulty that comes from impossible plans. It’s a kind of game that plays exactly to my favorite aspects of RPGs: over-the-top actions and concepts, wild characterizations and direct interactions with the rest of players. My Minion in the game, Clanky, came out on top, while my Mastermind, Professor Thunderhead, did not do so well. All well, all’s fair in trying to take over the world.
I also had the good fortune to play in Revelations, a game created by my friends Alex Waegal and Jamie Spencer. Revelations is almost the direct opposite of Project Ninja Panda Taco, as it is a crunchy, numbers-driven game. This worked wonderfully in the session I played, where a group of experts try to stop a demonic ritual. Having skills so clearly defined meant that the action moved pretty swiftly. My character, security expert Drake Brorstein (forgive the soul-patch: he’s from 1995), was able to skulk around, disable cameras, and take out goons silently with a few dice-rolls. If someone wanted to play an A-Team/Leverage/Mission Impossible-type story, Revelations is an ideal system for that.
Tim Rodriguez wrangled JR and I into a game of Ghost Pirates, a card game that was way more fun than I expected. Playing pirates by laying down cards seems underwhelming at first, but once we got going and started firing cannons and boarding ships, the scope of the thing became clear. Far from the minimal, clinical experience I feared, Ghost Pirates gives you just enough to stimulate your imagination. Once you get going, your inner pirate quickly takes over.
But what of my games, you ask? What of the games I was running?
Midnight Munchhausen, sadly, was a bust. One fellow showed up, and I decided to call it since Munchhausen works best with at least three. Doughnuts & Dragons was much better attended, and we managed to get two rounds in during the appropriate time. My game of Bulldogs! was also packed, and managed a hilarious adventure of space-zombies and running from the law. Oh, and I broke the players.
They don’t give an award for best-dressed GM, but if they did, between my frock coat and ascot for Munchhausen, my Doughnut Master hat and robe for Doughnuts & Dragons, and my light-up space-captain gear for Bulldogs!, would have won that shit.
In addition to all this fabulous gaming and playing, I managed to spend some time with Erica Henderson and John Adamus. Both of these talented people I thought I was meeting for the first time this weekend, only to find when I got home that I had been fans of both online for quite some time. I also got to hang with Robert Bohl of Misspent Youth fame, and meet the young man I made a Sonic costume for.
Dreamation, with it’s dedication to the new, encourages you to look at things in new ways, be that games, stories, or people. And once you do that, then you’ve already won.
The Battle of Blood and Ink: A Fable of Flying City
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